The Kiss Seen Around the World
| "The Kiss Seen Around the World" | |
|---|---|
| Family Guy episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 3 Episode 8 |
| Directed by | Pete Michels |
| Written by | Mark Hentemann |
| Production code | 3ACX02 |
| Original air date | August 29, 2001 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Credited:
Uncredited:
| |
| Episode chronology | |
"The Kiss Seen Around the World" is the eighth episode from the third season of the FOX animated series Family Guy. It is the 36th episode to be aired, and the first aired episode produced for the season. The episode is rated TV-PG-DV on Fox and TV-14 on Adult Swim. It was written by Mark Hentemann and directed by Pete Michels, both firsts in the Family Guy series.
The scenes in this episode featuring slow motion use more frames of animation than other scenes. The episode features guest performances of Michael Chiklis, Gary Cole, Hugh Downs, Ralph Garman, D.D. Howard, Phil LaMarr, Josh Peck, Tara Strong, Nicole Sullivan, Abe Vigoda, and Lisa Wilhoit, as well as several recurring voice actors for the series.
Plot summary
Channel 5 announces that they want two high school interns. Meg, who has a crush on news anchor Tom Tucker, applies and is selected entirely due to her relative unattractiveness. The other intern turns out to be Neil Goldman, who himself has a crush on Meg, though Meg finds him repulsive. When the Mass Media Murderer threatens to kill Hugh Downs atop City Hall, Tom and Diane decide to send the interns to cover the event (rather than go themselves, thinking that the Murderer will kill anyone who arrives at the scene). The news copter is shot down. Fearing death and lamenting that she never got her first kiss, Meg kisses Neil, but Hugh Downs captures the Mass Media Murderer. That very night, Neil shows the kiss on the news but does not mention that she only kissed him because she thought she was going to die. Everyone now thinks that he and Meg are a couple. The next day, Neil gives everyone at school a T-shirt showing the kiss, and that evening Meg has to suffer through a dinner with his parents. In return, Meg goes on TV to declare that she hates Neil Goldman, and that she only kissed him because she thought she was going to die. She then conducts on-the-street interviews, asking if anyone would kiss Neil. No one would; even Mort Goldman, Neil's father. She declares that she never liked him, and never will. A despondent Neil threatens to jump off the City Hall roof. Meg's image of Tom Tucker is shattered when she realizes he does not want to save Neil, but just get a funny story for ratings. Neil falls, but Meg breaks his fall. She tells him that just because she does not like him, it does not mean she wants him to kill himself. Neil tells her that he did not want to kill himself.
Meanwhile, Peter and Lois buy Stewie a tricycle, which Stewie absolutely loves. A bully steals Stewie's tricycle. He gets no help from the police and, when he attempts to bulk up to fight the bully, a gym just tries to hard-sell him a membership. In retaliation, Stewie captures the bully with a net launcher and ties him up in the basement to interrogate him. However, just as Stewie is about to start torturing the bully, Lois appears with the tricycle, which she found abandoned on the street.
In another subplot, at the beginning of the episode, a man calls Peter a phony, because he pretended to play a keyboard to a pre-recorded soundtrack at the toy store where Stewie's tricycle is bought. The man then proceeds to paint PHONY on Peter's car and humiliate him in public. The episode ends with the man calling Neil a phony when he reveals he was never planning to jump.
Production
This episode was written by Mark Hentemann and directed by Pete Michels, both firsts in the Family Guy series, during the course of the third production season.
In addition to the regular cast, Actors : Michael Chiklis, Hugh Downs, Josh Peck, Abe Vigoda ; Voice Actors : Gary Cole, Ralph Garman, D.D. Howard, Phil LaMarr ; Voice Actresses : Tara Strong, Nicole Sullivan and Actress Lisa Wilhoit guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest Voice Actor Lori Alan, Writers : Mike Barker, Johnny Brennan, Mark Hentemann and Danny Smith, and Actor Adam West, who portrays an exaggerated version of himself, also made minor appearances. In addition to his role of Chris Griffin, Seth Green repeated his role of Neil Goldman in the episode.
References
- S. Callaghan, “Kiss Seen Around the World.” Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 152–155.
External links
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