Family Guy/To Love and Die in Dixie

To Love and Die in Dixie
Season 3, Episode 12
Airdate	November 15, 2001
Production Number	3ACX09
Written by	Steve Callaghan
Directed by	Dan Povenmire
← 3x11 Emission Impossible	3x13 → Screwed the Pooch
Family Guy — Season Three

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To Love and Die in Dixie is the twelfth episode of the third season of Family Guy, and the fortieth episode overall.

The episode centers around Chris, who - along with the rest of the Griffins - are placed in the Witness Protection Program (after he is threatened by an escaped convict) and re-located to a stereotypical hick town in the Deep South. There, Chris becomes confused about his sexuality after he enjoys a kiss on the lips with another teen-ager named Sam.

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

Also Starring: Brian Dunkelman, Dakota Fanning, Ralph Garman, Mike Henry (Cleveland Brown), Waylon Jennings, Rachael MacFarlane, Danny Smith, Kathleen Wilhoite

Plot Overview

Chris is invited to a birthday party of his junior high crush, Barbara, he gets a job as a newspaper delivery boy. Chris is repeatedly harassed by the Griffins' elderly neighbor, Herbert, who continues his effort to coax Chris into his home to seduce him. However, Chris is wise to every one of Herbert's efforts. At the party, Chris accidentally sprays the perfume in Barbara's eyes; she yells at him and tells him to go away. Chris cries in despair, "I'm so awkward!"

Later, Chris witnesses an armed robbery at a convenience store. The hoodlum is quickly captured, and at the police station, Chris provides a statement and is able to identify the robber in a police lineup. Peter - sent to pick up Chris - accidentally walks into the lineup room and, perhaps assuming that he is talking to a supervisory officer, gives the crook a picture of Chris with information about his class schedule and "greatest fears."

Later, the Griffins watch a breaking news bulletin where the crook escapes from prison and vows to exact revenge on Chris. The police and FBI are summoned and they decide that, until the robber is caught, the Griffins will be placed in the Witness Protection Program. They are sent to a tiny town in the Deep South called Bumblescum (the state is not specified). Bumblescum is a stereotypical hick town, with low-income gap-toothed residents living in ramshackle houses; outhouses are used to relieve themselves. The Griffins' new house is filthy, with its lone resident (aside from a Jeff Foxworthy-impersonator) being a raccoon, which attacks Peter several times.

As Lois tries to coordinate efforts to rehabilitate the decrepit shack into "a piece of crap," each of the Griffins have their own challenges fitting in with Southern society:

• Meg is enrolled in a one-room schoolhouse, where she (amazingly) becomes popular with her classmates.
• Stewie finds he enjoys playing the banjo and gets a gig in a jug band called Stewie and the Cowtones.
• Peter and Brian get jobs as sheriff and deputy of the Bumblescum Police Department. Peter, meanwhile, paints the family car to look like the General Lee, he even enters through the windows, much like Bo and Luke Duke, and - after an accident, trains Brian to do the same.

And Chris meets a teen-ager his age named Sam. Sam wears a cap, a plain white T-shirt and overalls. After doing typical teen-aged things, the two decide they are friends.

Meanwhile, Sam's father is coordinating a local Civil War re-enactment, revising it to where the South wins. Peter corrects the residents about their revisionist history and in the process, makes insulting comments about his fellow residents. Everyone is very angry at Peter and they chase after him and Brian in the makeshift General Lee. Eventually, Peter is cornered and - after realizing that Chris is Peter's son - Sam's dad says that Sam can't see Chris anymore. Sam bids Chris a sad farewell and kisses him on the lips.

A bewildered Chris, thinking that he was approached by a gay teenager, writes about his experience, noting that something "felt right" about the kiss. Later, Chris meets up with Sam again, where he explains that he likes him but only as a friend. Sam then suggests they go swimming, then when Sam undresses, it is revealed (by the bra, breasts and long hair, which was tucked under a cap) that Sam is a girl. Chris has some hesitation about entering into a relationship but does, and Sam reassures Chris that she accepts him, the two really hit it off.

Meanwhile, the robber eventually finds the Griffins home, only to find the FBI living there. The robber fools the addle-brained agents by asking where Meg Griffin is, and then goes to Bumblescum to exact his revenge on Chris. Chris and Sam, meanwhile, make a date for the upcoming hoedown, where Stewie and the Cowtones are hired as the entertainment.

After the hoedown, the robber arrives to see Sam and Chris talking. He takes Chris hostage and is about to kill him, but Sam's father arrives in time and shoots the robber. Peter realizes that, even though he insulted the town (and they had temporarily made good on a promise to make Peter fend for himself), they still were willing to protect the Griffins and uphold the law.

The Griffins - following a sad farewell between the two young lovers - go back home, only to find 113 messages on the answering machine ... all apparently from Herbert, who is wondering why Chris hasn't delivered his newspapers lately.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• "To Love and Die in Dixie" marked the final acting role for country music singer and actor Waylon Jennings. Jennings - here, reprising his role as the Balladeer from The Dukes of Hazzard, which was parodied throughout this episode - died of complications from diabetes in February 2002, about three months after this episode aired.

Allusions and References

• ALF and E! True Hollywood Story – One of the TV shows the Griffins watch is a spoof of the E! cable channel's documentary series, where ALF is interviewed about his years on his eponymously named situation comedy.

• Deliverance – Stewie joins a hillbilly jug band in a rural community in the southern United States, much like Ronny Cox's character does in the 1972 movie.

• "Dixie" – The episode title is a play on the last line of the refrain of the traditional Civil War song ("To live and die in Dixie.")

• The Dukes of Hazzard - Heavily referenced throughout the Griffins' stay in Bumblescum, the car is painted like the General Lee, Peter and Brian enter the car like Bo and Luke Duke, and the car makes a jump over a ravine (with a freeze in the action in mid-jump for Waylon Jennings to remark about the situation).

• Green Acres - One of the students in the Bumblescum School is a pig, much like Arnold Ziffel was enrolled at the Hooterville School in the 1960s situation comedy.

• Hee Haw - A segue between acts involves a Buck Owens-type character making a comment about the previous act.

• Jeff Foxworthy - A Jeff Foxworthy-lookalike is found in a closet at the Griffins' new home in Bumblescum; as part of the gag, he makes a joke in the vein of Foxworthy's "You Might Be a Redneck If ..." routine.

• McMillan and Wife – Brian, when hired as Peter's deputy, is introduced by the name of the 1970s crime drama starring Rock Hudson and Susan St. James.

• The Odd Couple – The FBI agents' opposite political leanings — one a conservative, the other a liberal — is a twist on the opposing sloppy/neat freak personalities of Oscar and Felix of the Neil Simon play (which became a movie and then a TV situation comedy).

• Simon and Garfunkel – A flashback recalls Peter's first job as a session musician with the 1960s folk-rock duo. Hit songs referenced include "Mrs. Robinson" and "Scarborough Fair/Canticle," each with Peter offering alternate lyrics that fail to impress the duo.

• Stand By Me – One of the things Chris and Sam do is view a dead body in a river, much like the boys did in the 1986 movie.

• T.J. Hooker - When he is hired as sheriff, Peter refers to himself as Sheriff T.J. Hooker, an allusion to the 1982-1986 ABC police drama.