Family Guy channels Schoolhouse Rock as Stewie urges you to get vaccinated
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One hundred eighty million Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. But as the president of the United States, and you know, science have explained, it's not enough. Longtime fan of science Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has entered the conversation in an effort to help educate those who have been reluctant to sign up for the shot(s) — and he's responding to the disinformation about the vaccine spread by Fox News, he explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night.
In this three-minute PSA made in partnership with the Ad Council's "It's Up to You" campaign, Peter visits his doctor, grumbling about getting his COVID shot, and asking how vaccines work. When this problematic doctor takes a less-than-scientific approach in answering the question, Stewie steps in and drops some basic knowledge on vaccines, including how they helped to eliminate smallpox and are closing in on eradicating polio. Stewie and Brian then take a trippy journey into the "fat man's body" — that'd be Peter — and things get rather Schoolhouse Rock-y as he explains how vaccines trigger our immune response and prompt it to make antibodies that will help it to fight the virus, all without the danger of an actual infection.
Brian plays devil's, er, Peter's advocate, asking a few burning questions, which Stewie expertly answers, and the only one not immune to criticism is a certain Wonder Woman star. "If the virus is allowed to spread through an unvaccinated population it could mutate into a variant that the vaccines might not protect against," he notes. "And then we're right back where we started. Gal Gadot singing 'Imagine'! We cannot let that happen!'
"I just realized this is like one of those Schoolhouse Rocks," says Brian, "except, you know, without the rock." Peter is then administered the very painless shot, but that Band-Aid is definitely going to hurt, as you'll see when you check out the video. And if it takes a cartoon baby to persuade you to finally get vaccinated, then, well, MacFarlane has done his job.
McFarlane told Jimmy Kimmel last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live that the PSA is a response to in the disinformation about the vaccine spread on Fox News.
Family Guy returns to Fox for a new season on Sept. 26.
For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19), including how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, please visit coronavirus.gov.
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