There's Something About Paulie/References

Cultural references

• Peter meets “the Don” at Mobster’s Bar and Grill. This is a reference to restaurants in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence serving as fronts for the Mafia.
• The plot of this episode has similarities with the classic 1972 Mafia film The Godfather, including the sequence in which various friends ask “the Don” for favors on the day of his daughter’s wedding. “The Don” in this episode is very similar in appearance and speech to Vito Corleone, Marlon Brando’s character in The Godfather. There’s even a scene where Lois asks Peter if he ever saw The Godfather..
• Peter says he “had to rent a mustang.” The ensuing cutaway shows Peter with the type of horse instead of a Ford Mustang.
• A scene showing “the mob in the movies” parodies the infamous scene in 1990 film Goodfellas in which Joe Pesci harasses Ray Liotta for calling him “funny.” In this version, he asks “Am I George Carlin funny or Spin City funny or Rita Rudner funny?”
• The online navigation system of Peter’s car mimics Ukrainian-American comedian Yakov Smirnoff.
• Peter uses a copy of the magazine Entertainment Weekly as toilet paper. This is due to the fact that Entertainment Weekly has been known to heavily criticize Family Guy. They have since made amends.
• After Paulie dumps a small milk carton down Peter’s pants, Peter says “Guess I got milk!” a reference to the got milk? advertising campaign.
• Imitating Goodfellas once again, Peter tries to clarify Paulie’s statement that Lois is a “crazy broad,” stating that “he didn’t mean you’re crazy like Elizabeth Taylor. He meant you were crazy like the glue.”
• A flashback shows Peter as one of the “cavity creeps” from Crest toothpaste’s 1980s television commercials.
• James Woods Regional High School stages a production of the play Death of a Salesman with Meg in the role of Linda Loman. A hitman tries to kill Lois at the play. Peter, still obtuse, says the “only victim tonight was the work of Arthur Miller,” who was the writer of Death of a Salesman.
• At the Don’s daughter’s wedding, Peter sings country music singer [Glen Campbell]’s song “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
• As Peter explains to a complaining Lois the interesting characters one meets in taxis, the TV show Taxi is referenced and parodied. The show's characters Alex Rieger, Tony Banta, Loiue DePalma and Elaine Nardo are referenced. While 'the foreign guy who works in the garage' that Peter was referring to was actually the character Latka Gravas (played by Andy Kaufman), he is replaced by Jackie Chan.
• The Don asks Peter to repay his debt to the mob by taking his nephew, big fat Paulie, out to a movie. Peter readily agrees, but says "Wait a minute, which movie? If its anything that has Greg Kinnear, then you can just whack me off right now". They ultimately go to see "How Stella Got Her Groove Back II" (a fictional sequel to How Stella Got Her Groove Back). Inside the movie theater, a scene between the protagonist Stella and an actress, who is supposedly Whoopi Goldberg, is also shown.
• The TV show that the Griffins are shown watching is the sitcom Dharma and Greg.
• When Peter tells Lois that he is afraid that something will happen to her and he is too old to start dating again, a cutaway scene shows Peter on an episode of The Dating Game, the classic TV show in which the bachelorette would ask questions to each of the three hidden bachelors and would then make her choice based on the answers to her questions.
• As Peter and Lois are waiting in line to meet the Don and ask for their favor, Peter spots actor David Schwimmer. When asked what he would ask for, David Schwimmer replies "World Peace", thus parodying the frequent 'World Peace' pledges made by beauty pageant contestants.

References

• S. Callaghan, “There’s Something About Paulie.” Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 103–107.
• A. Delarte, “Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 2” in Bob’s Poetry Magazine, 2.May 2005: 22–23 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02My.pdf

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