Season 1 · Episode 4 · First aired 25 April 1999
Mind Over Murder
Episode 4 of Family Guy season 1 (S01E04), the 4th Family Guy episode overall. Written by Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan and directed by Roy Allen Smith. First broadcast on 25 April 1999.
Story
Stewie is teething. When Lois says the pain will pass in time, he starts building a machine to skip ahead. Lois asks Peter to take Chris to football and come straight back, but Quagmire has beer and Peter stays. Peter punches a spectator who insults Chris and finds she is a pregnant woman. Placed under house arrest, Peter opens a bar in the basement. Lois objects until she gets to sing for the crowd, and Peter grows jealous of the attention. Lois finds Stewie's plans and shows them off, so Stewie sets the machine to rewind to before he drew them. Quagmire starts a fire that traps Peter and Lois in the bar. Time rewinds to Lois's original request; Peter trips over the machine, breaking it and hurting his leg, and the teething goes on.
Production and reception
- Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan wrote the episode and Roy Allen Smith directed, all three making their series debuts. Wikipedia, Mind Over Murder
- Guest voices included Carlos Alazraqui, Alex Rocco, Leslie Uggams and Wally Wingert. Wikipedia, Mind Over Murder
- The title was the last in the run inspired by 1930s and 1940s radio thrillers such as Suspense; the practice ended with "A Hero Sits Next Door". Wikipedia, Mind Over Murder
- Ahsan Haque of IGN rated it 9 out of 10 in 2008, and Robin Pierson of The TV Critic gave it 55 out of 100. Wikipedia, Mind Over Murder
- Haque placed Stewie's time machine plan fifth on an IGN list of the character's most diabolical plans. Wikipedia, Mind Over Murder
Voices
| Voice | Characters |
|---|---|
| Seth MacFarlane | Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin |
| Alex Borstein | Lois Griffin, Loretta Brown, Housewives |
| Seth Green | Chris Griffin, Drunk Guy, Referee |
| Lori Alan | Diane Simmons, Female Sportswatcher |
| Carlos Alazraqui | Drunk Guys |
| Butch Hartman | Soccer Kid, Drunk Guys |
| Mike Henry | Cleveland Brown |
| Wally Wingert | The Pawtucket Patriot, Bert |
| Alex Rocco | Soccer Mom |
| Leslie Uggams | Leslie Uggams |
Principal voice credits as recorded by IMDb, which lists up to ten credits per episode, so recurring characters can be missing here. Guest voices below come from Wikipedia and TVmaze.
Guest voices
- Lori Alan as Diane Simmons
- Carlos Alazraqui as Mr. Jonathan Weed
- Butch Hartman
- Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown
- Wally Wingert as the Pawtucket Patriot / Bert
- Alex Rocco as Soccer Mom
- Leslie Uggams as herself
- Erik Estrada as Officer Francis "Ponch" Poncherello
Season 1: episode 4 of 7
- E1Death Has a Shadow
- E2I Never Met the Dead Man
- E3Chitty Chitty Death Bang
- E4Mind Over MurderYou are here
- E5A Hero Sits Next Door
- E6The Son Also Draws
- E7Brian: Portrait of a Dog
SourceFacts from Wikipedia: Family Guy season 1 and the episode's article (CC BY-SA 4.0). Spotted an error? See corrections.
Provenance
Facts only- Data refreshed
- 6 September 2026
- Verification
- Checked against Wikidata and IMDb: title, date, numbering and credits agree
- Licence
- Facts are not copyrightable. Source text on Wikipedia is CC BY-SA 4.0; Wikidata is CC0; IMDb data is used for verification under its non-commercial terms.
- Note
- The story summary and notes were written for this site from the sources listed, by Claude in Claude Code on 2026-09-08, awaiting editorial review. Facts only; no dialogue is reproduced. Voice credits: Information courtesy of IMDb (https://www.imdb.com). Used with permission. Guest cast data from TVmaze (https://www.tvmaze.com), CC BY-SA.