'Family Guy' Season 10, Episode 4 Recap - 'Stewie Goes for a Drive'

Something happens whenever a celebrity shows up on "Family Guy" and plays themselves. I can't quite put my finger on it, but everything just feels a bit off. This episode, which featured Ryan Reynolds as Ryan Reynolds, only confirmed that feeling.

Maybe it's the way the celebrity is treated as a character: in shows like "The Simpsons," celebrities who play themselves appear as a relatively normal version of themselves, equipped with some witty lines. If they appear as a character, they're just doing their job: playing a character.

But on "Family Guy," celebrities tend to appear as some bizarro version of themselves. James Woods is a psycho who steals Peter's identity. Lauren Conrad is a Rhodes Scholar. And Ryan Reynolds is some kind of gay-but-not-gay version of himself who enjoys tickle fights and Moroccan food.

It all sort of feels half-committed, like the writers want to do what they normally do when a celebrity's name comes up on the show (i.e. make a horribly insulting joke about them), but can't because the celebrity is voicing the character. What we're left with is a hazy, strange character without much in terms of a believable personality or goal, which makes these episodes more or less uneventful.

In fact, Peter's strange fling with Reynolds was overshadowed by Stewie's also lame storyline, which had him driving and crashing Brian's Prius, then running away and being rescued by Consuela, only to be picked up by Brian minutes later. Where are the stakes?

The most fun I had with this episode was in Lois' occasional side comments, particularly her flipping through a gossip magazine and quietly noting, "Oh, Snooki died." It's funny because it could totally happen, the way that girl drinks.

That said, there were a couple of jokes that were amusing enough. "Hotler" got a chuckle out of me, and I enjoyed Stewie's furious outburst of "I should be on Glee!" It just always feels as though we've landed on another planet whenever there's a celebrity guest star, and the planet is almost identical to this one except that something's wrong, and you don't quite know what it is.

Or, maybe I just can't fathom a world in which Ryan Reynolds wants to bone Peter.

Cut-aways of the week:

-Screaming autistic woman (D, too offensive to not get a decent joke out of it)

-Meeting Shelley Duvall (B-, a bit mean but didn't see the punchline coming)

-11:45 drive by ex's apartment (B, not much of a joke but there's some truth there)

-Unattractive women covering up the "dents" (C-, not much of a punchline)

-We'll never defeat the Corporation (A-, pretty epic, and I think I've seen that movie)

-The contestant who gets the lesser showcase (B+, sorry people from Wilmington)

-Peter's Mexican farts (B+, purely for the "wtf" factor)