Original air date: 7/12/2000
Production code: 2ACX-13
A trip to city hall reveals that Peter's house is not on the Quahog map, so Peter (who has had it with the government not giving him a tax refund and telling him he can't build a pool around his house) decides to declare his house his own country — which causes an international crisis when he invades Joe's backyard pool.
"E. Peterbus Unum" contains examples of:
- All-Natural Fire Extinguisher: During "Can't Touch Me", Peter sings about how he can light a fire and then pee it out, which he does.
- Artistic License – History: Excused by Rule of Funny: many of the dictators who attend Peter's pool party (e.g. Mao Zedong, Idi Amin, Manuel Noriega, and Slobodan Milošević) were already dead or removed from power by the time the episode aired. Noriega and Milošević were both in prison at that point, and (presumably) would have found it difficult to make it to a pool party.
- Big "NO!": Joe's reaction to his cable going out during one of his Steven Seagal movies.
- Blunt "No": The end of the episode "E. Peterbus Unum" has Peter negotiate to end the existence of Petoria, his own country that resulted from a surveying error that said the house wasn't on American soil, and being formally annexed into the U.S. After returning Joe's pool, which he annexed as way to expand his national border, Peter tries to secure rights to use it on weekends to which Joe says "no." When he tries to secure the rights of his house as an independent nation, Mayor West tells him "absolutely not." When Peter tries to get the "cheap little pen" used to sign the treaty, West says "no." Disappointed that he's not getting anything, Lois tries to console Peter by promising to scratch his back with a matchbook every night, and when he asks her to call him "Big Rudy" while she does, Lois answers "no."
- Buxom Beauty Standard: Susan Sarandon in her out-of-nowhere appearance.Susan Sarandon: For less than the ticket price of one of my movies about capital punishment or neo-feminism, you can make sure that Stewie never goes hungry again.
Stewie: Yes, and from the look of those sweater cows, so could you. - Comically Small Bribe: Peter attempts to get something from the U.S. while negotiating his surrender in an effort to save face, but Mayor West rejects each of his increasingly small demands, until he dejectedly asks for a single ordinary office pen; Adam West then describes at length how little the pen is worth, and still refuses.
- Diplomatic Impunity: "Just like the bad guy in Lethal Weapon 2/I've got diplomatic immunity, so Hammer you can't sue."
- Dirty Communists: Mayor West's immediate reaction to discovering the Griffin household was not on the town zoning map (and therefore not part of the United States) was to accuse Peter of being one of these.
- Distant Finale: The episode turns out to be a video shown to a class 200 years in the future, where one of the students asks if anyone understands Stewie (which was a common fan question. According to commentary, people do understand what Stewie says, but, because he's a toddler, they don't take him seriously).
- Dude, Not Funny!: The opening scene:Peter: Okay, here's another riddle. A woman has two children. A homicidal murderer tells her she can only keep one. Which one does she let him kill?Brian: That's...that's not a riddle. That's...that's just terrible.Peter: Wrong! The ugly one.
- Early-Bird Cameo: When Lois tells Peter that a swimming pool is one of those things the family doesn't really need, we get a flashback of the last time Peter brought home something the family didn't need: another talking dog, who looked and sounded like a Camp Gay Brian. That dog would later be Brian's cousin, Jasper (re-introduced as such in the season three episode "Brian Does Hollywood").
- Egopolis: Petoria.Peter: I was gonna call it "Peterland", but that gay bar down by the airport already took it.
- Everyone Has Standards: This episode establishes Adam West as a complete whackjob, but even he thinks Peter becoming his own country is a bad idea.
- Fictional Flag: Peter's flag is a white banner with the words "PETORIA" along with a crude drawing of his face.
- Foreigner for a Day: The town zoning map revealed that the Griffin's land was not even a part of the US. Thus was born the tiny, four-bedroom republic of Petoria (It would have been Peterland, but that was already the name of a gay club by the airport).
- Hot for Teacher: Or in this case, his own mother (Chris for Lois, given the situation).
- Hot Teacher: Lois is this, according to Chris.
- Incest Subtext: While homeschooled, Chris tries passing a note to the other student Meg which reads "I think Mrs. Griffin's hot". He gets sent to his room for it.
- I Got a Rock:Cleveland: No, I just got a big tax refund. Uncle Sam sent me $500.
Joe: I got $600.
Quagmire: I got $850!
Charlie Brown: I got a rock. - Improvised Diaper: Stewie has to use newspapers for diapers.
- Insult Backfire: After the repairman says zoning laws prohibit him from installing a swimming pool, Peter mocks him for having eyes too close to his nose.Repairman: Well, that may be, but you know what? I only have to wear one goggle when I go swimming in my pool.
- Karma Houdini: Played with and subverted. Peter believes because he's technically the president of his own country he can't be tried in America, it works until he decided to take over Joe's pool.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Even after being barricaded in his own house and having his electricity, heat, and power cut off, Peter refuses to give in and return Joe's pool. However, he does give in when a tank is about to blast him at point-blank range.Peter: [to Brian] Can I tie you to a stick and use you as a White Flag?
- Land of One City: More like Land of One House. Justified and Truth in Television if it was inspired by the micronation of Molossia
. - Let Me at Him!: A livid Woodsy Owl has to be held back when Peter defiantly litters in his music number.
- My Eyes Are Up Here: With the power cut off, the family has to wear miner hats. While talking over the situation, Peter keeps glancing at Lois's chest, which she eventually notices ("Peter, I'm up here"). Peter eventually leaves the room, but a beam of light from off-screen suddenly hits her chest.Lois: Peter, stop starin' at my chest!
Brian: Oh, uh, sorry, Lois. - Naked People Are Funny: Bill Clinton is given the details of Petoria while sitting in a chair in the buff. Neither he nor his advisors comment on it.
- Overly Long Gag: Mayor West enjoying taffy.
- Prison Rape: Quagmire mentions that Peter might go to jail for taking his beer mug outside, and not the good jail you see on Cinemax, the "man" jail.
- Sadistic Choice: What opens the episode:Peter: OK, OK. Here's another riddle. A woman has two children. A homicidal maniac tells her she can only keep one. Which one does she let him kill?
Brian: That's... that's not a riddle, that's... that's just terrible.
Peter: Wrong! The ugly one! - Shout-Out
- The episode title is a play on the original American motto, "E. Pluribus Unum." note
- "You're why cavemen painted on walls"
- Lois' "first lady" outfit is based on that of Jackie Kennedy. Lois also compares herself to Hillary Clinton, except "without the penis."
- Slobodan Milošević brings coleslaw that he jokingly says "is made out of people."
- In Peter's pool party, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi talk about the Seinfeld episode "The Junior Mint".
- Spontaneous Human Combustion: When Brian says that he's been with Peter through worse, there's a cutaway to them on a Ferris wheel where Peter is on fire with no explanation.
- Stealing the Handicapped Spot: One of the many actions Peter brags about being able to do with impunity, as a result of his diplomatic immunity. When Joe tries to object, Peter chains his wheelchair to the back of a truck and has it tow him away.
- Trap-Door Fail: When Mayor West realizes that Peter's house technically isn't part of the US territory, he calls him a communist and activates a trapdoor under him. Unfortunately, Peter's too fat to fall all the way through (West hadn't considered that he'd be dealing with a "portly malcontent"), and West resorts to pushing him the rest of the way through with his foot.
- Villain Cred: Played for laughs. Peter's only allies after annexing Joe's pool are the world's pariahs. Later, he has a pool party with them.
- You and What Army?: When Chris tells Peter that someone's blocking the fence, Peter asks "Him and what army?". Chris replies "The U.S. Army".Peter: Oh, that's a good army.
