Mr. Saturday Knight

"Mr. Saturday Knight"

“Mr. Saturday Knight” is an episode of Family Guy. Guest-starring Will Ferrell as the Black Knight, R. Lee Ermey as the Renaissance Fair drill instructor, Adam Carolla as Death, and Jimmy Kimmel as Death’s dog.

The title refers both to the movie Mr. Saturday Night and (less so) to Saturday Night Live, where Will Ferrell was a cast member.

Plot summary

When [[[Peter Griffin|Peter]] appears at “Career Day” for Chris’s class, the kids are not impressed with his menial job at the toy factory; even nerdy pharmacist Mort Goldman receives a better response. Peter begins to worry that he is stuck at a dead-end job within the company, so Lois encourages him to invite his boss, Mr. Weed, to dinner. The occasion proceeds surprisingly well, and Mr. Weed is quite impressed with Peter’s home, family and “funny talking dog.” When he mentions that he will promote Peter to head of toy development, Brian begins choking on a dinner roll. When Peter and Lois try to get it out with the heimlich maneuver, it ejects out of Brian’s mouth and into Mr. Weed’s mouth, causing him to choke on it, and he dies. Suddenly, someone pounds on the front door and announces that the police are conducting a random dead body search; Peter panics and attempts to flush Mr. Weed’s body down the toilet. Death (Adam Carolla) enters and admits that he was just joking about the police search.

At Mr. Weed’s funeral, Peter pathetically attempts to convince his co-workers of Mr. Weed’s dying promise to promote him (via a mustachioed hand puppet). Weed’s videotaped will, however, reveals that immediately after his death, the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory is to be demolished to make way for the Happy-Go-Lucky Terminal Disease Institute. As promised, the building is immediately razed and all workers are fired.

Peter experiences difficulties in finding a new career, and even tries to become a cheap hooker. Lois reminds him of his long-standing dream of becoming a Renaissance Fair jouster. In a flashback, Peter remembers how he had a bad acid trip as a teenager. He jumped from a roof while attempting to fly and was saved by the Black Knight (Will Ferrell) on horseback. Peter enrolls in joust training with Mort Goldman, displaying enthusiasm but little patience for speaking in “ye”s and “thou”s. When the Black Knight’s girlfriend flirts with Peter, the Knight bullies him into leaving the Fair. Peter remains inconsolable despite his family’s encouragement but decides to watch the joust from the stands.

Unsurprisingly, the Black Knight defeats all challengers, inspiring Mort to flee in terror before their horses near each other. The Knight notices Peter in the stands and begins berating him. Suddenly determined to defeat the Black Knight, Peter challenges him. Certain doom is averted when the Black Knight is distracted by an announcement that his Hyundai is being towed (by a vengeful Mort Goldman). Peter unhorses him and wins the competition. Peter refuses an offer to join the Ren Fair as their new champion jouster, and the family leaves for home.

Notes

• One of the classmates of Chris is also seen in “To Love and Die in Dixie” but features as Chris’s crush, Barbara.
• In the DVD commentary for this episode, MacFarlane comments that the censors would not allow them to use the term “half and half” in the scene where Peter tries out prostitution as a job. The censors did allow the term “Cleveland steamer,” which MacFarlane cheerfully admitted is a much more vile, if lesser known, concept. Most viewers would assume it had something to do with Cleveland Brown.
• For the end credits, a “medieval” version of the theme song is heard.
• According to Seth MacFarlane on the DVD commentary track for this episode, the estate of Rodgers and Hammerstein asked that an unrelated “fart joke” be removed from the script before approving the use of the song “So Long, Farewell.”
• In the episode, the leader of the jousting troupe is voiced by R. Lee Ermey, best known for his portrayal of a drill instructor in the movie Full Metal Jacket. Here, he reprises his character to produce the jousting instructor.
• This episode marks the last appearance of Peter’s boss, Mr. Weed and the first appearance of Ollie Williams, who shouts, “IT’S GON’ RAIN!”

Cultural references

• On the Family Guy Volume 1 DVD (Region 1 only), there is an animatic of a deleted scene where Brian comments that Peter hasn’t been this happy since he met Chevy Chase, followed by a cutaway where Peter answers the door, only to find Chevy Chase begging Peter to call an ambulance after having survived a car crash. Peter thinks this is a joke and lets Chase die on his doorstep, assuming that Chevy is impersonating Gerald Ford (like Chase did when he was a cast member on Saturday Night Live).
• The Renaissance Fair juggler refers to Asian Reporter Trisha Takanawa as “bride of Genghis,” referring to 13th century Asian conqueror Genghis Khan.
• Stewie plays Mad Libs based on the fairy tale Cinderella.
• Margot Kidder’s behavior at the Griffins’ house is a reference to the manic-depressive actress’s 1996 mental breakdown [1].
• A flashback shows Peter on the 1970s educational show The Electric Company.
• To impress Mr. Weed, the children sing “So Long, Farewell” from the musical The Sound of Music.

File:FGMrSaturdayKnight2.jpg

The jousting drill instructor (R. Lee Ermey) asks Peter if he would like to make 16th Century mathematician Johannes Kepler his “bitch.”

• We learn the original surname of Mr. Weed family was Bermudagrass. Bermuda grass, while prized for its hardiness, is sometimes considered to be a weed. Both are also slang terms for marijuana.
• Peter’s eulogy at Mr. Weed’s funeral drifts into the opening of the television series The Incredible Hulk.
• Chris watches a rerun of the 1970s popular game show Match Game with host Gene Rayburn reading this question to the panel: “Forgetful Freddy was so forgetful, when he tried to remember someone’s name he drew a blank,” parodying the show’s use of fill-in-the-blank queries.
• When Lois drops Peter off at the renaissance fair, his car door opens up as if it were a suicide door.
• When Peter has a flashback to when the Black Knight saves him, he recalls taking LSD but being told that it was a cheeseburger.
• Mort says that he once took too many antihistamines and thought he was Planters mascot Mr. Peanut.
• In his speech, the jousting instructor says the cadets should be sexually excited by the concept of a geocentric universe, and that they should want to make astronomer Johannes Kepler their collective bitch.
• The “Mutton Jeff” food stall is a reference to the comic strip Mutt and Jeff.
• When Peter flirts with the Knight’s wench by seductively waving things in front of his face (including his mutton), it is a reference to a similar scene in the Woody Allen film Love and Death.
• When a server at the fair speaks in old English, Peter says “Listen you freak, we don’t all watch Frasier.”
• The monks reprise Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll (Part 2),” a popular song at sporting events, into a Gregorian chant.
• Lois says the ending of this episode reminds her of the episode of The Honeymooners in which Ralph lost his job and did not get it back by the end of the episode.
• Ollie Williams’ weather report, which shows him shouting “It’s Gonna Rain,” is possibly a reference to the Steve Reich piece of the same name, which heavily features a black preacher shouting the line in a similar manner.

References

• S. Callaghan, “Mr. Saturday Night.” Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 152–155.
• A. Delarte, “Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 3” in Bob’s Poetry Magazine, 2.August 2005: 44 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Au.pdf