MovieChat Forums > Family Guy (1999) Discussion > Another episode idea

Another episode idea

posted 8 years ago by swimboy818-671-821618
14 replies | jump to latest

Here is another episode idea I have for Family Guy. Since the holidays are coming soon, I thought it'd be fitting to write a Christmas-themed episode for the show:

* The name of this episode is "Die Shard", parodying Die Hard.

* All over Quahog, everyone's getting into the holiday spirit. The hottest new toy of the Christmas season is the "Shard", a parody of the rock craze in the 1960s and a parody of the log spoof from the Ren and Stimpy show. Although the toy's name suggests it is harmful, "Shard" is merely the name of the toy and it isn't actually dangerous.

* Carter, being the greedy bastard he is, decides to mass produce a cheap knock-off of Shard and sell it off to Quahog so that he can profit off of the Christmas shopping season.

* Soon, Carter's knockoff ends up being a hit, but because he made the knockoff with real glass, unlike the actual "Shard", people start suffering from all sorts of injuries around Quahog.

* Meanwhile, Peter was nagged by Lois to buy Christmas gifts for the family, but due to the family's budget being tight, he has to shop at a Dollar Store.

* While purchasing cheap, poorly made and totally inappropriate toys for the kids, Peter notices the "Shard" knockoff, having heard about it on TV. Not knowing this is the knockoff, he purchases the toy for Stewie.

* On Christmas Eve, Stewie sneaks out of his room to unwrap his presents and notices the shard. After opening the present, he immediately injures his hand and the family hears him screaming. Lois notices this and inspects the toy, realizing her father manufactured it.

* Enraged, Peter vows revenge on Carter and invades his mansion. Carter however, was planning on this and captures him in a net. After distracting him, Peter breaks out of the net and chases Carter throughout the streets. Carter's car crashes and he falls out of the vehicle, injured, but not gravely.

* Carter rants about how he'll get away with his scheme, but Peter was recording it the entire time by accident and notices this. Joe is driving by and hears the recording, then arrests Carter immediately.

* On Christmas day, while Carter is in prison, Peter visits him and says: "Now THAT'S my Christmas present!"

What do you guys think?

[–] checkina-64571 8 years ago

Another epic idea.

[–] swimboy818-671-821618 8 years ago

Here are some jokes I've thought of for the episode so far. Make sure to give constructive feedback.

*Peter is at the dollar store looking for gifts to buy for the kids*

Peter: Damn this is hard...think Peter! What do kids these days like?

Boy #1: Billy, wanna play a game?

Billy: Sure!

Peter: *has a eureka moment* That's it! *stuffs Billy in his cart*

That joke is a play on the words "Gameboy". Not only is Peter so out of touch with the times that he thinks the original Game Boy is still popular, he's stupid enough to literally believe that a boy who likes to play games is the same as the Nintendo Game Boy.

NEXT JOKE

*Peter has put Billy in his cart, now looking for Meg's gift* (Don't worry, Billy isn't hurt)

Peter: Now for Meg...if I was an awkward hormonal teenager girl..where would I be?

* A MOVIE IS PLAYING ON THE TV IN THE STORE*

Bob: Hey Max, you got a pad? Alex spilled more water then I thought!

Max: No problem Bob! *tosses him a pad*

Peter: *notices the tv and has a "perfect look on his face, then tears the TV out of the wall and puts it into his cart, whistling*

That joke is a play on the word Maxi Pad.

NEXT JOKE

This one takes place while Peter's confronting Carter outside in the snow near the end of the episode

Peter: Carter, I just don't get how you could do this! I mean, you're such a psychotic cheapskate!

Carter: That is a two syllable word said by heads too fat for successful minds!

Peter: Psychotic has two syllables?

Carter: *facepalms*

That joke is a reference to Batman v. Superman. Peter is such a dunce that he thinks Carter is literally responding to the word "psychotic" when he really was responding to "cheapskate", as if Carter is literally re-enacting the movie line by line.

Overall, what do you think?

[–] KYLE-D 8 years ago

Gotta be honest swimboy, if you have to explain the joke, it's not a good joke.
The first one, makes it seem like a Saw reference with "you wanna play a game", but it's somehow a Gameboy reference? Because a boy is saying the word "game"?
I figured the punch line to number two, prior to the explanation, but who says "pad" instead of "paper towel" or "sponge", is that vernacular used somewhere other than in the American South?
The third one presumes people have memorized & are still quoting lines from Batman vs Superman & I have to think those people are few and far between. Didn't the "Do you bleed" & "Martha" memes have a short shelf life?
It would almost work if you left out the explanation. Simplifying the scene, "You're a psychotic cheapskate... Nah I'm kidding, you're not a cheapskate".

As for the whole thing, unless the episode is filled with cutaways & flashbacks, I can easily see all of that happening before the first commercial break.

[–] houstonhacker 8 years ago

I thought Die Hard took place in a high rise office building with terrorists and a lone hero cop running around saving the day?

[–] KYLE-D 8 years ago

It did but The Cleveland Show already did that parody.

[–] swimboy818-671-821618 8 years ago

I didn't parody the title of the episode AND parody the plot of Die Hard. I simply parodied the title, since "Hard" rhymed with "Shard". Not to mention that Die Hard 2 was a Christmas film and this episode takes place around Christmas.

[–] swimboy818-671-821618 8 years ago

It would have the obligatory flashbacks/cutaways. As I said before, I haven't completely fleshed it out yet. As for the jokes, I do understand that only a certain audience would understand them. It's just that I was so frustrated by the "references for the sake of references" humor of recent episodes that I wanted to try and write some more subtle jokes. I suppose the challenge is finding the balance between too blatant and too subtle.

Regarding the first joke, I admittedly have not seen Saw, so I did not realize I was inadvertently referencing it in the joke. The humor behind it, like I said, is because not only is Peter so out of touch that he thinks Nintendo's Gameboy is popular, but he thinks that a literal boy who likes to play games is the exact same thing. Humor based on wordplay, which is accentuated by the character's stupidity.

Another thing is that a lot of the jokes I write tend to be for my own amusement, rather then a general audience's. As I said in the first paragraph, I was growing incredibly sick of the nonsensical references without any method to the madness. At the very least, I tried not to make the references blatant in the jokes I wrote. Obviously there's no chance that this idea will ever become an actual episode, so I don't really need to worry about writing jokes that will appeal to a majority of people. If other's found these jokes to be funny, that's wonderful, but ultimately I'm the one I'm writing for.

[–] KYLE-D 8 years ago

... but ultimately I'm the one I'm writing for.

Fair enough & you're spot on in finding a balance. We've all seen FG overly explaining a joke which occasionally ruins it.
One that worked was Michael J. Fox as Zorro, even though the visual payoff was obvious, it still worked [I thought] because it didn't tell the audience what we were going to see.

[–] checkina-64571 8 years ago

Lol hilarious!

[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 8 years ago

How about an episode where Peter drags the whole gang to Brony Con? Or if Stewie becomes a Brony, he and Brian go to Brony Con? We could get a Road To Brony Con episode.

Brony who is a Metallica fan

[–] houstonhacker 8 years ago

What is a bronycon?

[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 8 years ago

It's a convention attended by Bronies.

Brony who is a Metallica fan

[–] swimboy818-671-821618 8 years ago

Here's another joke I thought of for the episode.

ENT. The Griffin House

Lois: Peter, you better get it right this time! I lost track of how many inappropriate gifts you've bought for the children!

Peter: Nonsense! Don't you remember what I got for Stewie last Christmas?

Lois:..You bought him a pack of Winston cigarettes?

Peter: But there were kids on the commercial!

*cutaway gag*

*Peter is watching a 50s themed TV channel*

Announcer: We'll be right back to I Love Lucy after these messages!

*a Winston cigarettes commercial plays featuring the Flintstones. Bam-Bam is seen smoking a cigarette*

[–] checkina-64571 8 years ago

Awesome.