Season 8 · Episode 12 · First aired 14 February 2010

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Episode 12 of Family Guy season 8 (S08E12), the 138th Family Guy episode overall. Written by Steve Callaghan and directed by John Holmquist. First broadcast on 14 February 2010.

Story

On a family hike Chris and Stewie wander off after a butterfly and are lost for several days. A frantic Lois consults a psychic medium, who assures her the boys are safe. Bruce finds the boys, and Lois's faith in psychics grows, irritating a sceptical Brian. To prove readings are a trick, Brian has Peter cold-read a stranger in the park. It goes so well that Peter believes he has real powers and opens a psychic business. Joe then asks him to help find a missing man with a bomb strapped to him. Peter stalls, the bomb goes off, and he admits he has no powers at all. Meanwhile Chris keeps a promise made in the woods to ask out Ellen, a classmate with Down syndrome. Stewie coaches him with a musical number, but Ellen proves rude and demanding, and the date ends badly.

Production and reception

The first broadcast on 14 February 2010 was watched by an estimated 6.42 million viewers with a 3.2/8 rating among 18 to 49 year olds. Wikipedia, Extra Large Medium
Andrea Fay Friedman voiced Ellen in her first voice acting role. Wikipedia, Extra Large Medium
Sarah Palin objected to the episode's handling of Down syndrome; Friedman publicly disagreed with her, and Seth MacFarlane and Bill Maher defended the episode. Wikipedia, Extra Large Medium
The song Down Syndrome Girl brought a nomination at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, in the Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics category. Wikipedia, Extra Large Medium
Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave it a B minus and Ramsey Isler of IGN rated it 7.7 out of 10. Wikipedia, Extra Large Medium

Voices

Voice	Characters
Seth MacFarlane	Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin
Alex Borstein	Lois Griffin, Barbara Pewterschmidt, Woman at Picnic
Seth Green	Chris Griffin
Mila Kunis	Meg Griffin
Mike Henry	Bruce the Performance Artist, Jeffrey
Lori Alan	Diane Simmons
Jennifer Birmingham Lee	Woman at Park
Jackson Douglas	Italian American, Audience Member #2, Doctor in Audience
Andrea F. Friedman	Ellen
Phil LaMarr	Black Guy

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

Jennifer Birmingham
Jackson Douglas
Andrea Fay Friedman as Ellen
Phil LaMarr as Black Guy
Michele Lee as Estelle, Estelle Lewis
Nana Visitor as USS Enterprise, Lottery Announcer
Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson
Adam West as Mayor Adam West
Lori Alan as Diane Simmons
Mike Henry as Bruce the Performance Artist

Season 8: episode 12 of 21

Season hub with air dates and credits for all 21 episodes

SourceFacts from Wikipedia: Family Guy season 8 and the episode's article (CC BY-SA 4.0). Spotted an error? See corrections.

Provenance

Facts only

Sources: Wikipedia: Extra Large Medium
Wikidata Q4038465
IMDb
TVmaze
Data refreshed: 6 September 2026
Verification: Checked against Wikidata and IMDb: title, date, numbering and credits agree
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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.