Quagmire's Dad
Quagmire's father comes out as a trans woman.
The eighteenth episode of Family Guy's eighth season, "Quagmire's Dad," first aired on Fox on May 9, 2010. In it, Quagmire's father, Dan, returns to Quahog and reveals she is a trans woman named Ida, planning gender-affirming surgery. Meanwhile, Brian attends a seminar and, upon returning, unknowingly sleeps with Ida. Tom Devanney wrote the episode, and Pete Michels directed. Critical and audience reception was mostly negative, with many comparing it to the 2007 film I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Parents Television Council criticized its portrayal of transgender identity. Nielsen ratings reported 7.22 million households watched the original broadcast.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Family Guy
- Season
- 8
- Episode
- 18
- Director
- Pete Michels
- Writer
- Tom Devanney
- Production
- 7ACX19
- Air date
- 9 May 2010
- Guests
- Wally Wingert as Wally
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Peter and Joe visit Quagmire and are introduced to his father, Lieutenant Commander Dan Quagmire. Expecting to see the inspiration for Quagmire's sexual behavior, they are surprised by Dan's stereotypically gay mannerisms. The next morning, Quagmire invites Peter and Lois to the Naval Ball being held to honor his father, but soon begins arguing with Peter about his father's sexuality. At the ball that night, members of the Navy bombard Quagmire with compliments about his war-hero father, most of which can be taken as double entendres about Dan's alleged homosexuality. Concerned that his dad might actually be gay, Quagmire confronts him and Dan explains that he is not gay, but is instead a woman trapped in a man's body and intends to undergo sex reassignment surgery during his stay in Quahog, much to Quagmire's dismay. The surgery is a success, with Dan emerging as "Ida Davis". That night, Ida and Quagmire join the Griffins for dinner. As the dinner begins, however, Quagmire becomes frustrated when the Griffins turn the conversation towards Ida's operation, and storms out of the room. At Quagmire's home, Quagmire tells Ida that he is not sure he can deal with her new gender identity. Saddened, Ida leaves Quagmire's home and decides to stay at a nearby Marriott Hotel. Meanwhile, Brian has been out of town attending a seminar on creating a web series and is unaware of what has happened. On his way home, Brian stops at the Marriott, meets Ida, and has a few drinks with her. Quickly bonding, they retire to Ida's room for sex. The next morning, Brian shares his newfound love with Peter and Lois before showing them a picture of Ida on his cell phone. Peter and Lois go into hysterics, while Brian, still unaware of the whole story, dismisses them as jealous. After Stewie fills him in on the events that transpired in his absence, Brian is amused until Stewie informs him that Dan Quagmire's new name is Ida. Realizing that he has had sex with Quagmire's father, Brian vomits profusely for thirty seconds straight, and then he and Stewie begin panicking. Ida returns to Quagmire's home and apologizes for not giving him the chance to take everything in before the operation, and Quagmire returns the favor, reconciling their relationship. Ida tells Quagmire that she met someone, and he is initially excited to know who it is. However, when she reveals that it was Brian, whom Quagmire loathes, he becomes enraged. Brian is traumatized after finding out about Ida and, when he hears Quagmire storming inside the house, he tries to hide under Peter and Lois' bed, but Quagmire finds him and brutally beats him up, before ordering him to stay away from his house and telling him to die. As Quagmire leaves, a badly injured Brian retaliates by telling him "Hey... I fucked your dad", before slamming the door shut.
Production and development
The episode was written by Tom Devanney and directed by series regular Pete Michels. It is the second episode of the season Devanney and Michels worked on, the first being "Brian's Got a Brand New Bag", before the conclusion of season 8. The episode saw the introduction of Quagmire's father, Lieutenant Commander Dan Quagmire, a former officer with the United States Navy who later becomes Ida Quagmire. The character was voiced by main cast member, series creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane. Series regulars Peter Shin and James Purdum served as supervising directors, with Andrew Goldberg and Alex Carter working as staff writers for the episode. Composer Ron Jones, who has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for "Quagmire's Dad". The original design of Ida Quagmire was created by MacFarlane, and designed to resemble English actor Paul Bettany. It was later adapted upon by Pete Michels. "Quagmire's Dad", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guy's eighth season, was released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy – Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con. In addition to the regular cast, voice actor Wally Wingert guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actor Ralph Garman, and writers Chris Sheridan, Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin and John Viener made minor appearances. Recurring guest voice actor Patrick Warburton reprises his role of Joe Swanson. The bit of Peter and Joe texting each other exists in two versions: one with Peter texting Joe back but was autocorrected, or using the term "phoque" to describe how gay Quagmire's father is.
Cultural references
After announcing that his father is being honored by the Navy, Quagmire says his father was his greatest hero growing up. Peter then claims that his own hero while growing up was DC Comics superhero Aquaman, in addition to his alter ego Arthur Curry. When Quagmire introduces his father to Peter and Joe, Nancy Sinatra's single "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" begins playing on Quagmire's stereo while Dan Quagmire dances down the stairs. Upon emerging from her surgery, Ida asks what Quagmire and Peter think of the operation and Peter, as he had suggested to Quagmire during the surgery, sings the hit single "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves.
Reception
In a slight decrease from the previous week, the episode was viewed in 7.22 million homes in its original airing, despite airing simultaneously with Desperate Housewives on ABC, Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, and the television film Jesse Stone: No Remorse on CBS. The episode also acquired a 3.8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show and American Dad! in both ratings and total viewership. Reviews of the episode were generally negative with most critics and audiences making comparisons between the episode and the 2007 film I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. Ramsey Isler of IGN noted his enjoyment of Ida Quagmire's character traits: "I'll give the writing team credit for this little plot twist, as I'm sure we were all expecting the elder Quagmire to be even more of a womanizer than his son." Regarding the episode's treatment of LGBT issues, Jason Hughes of TV Squad stated, "there's a gold mine of material to dig into for satire and comedy; comedy which will likely offend as many people as the real issues do." Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club noted, "the scenes where the mockery seemed a little too mean-spirited were definitely out of the show's worst sections of its toolkit". Tom Eames of entertainment website Digital Spy placed the episode at number ten on his listing of the best Family Guy episodes in order of "yukyukyuks" and praised Brian's line of 'Hey... I fucked your dad' after Quagmire attacks him, describing it as "amazing". The episode was criticized for its portrayal of transgender people, particularly regarding the way Ida was treated by other characters. Food that Ida prepared for the dinner party at the Griffin house was thrown out and Brian's learning of her sex-reassignment surgery after he had sex with her caused him to "violently" vomit for 30 unbroken seconds.
More in LGBTQ-related Animated Television Episodes
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced