Back to the Pilot is the fifth episode of the tenth season of the
animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the
United States on November 13, 2011. In "Back to the Pilot", two of the
show's main characters, baby genius Stewie and anthropomorphic dog
Brian, both voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane, use a time
machine to travel back in time to the first episode of the series,
"Death Has a Shadow". Trouble ensues however, when Brian tells his
former self about the September 11 attacks, causing the present to be
dramatically changed, and ultimately resulting in a second civil war.
The two must then prevent themselves from going back to the past in
the first place, but soon realize that it will be much more difficult
than they had originally thought.The episode was written by Mark
Hentemann and directed by Dominic Bianchi. It received high praise
from critics for its storyline and many cultural references, in
addition to receiving some criticism for its portrayal of the
September 11 attacks, an example of 9/11 humor despite being
self-aware. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed by 6.01
million people in its original airing. The episode featured guest
performances by Lacey Chabert, Chris Cox, Ralph Garman, Christine
Lakin, Phil LaMarr and Fred Tatasciore, along with several recurring
guest voice actors for the series.When Brian approaches Stewie about
helping him find a tennis ball he had buried, Stewie asks if Brian
remembers the date that he lost it. Brian tells him that he buried it
on January 31, 1999 (the day of the series' premiere on Fox). Using
Stewie's time machine to travel back to that date, the two soon come
upon the Griffin family, but notice that their past looks more strange
than they remembered it: the family continually pauses for cutaways,
and Meg's voice sounds different. Stewie also points out that this may
be his first memory and that is the day Peter made his eye go over his
nose (an animation glitch that actually occurred in the pilot).Telling
Brian that he must not alter the past by getting the tennis ball and
that he should instead memorize its location, Stewie goes into his
room to set up their return to the present before 1999 Stewie suddenly
enters. The two Stewies then meet, and Stewie tells Brian to come out
from his hiding place after explaining himself to 1999 Stewie.
However, hanging outside the window, Brian falls onto 1999 Peter's car
as he drives to the bachelor party at 1999 Glenn Quagmire's house.
Stewie finds Brian and the two then attempt to return to the present,
but find that the transportation device's batteries (having converted
the return pad to take D batteries instead of uranium after their
trouble in Germany) are running low and moved only a bit forward in
time to Super Bowl XXXIII. The two manage to take advantage of 1999
Peter dumping his extra welfare money out of a blimp above the stadium
to collect the money needed to purchase new batteries and start making
their way back, but not before briefly landing at 1999 Peter's trial
and running into the 1999 Kool-Aid Man and talking to him, making him
miss his cue to break in and consequently break into pieces. Back to the Pilot Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter