Stewie Goes for a Drive

The plot depicts actor Ryan Reynolds moving into the house across the street, and Peter Griffin befriending him.

First announced at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, the episode was written by Gary Janetti and directed by Julius Wu.

[1][2] First announced at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con by series showrunners Steve Callaghan and Mark Hentemann,[3] the episode was written by Gary Janetti.

[7] Series regulars Peter Shin and James Purdum served as supervising director, with Andrew Goldberg, Alex Carter, Spencer Porter, Anthony Blasucci, Mike Desilets, and Deepak Sethi serving as staff writers for the episode.

[4] An announcement of Reynolds' appearance in the episode was made at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, along with several other guest voice actors for the season.

[11] Later, as Brian and Stewie drive home from his day care, they listen to the 2006 single "Before He Cheats" on the car's radio, sung by American Idol winner Carrie Underwood.

[12] Stewie then runs away from home, leaving a video message for Brian asking Brian to rescue him in a TV-movie-clichéd way at the airport, and to bring appropriate soundtrack music, suggesting "With or Without You" by U2, "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel, "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield, "Live Like We're Dying" by Kris Allen, "Thank You" by Dido, and "Somebody" by Depeche Mode.

[4] "Stewie Goes for a Drive" was broadcast on November 6, 2011, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by The Simpsons and Allen Gregory, and followed by Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane's second show, American Dad!.

It was watched by 5.73 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, despite airing simultaneously with Desperate Housewives on ABC, The Good Wife on CBS, and Sunday Night Football on NBC.

The episode also acquired a 3.0/7 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating Allen Gregory and American Dad, in addition to significantly edging out both shows in total viewership.

"[10] He continued, "He may not fit an empirical definition of a movie star, but I think he’s worth more as a guest than a tired trope like playing himself as a sexual predator towards Peter.

In the third act, Stewie is trapped at Consuela's house and Peter hadn't succumbed to Reynolds' repetitive and slowly escalating advances or done anything about them, so the show snaps its fingers and ends each one prematurely.

[10] In a much more positive review, Terron R. Moore of Ology criticized the episode for not featuring Griffin family siblings Chris and Meg, but praised the series for adopting a Stewie-centric storyline.

"[11] Andy Neuenschwander of Yidio also gave mixed reaction to the episode, writing, "Something happens whenever a celebrity shows up on "Family Guy" and plays themselves.