“A Hero Sits Next Door”
Family Guy episode
Lois & Stewie meet Joe Swanson
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 5
Guest stars	Michelle Kwan
Written by	Matt Weitzman and Mike Barker
Directed by	Monte Young
Production no.	1ACX05
Original airdate	May 2, 1999
Season 1 episodes
Family Guy - Season 1 January 31, 1999 – May 16, 1999
Death Has a Shadow I Never Met the Dead Man Chitty Chitty Death Bang Mind Over Murder A Hero Sits Next Door The Son Also Draws Brian: Portrait of a Dog
	Season 2 →
List of Family Guy episodes

“A Hero Sits Next Door” is an episode of Family Guy from season one. It guest-stars Michelle Kwan as herself. Image File history File links FGAHeroSitsNextDoor. ... Michelle Wing Kwan (關穎珊) (born 7 July 1980) is an American figure skater and media celebrity who has won nine U.S. championships, five world championships, and two Olympic medals. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 136th day of the year (137th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... “Death Has a Shadow” was the first episode of the FOX animated television series Family Guy, which first aired after Super Bowl XXXIII, on January 31, 1999. ... “I Never Met the Dead Man” is the second episode of the FOX animated television series Family Guy. ... “Chitty Chitty Death Bang” is the third episode from season one of the FOX animated television series Family Guy. ... Mind Over Murder is an episode of Family Guy from Season One. ... “The Son Also Draws” is an episode of Family Guy from season one. ... “Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater” is an episode from the FOX animated television series Family Guy. ... The following is an episode list for the FOX animated television series Family Guy. ... Family Guy is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series about a dysfunctional family in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island. ... Michelle Wing Kwan (關穎珊) (born 7 July 1980) is an American figure skater and media celebrity who has won nine U.S. championships, five world championships, and two Olympic medals. ...

Plot summary

Mr. Weed introduces Guillermo, a ringer he hired to ensure the company’s victory at the annual softball game. Peter injures Guillermo with a wild pitch during practice and must find a new player to replace him. Meanwhile, Lois is trying to become friends with the new neighbors. After Stewie tries to escape from listening to Lois and Bonnie’s conversation, he says “Oh to be the Lindbergh baby right about now,” a reference to the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s son. Much to Peter’s disapproval, until he discovers that his new neighbor, Joe Swanson, played ball in college and invites him to play; when Joe shows up on the field, however, Peter (along with the other players) is horrified to see that he is wheelchair-bound, and yells, “Holy crip, he’s a crapple!” Joe turns out to be a fantastic player, however, and leads the team to victory. In addition, he is also a heroic policeman, and soon becomes very popular with the neighbors, including Peter’s family. When Peter is mad at Joe for taking all his friends he quotes the Gershwin & Gershwin song “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” by saying “The way I wear my hat? No, no, he can’t take that away from me.” Stewie, meanwhile, believes that Joe is some kind of cyborg, and tries to steal his technology. Jonathan Weed (often called Mr. ... Ringer is a term with several meanings: In colloquial English language, it refers to a specialist who is clandestinely brought into a group or team to bolster its capabilities. ... Soft ball is also a sugar stage Softball is a team sport popular around the world but especially in the United States. ... Peter Löwenbräu Griffin is the protagonist in the American animated television series Family Guy. ... Lois Griffin (born as Lois Pewterschmidt) is a cartoon character on the TV show Family Guy by Seth MacFarlane. ... Lindbergh baby kidnapping poster. ... Charles Augustus Lindbergh (4 February 1902 – 26 August 1974), known as Lucky Lindy and The Lone Eagle, was an American pilot famous for the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic, from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Paris in 1927 in the Spirit of St. ... Lieutenant Joseph Joe Swanson is a fictional character in the Fox animated television show Family Guy. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Police officers in South Australia A police officer (or policeman/policewoman) is a warranted worker of a police force. ... They Cant Take That Away From Me is a 1937 song (see 1937 in music) written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and first performed by Fred Astaire in the movie Shall We Dance (1937). ... Stewart Gilligan Stewie Griffin is a fictional character in the animated television series Family Guy. ... For other uses, see Cyborg (disambiguation). ...

Joe’s popularity makes Peter jealous, and Peter wants to be a hero too. He decides to perform a heroic deed to compete with Joe and attempts to stop a bank robbery in progress. However, he and his talking dog Brian are taken hostage until Joe convinces the robbers to surrender. During this scene Lois prevents a policeman from shooting Peter, the bullet hits a John F. Kennedy PEZ dispenser that a boy was holding (a reference to President Kennedy's assassination), but he is glad he still has a Bobby Kennedy Pez dispenser. After the hostage situation Peter is disappointed, but his family tells him that he is their hero. Brian Griffin is a fictional character on the FOX animated television series Family Guy, and is voiced by show creator, Seth MacFarlane. ... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... For other uses, see PEZ (disambiguation). ... John Kennedy and JFK redirect here. ... Robert Kennedy Robert Francis Bobby Kennedy, also called RFK (November 20, 1925–June 6, 1968) was the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy, and was appointed by his brother as Attorney General for his administration. ...

In another subplot, Meg keeps trying to get Kevin’s attention, but is unsuccessful until she gets Kevin to start talking about himself. Megan Meg Griffin is a cartoon character on the TV show Family Guy by Seth MacFarlane. ... Kevin Swanson is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. ...

Notes

• Joe Swanson identifies himself as a “police lieutenant” in this episode, yet in every episode showing him in uniform he’s drawn with the rank insignia of a private.
• This is the first episode not to have the word “death” or the word “murder” in the title. The writing staff has remarked that they initially planned to give each episode a bizarrely macabre title, but dropped the approach after the first four episodes because they were getting the episodes mixed up.
• When the bankrobbers take the gun back from Peter, one of them has a prosthetic arm.
• Peter tells Joe he has "that disease where stuff just pops out of your mouth", referring to Coprolalia, a type of Tourette syndrome.
• It is implied that Mr. Weed is having a romantic relationship with Guillermo. When hiring Guillermo, Mr. Weed is wearing X-ray glasses to look beyond his clothes, when Guillermo is hurt, Mr. Weed states that he's allergic to penicillin and white zinfandel, and when driving home with Brian, Peter says he was in the locker room and swore Guillermo was "bench pressing Mr. Weed".
• when Joe recounts (in flashback) being paralyzed as a result of a rooftop battle he is battling the Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas .

For other uses, see Death (disambiguation), Dead (disambiguation), Death (band) or Deceased (band). ... A United States Army soldier plays table football with two prosthetic arms Jon Comer, professional skateboarder with a prosthetic leg. ... Coprolalia is involuntary swearing or the involuntary utterance of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks. ... “Tourette” redirects here. ... Zinfandel, also known as Zin, is a red-skinned wine grape popular in California for its intense fruitiness and lush texture. ... A soldier from the U.S. Army performs a 345 lb (156 kg) bench press The bench press is an open-chained form of free-weightlifting. ... How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is one of the best-known childrens books by Dr. Seuss. ...

References

This article or section includes a list of references or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.

• Callaghan, Steve. “A Hero Sits Next Door.” Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 30–33.
• Delarte, Alonso. “Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 1.” Bob’s Poetry Magazine March 2005: 12–13. http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Mr.pdf

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

External links

• A Hero Sits Next Door at Family Guy wiki, a Family Guy Wikia site
• A Hero Sits Next Door at the Internet Movie Database
• "A Hero Sits Next Door" at TV.com