"Airport '07" is the twelfth episode of season five of the animated sitcom Family Guy. The episode originally broadcast on Fox on March 4, 2007. The plot follows the Griffin family's neighbor Quagmire being dismissed from his job as a pilot after Peter sabotages his airplane by emptying the fuel tank, causing it to crash. Peter, Joe and Cleveland make a plan to get Quagmire his job back and, although the plan itself fails, Quagmire is re-hired.
Written by Tom Devanney and directed by John Holmquist, the episode received mostly positive reviews from critics. According to Nielsen ratings, it was watched by 8.59 million households in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Barclay DeVeau, Hugh Hefner, Phil LaMarr, Rachael MacFarlane and Fred Tatasciore, along with several recurring guest voice actors from the series.
Plot
After seeing a redneck comedy show, Peter purchases a pickup truck and decides to become a redneck himself. He does stereotypical redneck things as bringing the couch out onto the lawn, propositioning his daughter Meg, and chewing tobacco. Peter paints a large patriotic and anti-abortion message on the back window of his pickup, which obscures his view and causes him to reverse into Quagmire's car, destroying it. As a result, Peter has to drive Quagmire to the airport, where he is due to fly an airplane from Quahog to Atlanta. While at the airport, Peter steals the fuel used for Quagmire's airplane, believing it will make his pickup fly. As a result, Quagmire's plane runs out of fuel part way into the flight and crashes. Quagmire loses his job and after draining his life savings within a few weeks is forced to live with the Griffins until he can find another job.
Annoyed by Quagmire's behavior in the house, Peter's wife Lois tells him to help Quagmire get a job. Quagmire fails in every job they find, complaining the only thing he can do well is fly a plane. Peter, Quagmire, Joe and Cleveland make up a plan to get Quagmire to get his job back: whilst Quagmire is a passenger on a flight, the others will impersonate cabin crew to get onto the flight, then drug the pilots so Quagmire will have to step in and safely land the plane. Shortly after take off, Peter, Joe and Cleveland drug the pilots and call for help, only for them to find Quagmire is not on board because he was having sex with a woman at the check-in desk. As none of them can fly the plane, it goes into freefall. Quagmire is deeply disappointed with himself, and goes to the bar, where Playboy founder Hugh Hefner meets him. Hefner tells Quagmire that the late pornographic actor John Holmes believed that Quagmire was the greatest pilot of all time. Feeling reinvigorated, he goes off to the air traffic control tower and, via radio, gives Peter detailed instructions on how to land the plane safely. As a reward for his work, Quagmire's job is reinstated.
Production
Hugh Hefner provided his own voice for the episode. In the DVD commentary, show producer David Goodman comments that, throughout the episode, little respect is shown for rednecks. The Thai women escaping from Quagmire's car after Peter crashes into it were all voiced by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, a Thai-origin Family Guy writer and producer, while Quagmire (voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane) utters several phrases in the same language. MacFarlane said on the commentary that Chevapravatdumrong taught him the phrases and that he did not know their meanings. Mayor West is shown reading My Pet Goat to children at a school as he is being told about the plane crash, then ignoring the news and continuing to read the book; this is a reference to the reaction of George W. Bush after being informed about the September 11, 2001 attacks. The sketch showing news anchorman Tom Tucker showing several scenarios of how the crash could have turned out is a reference, MacFarlane states, "to how irresponsible it is". The scenario of the airplane crash survivor slapping his wife eight times was toned down to four on the Fox airing and the syndicated version. There is also a crotch shot of Peter getting out of Paris Hilton's car, which was censored with pixelization on TV, but shown uncensored on DVD.
