Brian Griffin's House of Payne
"Brian Griffin's House of Payne" is the 15th episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy.
The episode features Brian after he discovers an old script he had written that Stewie found in the basement, and subsequently pitches the show to television executives.
The show is quickly and dramatically altered by the executives and James Woods, however, much to Brian's frustration, who nevertheless attempts to adapt to the new format.
Meanwhile, Chris and Meg attempt to hide the fact that Stewie is unconscious, and has a severe head injury after they accidentally bump him down a flight of stairs in the house.
[5] According to Shannon Smith, producer for Family Guy, half-way through production of the sequence, they instead decided to approach Atmosphere Visual Effects, a Vancouver-based animation company who had previously worked on shows like Battlestar Galactica and Stargate.
[5] "Brian Griffin's House of Payne", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guy's eighth 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.
In addition, voice actress Jennifer Birmingham, writer Rob Lotterstein, and actors Charlie Sheen and Elijah Wood guest star as themselves.
Recurring guest voice actor Ralph Garman and writers Mark Hentemann, Chris Sheridan, Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin and John Viener also made minor appearances.
[5] In the opening scene of the episode, a Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars-inspired space fight is shown between Stewie, Rupert, and a giant spaceship in the shape of Peter's head, along with a series of lookalike TIE fighters.
[3] In addition, Stewie paraphrases a series of lyrics from the 1972 single "Rocket Man" by singer-songwriter and composer Elton John.
"[12] In a more positive review, Jason Hughes of TV Squad noted that "both storylines were funny to their respective ends," in addition to praising James Woods' performance in the episode.
[2] Ramsey Isler of IGN criticized Brian's plotline, writing that it "really didn't work as comedy" and "if the episode had been entirely about Stewie's predicament, it might have been much better".
