How mainstream is Dave Portnoy nowadays? So mainstream that the Barstool Sports founder was parodied on Sunday’s episode of Family Guy.
Only the portrayal has hardly a flattering one, especially with regard to its take on the online sports brand’s fans.
In the episode — titled “Dog is My Co-Pilot” — Chris and Stewie open their own pizza shop. And “Mount Ve-Stewvius” figures to gain a significant business boost via one of Portnoy’s famous pizza reviews.
“Wow, welcome Mr. Portnoy!” Chris tells the cartoon version of the Boston native.
“Ah, come on, please, call me Dave,” Portnoy replies. “Mr. Portnoy is how I’m referred to in court documents.”
Portnoy proceeded to review the Griffins’ pizza positively before noting the increase in traffic the shop would soon be receiving.
“Once I post my review, you guys will have a line from here to Boston filled with nothing but UFC fans and insurrectionists,” Portnoy says.
“Did you hear that Stewie? We’re gonna be rich!” Brian replies as the Portnoy parody came to an end.
Give Family Guy this much: while the voice imitation of Portnoy was relatively underwhelming (let’s call it a 3.7), at least the writing of his pizza review was solid (let’s say 6.6). Still, while the jabs at Portnoy and his fanbase were fairly funny, they’re also somewhat outdated, especially with regard to the stereotype that Barstool Sports fans are all UFC-loving right-wing extremists.
Somewhat surprisingly, Portnoy has yet to publicly address the parody. Perhaps it’s because he wasn’t a fan of the portrayal or maybe he’s just saving it for his impending book deal.