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Comments (0)We knew that she once dated Israeli-born rocker Gene Simmons, but Lois Griffin is Jewish? Who knew?!
On a recent episode of the popular, award-winning Fox animated sitcom “Family Guy” – which chronicles a dysfunctional Rhode Island clan and their chatty dog, Brian – mom/wife Lois (voiced by actress Alex Borstein) discovers that her mother, Barbara Pewterschmidt, is a Holocaust survivor who abandoned Judaism to ensure that her husband was able to gain entry into the finest American country clubs.
Written by Mark Hentemann, the episode—titled “Family Goy”—features “Family Guy’s” infamously dark, biting, less-than-PC humor. “So Grandma Hebrewberg is actually Jewish?!” the headstrong Lois asks her mom, who replies, “Yes, when she moved to America, her family changed their name. It was originally `Hebrewbergmoneygrabber.’”
Oy.
Showing up for the raucous episode is accountant Max Weinstein (Peter Riegert, reprising the role from the 2003 “FG” episode titled “When You Wish Upon A Weinstein”), who tells Lois that she doesn’t need to change her lifestyle just because of her newfound heritage. Meanwhile, Lois’s dim-witted and offensive husband, Peter, embraces his wife’s Jewishness. He puts on a tallit, kippah and Star of David necklace, and wants to change his last name to Chhhhhhhh.
A particularly tasteless component of the episode arrives when Peter emulates the concentration camp commandant featured in “Schindler’s List,” sitting shirtless in his bedroom window with a rifle, shooting at his wife and the town’s other well-known Jew, Mort.
At the end, during a family squabble over Passover vs. Easter, Jesus, a semi-regular on the show, shows up and helps the Griffins bridge the interfaith divide.
Bestweekevertv.com managing editor/blogger Michelle Collins wrote of the episode, “How Fox let “Family Goy” air is beyond us, not only for the offensiveness, but for the lameness. Unless you’re an anti-Semite, in which case this is like your `MASH’ finale.”
Sounds like Michelle didn’t care for the episode.