The Family Guy Joke Mila Kunis Thought Would Never Air
For nearly a quarter-century, "Family Guy" has delighted in pushing the boundaries of telling jokes in an animated network series. From jokes about school shootings and pedophiles to a disabled character who often makes jokes at his own expense, "Family Guy" seems like it's always walking the line between edgy and offensive. Even one of the show's stars was surprised that a notoriously shocking and hilarious bit made it past network censors and into the show. Mila Kunis, who voices Meg Griffin, told The Hollywood Reporter that in early seasons, writers pushed the boundaries with regularity, citing one particular musical number from Season 5, Episode 12, "Airport '07."
"There are certain things that I remember us doing early on that I could have sworn would never get on the air," Kunis said. "And one of them was [the song] 'Prom Night Dumpster Baby.' I was like, 'There's no way that's getting on the air.' And then it did get on the air, and I was like, 'Wow, that's awesome.'"
The song is simultaneously sad and hilarious
"Prom Night Dumpster Baby" is an unforgettable musical number that begins when a teenage girl takes a break from her prom to drop a paper bag in a dumpster outside a school auditorium. Her date asks, "Hey, what are you doing out here, don't you want to dance?" She answers, "Sure," and runs quickly back inside to join him while her abandoned newborn sings his jazzy 82-second tale of woe, twirling his umbilical cord like a cane a la Fred Astaire. The baby's silky baritone is provided by Seth MacFarlane himself, and the song's unforgettable lyrics include the lines, "I'm just a prom night dumpster baby, I've got no mom or dad / Prom night dumpster baby — my story isn't long, but it's awfully sad."
Writer Wellesley Wild was of the same mind as Mila Kunis in thinking that "Prom Night Dumpster Baby" would never make it past the writer's room. He told The New York Post, "For cutaway gags ... five or six writers come up with [pitches]. ... Among those will be one where we're thinking, 'This will never make it. ' 'Prom Night Dumpster Baby' was one of those."
Prom Night Dumpster Baby has a disturbing real-life inspiration
The "Family Guy" bit does have roots in a real-life story, that of New Jersey teenager Melissa Drexler, who gave birth to a baby at her prom in 1997 and killed her child before returning to the dance. Drexler eventually served three years of a 15-year sentence before being released on parole. According to the Asbury Park Press, six similar killings over a two-year period in New Jersey led Gov. Christine Todd Whitman to push for the creation of the state's Safe Haven Infant Protection Act in 2000, which allows parents to surrender a newborn less than 30 days old to any fire station, police station, emergency room, or first aid squad facility with no questions asked. Since then, all 50 states have enacted similar laws, no doubt saving many lives.
Another "Family Guy" writer, Alec Sulkin, said the rash of late-1990s infanticides was part of the reason they felt comfortable writing the boundary-pushing musical number. "That epidemic [of prom babies] was so ridiculous it felt like we're not the a–holes," Sulkin told The New York Post. "The a–holes are the mothers doing it." Sulkin's comments ignore that many of the mothers who abandoned newborns under these circumstances may have been unaware that they were even pregnant when they gave birth, as well as the numerous social issues contributing to teen pregnancy and the cost of childcare in the U.S. With the advent of save haven laws, the "prom night baby" phenomenon appears to have abated.
TV fans will recognize references to the safe haven laws from other shows as well, as a plot point in "Breaking Bad" Season 5, Episode 14, "Ozymandias." In the episode, Walter White (Bryan Cranston) leaves his daughter, Holly, at a fire station. Unlike in "Family Guy," there is no musical number.