"And Then There Were Fewer" | |
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Family Guy episode | |
Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 1 |
Directed by | Dominic Polcino |
Written by | Cherry Chevapravatdumrong |
Production code | 8ACX01-02 |
Original air date | September 26, 2010 |
Guest appearances | |
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"And Then There Were Fewer" is the hour-long season premiere of the ninth season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 26, 2010. The episode follows the citizens of the fictional city of Quahog in the U.S. state of Rhode Island after they are invited by actor James Woods to his stately mansion on a remote island. While there, a series of murders occur, and the group struggles to determine who committed the mysterious acts, before ultimately attempting to escape from the island, and avoid being murdered themselves. The episode borrows its premise and title from Agatha Christie's 1939 murder mystery And Then There Were None, while also serving as a parody of the 1985 film Clue.
The episode was written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and directed by Dominic Polcino. It received high acclaim from critics, who praised its storyline and cultural references, and is generally considered one of the best episodes of Family Guy. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 9.41 million homes in its original airing. The episode features guest performances by Drew Barrymore, H. Jon Benjamin, Max Burkholder, Colin Ford, Patrick Stewart, Ashley Tisdale and James Woods, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. It was the first Family Guy episode to air in 16:9 and high definition. The episode was nominated for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. "And Then There Were Fewer" was released on DVD along with two other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011. The show confirmed afterwards that it was “canon,” and those characters that died (e.g., Diane Simmons, Muriel Goldman, etc.) would not be brought back in the future. However, James Woods is seen in the thirteenth episode of season 10, "Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream", in which he tells Peter and Tom that paramedics brought him to a secret science lab made for celebrities and revived him.