family guy news

For the second time, the Fox animated comedy "Family Guy" is being sued, in this case for using a song called "I Need a Jew," which apparently sounds a lot like "When You Wish Upon a Star."
There's actually a Utah connection here, so stick with me.
The song was part of an episode originally produced in 2000, but never aired on Fox after it reintroduced the series a few years ago.
According to Variety, New York music publisher Bourne Co., which owns the rights to "When You Wish Upon a Star," is suing the animated sitcom because it believes "I Need a Jew" is a "thinly-veiled copy" of the classic Oscar-winning song featured in the 1940 Disney movie "Pinocchio."
The episode involves dad Peter Griffin declaring he needs a Jewish accountant to do his finances.
For those who don't know: "When You Wish Upon a Star" was written by Salt Lake City native Leigh Harline, a graduate of Granite High School and the University of Utah and a Mormon who trained under one of the conductors of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
"Family Guy" also was sued by entertainer Carol Burnett earlier this year after the show ran a parody of Burnett's cleaning lady character as a janitor in a porn shop. But a federal judge tossed out the suit, claiming the "Family Guy" segment was protected under free speech because it was a parody.
I suspect that's probably what's

going to happen to the case involving the song.
As much as I consider "When You Wish Upon a Star" one of my favorite movie songs, if not the favorite, it's obvious it was used as a parody. No one is going to mistake the satire in "Family Guy" for the real song in "Pinocchio."
Ratings rumble: For many years, Thursday nights have been the main event of the weekly ratings war, with the networks' biggest offerings duking it out for viewership supremacy. In fact, this season, only one new fall show dared to enter the Thursday night pack, populated with established returning series.
At the end of the new season's second week, everyone was down ratingswise from the week before when most shows premiered, according to Nielsen Media Research and the Hollywood Reporter.
At 7 p.m., CBS' "Survivor: China" won the time slot, followed by "Ugly Betty" and NBC's "My Name is Earl" and "30 Rock" block.
At 8 p.m., "Grey's Anatomy" still leads the night with more than 25 million viewers, followed by "CSI" and NBC's "The Office" with 8 1/2 million.
At 9 p.m., CBS retakes the lead with "Without a Trace," with NBC's "ER" second, followed by ABC's new entry, "Big Shots."
At the bottom were Fox and the CW with the likes of "Don't Forget the Lyrics" and "Supernatural."
Family Guy has been sued by Bourne Company, a music publishing company that owns the rights to the Oscar-winning Pinocchio song, "When You Wish Upon a Star."

The company has filed a copyright breach lawsuit against the FOX network and the animated series' creator and producers, claiming they illegally lifted the tune and tainted the company by remaking the song with "anti-Semitic lyrics."

In the Family Guy episode entitled "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," Peter Griffin, one of the show's main characters, begins singing the song, "I Need a Jew" upon realizing it is necessary for him to organize his finances. Bourne, which filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in Manhattan's U.S. District Court, claims the song is a "thinly veiled copy" of "When You Wish Upon a Star", and has damaged the original's standing as a "cultural treasure epitomizing the wonders of childhood."

"With its theme of wholesome hopefulness, the song has gained worldwide status as a classic," the lawsuit read. "By associating Bourne's song with such offensive lyrics and other content in the episode, defendants are harming the value of the song."

The lawsuit further reads that the song was supposed to be aired in a 2000 episode of Family Guy, but the network apparently decided not to distribute the episode until November 10, 2003 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, recognizing its offensive nature. Since then, the episode has been aired in syndication. Creator Seth MacFarlane also sings the tune regularly during the show's live tour.

FOX said they "have not yet seen the complaint and have no comment at this time."

This is not the first time the show has been slapped with a lawsuit.

Earlier this year, actress-comedienne Carol Burnett filed a $2 million federal lawsuit against Family Guy for copyright infringement, statutory violation of right of privacy and misappropriation of name for a segment parodying Burnett.

The lawsuit was dismissed in June, though the judge wrote in his decision that he "fully appreciates how distasteful and offensive the segment is to Ms. Burnett... As Ms. Burnett well knows, it takes far more creative talent to create a character such as the Charwoman than to use such characters in crude parody. Perhaps Ms. Burnett can take some solace in that fact." S06E03) After six years in a wheelchair, Joe Swanson regains his ability to walk. In character, he then decides to go into extreme sports. I've always liked Joe and I think Patrick Warburton's voice makes the character. It's similar to his character on Adult Swim's The Venture Bros. Maybe he only has one character.

The show has apparently gone back to the constant cut-away references. At least they're being self-referential about it with Cleveland's line "I hate shows that cut away from the story for some bull crap".

The self-referential nature of the show doesn't stop there. There was a conversation between Joe's doctor and Peter's father-in-law on the fact that they were voiced by the same actor.

The episode had the prerequisite song and dance number. It wouldn't surprise that if there ended up being a Family Guy movie, it would be a musical.

The ending was somewhat predictable. I figured Joe's wife Bonnie was going to cripple him again, although I laughed at the preceding fight scene. That fight could have passed for one of those M-rated video games. Bonnie is still pregnant in this episode, but I believe she'll be giving birth this season. A seven-year pregnancy. Phew.

The two best creations of this show, Stewie and Brian, were barely seen in this episode. Each had one or two scenes. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing but it's something I noticed.

Things I liked in the episode: the irony of Joe having to leave the hospital in a wheelchair after he's been given his legs. The Spider-Man appearance. The fact that the Quahog Men's Club looked a lot like the He-Man Woman Hater's Club from The Little Rascals. E-rock-tion. Judas and Pontius Pilate walking into the distance to the sounds of The Brady Bunch. When Stewie killed Colin Farrell with a futuristic ray-gun (hopefully the character will go back to being a mad scientist-in-training. I liked that character more).

I did like the episode better than last week's. Family Guy is starting to stick to what it does best, even if the creators of other shows comment on their style of humor. The show is even self-referential about that when Peter makes an illogical cut-away reference and tells Lois "Don't call me on this stuff". Peter Griffin may need a Jew, but Fox needs a lawyer. And one music publishing company needs a sense of humor.

Bourne Co., which owns the rights to the Oscar-winning Pinocchio song "When You Wish Upon a Star," has filed a copyright breach lawsuit against Fox and the Family Guy creator and producers, claiming they illegally lifted the tune and damaged the company by repurposing the song with "anti-Semitic lyrics."

The Family Guy's version, "I Need a Jew," appeared in an episode of the animated series titled "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" and was sung by patriarch Peter Griffin upon realizing he needed to get his finances in order.

Bourne, which filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Manhattan's U.S. District Court, claimed the song was "a thinly veiled copy" of the original and damaged the tune's standing as a "cultural treasure epitomizing the wonders of childhood."

"With its theme of wholesome hopefulness, the song has gained worldwide status as a classic," the lawsuit read. "By associating Bourne's song with such offensive lyrics and other content in the episode, defendants are harming the value of the song."

"I Need a Jew" was originally intended to be broadcast in a 2000 episode of the series, but the lawsuit claimed Fox did not distribute that particular episode until Nov. 10, 2003, due to its offensive nature, and even then only aired it on the Cartoon Network. The episode has since been rerun in syndication. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane also regularly performs the song on the Family Guy Live! tour.

The Family Guy ditty, a fan favorite that has long been available as a ringtone, begins with the lyrics, "Nothing else has worked so far/ So I'll wish upon a star/ Wondrous shining speck of light/ I need a Jew."

It goes on: "Though by many they're abhorred/ Hebrew people I've adored/ Even though they killed my Lord/ I need a Jew."

The New York-based music publishing company claims both its reputation and that of "When You Wish Upon a Star" has been hurt significantly "by associating the famous song with a vile and outrageous anti-Semitic message."

Fox has yet to comment.

However, it's not the company's first time facing such legal action.

A $2 million federal lawsuit was filed against the show by Carol Burnett earlier this year, alleging copyright infringement, statutory violation of right of privacy and misappropriation of name for an segment parodying the actress.

The 2006 episode featured Burnett's Charwoman character working as a janitor in a newly opened Quahog porn shop. Upon spotting her, one of the characters said, "You know when she tugged her ear at the end of the show, she was really saying goodnight to her mom." Another character responded by saying, "I wonder what she tugged to say goodnight to her dad."

In June, the lawsuit was dismissed, with the judge ruling that the controversial episode was protected as parody under the First Amendment.

It didn't stop the judge from making like a TV reviewer, however, writing in his decision that he "fully appreciates how distasteful and offensive the segment is to Ms. Burnett...As Ms. Burnett well knows, it takes far more creative talent to create a character such as the Charwoman than to use such characters in crude parody. Perhaps Ms. Burnett can take some solace in that fact."

Perhaps. And perhaps she should have wished upon a star before going to court.