Family Guy/Jerome Is the New Black

Jerome Is the New Black
Season 8, Episode 7
Airdate	November 22, 2009
Written by
Directed by
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Family Guy — Season Eight

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Jerome Is the New Black is the seventh episode of the eighth season of Family Guy, and the one hundred thirty-fourth episode overall.

This episode focuses on Peter and his friends, Joe and Quagmire searching for a fourth friend to replace Cleveland, who recently moved away. The subplot focuses on Brian's attempts to appease Quagmire after discovering he doesn't like him.

Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green, Mike Henry

Also Starring: Adam West (Mayor Adam West)

Plot Overview

Peter, Joe and Quagmire begin searching for a "fourth friend" to fill the void left by Cleveland's departure from Quahog. They eventually encounter a young man named Jerome, a black man who is playing darts at the Drunken Clam. Impressed by his personality and dart-playing skills, Jerome is quickly welcomed into the fold.

Things quickly go downhill when Peter invites Jerome over to introduce him to the family and learns from Lois that she and Jerome had a past relationship. Peter, fearful that romantic feelings between Jerome and Lois will rekindle, grows very jealous and begins verbally abusing his wife in demanding an end to the "relationship," even though Lois insists there are not now any romantic feelings between the two. One night, Peter - showing his racist feelings at the thought of an interracial relationship - throws a bottle through the window of Jerome's house, accidentally starting a fire when the projectile knocks over a lamp in the living room. The next morning, Peter finds a dejected Jerome at his kitchen table, as Lois has invited Jerome to stay with them until he finds a new place to live.

Peter is unable to contain his jealousy, and things come to a head after Jerome uses various sexual thrusts and maneuvers to save Lois from choking (Jerome had tried the Heimlich maneuver, but this failed). Eventually, Peter puts his foot down and orders Jerome to leave. Jerome - who had thanked Peter after thinking he was being generous for letting him stay at their house - is crushed. That night, Peter is looking forward to a night of sex, but an angry Lois shows Peter a gift that Jerome had given him. Peter realizes that his racist-fueled jealousy nearly caused him to ruin a promising friendship, and that night, he goes to the Drunken Clam to apologize to Jerome. Jerome accepts the apology ... then lets on that he had sex with Meg; Peter is OK with this.

Subplot

As Peter, Joe and Quagmire are screening potential friends, Brian learns that Quagmire harbors some ill will toward him. Brian tries unsuccessfully to find out why, failing badly when he mistakes Quagmire's sister for the latest in a long line of girlfriends (the girlfriend was a victim of abuse at her boyfriend's hands) and tricking him into a dinner date with Cheryl Tiegs. The latter finally causes everything to come out into the open, and in a no-holds barred Quagmire elaborately summarizes everything he hates about Brian:

• He is a hypocritical, shallow, alcoholic bore who is ungrateful for what others do for him.
• He hits on his best friend's wife (Lois).
• He idolizes Holden Caufield (the main character in The Catcher in the Rye) as a deep character; Quagmire considered both Holden and Brian to be spoiled, antisocial brats who are exactly alike.
• He pays no attention to his "illegitimate son" (Dylan, from "The Former Life of Brian").
• He is a stereotypical liberal who only complains without offering any meaningful solutions with merit. Quagmire claims that he helps out in a soup kitchen.
• He is a horrible writer, with his first book failing to sell (referring to the episode "420"),
• He thinks he's better than everyone because he drives a Toyota Prius and is an avowed atheist, even though he never graduated from college.
• He dates airheaded women by impressing them with pseudo-intellect and staying with them only for sex. Quagmire admits that he sleeps with women for their bodies, but absolves himself by saying that "at least I'm honest with them."

Quagmire then storms off, and Brian is stunned by everything he was told.

Brian returns home and comes into Stewie's room. Stewie notices that Brian had been crying, and in a rare tender moment, Stewie admits that he appreciates Brian for who he is and tells him that the only person he needs to please is himself. Brian cheers up, and then the two lay down to go to sleep. All's well ... until Brian passes gas.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Beltway Sniper Attacks - Peter's remark, "This whacked-out world! It just makes you want to grab your nephew and get in a van and shoot people in the D.C. area!" - upon learning that his actions resulted in Jerome's house being burned down - was a reference to the series of attacks in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, which resulted in the deaths of 10 people and injuries to three others.

• Family Ties - Two references to the 1980s sitcom starring Michael J. Fox:
  • On the night that Jerome's house burns down, he is watching an episode where Alex (Fox's character) is confronting Mallory's boyfriend, Nick, telling him that he doesn't like him, and Nick retorting that he plans to spend time with Mallory.
  • Later, after Peter kicks Jerome out of the house, Lois gives Peter the present Jerome gave him in gratitude - an actual garbage-art piece "made by Nick."

• Lucky Charms - The children's breakfast cereal is spoofed as "Kevin Connolly Charms," both in the cereal box artwork and the advertising campaign; the latter featured a midget Connolly being auditioned for membership in Peter's foursome, and Connolly becoming paranoid that they were after his food when Quagmire begins chasing him.

• The Muppet Show - A cutaway features Statler without Waldorf; the pair were the old men who sat in the opera box and heckled the performers.

• Mac OS X Operating System - The spinning wheel at the end of Act 2 (where Peter is trying to kick Jerome out of the house) is a reference to the waiting icon seen in the computer application of Macintosh-based systems.

• Three's Company - The character Mr. Furley makes a spot appearance after the scene where Jerome saves Lois from choking. Peter's remark, "Go back to being dead," is an allusion to the death of Don Knotts (the actor who played Mr. Furley) nearly four years earlier.

• Time-Life Music - The opening gag features a television advertisement for "The Rat Pack: Their Most Bigoted Songs" (featuring fictional performances by Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.).

• York Peppermint Patty - A cutaway features a spoof of the commercial advertising the chocolate-covered mint wafers.