I Never Met the Dead Man

"**I Never Met the Dead Man**"
"I Never Met the Dead Man"
Family Guy episode
	Peter blaming Meg for his mistake.
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 2
Directed by	Michael Dante DiMartino
Written by	Chris Sheridan
Production code	1ACX02
Original air date	April 11, 1999
Running time	22 minutes
Guest appearances
	Butch Hartman; Aaron Lustig; Joey Slotnick; Frank Welker as Fred Jones; Erik Estrada as Officer Ponch;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Death Has a Shadow"	Next →; "Chitty Chitty Death Bang"
	Family Guy season 1
	List of episodes

"I Never Met the Dead Man" is the second episode of the first season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 11, 1999, stating in a promo that it is the official series premiere of the show. The episode follows Peter Griffin as he teaches his daughter Meg how to drive. Due to his terrible advice, Meg fails her driving test, and as Peter drives her home, he crashes the car into a satellite dish, disrupting the city's cable. Peter begins to suffer from television withdrawal but finds new life in outdoor activities, driving his family to exhaustion. Meanwhile, Stewie plots to destroy the world's supply of broccoli with a weather control device so Lois cannot force him to eat the vegetable.

"I Never Met the Dead Man" was written by Chris Sheridan and directed by Michael Dante DiMartino, both firsts in the Family Guy series. Much of the episode's humor, in standard Family Guy usage, is structured around cutaway sequences that parody pop culture, including those focused on Looney Tunes, Star Trek, Wizard of Oz, ALF, Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, and Beverly Hills, 90210. The title "I Never Met the Dead Man" was derived from 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology Suspense, which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder. The episode featured guest performances by Erik Estrada, Butch Hartman, Aaron Lustig and Joey Slotnick, along with several recurring voice actors for the series.

Critical responses to the episode were favorable; several television critics singled it out as among the "most memorable" episodes in the series.