Ratings Guy

Did You Know?

• Actor and producer Jon Hamm agreed to appear on the condition that Fox's proposed salary of $400,000 increase to $560,000; Fox agreed on the condition that Hamm portray himself.
• Billy Gardell reprised his role as Mike Biggs from Mike & Molly on the condition that he would get paid a salary of $600,000, which the producers agreed to.
• British television producer Mark Burnett insisted that his dialogue be written entirely by himself when he agreed to guest star, which writer Dave Ihlenfeld allowed, saying it would 'allow me to take a break'.

Plot

The Griffin family receives a letter from the Nielsen Company informing them they have been selected to have their viewing habits monitored. Tom Tucker visits the house, having heard the news, and asks Peter for suggestions to change his show. Peter's outlandish ideas are performed on air, displeasing his friends Joe and Quagmire. When a Nielsen representative returns to reset the card on Peter's Nielsen box, Peter steals multiple boxes to amplify his impact on ratings.

He forces numerous shows to adopt bizarre alterations, angering Lois and Joe, and an angry mob confronts him over the changes to their favorite programs. After being denied medical help and kicked out of the Drunken Clam, Peter realizes he must fix things to remain in Quahog. Mayor Adam West shoots the boxes to pieces, partly in retaliation for Peter adding an extra tree on One Tree Hill. With the boxes destroyed, Brian believes they are sunk, but Peter devises another plan.

He goes to the Television Producers Guild, gathering producers including J.J. Abrams, Mark Burnett, Dick Wolf, Jon Hamm, and Kelsey Grammer to discuss improving their shows. Abrams proposes an idea about an alien traveling back in time to encounter a koala in an Eastern European town, and Peter approves. Peter then has four producers create 15 workplace comedies where characters break the fourth wall. He asks Burnett for a reality show featuring people doing terrible things for small sums of money.

He instructs two producers to make a show about horrible New Jersey freaks, tells Wolf to produce the same Law & Order six times, and directs Bravo producers to create a show about women fighting.

Production

"Ratings Guy" was written by Dave Ihlenfeld and David Wright, marking their second collaboration after "Grumpy Old Man". It is the sixth episode to parody the show's title, following "Family Gay", "Family Goy", "Business Guy", "German Guy", and "Amish Guy". Ihlenfeld and Wright were freelance writers new to Family Guy. The production staff initially wanted the episode to focus on politics, but director Pete Michels decided otherwise.

A week earlier, Michels had pitched an idea about Peter messing up television in the weirdest way possible, which was debated extensively in the writers' room. The staff had also considered an episode about the Griffin family climbing Mount Everest, an idea later used for "Into Fat Air". The episode concept was pitched by Alec Sulkin, who joined the show in its fourth season and co-wrote "Petarded" with Wellesley Wild. Sulkin has written for various episodes and served as a producer.

"Ratings Guy" was directed by James Purdum, who storyboarded half the episode and worked on animation with Brian Iles. The scene where Peter adds an extra tree on One Tree Hill was constantly debated by the writers and staff, who were fans of the show and wanted it deleted. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane also wanted the scene removed, but the animators objected, finding it funny and insisting it stay.

Reception

"Ratings Guy" aired on Fox on October 7, 2012, receiving a 3.4 rating and 6.70 million viewers, making it the most watched show on Animation Domination that night, ahead of The Cleveland Show, Bob's Burgers, American Dad!, and The Simpsons (6.57 million). Critical reception was mixed. Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B−, noting it did not insult Nielsen viewers for championing shows at odds with critical consensus or ignoring cable darlings.

He felt the episode focused on how the industry panders to mass audiences rather than striving for quality, and that a deeper point about ratings was muffled by a mood-killing second act and sloppy conclusion. Carter Dotson of TV Fanatic awarded three and a half stars out of five, stating the episode painted in broad strokes and lacked a substantive message beyond suggesting that idiots determine popularity. Dotson found it ironic that Family Guy, not the most intelligent show, benefits from the same ratings system it criticizes, and noted that the episode offered no real solution, leaving it feeling punchless and a waste of its platform for only a few reference-based laughs.