A reckless rush, too many puppies – but no chicken. The US series Family Guy teased a crossover episode with World of Warcraft for April Fool’s Day. Instead of a whole episode, there was only a clip and opinions are mixed.
On March 16, the official Family Guy account tweeted a teaser for a World of Warcraft crossover episode on Twitter. In the accompanying image: Peter Griffin as an Orc and Stewie in the armor of a Stormwind knight.
Leeroooooy Jeeeeeenkins!!! Tune in Sunday at 9/8c on @FOXTV for some @Warcraft magic on #FamilyGuy. pic.twitter.com/EcLeP4UxT1
— Family Guy (@FamilyGuyonFOX) March 26, 2018
LEEROOOY JENKINS! Fox uses probably the best-known WoW meme
The episode aired last Sunday – on April 1. Due to the date, there were already doubts about whether it would really appear. Only one scene that fit WoW was shown.
Cleveland, Peter, and Joe are shot at on a cruise ship and discuss how to best get out of the situation. While Peter and Joe devise a plan, Cleveland just rushes in.
The scene is clearly a parody of the well-known WoW scene “Leeroy Jenkins.” However, the WoW scene is itself a parody of guilds that take raiding in WoW too seriously.
Why “Leeroy Jenkins?”
The fight in the scene follows the style of battles from World of Warcraft. The puppies and Cleveland’s scream are part of the gag and the allusion to WoW. The meme “Leeroy Jenkins” from WoW has been circulating on the internet for almost 13 years. It even has its own Wikipedia page.
If you don’t know the meme: Leeroy Jenkins was the character of a player (Ben Schulz) whose guild faced the Classic raid “Upper Blackrock Spire” (UBRS) in WoW. The raid was one of the toughest at the time and required planning and coordination.
While the group was discussing and laying out a strategy, Schulz was preparing chicken. When he came back, he simply shouted into the mic: “Okay guys, let’s go. LEEROOOOY JENKINS!” and rushed in, right into the enemies. A short, bloody fight against way too many whelps followed, and the guild found itself with the spirit healer again. The only comment from Schulz: “At least I had chicken.”
Do you already know the true story behind the myth? Leeroy Jenkins – All just a lie?
No good reception
Fan reactions to the WoW episode of Family Guy are generally rather lukewarm and negative – especially in the comments on wowhead and under the tweet about the episode on the Family Guy Twitter channel. It was criticized that the scene was boring, the reference too old, and Fox wanted to snatch cheap ratings at the expense of WoW fans.
Overall, most viewers hoped for much more from the episode. The teaser promised more, and something completely different than what was delivered. Comparisons were made to the WoW parody by South Park, which at least filled an entire episode, even if it also came a bit late.
Many of the commenters still found the clip entertaining, even though the criticism outweighs it. What do you think? Do you find the clip successful? Should there have been more? Leave us a comment!
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