Mike Henry Movies
Family Guy writer/producer/star Mike Henry first met series creator Seth MacFarlane while appearing alongside the funnyman in the student films of his brother Patrick Henry (who was at the time a classmate of MacFarlane's at the Rhode Island School of Design) and was involved with the animated Fox hit from the onset. In addition to his work as a behind-the-scenes talent and vocal contributor on Family Guy (on which he voices the character Cleveland Brown), Richmond, VA, native Henry has also helped to create the Internet video series "Kicked in the Nuts" and made vocal contributions to Robot Chicken and the MacFarlane-created series American Dad. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide- 2009
This Family Guy spinoff follows Cleveland Brown, who has moved from Quahog, R.I., to Stoolbend, Va., where he becomes a family guy himself -- settling down with his high-school flame and her unruly kids, as well as his own teenage son, Cleveland Jr. ~ Paul Droesch, All Movie Guide
Although poor ratings had compelled the Fox network to cancel its iconoclastic, cutting-edge cartoon series Family Guy at the end of its third season in 2002, the series' astonishing popularity in rerun form on cable's Cartoon Network coupled with the spectacular sales posted by the property's initial DVD release in 2003, prompted Fox to revive the show, with brand new episodes beginning in the spring of 2005. The first of the 14 comeback adventures of the supremely dysfunctional Griffin family is "North By North Quahog," which, in addition to its expected Hitchcockian undertones, manages to find time to skewer Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of the Christ. In later episodes, the Griffin's family dog, Brian, ends up as a substitute teacher for high-risk kids; dad Peter Griffin swallows a bunch of nickels, goes blind, and accidentally becomes a hero in a story that somehow also accommodates a guest voice appearance by Judd Hirsch; nebbishy neighbor Cleveland goes into "worm turns" mode when he is told that his wife, Loretta, has been fooling around with the libidinous Glen Quagmire; Peter takes an intelligence test and winds up losing custody of his kids (and his wife); Brian shows up as a contestant on "The Bachelorette," while son Chris Griffin is afflicted with a demonic talking pimple. Later, to pay his pharmacy bill, Peter sells daughter Meg to the druggist's son; mom Lois' kleptomania forces the family to take refuge in "Asian Town"; and Lois earns "real money" as a model in her spare time ("And so can you!"); after spending several months marooned on a desert island, Peter finds that he is even more expendable than Tom Hanks; and actor James Woods becomes Peter's very best friend -- and refuses to leave the house. Taking all this into consideration, the season finale, in which Peter and Lois go the Laverne & Shirley route at their local brewery, is as traditionalist as an episode of The Waltons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, (more)
- 2005
The sex-obsessed Quagmire thinks he'd died and gone to heaven when he is propositioned by Loretta, the bored wife of neighbor Cleveland. As for Loretta's husband, he has precisely no idea what's going on--no surprise, since he never has any idea of what's going on. Alerted by Peter and Brian, Cleveland finds out about his wife's indiscretion and plots a unique revenge--once the smoke stops spouting from his ears. This episode offers pop-cultural references to four of the Rocky films, as well as the extremely obscure series Kicked in the Nuts! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Richard (Edward Herrmann) wants to reconcile with Floyd Stiles (Lawrence Pressman), father of his business partner Jason (Christopher Eigeman), but this proves difficult for two reasons: Richard now knows of the relationship between Jason and Lorelai (Lauren Graham), and Floyd intends to sue both Richard and his own son for stealing his clients. Meanwhile, Rory (Alexis Bledel) blows her top when she learns that Dean (Jared Padalecki) has no intention of continuing his education. And Dean's wife Lindsay (Arielle Kebbel) finally figures out that her husband's heart still belongs to Rory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Lorelai (Lauren Graham) is so preoccupied with getting the Dragonfly up and running, and Rory (Alexis Bledel) is so busy trying to catch up with her college class work, that the two Gilmores keep missing each other on the phone. Nor is this the only problem facing the main characters in this episode: for example, Lorelai's dad Richard (Edward Herrmann) is shocked when his mother Trix (Marion Ross) suddenly treats him as disdainfully as she does his wife, Emily (Kelly Bishop). And having been kicked out of her own house, Lane (Keiko Agena) is making a total nuisance of herself on the Yale campus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Lorelei (Lauren Graham) is none too thrilled to find out that her interior decorator was previously hired by Emily (Kelly Bishop). Luke (Scott Patterson) adjusts himself to the rules of the Gilmores' "movie night" (Casablanca is the main attraction, as indicated by the episode's title), even as Lorelei tussles with Luke's cell-phone policy. Meanwhile at Yale, Paris (Liza Weil) squares off against her highly antisocial roomie Janet (Katie Walder); and, still unable to get over her breakup with Jess, Rory (Alexis Bledel) impulsively decides to date a guy who doesn't appeal to her at all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Peter (voice of Seth MacFarlane) and Lois (voice of Alex Borstein)' anniversary is coming up, and Lois isn't interested in gifts so much as romance. But Quagmire (MacFarlane) gets the guys a tee time at the fancy Barrington Country Club. Peter sends Lois on a "romantic" anniversary scavenger hunt (i.e. wild goose chase), so he can spend the morning golfing. Cleveland (voice of Mike Henry) can't play due to family obligations, but Peter insists on going forward. Then it starts to rain, and his friends go home, but Peter soldiers on. While Lois races around town searching for the clues he's left for her, Peter is struck by lightning on the golf course. Death (voice of Adam Carolla) makes another appearance, but he reassures Peter that he's just having an out-of-body, "near-death experience." Death warns Peter that Lois will divorce him one day. He can't put Peter back into his lifeless body until he has a revelation, but Peter can't seem to grasp the lesson that Death is trying to impart. He revisits his past -- his courtship of Lois, his disastrous first meeting with her father, after which her dad had him knocked unconscious, rolled up in a carpet, and dumped naked into the ocean. During their adventures, Death has to return home for lunch with his mother (voice of Estelle Parsons), who nags him about his own lack of a girlfriend. In exchange for Death's help with Lois, Peter helps Death make a date with the woman of his dreams. This episode features the vocal talents of Peter Frampton. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Since he lost his job, Peter (voice of Seth MacFarlane) has gained a lot of weight from sitting on the couch watching television. After a walk on the pier with Brian (MacFarlane), he decides to become a fisherman. "That's how a real New England man makes his living," he reasons. He buys a boat at a police auction for 50,000 dollars, only to learn that its previous owner, Salty, died while chasing after "Daggermouth," the man-eating bluefish. Peter then goes to "Jim's Bank" for a loan so he can pay for his boat. He soon runs into conflict with Henessey, a veteran fisherman who resents the newcomer. Peter's having a hard time earning a living, and to make matters worse, he failed to read the loan papers he signed, and the bank is repossessing everything the family owns. Meanwhile, Meg (voice of Mila Kunis) is distraught about missing out on spring break. In an effort to placate her, Lois (voice of Alex Borstein) takes her to a fancy spa. When that doesn't do the trick, Lois drives Meg to spring break. Meg is embarrassed to be seen there with her mother, and it only gets worse when Lois parties her way to popularity among Meg's peers, neglecting her daughter in the process. While Lois and Meg negotiate their bacchanal, Peter is desperate to come up with the money to keep their home from being taken by the bank. When he learns that there's a 50,000-dollar bounty on Daggermouth, he and his friends set out to capture the dreaded beast. This episode features the vocal talents of Michael Chiklis and Brian Doyle Murray. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Twenty-one new, non sequitur-laden episodes are dished up by series creator Seth MacFarlane for the third and final Fox network season of the cartoon weekly Family Guy. Things start off with the series' first two-parter, in which the Griffins' pet dog, Brian, runs away from home and ends up in Hollywood directing porn movies. Later, a hurricane in Quahog brings a new British Invasion in its wake; Mr. Death, who'd been a special guest star the previous season, makes a return appearance with his mother in tow (not to mention Peter Frampton); and Meg gets a TV job forcing her to work with über-nerd Neil, but at least gets to rub caricatured shoulders with Hugh Downs and Abe Vigoda. In another story development, Peter loses his job when his boss dies in a freak accident (choking to death on a dinner roll), allowing our hero to pursue his life's ambition as a knight in a Renaissance fair -- and when that fails to pan out, he comes up with a new life's ambition and goes fishing. Elsewhere, malevolent infant Stewie tries to cook up yet another foolproof murder scheme when Peter and Lois decide to have another baby; a case of mistaken identity thrusts the Griffins into both the Witness Protection Program and a Civil War reenactment; a session with a local baseball team transforms Peter into a rara avis -- a black white man; paraplegic policeman Joe gets some unexpected assistance when he enters the Special Olympics; Stewie throws a tantrum and ends up winning a theater audition, just as sister Meg begins dating a nudist; and as another of the family's impulsive trips to Europe is sidetracked to Saudi Arabia, mom Lois reveals a long-ago liaison with KISS lead singer Gene Simmons. In the series finale, the Griffins respond to viewer mail by staging their own iconoclastic versions of The Little Rascals and a certain mutant-superhero movie blockbuster (An additional episode, "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," was never telecast on Fox due to its "controversial" nature, and remained unseen until it was shown on cable's Cartoon Network two years after it was filmed). Despite the anguished moans of the series' millions of fans, Fox decided to pull the plug on Family Guy at the end of season three. However, the series was due for a spectacular rebirth that would put a phoenix to shame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seth MacFarlane
- 1999
Originally given a special telecast just after Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999, the debut episode of the iconoclastic animated series Family Guy immediately staked out its territory with a warm, life-affirming plotline in which one-year-old Stewie Griffin constructs a roomful of death traps to murder his mother, Lois, while his dad, Peter, accidentally "bombs" a football stadium with the world's largest (and least deserved) welfare check. Nor did the series revert to traditionalism when season one proper began its six-episode run four months later. In episode two, "I Never Met the Dead Man," Peter is driven to the edge of madness when denied television, Stewie builds a weather-controlling device, and a caricatured Erik Estrada reprises his Ponch character from CHiPs. But series creator Seth MacFarlane is only getting warmed up. Subsequent episodes include "Chitty Chitty Death Bang," wherein Peter and Lois' teenage daughter, Meg, joins a Moonielike cult and Waylon Jennings pops up out of nowhere; "Mind Over Murder," in which Peter, placed under house arrest for accidentally punching out a woman, establishes a neighborhood bar in his restaurant; "A Hero Sits Next Door," an irreverent showcase for the Griffins' neighbor, paraplegic police officer Joe; and "The Son Also Draws," which finds the family making a wrong turn into an Indian casino and digging up their Native American roots. Wrapping up season one is "Brian: Portrait of a Dog," in which the Griffin's talking, booze-guzzling pet hound, Brian, strikes a blow for canine civil rights, only to end up a "dead dog walking" at the local pound. (And how does Dick Van Patten figure into all of this?) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seth MacFarlane
- 1999
Although the first season of the doggedly irreverent animated half-hour Family Guy didn't exactly set the ratings on fire, the series' devoted fan following was sufficient for Fox to order 21 new episodes for a second season. The opener finds the dysfunctional Griffin family developing even worse financial sense than normal when they inherit a mansion. Later on, Peter Griffin is forced to kidnap Pope John Paul II to prove something to his hyper-judgmental dad (voiced by Charles Durning); New Years Day of 2000 proves to be an apocalyptic experience as the Griffins rummage through the ruins of a bombed-out Quahog, RI -- and end up crossing paths with Randy Newman and the cast of Dallas; a quickie European vacation awakens the carnal lust in Brian the dog; and Norm MacDonald provides the voice of Mr. Death, who proves to be a crabby house guest when he breaks his skeletal leg in the Griffin living room (this is the one where Peter develops a "fatty corpuscle"). Also: Lois Griffin directs a community production of The King and I which devolves into a garish "leg show" and an obscene example of egos run amok; Murphy Brown's Candice Bergen and Faith Ford provide voices for an episode in which Peter gets in touch with his feminine side; daughter Meg's slumber party morphs into the new 24-hour TV reality series "The Real Griffins" (even though the "real Griffins" are replaced by celebrity actors); Brian and malevolent infant Stewie Griffin go into Hope-Crosby mode on "Road to Rhode Island"; Peter poses as a high school student, basking in the popularity he'd never enjoyed during his actual teen years; the Mob makes the family an offer they can't refuse (or make sense of) in an episode featuring the voice of The Shield's Michael Chiklis; son Chris needs liposuction, but it's Peter who gets the treatment, much to the jealous Lois' dismay; and Luke Perry sues Peter for defamation of character and bad writing. Topping off the season, father-and-son day for Peter and Chris turns sour when Peter chooses someone else's son! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seth MacFarlane
