I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar

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“I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar”
Family Guy episode

Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 3
Guest stars	Candice Bergen
Written by	Chris Sheridan
Directed by	Monte Young
Production no.	2ACX08
Original airdate	March 28, 2000
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List of Family Guy episodes

"I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar" is an episode from the second season of the FOX animated television series Family Guy. Candice Bergen guest starred as Gloria Ironbachs.

This episode is included in the Freakin' Sweet Collection. The fact that this episode was first aired on March 28, 2000, the same day as the previous episode, "The King Is Dead," caused series creator Seth Macfarlane to be concerned the show was soon to be canceled. (Callaghan, 2005: 72)

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

At the start of this episode, Peter and the neighbors receive an advertisement in the mail indicating that they will receive free boats if they attend a timeshare sales pitch. However, during a high-pressure sales interview, Peter trades the boat for the "mystery box", which turns out to contain tickets for a comedy club. At the club, Peter becomes drunk and attempts to tell jokes on stage. Before his brief performance (during which he mostly abuses the audience), he places his beer in his pocket upside-down, spilling it down his pants. The audience, amused that Peter looks like he wet himself, laughs hysterically.

Peter, however, believes his humor to be a hit. Continuing his hubris, Peter tells a sexist joke at his job at the toy factory. This offends a female coworker, whose lawyer, Gloria Ironbachs (a parody of feminist lawyer Gloria Allred), offers to drop the charges if Peter goes to a sensitivity training program. It has no effect, however, so he is sent to a women's retreat. He continues to make insensitive comments until he endures pain comparable to childbirth (taking his bottom lip and stretching it behind his head). By the time he returns home, he has become very effeminate, prompting Chris to cry, "Oh my god, Dad's a chick!". At first, Lois appreciates Peter's new sensitive nature, but soon tires of it. In desperation, she asks Peter's friends for help. His friends try in vain to bring him back to normal, but Peter is not restored until Lois and Gloria get into a sexy catfight, during which their clothes are ripped off.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cultural references

The title of the episode is from the chorus of pop singer Helen Reddy's 1972 song "I Am Woman."
One of the Griffins’ neighbors is meant to resemble 1970s-era cartoon character Fat Albert but Peter says it is actually actress Della Reese.
When Peter goes to the Workplace Sensitivity Training course, there is an advertisement which says, "Tomorrow: the Dyslexic Film Society Presents Chevy Chase in 'Feltch'". This is reference to the 1985 movie Fletch which stars Chevy Chase. The film title is deliberately misspelt to match the name of a sexual practice.
In the bus, Peter says to the women "I'll be Charlie, and you can all be my angels". This is a reference to the movie Charlie's Angels, where Charlie is a man who employs three women to work for him (his "angels"). Peter then points at a relatively fat woman and tells her "Except for you. You can be Bosley." referring to Charlie's (male) assistant, Bosley.
The pain of childbirth being "taking your bottom lip and pulling it over your head," was inspired by Bill Cosby's standup routine about his first child and what he and his wife went through in the delivery room.
During the catfight between Lois and Gloria, a baker came out of the kitchen carrying ten banana cream pies and singing, "Ten banana cream pies!" He was then knocked down by Lois and Gloria's fighting. This is a reference to the old "falling baker" films from Sesame Street that aired in the 70s and 80s.
Peter mentions that Gloria Ironbachs and Camille Paglia will both "whip it out" and see who is bigger. Camille Paglia is a Freudian literary critic who slams modern-day feminism. It is also of note that her last name is mispronounced on this episode (and when she's mentioned on the American Dad episode "Stan Knows Best"). Her last name is pronounced "Pall-e-a", not "Pag-lee-a".