Da Boom
Encyclopedia
"Da Boom" is the third episode of the second season of the animated
comedy series
Family Guy
. It originally aired on Fox
in the United States on December 26, 1999. The episode features the Griffin family
after a nuclear holocaust occurs, due to Y2K
on New Year's Eve. The family then travels in search of food, and eventually decide to establish a town around a Twinkie
factory. Peter
then takes over the town, establishing himself as mayor, but eventually becomes power hungry, and is overthrown.
The episode was written by Neil Goldman
and Garrett Donovan
and directed by Bob Jacques. It received praise from Ahsan Haque for its storyline and use of cultural references. The episode featured guest performances by Patrick Duffy
, Victoria Principal
, Jack Perkins
and Will Sasso
, along with several recurring voice actors for the series. This is the first episode that aired to feature Mila Kunis
as the voice of Meg Griffin
.
that the world will end because of Y2K
, Peter locks his family up in their basement
on December 31, 1999, despite his family's protests to attend a local New Years party. While the Griffin family
spends the next few minutes inside their basement wearing hazmat suits, a nuclear holocaust
occurs at midnight because of Y2K, destroying much of the world and mutating, injuring, or killing many of the surviving citizens of Quahog, however, the Griffins remain free from mutations. As the family look for survivors, they soon discover that Joe has been melted into his driveway, his son Kevin has been vaporized, while Quagmire
and Cleveland
have fused together and are now called "Clevemire"; with the former wishing to be called "Quagland", and Tom Tucker & Diane Simmons have eaten Tricia Takanawa. Starving for food, Peter immediately eats all the dehydrated meals, without adding water. Becoming hungry, Peter recalls that the snackfood Twinkie
s are the only food that can survive a nuclear holocaust. Desperate, the family travels to Natick
, Massachusetts
, in hopes that the Twinkie factory has survived. On the way, Stewie
is exposed to nuclear waste and soon mutates into an octopus
-like creature. Upon their arrival at Natick, they discover the factory is still standing, and in perfect condition. Expecting to be able to live off of the snackfood, they decide to establish a town, dubbed New Quahog. Deciding to establish a city government, Peter proclaims himself mayor, because it was his idea to seek out the factory. Accepting his argument, Joe and Clevemire join him to form a ruling council. Despite their advice, Peter makes several disastrous mistakes, most notably by giving the citizens careers by having them draw one out of a hat. As Peter continues to make horrible decisions, the last straw is pulled when Peter destroys the city's water irrigation system in order to use its pipes to make guns and other weapons, outraging the citizens. Meanwhile, Stewie, who has "gained girth" according to himself, as he continues to transform into an octopus, suddenly lays hundreds of eggs in the basement of their house.
Despite Peter's insistence that he is fit to continue to be the leader of the new community, the townspeople run him out of New Quahog, and his family follows him. The citizens proceed to burn the guns Peter had made with the pipes in the middle of the town square. As they throw the last gun onto the pile, hundreds of newly spawned Octopus-Stewies hatch, and begin to destroy the city, with the townspeople unable to protect themselves from the mutants. As the family walks away, oblivious to the town's destruction, they decide to continue to a Carvel factory in Framingham
, Massachusetts
. The episode then ends in a live-action parody of Dallas
, in which Pamela Barnes Ewing
wakes to find her husband, Bobby, in the shower. Surprised to see her in the bathroom, Pamela begins telling him about the episode, which was apparently a dream, thus retconning the entire episode. Although after she tells him about the dream, her husband responds by asking "What's Family Guy?", with both then proceeding to turn and look confused directly at the camera.
Da Boom was the third episode of the second season of Family Guy, and the first for director Bob Jacques. The episode was written by writing team Neil Goldman
and Garrett Donovan, who had written episodes for the show in the first season including "Mind Over Murder
".
This was the first episode to have Mila Kunis
providing the voice of Meg. Lacey Chabert
, the original voice of Meg, left the series due to time constraints with her acting role in Party of Five
, as well as schoolwork. Kunis won the role after auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That '70s Show
. Seth MacFarlane
, the show's creator, called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her.
"Da Boom" also introduced a new character, Ernie the Giant Chicken, an anthropomorphic
chicken who serves as a rival to Peter. He has a long, unexpected fight with Peter, which interrupts the main storyline. This has become a running gag
, having reappeared in episodes such as "Blind Ambition", "No Chris Left Behind
" and in "Meet the Quagmires
". He is voiced by regular show writer Danny Smith
.
In addition to the regular cast, actress Victoria Principal
, comedian and actor Will Sasso
, reporter, commentator, war correspondent, and anchorman Jack Perkins
and character actor Patrick Duffy
guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actress Lori Alan also made minor appearances. It first aired on December 12, 1999.
soap opera Dallas
with both Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal, who starred in the series appearing in the episode. Randy Newman
appears singing everything he sees in a musical moment. The plot includes references to Y2K bug
. Peter takes away Trix
from the rabbit, which is a reference to commercials for Trix cereal. Chris tells E.T.
to run when he thinks Peter is the government coming for him. Arriving at the Twinkie factory, Peter uses the same words to describe what he sees that Dr. Arroway used in Contact
when witnessing a celestial event in a foreign galaxy.
rated the episode a 10/10, saying "Overall, this episode easily ranks as one of the best in the series. Almost every joke succeeds, and the far-fetched alternate reality storyline thoroughly entertains. Despite the fact that all of the events in the episode are revealed to be a dream, it doesn't take away from the high degree of amusement provided."
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
comedy series
Television comedy
Television comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting. Among the earliest BBC television programmes in the 1930s was Starlight, which offered a series of guests from the music hall era — singers and comedians amongst them...
Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
. It originally aired on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on December 26, 1999. The episode features the Griffin family
Griffin family
The Griffin family is a family from the animated television series Family Guy. The Griffins are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Peter and Lois, their three children Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their dog Brian. They live at 31 Spooner Street in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode...
after a nuclear holocaust occurs, due to Y2K
Year 2000 problem
The Year 2000 problem was a problem for both digital and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits.In computer programs, the practice of representing the year with two...
on New Year's Eve. The family then travels in search of food, and eventually decide to establish a town around a Twinkie
Twinkie
The Twinkie is an American snack cake made and distributed by Hostess Brands. They are marketed as a "Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling".-History:...
factory. Peter
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
then takes over the town, establishing himself as mayor, but eventually becomes power hungry, and is overthrown.
The episode was written by Neil Goldman
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are a television writing team who have worked on television comedies Family Guy and Scrubs. Their most recent project was the television pilot Nobody's Watching, which they created and wrote with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.The character on Family Guy named Neil...
and Garrett Donovan
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are a television writing team who have worked on television comedies Family Guy and Scrubs. Their most recent project was the television pilot Nobody's Watching, which they created and wrote with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.The character on Family Guy named Neil...
and directed by Bob Jacques. It received praise from Ahsan Haque for its storyline and use of cultural references. The episode featured guest performances by Patrick Duffy
Patrick Duffy
Patrick George Duffy is an American character actor of stage and film. He is best known for his role on the CBS television drama Dallas, where he played Bobby Ewing from 1978 to 1985 and from 1986 to 1991, Duffy returns to reprise his role as Bobby in a new up-to-date Dallas currently scheduled to...
, Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
, Jack Perkins
Jack Perkins
Jack Perkins is an American reporter, commentator, war correspondent, and anchorman. He has been dubbed "America's most literate correspondent" by the Associated Press....
and Will Sasso
Will Sasso
William "Will" Sasso is a Canadian comedian and actor. He is most notable for his membership in the recurring cast of comedians on the American sketch comedy series MADtv, spending five seasons on the show.-Early life:...
, along with several recurring voice actors for the series. This is the first episode that aired to feature Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis
Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
as the voice of Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is the eldest child of Lois and Peter and elder sister of Chris and Stewie. Meg is considered as the black sheep of the series due to the lack of attention she receives....
.
Plot
After a man in a chicken suit warns PeterPeter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
that the world will end because of Y2K
Year 2000 problem
The Year 2000 problem was a problem for both digital and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits.In computer programs, the practice of representing the year with two...
, Peter locks his family up in their basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
on December 31, 1999, despite his family's protests to attend a local New Years party. While the Griffin family
Griffin family
The Griffin family is a family from the animated television series Family Guy. The Griffins are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Peter and Lois, their three children Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their dog Brian. They live at 31 Spooner Street in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode...
spends the next few minutes inside their basement wearing hazmat suits, a nuclear holocaust
Nuclear holocaust
Nuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of the near complete annihilation of human civilization by nuclear warfare. Under such a scenario, all or most of the Earth is made uninhabitable by nuclear weapons in future world wars....
occurs at midnight because of Y2K, destroying much of the world and mutating, injuring, or killing many of the surviving citizens of Quahog, however, the Griffins remain free from mutations. As the family look for survivors, they soon discover that Joe has been melted into his driveway, his son Kevin has been vaporized, while Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
and Cleveland
Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
have fused together and are now called "Clevemire"; with the former wishing to be called "Quagland", and Tom Tucker & Diane Simmons have eaten Tricia Takanawa. Starving for food, Peter immediately eats all the dehydrated meals, without adding water. Becoming hungry, Peter recalls that the snackfood Twinkie
Twinkie
The Twinkie is an American snack cake made and distributed by Hostess Brands. They are marketed as a "Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling".-History:...
s are the only food that can survive a nuclear holocaust. Desperate, the family travels to Natick
Natick, Massachusetts
Natick is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Natick is located near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 33,006 at the 2010 census. Only west from Boston, Natick is considered part of the Greater Boston area...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, in hopes that the Twinkie factory has survived. On the way, Stewie
Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Once obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, and the brother of Chris and Meg....
is exposed to nuclear waste and soon mutates into an octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
-like creature. Upon their arrival at Natick, they discover the factory is still standing, and in perfect condition. Expecting to be able to live off of the snackfood, they decide to establish a town, dubbed New Quahog. Deciding to establish a city government, Peter proclaims himself mayor, because it was his idea to seek out the factory. Accepting his argument, Joe and Clevemire join him to form a ruling council. Despite their advice, Peter makes several disastrous mistakes, most notably by giving the citizens careers by having them draw one out of a hat. As Peter continues to make horrible decisions, the last straw is pulled when Peter destroys the city's water irrigation system in order to use its pipes to make guns and other weapons, outraging the citizens. Meanwhile, Stewie, who has "gained girth" according to himself, as he continues to transform into an octopus, suddenly lays hundreds of eggs in the basement of their house.
Despite Peter's insistence that he is fit to continue to be the leader of the new community, the townspeople run him out of New Quahog, and his family follows him. The citizens proceed to burn the guns Peter had made with the pipes in the middle of the town square. As they throw the last gun onto the pile, hundreds of newly spawned Octopus-Stewies hatch, and begin to destroy the city, with the townspeople unable to protect themselves from the mutants. As the family walks away, oblivious to the town's destruction, they decide to continue to a Carvel factory in Framingham
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The episode then ends in a live-action parody of Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
, in which Pamela Barnes Ewing
Pamela Barnes Ewing
Pamela Jean "Pam" Barnes is a fictional character in the popular American television series Dallas, played by Victoria Principal and Margaret Michaels.-Early pre-series life:...
wakes to find her husband, Bobby, in the shower. Surprised to see her in the bathroom, Pamela begins telling him about the episode, which was apparently a dream, thus retconning the entire episode. Although after she tells him about the dream, her husband responds by asking "What's Family Guy?", with both then proceeding to turn and look confused directly at the camera.
Production
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are a television writing team who have worked on television comedies Family Guy and Scrubs. Their most recent project was the television pilot Nobody's Watching, which they created and wrote with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.The character on Family Guy named Neil...
and Garrett Donovan, who had written episodes for the show in the first season including "Mind Over Murder
Mind over Murder
"Mind Over Murder" is the fourth episode of the first season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 25, 1999. The episode features Peter after he is placed under house arrest, and decides to open his own bar in the family's...
".
This was the first episode to have Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis
Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
providing the voice of Meg. Lacey Chabert
Lacey Chabert
Lacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress and voice actress, known for her roles as Claudia Salinger in the television drama Party of Five and as Gretchen Wieners in the movie Mean Girls...
, the original voice of Meg, left the series due to time constraints with her acting role in Party of Five
Party of Five
Party of Five is an American teen drama television series that aired on Fox for six seasons, from September 12, 1994, until May 3, 2000.Critically acclaimed, the show suffered from low ratings and after its first season was slated for cancellation...
, as well as schoolwork. Kunis won the role after auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That '70s Show
That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
. Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
, the show's creator, called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her.
"Da Boom" also introduced a new character, Ernie the Giant Chicken, an anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
chicken who serves as a rival to Peter. He has a long, unexpected fight with Peter, which interrupts the main storyline. This has become a running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
, having reappeared in episodes such as "Blind Ambition", "No Chris Left Behind
No Chris Left Behind
"No Chris Left Behind" is the sixteenth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 6, 2007. The episode features Chris after he is kicked out of James Woods High School, and is forced to attend an upper-class academy...
" and in "Meet the Quagmires
Meet the Quagmires
"Meet the Quagmires" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox on May 20, 2007. The episode features Peter after he goes back in time, in order to live the single life a little longer, before he met his wife, Lois...
". He is voiced by regular show writer Danny Smith
Danny Smith (writer)
Daniel "Danny" Smith is an executive producer, writer and voice actor on the American animated television series Family Guy. He has been with the show since its inception and throughout the years has contributed many episodes, such as "Holy Crap", "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", "Chitty...
.
In addition to the regular cast, actress Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal
Victoria Principal is an American actress, best known for her role as Pamela Barnes Ewing on the CBS nighttime drama Dallas from 1978 to 1987.-Early life:...
, comedian and actor Will Sasso
Will Sasso
William "Will" Sasso is a Canadian comedian and actor. He is most notable for his membership in the recurring cast of comedians on the American sketch comedy series MADtv, spending five seasons on the show.-Early life:...
, reporter, commentator, war correspondent, and anchorman Jack Perkins
Jack Perkins
Jack Perkins is an American reporter, commentator, war correspondent, and anchorman. He has been dubbed "America's most literate correspondent" by the Associated Press....
and character actor Patrick Duffy
Patrick Duffy
Patrick George Duffy is an American character actor of stage and film. He is best known for his role on the CBS television drama Dallas, where he played Bobby Ewing from 1978 to 1985 and from 1986 to 1991, Duffy returns to reprise his role as Bobby in a new up-to-date Dallas currently scheduled to...
guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actress Lori Alan also made minor appearances. It first aired on December 12, 1999.
Cultural references
The live-action sequence in the episode is a reference to an episode of the CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
soap opera Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
with both Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal, who starred in the series appearing in the episode. Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
appears singing everything he sees in a musical moment. The plot includes references to Y2K bug
Year 2000 problem
The Year 2000 problem was a problem for both digital and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits.In computer programs, the practice of representing the year with two...
. Peter takes away Trix
Trix (cereal)
Trix is a brand of breakfast cereal made by General Mills for the North American and by Nestlé for the European, South American and Asian markets. The cereal consists of fruit-flavored, sweetened, ground-corn pieces. They started out as round cereal pieces, but in 1992, they were changed to puffed...
from the rabbit, which is a reference to commercials for Trix cereal. Chris tells E.T.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
to run when he thinks Peter is the government coming for him. Arriving at the Twinkie factory, Peter uses the same words to describe what he sees that Dr. Arroway used in Contact
Contact (film)
Contact is a 1997 American science fiction drama film adapted from the Carl Sagan novel of the same name and directed by Robert Zemeckis. Both Sagan and wife Ann Druyan wrote the story outline for the film adaptation of Contact....
when witnessing a celestial event in a foreign galaxy.
Reception
Ahsan Haque of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
rated the episode a 10/10, saying "Overall, this episode easily ranks as one of the best in the series. Almost every joke succeeds, and the far-fetched alternate reality storyline thoroughly entertains. Despite the fact that all of the events in the episode are revealed to be a dream, it doesn't take away from the high degree of amusement provided."