page_title: Road to ... (Family Guy)
section_title: Production and development
hierarchical_section_title: Road to ... (Family Guy) / Production and development
caption_attribution_description: English: Seth MacFarlane at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego
context_page_description: The Road to... episodes, also known as the Family Guy Road shows, are a series of episodes in the animated series Family Guy. They are a parody of the seven Road to... comedy films, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour.
  These episodes revolve around Stewie Griffin and Brian on a road trip in a foreign, supernatural or science fiction setting not familiar to the show's normal location in Quahog, Rhode Island. The first, titled "Road to Rhode Island", aired on May 30, 2000, as a part of the second season. The episodes are known for featuring elaborate musical numbers, similar to the original films. As of 2016, there are eight Road to episodes.
  The Road to episodes contain several signature elements, including a special version of the opening sequence, custom musical cues and musical numbers, and parodies of science fiction and fantasy films. Many of the episodes are popular among television critics, and have been nominated for several awards. In 2000, "Road to Rhode Island" was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award in the "Outstanding Animated Program" category.
context_section_description: The Road to episodes are a parody of the seven Road to... comedy films released between 1940 and 1962, which starred actors Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane came up with the idea to create the episodes, being a fan of the original film series.
  The first Road to episode, titled "Road to Rhode Island", aired in 2000 as a part of the second season of Family Guy, and featured Brian and Stewie attempting to find Brian's mother. The episode was the first Family Guy contribution by director Dan Povenmire, and it was written by Gary Janetti, who had previously written for the show during its first and second seasons. MacFarlane granted Povenmire substantial creative freedom. Povenmire recalled that MacFarlane would tell him, "We've got two minutes to fill. Give me some visual gags. Do whatever you want. I trust you." Povenmire praised MacFarlane's management style for letting him "have [...] fun".
   After the episode's success, including its nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award, a second episode in the Road to series was produced for the third season, titled "Road to Europe". The episode was inspired by the 1941 film Road to Morocco, including its musical number "(We're off on the) Road to Morocco", which was previously parodied by the two characters, with new lyrics, in "Rhode Island". Povenmire returned to direct the episode but this time it was written by Daniel Palladino, who was a guest-writer.
  The third episode in the series was not produced in the fourth season, but instead it was produced in the fifth season, titled "Road to Rupert", which followed Stewie in his attempt to relocate his teddy bear, Rupert, who was taken to Aspen, Colorado, was the last episode of the Road shows to be directed by Dan Povenmire. Povenmire left Family Guy soon after, following the conclusion of the fifth season, to create his own series, titled Phineas and Ferb, which has since been nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards with two Emmy wins. It was written by Patrick Meighan who had written the fourth-season episode "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter".
  As a result, series regular Greg Colton, who had worked on "Brian Goes Back to College", "No Meals on Wheels", and also "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter", took over Povenmire's role as director of the Road to episodes. The next installment was titled "Road to Germany", which follows Brian and Stewie going back in time to rescue their neighbor Mort Goldman from the Nazi invasion of Poland. The episode was produced for the seventh season, it aired on October 19, 2008. Meighan returned to write the episode.  After reading the script aloud, Jewish executive producer David A. Goodman said, "I'm going to get kicked out of my temple."
  The next Road to episode was announced at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, on July 25, 2008. It was titled "Road to the Multiverse" and it was produced in the seventh eighth season. Though it was not originally intended to be a Road to episode, Greg Colton convinced series creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane and "Spies Reminiscent of Us" director Cyndi Tang to change the episode's title from "Sliders", parodying the science fiction television series Sliders. Colton's suggestion of the new title "Road to the Multiverse" was accepted, as was altering the premise of "Spies Reminiscent of Us", the season's original Road to episode. The episode was not written by Meighan, instead it was written by Wellesley Wild who wrote "PTV".
  The sixth episode was announced at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, and follows Brian and Stewie on an adventure to the North Pole. It aired during the show's ninth season, and is titled "Road to the North Pole". The episode was the first Road show to be produced and broadcast in high-definition, the first to be a full hour in length, and was directed by Colton.
  The tenth-season episode "Back to the Pilot", originally titled "Road to the Pilot", was at first intended to be the seventh installment in t
caption: Series creator Seth MacFarlane came up with the idea to create the series of episodes.
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