Road to the North Pole (Family Dad)

Road to the North Pole is the seventh episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Dad. It was directed by Greg Colton and co-written by Chris Sheridan and Danny Smith. In Road to the North Pole, two of the show's main characters, Stewie and Brian, both voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane, go on an adventure to the North Pole because Stewie wants to kill Santa Claus. They eventually discover a dreary, polluting factory full of disease-ridden elves and carnivorous, feral reindeer, along with a sickly, exhausted and suicidal Santa. Stewie and Brian take pity on him, however, and decide to fulfill Christmas by delivering gifts to the entire globe, albeit unsuccessfully.

The episode received universal praise; critics praised its storyline and its numerous cultural references. The episode featured guest performances by Drew Barrymore, H. Jon Benjamin, David Boreanaz, Carrie Fisher, and Donald Fullilove, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. It is narrated by Ron MacFarlane, Seth MacFarlane's father. It was nominated for 3 Emmy Awards: Outstanding Music Composition for a Series, Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation. It later won for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation. The song "Christmastime Is Killing Us" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

Plot
Brian begrudgingly takes Stewie to the mall, only to get the brush-off from Santa. As a result, Stewie vows to kill Santa and forces Brian to drive him to the North Pole. Brian tries to trick him by taking him to a carnival themed to Santa's Village but Stewie fails to fall for the ruse. Stewie hitches a ride with a truck driver to Canada with Brian in pursuit. When Stewie accidentally fires a flare pistol in the truck causing a major wreck, Brian and Stewie find themselves stranded until a passer-by offers them the use of his snowmobile.

Continuing north, they soon run out of gas, but receive help from the Aurora Boreanaz, who instructs them to stay at a nearby cabin. The two survive the night in the cabin and set out on foot the next morning. They finally make it to Santa's workshop, only to find a dark, gloomy factory in a dreary, polluted, lifeless wasteland; Santa a sickly and depressed old man, the elves all horribly mutated and inbred due to Santa's attempts to keep up with the increasing gift demands year after year, and the reindeer carnivorous, feral monsters that eat the elves who wander out into the snow to die of exhaustion. Santa suddenly collapses and is too sick to deliver the presents. Brian and Stewie agree to do it, but end up wasting an hour and a half at their first house after the family discover their presence, before discovering they were in the wrong house. Realizing that they will not be able to complete the delivery in time, and understanding firsthand the impossibility of Santa's job, Stewie and Brian abandon the delivery in lieu of another plan.

On Christmas morning, everybody wakes up to find no presents under their trees. They turn on the news, which is broadcasting the same story. Brian and Stewie appear on the broadcast and bring the dying Santa out in a wheelchair, explaining that humanity's greed is killing him and if they don't shorten their demands to one Christmas present a year, they may have to give up Christmas altogether. Chastened, everyone agrees and by one year later, Santa has recovered, the workshop is once again a lively, colorful cottage and the elves and reindeer are all rejuvenated.

Cast

 * Seth MacFarlane as Peter Smith, Stewie Smith, Brian Smith
 * Wendy Schaal as Francine Smith
 * Rachel MacFarlane as Hayley Smith
 * Scott Grimes as Steve Smith, Neil Goldman
 * Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown, Mr. Herbert
 * Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson
 * Jennifer Tilly as Bonnie Swanson
 * Johnny Brennan as Mort Goldman
 * Patrick Stewart as Avery Bullock
 * Adam West as Mayor Adam West
 * Jeff Fischer as Jeff Fischer
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Cleveland Brown, Jr., Principal Lewis
 * Ron Livingston as Bob Memari
 * Megyn Price as Linda Memari
 * Matt McKenna as Buckle
 * Lisa Edelstein as Sharri Rothberg
 * Mike Barker as Tom Tucker
 * Drew Barrymore as Jillian Russell
 * H. Jon Benjamin as Carl
 * Donald Fullilove as Reginald Koala
 * Alec Sulkin as Tomik
 * John Viener as Bellgarde
 * Danny Smith as Ernie the Giant Chicken
 * Adam Carolla as Death
 * Bruce McGill as Santa Claus
 * David Boreanaz as Aurora Boreanaz
 * Ron MacFarlane as Himself/The Narrator

Trivia

 * Multiple recurring characters of the series appear all at once in the episode.

Source

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