"Cool Hand Peter" is the eighth episode of the tenth season of the American animated sitcom Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 4, 2011. In the episode, Peter Griffin and his friends Joe, Quagmire and Cleveland (who has returned to Quahog) decide to go on a road trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. Whilst driving they are stopped by a police officer, arrested and thrown in jail by the sheriff who abuses his power, and plants marijuana in their car. The group then attempt to escape the prison due to their stay being extended indefinitely, and return to Quahog.
The episode served as a follow-up to the exit of the main character Cleveland Brown, who left Family Guy in order to star in his own Fox spin-off, entitled The Cleveland Show. Main cast member and former series writer Mike Henry returned to the series to provide the voice of Cleveland. The episode also featured a crossover between Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, both of which were created by executive producer Seth MacFarlane, and included cameo appearances by two of The Cleveland Shows main characters.
First announced at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International, the episode was written by Artie Johann and Shawn Ries, and directed by Brian Iles. The episode received mixed reviews, praising its structure and humor, but criticizing it for not living up to the 1967 drama film Cool Hand Luke, which the episode was named after. According to Nielsen ratings, it was watched by 7.14 million people in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Ralph Garman, Bob Gunton, Sanaa Lathan, Julius Sharpe, Jennifer Tilly, and Jād Saxton along with several recurring guest voice actors from the series.
Plot
When Cleveland Brown returns to Quahog for a week, he visits his old friends Peter, Joe and Quagmire. When Peter gets tired of his wife, Lois, constantly demanding for him to do chores, he and the rest of the group decide to take a road trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. Whilst their husbands are away, Lois, Bonnie and Donna proceed to enjoy "girl time", resulting with them doing wine-induced childish antics which include forcibly dressing Brian in a humiliating bumblebee costume.
While driving through a rural area in Georgia, Peter and his group are pulled over by the local sheriff, and Peter makes every effort to talk as annoyingly and rudely to him as possible. But the Sheriff is more offended by Cleveland's attempt to calmingly explain themselves, punching out their left headlights and then planting a bag of marijuana in their trunk. The group are then sent to a county work camp where they are forced to perform various tasks, including ditch digging and rock crushing. As their stay in the jail supposedly comes to an end, the warden then approaches them and tells them that their stay has been extended an additional thirty days. Learning from another prisoner that they might be locked up forever, the group decides to break out of the prison when the prison guard's eyes are diverted. Successful in their attempt, they soon come across a house where they discover a set of handcuff and shackle keys.
They then discover that they are in the sheriff's home, who returns soon after. Peter tries to pretend to be his wife while hiding in a closet, and he convinces the sheriff to let the fugitives go free. This exchange ends with the sheriff asking for a hug, which makes Peter jump out of the closet and reveal the group, making the sheriff realizing that he doesn't have a wife. The entire police force then comes after them, until they are able to jump on a train and arrive in Quahog, only to be met by the sheriff and his deputies. Joe, however, had called ahead and arranged for the Quahog police department to arrive and rescue them. Joe then wrecks the sheriff's car, shoots him in the leg, and demands he leave Quahog.