Episode Notes
“Road to the Multiverse” was seen by 10.2 million viewers
The only change in the October 6th [adult swim] premiere of “Multiverse” was Stewie's line “put your penis in a wheelchair”. It was replaced by the slightly altered line, “Your penis would shoot right off”
The 2 instances of the “F” word are of course censored for broadcast, but they are written fully in the close captioning.
Episode Goofs
If Christianity never happened in the first universe Stewie and Brian go to, there wouldn't be a Sistine Chapel
When Stewie and Brian get to the universe that's depicted as political cartoons, Stewie cries he's naked.
He's not naked, he's wearing a diaper and a large sash that covers him up quite well.
When Stewie says the line “Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape” all we see in the background is an empty bench and other empty chairs.
When we return from the commercial break, the bench and chairs are occupied by canine citizens.
After Poodle Stewie activates the gateway and sends Stewie & Brian through it, Dog Joe tackles Human Brian in order to stop him from going through the portal.
When the scene cuts to Human Brian's POV of the portal, Poodle Stewie is missing but reappears after he leaps through the portal.
Cultural References
Visual:
During the opening “executive producers” credits Brian plays the classic arcade game “Pac-Man” created in May 1980 w/ Stewie in the role of “Pac-Man” and Peter, Lois, Chris and Meg portraying the ghost characters that try to kill Pac-Man.
Peter is the red ghost aka “Blinky”, Lois is the pink ghost aka “Pinky”, Chris is the blue ghost aka “Inky” & Meg is the yellow ghost aka “Clyde”
Visual:
During the “co-executive producer” credits parodies a scene from the 2003 movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” w/ Brian as the character “Frodo” and Stewie as the character “Gollum”
Visual:
During the “produced by Kara Vallow” credit, a scene depicting the classic monster of Japanese movie fame, “Godzilla” is seen w/ Brian representing Godzilla and Stewie playing all the Japanese citizens running from Godzilla's rampage
Peter: “What a rip off, It's just Kim Cattrall sitting Indian style”
Actress
Kim Cattrall (1956-) is mentioned in this episode, however the joke about her is aimed at her character she played in
“Sex and the City” (1998-2004),
“Samantha Jones”.
Samantha had a
VERY active social life.
The song that plays when the hot Meg walks down the sidewalk is “Drop Dead Legs” from Van Halen's 1984 album “1984”
Stewie: “Yeah, with no Christianity to inspire Michelangelo they gave the job to John Hinckley”
Famous Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer
Michelangelo (1475–1564) is mentioned in this episode.
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is covered in photos of actress
Jodie Foster (1962-).
John Hinkley attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981 in order to impress Jodie Foster.
The second universe Stewie and Brian travel to is none other than
Bedrock from
“The Flintstones” (1960-1966) complete with Lois portraying
“Wilma Flintstone” & Peter portraying
“Fred Flintstone” w/ Peter saying a part of Fred's catch phrase
“Yabba-Dabba-Doo”Stewie: “According to the Multiverse Guide...”
This may be a reference to the science fiction book series by Douglas Adams, British radio/TV show & 2005 movie “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”.
The main character “Arthur Dent” obtained a book that told him everything about the galaxy at a moment's notice the same way Stewie's Multiverse guide does.
In the Disney Universe...
...Patrick Warburton voices a coffee pot. This is an allusion to the 1991 film, “Beauty and the Beast” where all the castle servants were transformed into household objects.
...Meg is shown drawn as the villain “Ursula” from the 1989 film “The Little Mermaid”.
...the bees from the cartoons starring Donald Duck, “Bee on Guard” & “Bee at the Beach” make an appearance as a barbershop quartet.
...Mike Henry voices a skunk that's an allusion to the character “Flower” from the 1942 film “Bambi” as well as an exact representation of the “Witch” from the 1937 film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”
...Bruce makes an appearance as the character “Tinkerbell” from the 1953 film “Peter Pan”
Stewie: “It says in this universe Frank Sinatra was never born and therefore he was unable to use his influence to get Kennedy elected. So Nixon won the 1960 election and totally botched the Cuban Missile Crisis causing World War III”
Brian: “Wow so I guess Lee Harvey Oswald never shot Kennedy?”
Stewie: “Nope, he shot Mayor McCheese”
Singer
Frank Sinatra (1915-1998), former president
Richard Nixon (1913-1994), former president
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) & his assassin
Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) are all mentioned in this episode.
The character of
“Mayor McCheese” from the fast food chain
McDonalds is featured in the parody of the Kennedy assassination, complete with
Jackie Kennedy (1929-1994) eating the hamburger remains
Visual: “McCain-Feingold Platter”
This is a reference to the “2002 McCain Feingold Act”.
John McCain, a Republican, sided with Liberal Democrat Russ Feingold to create the 'Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002' regulating the way campaigns can be financed.
It's part of the reason we now have the statement "I'm ______ and I endorse this message" attached to political ads.
Stewie: “Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty dog”
This is a reference to the 1968 scifi movie
“Planet of the Apes” starring
Charleton Heston (1923-2008) and Heston's line in the film,
“Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape” Brian: “Hello my name is Blake Carrington”
“Blake Carrington” was a character on the TV drama
“Dynasty” (1981-1989) played by
John Forsythe (1918-2010) Stewie: “Gosh Brian I sure hope this next leap will be the leap home”
This line is a reference to the scifi show
“Quantum Leap” (1989-1993). This same line
(minus the Gosh Brian) was the last line used in the intro for each episode.