Baby Got Black

Plot

At the Drunken Clam, Peter, Quagmire, and Joe watch a news report from Tom Tucker about a kid who died from staying awake all night playing Halo. The three men then make a bet on who can stay awake the longest. To kill time, they prank call Cleveland Brown and Mort Goldman, mocking their dead wives. After 62 hours without sleep, they start hallucinating. Joe is the first to pass out, while Peter and Quagmire keep fighting to stay conscious. The next morning, Lois shows up at Quagmire’s house and wakes all three of them up. Peter and Quagmire check Quagmire’s security camera footage and decide Peter won the bet. To celebrate, he takes his family out to eat.

While Chris is picking out a lobster, he and Meg run into their classmate Pam, voiced by Keke Palmer, and her father Jerome. When they part ways, Pam gives Chris an erotic kiss. Later, Chris introduces Pam to his family as his girlfriend, making Peter and Lois uncomfortable. At the Clam, Jerome tells Pam she can’t see Chris, and Peter accuses Jerome of being racist, even though Jerome denies it. Peter invites Jerome and Pam to dinner, but Jerome resists any attempts at friendship. Peter then sings a musical number about all the good white people have done, which only makes Jerome angrier, and he drags Pam away.

The next day, Chris is furious and mopes about losing Pam, wondering if he’ll ever find someone else. He decides to find Pam and run away with her. Meg discovers a note detailing Chris and Pam’s plans and tells Peter and Jerome. Meanwhile, Chris and Pam hide out in a motel, where they awkwardly admit they’re both inexperienced with sex. As Peter and Jerome drive around town, a cop pulls them over and harasses Jerome for no reason. Peter starts to sympathize with Jerome, realizing he has to deal with constant racist abuse. Jerome explains that he can’t trust white people in general and is just trying to protect his daughter, but he says he’s okay with Peter personally.

They find Chris and Pam making out at the motel. Jerome is furious at first, but then Peter sincerely agrees with Jerome’s message that races should stay separate and says Chris shouldn’t even talk to black people anymore. Both Peter and Pam ask Jerome if that’s really the right lesson. Jerome apologizes for overreacting and gives Pam and Chris his blessing to date. However, both he and Peter are relieved the kids didn’t have sex—Chris apparently did a tuck with his penis that made sex impossible. Peter then invites Jerome to help him kill a completely wasted Randy Quaid, who is passed out on the other bed in the motel room.

Reception

Eric Thurm of The A.V. Club gave the episode a D+, saying "'Baby Got Black' is the rare episode of the show that seems like it might have maybe had a tiny impulse to say something interesting, and falls totally and utterly flat, first because, well, it's Family Guy, and second because it's not very funny." The episode received a 2.1 rating in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and was watched by a total of 4.02 million people. This made it the most watched show on Animation Domination that night, beating American Dad!, Bob's Burgers, and The Simpsons.