Oh, ouch!
Original air date: May 6, 2007
Production code: 5ACX-11
When the family discovers Chris using an extremely outdated textbook, Lois complains about it at a PTA meeting for his high school—Principal Shepherd explains that the "No Child Left Behind Act" cut their school's funding because of low test scores. Principal Shepherd claims that the best way to remedy the situation is by expelling the school's worst student, who turns out to be none other than Chris himself. Meanwhile, Peter goes for a third round with his arch enemy the Giant Chicken, but soon both realize... they've completely forgotten what they're fighting about!
Tropes:
- Annoying Laugh: One of the elitist students has a very long drawn-out laugh.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: When Lois discovers that the school's funding is low due to low average test scores, she insists the principal do something to raise averages immediately. The principal responds that the easiest way to raise them is to expel Chris (Lois's son), the dumbest student in the school.
- Bowdlerization: The following changes were made between the TV version and the DVD version:
- When Peter calls Quagmire during the ballet, Quagmire says that he's only here because of "...some woman I'm trying to nail" on the TV version. On the DVD, "nail" is replaced with "screw".
- In the scene of Lois lecturing Chris for reading at the breakfast table, the DVD version has an extra scene of Peter texting something to Chris, Chris reading the text to himself, and chuckling, "Yeah, right in her ass!"
- Lois and Brian finding out that Chris' textbook is severely outdated: the TV version has Chris' textbook from 1948 with such chapters as "Big Band Music Causes Youth Rebellion" and "Israel: The Hot New Country Everyone's Gonna Love". The DVD version has Chris' textbook from 1896 with such chapters as "Here Comes Utah"note and "Negroes: America's Dancin'est Rapefolk", with Lois offended over the latter title because nobody uses the word "negro" to mean "African-Americans" anymore.
- When Chris calls Lois about how he doesn't like being in private school and Lois tells Chris that she'll talk to her father about making it easier for him, there's an extra scene in the DVD version where Chris comments that being in private school is worse than when he had to fire Rocky Balboa for using the cow carcasses in a meat freezer as a punching bag (with Rocky pointing out that Paulie is having sex with one of the cow carcasses).
- Brick Joke: During the montage of jobs the family took to pay for Chris's new school, Stewie got a job following fat people with a tuba. At the end of the episode, Stewie plays his tuba while following Chris.
- Comically Missing the Point: Principal Shepard decides the best method to get extra funding is to get rid of the dumbest kid in the school. He immediately announces that Chris is expelled, leading to this reaction.Chris: But if I leave now, I won't find out who the dumbest kid in the school is!
- Dingy Trainside Apartment: Parodied with Stewie as King Friday during a Cutaway Gag. Despite living in a castle, he's incensed that it's right next to the railroad tracks and snarks that the kingdom must be as destitute as Mexico if even a king isn't safe from this trope.
- The Drag-Along: The entire family by Lois to see a ballet. It ends up be the catalyst that triggers the main plot.
- Enemy Mine: Down in the sewers Peter and the Giant Chicken temporarily work together to kill a feral alligator that attacks them. Once its dead the Chicken smacks Peter upside the head with its corpse.
- Given Name Reveal: The Giant Chicken's name is revealed to be Ernie.
- Inherently Funny Words: "Buttscratcher" features heavily in a Cutaway Gag about Peter working as a merchandise seller at the ballpark.
- Left the Background Music On: Invoked by Stewie, who takes up a part-time job playing funny tuba music while following fat people.
- Medium-Shift Gag: When Stewie compares himself to King Friday XIII from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a live-action cutaway shows Stewie as a puppet.
- Mid-Battle Tea Break: In the middle of the Chicken Fight, Peter and the Chicken realize that they completely forgot what they were fighting about in the first place. As a truce, the Chicken invites Peter for dinner with his wife. All seems to go well until the check arrives and the fight resumes.
- Motive Decay: In the middle of their fight, Peter and the Chicken stop their fight when they realize that they've been fighting for so long, they've completely forgotten why they were fighting in the first place, so the Giant Chicken invites Peter to dinner to bury the hatchet. Then they start arguing over who will pay the bill...
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Lois calls out Principal Shepard after finding out that the school can't afford new textbooks, so they decide to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act in order to increase the budget by kicking out the dumbest kid in school—whom, unfortunately, turns out to be Lois's own son.
- Oh, Crap!: Said word for word when Peter spots The Giant Chicken outside the house.
- Overly Long Gag: Peter vs. The Giant Chicken; Round Three.
- Pocket Pet: A cutaway gag features a Japanese girl showing her friend her tiny items. One of which is a tiny dog she carries in her tiny purse.
- Sex Work Pays for Education: An example of sex work paying for someone else's education. Chris is expelled from James Wood High for dragging their test scores down and gets into the Morningwood Academy thanks to his grandfather's influence. To pay for Chris's significantly more expensive tuition, his family takes on extra jobs; for Lois and Meg, this means becoming prostitutes (with the implication that only Lois gets consistent business).
- Status Quo Is God: Thanks to help from Carter, Chris is able to get back into his old school and clear the family's expense.
- Suddenly Voiced: The Giant Chicken, who previously only clucked or was too busy fighting to get a word in edgewise.
- Take That!: To the No Child Left Behind Act
a controversial legislation that critics claimed hurt poorly performing schools more than helping them. - Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Lois is this twice over —
- 1.) She drags her family out to a ballet late on a school night and the next morning, she chastises Chris for reading a book during breakfast. But Chris defends himself by claiming that he has a test at school that day but was unable to get any studying done the previous night because of Lois forcing him and the rest family to go to the ballet. Brian then discovers that Chris's textbook is severely outdated and Lois, after reading some of it herself, promises to "raise hell about this" at the high school's next PTA-meeting.
- 2.) While at the PTA-meeting, Lois lambasts the school for how underfunded it and encourages the school to raise its test scores in any way possible (so they'll get more funding under the No Child Left Behind Act). Unfortunately, this leads to Chris getting expelled, because Principal Shepherd decided that the first thing that the school can do to raise test scores is expel the school's "dumbest" student, who just so happens to be Lois's own son, Chris.
- What Is This, X?: In a Cutaway Gag, Stewie (as King Friday) has this reaction when a locomotive goes past his castle as he's giving a speech.Stewie: What kind of freaking king lives next to the train tracks?! What is this, Mexico?