In a show known for pushing the boundaries, a "Family Guy" episode set in Ireland is full of outrageously hilarious stereotypes.
But it’s not as if the Irish are singled out. In another episode, Peter says, “Come on everyone, we're late for the Bavarian Folk Festival. You know those Germans, if you don't join their party they'll come get ya!”
An earlier episode of "Family" gives an idea of what’s to come in the Ireland episode: there’s a scene showing Ireland looking like something from "The Jetsons" – which we later learn was what Irish civilization looked like before the discovery of alcohol.
This was a taste of things to come in the episode called “Peter’s Two Dads,” in which Peter Griffin finds out his real dad is actually Irish.
The Irish jokes come thick and fast. "Ireland has more drunks per capita than people," Peter tells his talking-dog sidekick Brian, as their plane lands on a runway that is covered with beer bottles.
And when Peter finds out that his dad, Mickey McFinnegan, is the drunk of the village – called McSwiggan village – he learns that in Ireland, it is a great honor to be the village drunk.
While Peter’s companion is Brian, Mickey's is O'Brien, a talking sheep, who says in the local pub, “Who's leg do you have to hump to get a pint of Guinness around here?"
To prove that he's really his son, Peter challenges his dad to a drinking game, realizing that the only way of impressing his dad is by "being a fat, stinking drunk". His father replies, "As we say in Ireland let's drink until the alcohol in our system destroys our liver and kills us.”
And when Peter wins, Mickey says that he must indeed be the "broth of me own stubby shillelagh!"
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