And Then There Were Fewer

After discovering that Stephanie's body has disappeared and returning amidst accusations, James pleads innocence before he, too, is murdered in front of the guests by an unseen killer with a knife during a power outage, causing Priscilla to faint.

Jillian's husband, Derek Wilcox, goes to an upper balcony to find a cell phone signal and contact the police but is killed with James's Golden Globe Award.

Tom is thus believed to be the killer and is chased and caught by Peter, Joe, Carl, Dr. Hartman, Quagmire, Seamus, and Mayor Adam West.

Exposed, Diane holds Lois at gunpoint and reveals that she had secretly dated James until he dumped her on her 40th birthday, around which Tom arranged for her to be replaced by a younger woman as co-anchor.

[2] "And Then There Were Fewer" was the first episode of Family Guy to be broadcast in high definition,[3] with series showrunners Mark Hentemann and Steve Callaghan overseeing the transition.

[4] The original idea of the episode was sent to series showrunner and executive producer Hentemann in a text from Seth MacFarlane simply stating "murder mystery.

"[5] "And Then There Were Fewer", along with the two other episodes from Family Guy's ninth season, was released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on December 13, 2011.

The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy – Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.

[6][7] In addition to the regular cast, actress Drew Barrymore reprised her role as Jillian Russell, the former girlfriend of Brian; actor James Woods, in his fifth appearance in the series, reprised his role as the overly exaggerated version of himself; actress Ashley Tisdale (who is known for playing Candace Flynn on Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb, the show created by Family Guy alumnus Dan Povenmire) made her first official appearance on Family Guy as James Woods's girlfriend, Priscilla; and voice actor H. Jon Benjamin reprised his role as Quahog Market owner Carl.

[9] Recurring guest voice actors Lori Alan, John G. Brennan, Nicole Sullivan, Jennifer Tilly, and John Viener reprised their roles as news reporter Diane Simmons, Quahog pharmacist Mort Goldman, Muriel Goldman, Griffin family neighbor Bonnie Swanson, and Jillian's husband, Derek Wilcox, respectively.

Once the Griffin family arrives at the mansion, Lois remarks on the estate's beauty, wondering if television host Jeff Probst has a similar home.

As dinner commences, Carl begins conversing with Tom Tucker and discusses the plot of the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth, directed by Jim Henson.

[11] The finger is then pointed at Mayor West, who tells the group of his hardships on the social networking service Twitter, after Woods stole his originally intended username.

"And Then There Were Fewer" was broadcast on September 26, 2010, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by the season premiere of The Simpsons, and Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane's spin-off, The Cleveland Show.

Club's Emily VanDerWerff commented that she enjoyed "the 'a bunch of people go to an isolated place and start getting killed' murder mystery subgenre", and that the episode "made fun of the conceits of the genre".

[14] Jason Hughes of TV Squad also praised the episode's writers for doing a "solid job of creating a genuine mystery throughout the hour, keeping us guessing as to who did it and what their motive may have been".

[15] Hughes went on to comment positively on the episode's numerous guest stars, and compared its portrayal of Diane Simmons to that of The Simpsons character Sideshow Bob.

In the summary of her review, Zutter wrote that it was a "fun murder mystery that lets us see all our favorite Quahog folks", while continuing to wonder whether the characters who were killed off would remain dead.