WARNING: Graphic
Content!!!
Do NOT push play if you don't want to see the explicit video!!!
Don't
have active x controls?
Download the clip
(right click and choose "save target as"
Family Guy on Fox
Somehow the “420” episode of
Family Guy managed to escape being named Worst TV Show of the Week
when it originally aired on April 19th. (For those that don’t know,
“420” is code for marijuana. And for those that do know what it means, they
probably forgot about the show immediately after they watched it.) Well, a
rerun of the episode aired on June 6th, giving the PTC a second
chance to decry a program that rightfully deserved to be called Worst TV
Show of the Week.
In this episode, Brian – the
family dog – is arrested after a small baggie of marijuana falls out of his
leash in front of a policeman. Upon his release, he becomes an activist for the
legalization of marijuana. To help get his message across, Stewie couches
Brian’s political propaganda in a snazzy musical number. Here’s a portion of
the lyrics along with the accompanying action on the screen:
Ensemble: “When Texas people wanna feel good”
Stewie: “They go assault a queer.”
[Stewie rides on top of a gay man who is down on all fours.]
Ensemble: “When stupid people need a thrill,”
Stewie: “They rent The Rocketeer.”
Ensemble: “When Michael Jackson needs a rush,”
Stewie: “He humps a guy like me.”
[Stewie stands on top of the bed where Michael Jackson is
lying beneath the sheets.]
Ensemble: “Right!”
All: “But all we need is a bag of weed,
To keep us worry free.
One, Two, Three, HO!
A Bag of Weed, A Bag of Weed
Oh, everything is better with A Bag of Weed
Oh, you don't need meth and you don't need speed…
[Two drug addicts are on a park bench. One is about to smoke
a meth pipe while the other is about to shoot up with a needle. Stewie throws
away the pipe and needle while the crowd hands them a each a large bag of
marijuana.]
…because everything is better with A Bag of Weed.”
Stewie: “Have a go, Brian!”
Brian: “As Mr. H.L. Menken said, ‘The common man's a fool.’ “
Stewie: “And just like Helen Keller said, ‘Poof do kee dee
poh pool.’ “
Brian: “But try and use your heads and don't buy into all the
fear.”
All: “HEY!
'Cuz all we need is a bag of weed
To make us wanna cheer!
And One, Two!
A Bag of Weed, A Bag of Weed
Oh, everything is better with A Bag of Weed
You can try and fight but we're all agreed
Because everything is better with A Bag of Weed.”
As a result of the groundswell
of support, the mayor legalizes marijuana and the town falls into a soporific
haze of contented laziness.
This gratuitous glorification
of drug use belies the seriousness of the problem. Clearly, given the timing of
the original broadcast, this episode was meant to commemorate the supposed
holiday on 4/20 and the musical number intentionally designed to be a pothead
classic. Yet, for the millions of adolescent viewers that watched the show, its
pro-marijuana stance irresponsibly sends them the message that illegal drug use
is okay. In fact, it makes everything better. For condoning drug use and for
conveying a dangerous message to the youth of America, the June 6th
rerun of Family Guy rightfully deserves the title of Worst TV Show
of the Week.
Parents Television Council,
www.parentstv.org, PTC,
Clean Up TV Now, Because our children are watching, The
nation's most influential advocacy organization, Protecting
children against sex, violence and profanity in
entertainment, Parents Television Council Seal of Approval,
and Family Guide to Prime Time Television
are trademarks of the Parents Television Council.
