4/3/23, 3:34 AM Mind Over Murder - Wikipedia

Mind Over Murder

"Mind Over Murder" is the fourth episode of the first
season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It "Mind Over Murder"
originally aired on Fox in the United States on Family Guy episode
April  25,  1999.[2][3] The episode features Peter after he is Episode no. Season 1
placed under house arrest, and decides to open his own bar in
Episode 4
the family's basement. The bar immediately becomes a success
among Peter's male friends when his wife, Lois, begins to sing Directed by Roy Allen
and dance in front of them while wearing revealing clothing. Smith[1]
Meanwhile, Stewie attempts to create a time travel device in Written by Neil Goldman
order to escape the pain of teething.
Garrett
The episode was written by Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan[1]
Donovan and directed by Roy Allen Smith, all series firsts. Production code 1ACX03[1]
Much of the episode's humor is structured around cutaway
Original air date April 25, 1999[1]
sequences that parody popular culture, including those
centered on The Chronicles of Narnia, Sesame Street, Guest appearances
Homicide: Life on the Street, Mentos, and the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln. The title "Mind Over Murder" was inspired Lori Alan as Diane Simmons
by 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio Carlos Alazraqui
thriller anthology Suspense, which featured several elements
pertaining to death and murder. The episode featured Butch Hartman
performances by guest stars Carlos Alazraqui, Butch Hartman, Mike Henry as Cleveland
Alex Rocco, Leslie Uggams and Wally Wingert, along with Brown
several recurring voice actors for the series.
Wally Wingert as the
The episode received praise from IGN television critic Ahsan Pawtucket Patriot / Bert
Haque for its storyline and use of cultural references.[4] Alex Rocco as Soccer Mom
Leslie Uggams as herself
Plot
Stewie is in terrible pain from teething and cannot find comfort anywhere. When his mother Lois
tells him that his pain will ultimately pass, it gives him the idea to build a machine that will move
time forward to the point where his teething will have already stopped. Meanwhile, Lois tells Peter
to drive their son Chris to his soccer match, then come right back to look after Stewie. However,
Peter's friend Quagmire is there, and has brought beer, so Peter decides to ignore Lois and stay at
the game. While there, another member of the crowd insults Chris. Enraged, Peter punches the
individual in the face, only to discover that it is a pregnant woman who looks and sounds like a
man.

Peter is put under house arrest for assault and soon begins to miss his friends. Peter has a vision of
the Pawtucket Patriot, a fictional ale mascot, from his ale can label and on his advice opens a bar in
his basement so that his friends can come to visit. The basement bar soon becomes a local hotspot.
Lois is upset about this, until she gets a chance to sing on stage before an appreciative crowd. As
she savors the spotlight over the next few days, Peter becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the
attention she is getting, especially from the male patrons. Peter demands that she quit singing, but
she refuses.

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After his house arrest term ends, Peter is soon cornered by the neglected wives of his bar's patrons,
and invites them to drag their husbands out from his bar. Meanwhile, Stewie’s time machine plans
are accidentally discovered by Lois, who shows them around to the bar's patrons. Angered and
upset that his plans have been discovered, Stewie runs upstairs. Soon after, the wives storm the
bar and Lois tells them that she only wants to feel appreciated and special, something to which all
the other women relate. Meanwhile, Quagmire accidentally starts a fire.

Upstairs, Stewie takes drastic measures to protect his plans, programming the machine to go back
in time before he drew them up. In the bar, Peter and Lois have a heart-to-heart conversation, and
they do not immediately notice that the bar is burning. When they try to escape, the stairs become
blocked and they are trapped. Stewie reverses time just as Peter is having an epiphany about how
poorly he treats Lois, and seconds before the basement bar goes up in flames. They all travel back
in time, to when Lois asked Peter to take Chris to the game. While he is getting ready, Peter trips
on Stewie's time machine, destroying it and injuring his leg, thus preventing him from taking Chris
to his soccer match, while Stewie is left to suffer with more teething pain.

Production
"Mind Over Murder" was written by Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan
and directed by Roy Allen Smith, all of whom made their series debut
with this episode. Peter Shin, who has since supervised other episodes of
the show, acted as supervising director.[2] Writer Andrew Gormley and
voice actor Mike Henry acted as staff writers in this episode, while Ricky
Blitt and Chris Sheridan worked as the story editors.[2] In addition to
the regular cast, the episode featured the voices of actors Leslie Uggams,
Wally Wingert, Alex Rocco and Carlos Alazraqui.[2] Recurring guest
voice actors included actress Lori Alan and writer and animator Butch
Hartman.[2]
Butch Hartman guest
The title "Mind Over Murder", like the titles of the first three episodes of starred in this episode.
the season, was inspired by 1930s and 1940s radio programs,
particularly the radio thriller anthology Suspense, which featured
several elements pertaining to death and murder. This convention was dropped in the fifth episode
of the season, "A Hero Sits Next Door",[5][6] partly to make the episodes easier to distinguish by
their titles.[6][7]

Cultural references
When Lois confronts Peter about the mess he is making in their house, he says he is terrible at
housework. From this comes a cutaway which shows Peter doing the laundry. When he climbs into
the machine in search of a missing sock, he falls into a wintry world where he encounters Mr.
Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia.[8]

While Peter is under house arrest, he states that he is getting bored with everything in the house,
including the television shows, which he feels have blended together.[4] A cutaway features Bert
and Ernie from the children's television series Sesame Street, in a mix with the crime drama
Homicide: Life on the Street.[4]

When the Griffin family is watching television they see a commercial for Mentos-brand mints,[4]
which features the American stage actor John Wilkes Booth as he attempts to assassinate Abraham
Lincoln.[4]

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When Stewie starts to feel pain around the inside of his mouth, Lois notices and states that he is
teething. Stewie quickly responds by asking her to kill him, or to shake him like a British nanny, a
reference to the Louise Woodward case.[4]

Reception
In his 2008 flashback review, Ahsan Haque of IGN praised the episode, rating it a 9/10, praising
the "integration between the random jokes and the storyline", in comparison to later episodes. He
criticized the "one-dimensional" nature of Stewie's character, but was impressed by the amount of
story featured in this half-hour episode.[4] In another article, Haque named Stewie's time machine
plan from "Mind Over Murder" number five in his list of "Stewie's Top 10 Most Diabolical Evil
Plans".[9]

Robin Pierson of The TV Critic gave the episode a mixed review, with a 55%. rating. Pierson
praised the episode's plot, the handling of Peter and Stewie, and some of the cutaways.[8] He
criticized the relationship between Lois and Peter as unconvincing. At the end of his review he
stated, "Family Guy doesn’t seem to have found the right balance yet between silliness and
seriousness. So far its plots have been either irrelevant or emotionally unappealing. This was also a
bit short on good jokes."[8]

References
1. Callaghan, p. 26
2. "Family Guy – Mind Over Murder Cast and crew" (https://web.archive.org/web/2012101710090
4/https://tv.yahoo.com/episode/1546/castcrew). Yahoo!. Archived from the original (https://tv.ya
hoo.com/episode/1546/castcrew) on October 17, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
3. Callaghan, Steve (2005). "Mind Over Murder" (https://archive.org/details/familyguyofficia00call/
page/26). Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide, Seasons 1–3. New York City:
HarperCollins. pp. 26–29 (https://archive.org/details/familyguyofficia00call/page/26). ISBN 0-
06-083305-X.
4. Haque, Ahsan (May 12, 2012). "Family Guy Flashback: "Mind Over Murder" Review" (https://w
ww.ign.com/articles/2008/06/10/family-guy-flashback-mind-over-murder-review). IGN.
Retrieved April 2, 2022.
5. Haque, Ahsan (17 June 2008). "Family Guy Flashback: "A Hero Sits Next Door" Review" (http
s://www.ign.com/articles/2008/06/17/family-guy-flashback-a-hero-sits-next-door-review). IGN.
Retrieved 2 April 2022.
6. Goldman, Eric (16 March 2006). "William S. Paley TV Fest: Family Guy" (https://www.ign.com/
articles/2006/03/16/william-s-paley-tv-fest-family-guy). IGN. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
7. Callaghan, p. 32
8. Pierson, Robin (August 7, 2009). "Episode 3: Mind Over Murder" (http://thetvcritic.org/mind-ov
er-murder/). The TV Critic. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
9. Haque, Ashan (July 31, 2008). "Family Guy: Stewie's Top 10 Most Diabolical Plans" (https://ww
w.ign.com/articles/2009/02/03/family-guy-stewies-top-10-most-diabolical-plans). IGN.
Retrieved April 2, 2022.

External links
Television portal

"Mind Over Murder" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0576948/) at IMDb

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