We Love You, Conrad
Encyclopedia
"We Love You, Conrad" is the fourteenth episode of the seventh season of Family Guy
. It originally aired on Fox
in the United States on May 3, 2009. In the episode, Brian
's ex-girlfriend Jillian is getting married. As he tries to move on, he starts dating The Hills
star Lauren Conrad
and the media begins raving their relationship. Brian is starting to think they are the perfect match, but realizes he still has feelings for Jillian.
The episode was written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong
and directed by John Holmquist
. Drew Barrymore
returned as Jillian, and Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge
guest starred as themselves. In her second guest appearance on the series, Conrad played an exaggerated version of herself, which she proclaimed as being fun to play. She took the recording sessions seriously and did not do any improvisation with her lines. The show's staff was ultimately impressed with her performance, and series creator Seth MacFarlane
praised her stamina and how prepared she was before the recording sessions. The episode also featured live-action sequences with talk show hosts Jay Leno
, Craig Ferguson
and Jimmy Fallon
.
"We Love You, Conrad" was met with generally positive reviews from critics, who enjoyed the episode and praised the live-action footage, in contrast to the negative reactions towards live-action clips of Conway Twitty
from previous episodes. According to Nielsen ratings
, "We Love You, Conrad" was watched by 6.67 million viewers in its original airing. The episode was released on DVD
along with six other episodes from the season on June 15, 2010.
learns that his ex-girlfriend Jillian (Drew Barrymore
) is getting married to the perfect man for her in every aspect, and that he is not invited to her wedding. While drowning his sorrows at a bar, he meets and starts making out with Lauren Conrad
, the star of The Hills
. Stewie
learns of this and leaks the news onto the Internet
, and soon the media begins raving about their relationship. Unable to handle being depicted in the media with someone whom he believes to be a famous dumb blonde
, Brian attempts to break up with Lauren, only to discover she is well-educated, articulate and quite accomplished. She is, in fact, smarter than Brian; something he does not know how to deal with. Lauren eventually determines that Brian is still in love with Jillian, and decides to help him convey his still-thriving feelings for her. On the day of Jillian's wedding, Brian passionately professes his love to her, but she lets him down gently. Now, left with no one, Brian miserably states he cannot even go back to Lauren because he gave her worms
.
and directed by John Holmquist
. Drew Barrymore returned as Brian's ex-girlfriend Jillian, and The Hills stars Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge
guest starred as themselves in both cartoon form and live-action form. The episode featured live-action sequences with Jay Leno
, Craig Ferguson
and Jimmy Fallon
from their respective talk shows, The Tonight Show
, The Late Late Show
and Late Night
.
In addition to the major guest stars, actresses Sarah Utterback
and Kate Todd
guest starred in the episode as Lindsay Lohan
and Heidi Montag
, respectively. The episode marked Utterback's second appearance on the show, having previously provided the voice for Lohan in the season four episode "The Father, the Son and the Holy Fonz". Recurring guest voice actors Ralph Garman
, Jackson Douglas
, Wally Wingert
, André Sogliuzzo
, James Burkholder, Camille Guaty
, writer Alec Sulkin
, writer Danny Smith
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
The fact that Conrad would guest star on Family Guy was originally announced in October 2008. Creator Seth MacFarlane
told Fox News
, "I thought it would be funny to see if we could get [Conrad] to read very, very dense historical documents centering around the second World War, [...] Lauren did one scene where she had to read a paragraph on scientific self-analysis, which I thought was funny." The staff was impressed with Conrad's performance, saying that she "took it very seriously." Conrad praised her time at the show, calling it "amazing", and said that "they destroy me in it. I'm totally making fun of myself. [...] It was funny, I had to go over historical facts and like, biology and weird formulas I had no idea about." Conrad explained that she is playing a character on The Hills, "because America likes dumb people", and that "The idea in the episode is that they make fun of me for being dumb, and then discover that I'm actually a genius, [...] It's a more exaggerated version of who I am, but fun to play."
Conrad first met MacFarlane while recording a Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
clip for the season five episode "Prick Up Your Ears
". She had watched Family Guy for years and considered Stewie her favorite character. Conrad stuck to the script and did not do any improvisation while recording for this episode. In an interview with People
, she revealed that she has no plans on getting into acting, and even calls herself an "awful actor" and admits that she cannot memorize lines. However, she enjoyed recording for this episode and hired an acting coach to help her get through the lines. Even though she enjoyed the experience, she said that "[acting is] not really something I'm interested in." She had to do a lot of research before recording, because "there were a lot of facts and a lot of big words" and she "had to say it as if it was coming to [her] very easily." Her acting coach advised her to learn the lines ahead of time so that she would "really understood what [she] was talking about, it would come through a little more true." MacFarlane commented on this, saying, "She made an effort [to understand the text], so let me just put it that way." He ultimately praised her performance, calling it "surprisingly fantastic", and said: "She came in, and she'd prepared before she even arrived. She hired an acting coach, with her own money, and she nailed it. She never once complained, and it was a long session. There was a lot of dialog. Her stamina was astonishing."
are planning the wedding, Peter points out that only the last three words that musician Sting sings are understandable. The restaurant Brian, Stewie, Derek, and Jillian meet at is called "Qu'est-ce Que Pue", which roughly translates to "what stinks". At the restaurant, Jillian says that her fiancé speaks "Orange
", instead of Mandarin. Stewie calls Bruce Jenner
an "elegant, beautiful Dutch
woman." When Brian dated on the Internet, he listed himself as a Golden Retriever
. The Genesis cave from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
appears in the episode, and the scene is mirrored line for line. The episode depicts The Hills star Spencer Pratt
as a monkey from Planet of the Apes
. When Brian, Lauren Conrad and Stewie are watching The Hills, it suddenly cuts to footage from The A-Team
. The episode also makes references to actress Lindsay Lohan
and the cartoon character Mr. Magoo
. The promotional image for this episode, featuring Brian, Lauren Conrad and Stewie with his woman's disguise, is a parody of a The Hills photoshoot with Audrina Patridge, Conrad and Whitney Port
.
, American Dad!
and King of the Hill
. The episode acquired a 3.5 Nielsen rating
in the 18–49 demographic, finishing second in its timeslot after ABC
's Desperate Housewives
. The episode also acquired a 4.4 rating in the 18–34 demographic, finish first in its timeslot.
The episode received generally positive reviews from television sources and critics. Although the live-action sequences with Conway Twitty
from previous episodes were highly criticized, IGN
writer Ahsan Haque felt that the live-action footage in this episode "blends in pretty well". Haque praised Barrymore's portrayal of Jillian in the episode, saying that she had "some great comedy moments." He went on to grade the episode 8 out of 10, and said that the live-action footage "seemed to work somehow here, and the storyline took center stage here" and that "you can't argue against an attempt to tell an actual story, and for that reason, this episode's definitely worth watching." Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club
praised the live-action footage as well, saying that he "liked the splicing in of late night hosts and their jokes about Brian and [Lauren Conrad], if only to add a certain element of timeliness to the material." Heisler graded the episode B-, the second highest grade of the night. He said that "often Family Guy is unbearable" and "has established a certain style and rhythm, jokes come off as smug", but said that he found himself enjoying the episode "more and more as it went on [...] because it was willing to fully embrace the silliness and ridiculousness of what it was setting up."
The episode, along with the six other episodes from Family Guys seventh season, were released on a three-disc DVD
set in the United States on June 15, 2010. The set included brief audio commentaries for most episodes, excluding "We Love You, Conrad", "Stew-Roids", "Quagmire's Baby
and "Dog Gone". The set also included a collection of deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage from the production of "Road to the Multiverse
" and a Family Guy karaoke featurette.
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 May 3, 2009. In the episode, Brian
Brian Griffin
Brian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
's ex-girlfriend Jillian is getting married. As he tries to move on, he starts dating The Hills
The Hills
The Hills is a reality television series which originally aired on MTV from May 31, 2006 until July 13, 2010. The show uses a reality television format, following the personal lives of several young adults living in Los Angeles, California, but tends towards a narrative format more commonly found...
star Lauren Conrad
Lauren Conrad
Lauren Katherine Conrad is an American television personality, celebutante, and fashion designer. She came to prominence with her starring roles on the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and its spin-off series, The Hills, which at one point followed her personal and...
and the media begins raving their relationship. Brian is starting to think they are the perfect match, but realizes he still has feelings for Jillian.
The episode was written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong is a Thai American author, and an executive story editor/co-producer on Family Guy....
and directed by John Holmquist
John Holmquist
John Holmquist is a television animation director. He has worked on several episodes of Rugrats as a director and storyboard artist for the late 90's to early 2000's...
. Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
returned as Jillian, and Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge
Audrina Patridge
Audrina Cathleen Patridge is an American reality television personality, actress, and model. She is known for being one of the four original primary cast members featured on the MTV reality series The Hills. She has also starred in the films Sorority Row and Into The Blue 2...
guest starred as themselves. In her second guest appearance on the series, Conrad played an exaggerated version of herself, which she proclaimed as being fun to play. She took the recording sessions seriously and did not do any improvisation with her lines. The show's staff was ultimately impressed with her performance, and series creator 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,...
praised her stamina and how prepared she was before the recording sessions. The episode also featured live-action sequences with talk show hosts Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
, Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
and Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
.
"We Love You, Conrad" was met with generally positive reviews from critics, who enjoyed the episode and praised the live-action footage, in contrast to the negative reactions towards live-action clips of Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
from previous episodes. According to Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, "We Love You, Conrad" was watched by 6.67 million viewers in its original airing. The episode was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
along with six other episodes from the season on June 15, 2010.
Plot
BrianBrian Griffin
Brian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
learns that his ex-girlfriend Jillian (Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
) is getting married to the perfect man for her in every aspect, and that he is not invited to her wedding. While drowning his sorrows at a bar, he meets and starts making out with Lauren Conrad
Lauren Conrad
Lauren Katherine Conrad is an American television personality, celebutante, and fashion designer. She came to prominence with her starring roles on the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and its spin-off series, The Hills, which at one point followed her personal and...
, the star of The Hills
The Hills
The Hills is a reality television series which originally aired on MTV from May 31, 2006 until July 13, 2010. The show uses a reality television format, following the personal lives of several young adults living in Los Angeles, California, but tends towards a narrative format more commonly found...
. 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....
learns of this and leaks the news onto the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, and soon the media begins raving about their relationship. Unable to handle being depicted in the media with someone whom he believes to be a famous dumb blonde
Dumb blonde
The blonde stereotype, the stereotypical perception of blond-haired women, has two aspects. On one hand, over the history, blonde hair in women has been considered attractive and desirable...
, Brian attempts to break up with Lauren, only to discover she is well-educated, articulate and quite accomplished. She is, in fact, smarter than Brian; something he does not know how to deal with. Lauren eventually determines that Brian is still in love with Jillian, and decides to help him convey his still-thriving feelings for her. On the day of Jillian's wedding, Brian passionately professes his love to her, but she lets him down gently. Now, left with no one, Brian miserably states he cannot even go back to Lauren because he gave her worms
Parasitic worm
Parasitic worms or helminths are a division of eukaryoticparasites that, unlike external parasites such as lice and fleas, live inside their host. They are worm-like organisms that live and feed off living hosts, receiving nourishment and protection while disrupting their hosts' nutrient...
.
Production
The episode was written by Cherry ChevapravatdumrongCherry Chevapravatdumrong
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong is a Thai American author, and an executive story editor/co-producer on Family Guy....
and directed by John Holmquist
John Holmquist
John Holmquist is a television animation director. He has worked on several episodes of Rugrats as a director and storyboard artist for the late 90's to early 2000's...
. Drew Barrymore returned as Brian's ex-girlfriend Jillian, and The Hills stars Lauren Conrad and Audrina Patridge
Audrina Patridge
Audrina Cathleen Patridge is an American reality television personality, actress, and model. She is known for being one of the four original primary cast members featured on the MTV reality series The Hills. She has also starred in the films Sorority Row and Into The Blue 2...
guest starred as themselves in both cartoon form and live-action form. The episode featured live-action sequences with Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
, Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson is a Scottish American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, and producer. He is the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, an Emmy Award-nominated, Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show that airs on CBS...
and Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
from their respective talk shows, The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
, The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
and Late Night
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
.
In addition to the major guest stars, actresses Sarah Utterback
Sarah Utterback
Sarah Utterback is an American actress, most notable for her role as Nurse Olivia Harper on ABC's medical drama series Grey's Anatomy. She is also a film and theater producer.-Life:...
and Kate Todd
Kate Todd
-External links: Has links to official Twitter and YouTube....
guest starred in the episode as Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
and Heidi Montag
Heidi Montag
Heidi Blair Pratt is an American media personality and singer. She came to prominence with her starring role on the MTV reality series The Hills from 2006 to 2010. Montag has also appeared on I'm a Celebrity.....
, respectively. The episode marked Utterback's second appearance on the show, having previously provided the voice for Lohan in the season four episode "The Father, the Son and the Holy Fonz". Recurring guest voice actors Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman is an American actor, comedian, and radio host best known as the host of The Joe Schmo Show, for his voice work in Family Guy, and as the entertainment reporter and impressionist for the Kevin and Bean morning show on Los Angeles radio station, KROQ-FM...
, Jackson Douglas
Jackson Douglas
Jackson Douglas is best known for his role as Jackson Belleville in the television series Gilmore Girls, for which he's also directed the Season 5 episode To Live and Let Diorama and Season 6 episode Welcome to the Dollhouse...
, Wally Wingert
Wally Wingert
Wallace E. "Wally" Wingert is an American actor and voice artist. He is originally from Des Moines, Iowa but he currently works and lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the current announcer for the second incarnation of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the current voice of Jon Arbuckle in...
, André Sogliuzzo
André Sogliuzzo
André Sogliuzzo is an Italian-American voice actor, comedian, and actor.-Animated roles:* American Dad! – Dill* Avatar: The Last Airbender – King Bumi, Hakoda, Haru* The Batman – Duncan* Brandy & Mr...
, James Burkholder, Camille Guaty
Camille Guaty
Camille Guaty is an American film and television actress. She is known for her role as Daisy on Gotta Kick It Up!.-Early life:Guaty was born in California of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent...
, writer Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin is an American television writer. Most notable for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy, he has also contributed to The Cleveland Show, another series by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane....
, 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...
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
The fact that Conrad would guest star on Family Guy was originally announced in October 2008. Creator 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,...
told Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
, "I thought it would be funny to see if we could get [Conrad] to read very, very dense historical documents centering around the second World War, [...] Lauren did one scene where she had to read a paragraph on scientific self-analysis, which I thought was funny." The staff was impressed with Conrad's performance, saying that she "took it very seriously." Conrad praised her time at the show, calling it "amazing", and said that "they destroy me in it. I'm totally making fun of myself. [...] It was funny, I had to go over historical facts and like, biology and weird formulas I had no idea about." Conrad explained that she is playing a character on The Hills, "because America likes dumb people", and that "The idea in the episode is that they make fun of me for being dumb, and then discover that I'm actually a genius, [...] It's a more exaggerated version of who I am, but fun to play."
Conrad first met MacFarlane while recording a Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, often referred to simply as Laguna Beach, is a reality television series which originally aired on MTV from September 28, 2004 until November 16, 2006. It documents the lives of several teenagers living in Laguna Beach, an affluent seaside community located in...
clip for the season five episode "Prick Up Your Ears
Prick Up Your Ears (Family Guy)
"Prick Up Your Ears" is the sixth episode of season five of Family Guy. The episode was originally broadcast on November 19, 2006. In this episode Lois discovers that Chris’ school has removed the sex education program and decides to bring the class back by becoming the teacher. Unfortunately,...
". She had watched Family Guy for years and considered Stewie her favorite character. Conrad stuck to the script and did not do any improvisation while recording for this episode. In an interview with People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
, she revealed that she has no plans on getting into acting, and even calls herself an "awful actor" and admits that she cannot memorize lines. However, she enjoyed recording for this episode and hired an acting coach to help her get through the lines. Even though she enjoyed the experience, she said that "[acting is] not really something I'm interested in." She had to do a lot of research before recording, because "there were a lot of facts and a lot of big words" and she "had to say it as if it was coming to [her] very easily." Her acting coach advised her to learn the lines ahead of time so that she would "really understood what [she] was talking about, it would come through a little more true." MacFarlane commented on this, saying, "She made an effort [to understand the text], so let me just put it that way." He ultimately praised her performance, calling it "surprisingly fantastic", and said: "She came in, and she'd prepared before she even arrived. She hired an acting coach, with her own money, and she nailed it. She never once complained, and it was a long session. There was a lot of dialog. Her stamina was astonishing."
Cultural references
"We Love You, Conrad" includes several pop culture references. When Jillian and 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....
are planning the wedding, Peter points out that only the last three words that musician Sting sings are understandable. The restaurant Brian, Stewie, Derek, and Jillian meet at is called "Qu'est-ce Que Pue", which roughly translates to "what stinks". At the restaurant, Jillian says that her fiancé speaks "Orange
Mandarin orange
The orange, also known as the ' or mandarine , is a small citrus tree with fruit resembling other oranges. Mandarin oranges are usually eaten plain or in fruit salads...
", instead of Mandarin. Stewie calls Bruce Jenner
Bruce Jenner
William Bruce Jenner is a former U.S. track and field athlete, motivational speaker, socialite and television personality. He won the gold medal for decathlon in the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics....
an "elegant, beautiful Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
woman." When Brian dated on the Internet, he listed himself as a Golden Retriever
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...
. The Genesis cave from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the second feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The plot features James T...
appears in the episode, and the scene is mirrored line for line. The episode depicts The Hills star Spencer Pratt
Spencer Pratt
Spencer William Pratt is a former American television personality known for his role on MTV's The Hills, along with his wife Heidi Montag. He is the older brother of Stephanie Pratt, who also appears on The Hills....
as a monkey from Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (2001 film)
Planet of the Apes is a 2001 American science fiction film, based on Pierre Boulle's novel and a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. Tim Burton directed the film, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, and Estella Warren. It tells the...
. When Brian, Lauren Conrad and Stewie are watching The Hills, it suddenly cuts to footage from The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
. The episode also makes references to actress Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
and the cartoon character Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo
Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem...
. The promotional image for this episode, featuring Brian, Lauren Conrad and Stewie with his woman's disguise, is a parody of a The Hills photoshoot with Audrina Patridge, Conrad and Whitney Port
Whitney Port
Whitney Eve Port is an American television personality, clothing designer, and author. She is known for being one of the main cast members on the former MTV reality series The Hills...
.
Reception and release
In its original broadcast in the United States on May 3, 2009, "We Love You, Conrad" was watched by 6.67 million viewers and was the most watched show in the Fox "Animation Domination" block that night, beating The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, American Dad!
American Dad!
American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television...
and King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
. The episode acquired a 3.5 Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
in the 18–49 demographic, finishing second in its timeslot after ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
. The episode also acquired a 4.4 rating in the 18–34 demographic, finish first in its timeslot.
The episode received generally positive reviews from television sources and critics. Although the live-action sequences with Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
from previous episodes were highly criticized, IGN
IGN
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...
writer Ahsan Haque felt that the live-action footage in this episode "blends in pretty well". Haque praised Barrymore's portrayal of Jillian in the episode, saying that she had "some great comedy moments." He went on to grade the episode 8 out of 10, and said that the live-action footage "seemed to work somehow here, and the storyline took center stage here" and that "you can't argue against an attempt to tell an actual story, and for that reason, this episode's definitely worth watching." Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
praised the live-action footage as well, saying that he "liked the splicing in of late night hosts and their jokes about Brian and [Lauren Conrad], if only to add a certain element of timeliness to the material." Heisler graded the episode B-, the second highest grade of the night. He said that "often Family Guy is unbearable" and "has established a certain style and rhythm, jokes come off as smug", but said that he found himself enjoying the episode "more and more as it went on [...] because it was willing to fully embrace the silliness and ridiculousness of what it was setting up."
The episode, along with the six other episodes from Family Guys seventh season, were released on a three-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set in the United States on June 15, 2010. The set included brief audio commentaries for most episodes, excluding "We Love You, Conrad", "Stew-Roids", "Quagmire's Baby
Quagmire's Baby
"Quagmire's Baby" is the sixth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 15, 2009. The episode centers around neighbor Glenn Quagmire, after he suddenly discovers that he is the illegitimate father of a newborn...
and "Dog Gone". The set also included a collection of deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage from the production of "Road to the Multiverse
Road to the Multiverse
"Road to the Multiverse" is the first episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. Directed by Greg Colton and written by Wellesley Wild, the episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2009...
" and a Family Guy karaoke featurette.