It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One

The episode was directed by Zac Moncrief and written by cast member Alex Borstein (who went credited under the pen name of a.bo) whose script was based on a one-woman show she had previously written that served as a tribute to Hillary Clinton; Borstein later wrote a novelization of the episode in collaboration with fellow series writer Cherry Chevapravatdumrong.

While Lois bores voters with detailed plans to improve the city, Mayor West uses glittering generalities and statements completely unrelated to the questions posed to him.

Following Brian's advice to give short, simple answers, Lois resorts to similar tactics, dropping controversial terms such as "Jesus" and "9/11" in meaningless ways.

Peter has also succumbed to the perks of being the mayor's husband: he has rerouted the town's electrical system and caused rolling blackouts to bring late comedian Jim Varney back from the dead (he does nothing but talk, playing his character Ernest, and repeatedly refer to "Vern".)

Despite West's blatant act of assault with a deadly weapon and three homicides, no one in Quahog defends themselves against him, attempts to restrain him, or question his moral judgment to be mayor.

Another scene, featuring the Screaming Black Dolphins from "I Take Thee, Quagmire" was also cut from the broadcast version of the episode due to time constraints, but is included on DVD releases.

Gary Newman, President of 20th Century Fox, voiced a man in the audience when Lois held a press conference.

[3] In addition to Newman and the regular cast, voice actors Jeff Bergman, Keith Ferguson, and Fred Tatasciore, actors Gary Cole, Jackson Douglas, Carrie Fisher, Masam Holden, and Don Most, and news anchor and political commentator Keith Olbermann, also supplied voices.

[4] Recurring voice actors Lori Alan, Johnny Brennan, and Alex Breckenridge, and writers Mark Hentemann, Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin, and John Viener made minor appearances.

[5][6] As Stewie and Brian decide to go berry-picking in the forest, actor Don Most slowly rises from the fog nearby as a chorus sings about his role as Ralph on the ABC sitcom Happy Days[6] to the melody of the title song from Brigadoon.

[7] Having lost their hair from the lake's pollution, the Griffins are at home wearing powdered wigs, an effect that compels Stewie to play several classical compositions on a harpsichord, including those by Joseph Haydn and Georg Friedrich Handel, with Peter appearing as Antonio Salieri.

[8] Horror-movie legend Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th movie series appeared twice in this episode, carrying his trademark blood-drenched machete.

Brett Love of TV Squad noted that the story was very similar to the season two episode "Running Mates", but thought it was "pretty solid" with "some great moments.