Herbert (Family Guy)

Herbert, aka Mr. Herbert, is a fictional character in the FOX animated sitcom Family Guy. He is voiced by Mike Henry.

An elderly ephebophile/pedophile with a possible desire to be a transsexual, Herbert impotently lusts after Chris Griffin from time to time. He resides just down the street from the Griffins and has tried on several occasions (unsuccessfully) to seduce Chris, with lines such as "Hey, muscley-arm, why the long face?" and "You like popsicles? Then you need to come on down to the cellar; I got a whole freezer full of popsicles. Mmhmm." In a later episode, he is seen atop a ladder outside of Chris' window peeping in (like Bluto in Animal House, complete with music and John Belushi's eyebrow twinkle). He uses a walking frame for support and speaks with a lisp, often in a high-pitched, comedically drawn out tone; he sometimes whistles as he speaks due to missing teeth.

Herbert first appeared in two episodes of the third season and was originally intended as a small time gag (as a lot of other previous characters before him), but due to high acclaim from fans, featured more regularly and was greatly expanded on in Season 4. The Season 4 episode "The Courtship of Stewie's Father" gave the character more of a back story, revealing that he has a dog, Jesse, who looks just like him. This episode also featured his rendition of Somewhere That's Green, from Little Shop of Horrors.

In the 4th season episode "Petergeist", Herbert saves Chris when a tree in the yard grabs him. Duplicating the scene where Gandalf confronts the Balrog from The Lord of the Rings he proclaims, "You shall not pass" and slams his walker into the ground, causing both him and the tree to fall down a ridiculously long shaft into water. It appears that he died in this episode, although a scene cut for time (and, according to the DVD commentary, Standards and Practices) had Herbert and the tree monster climb out of the hole after the Griffin house vanishes and Herbert asking the tree whether he was a "giving" tree or a "receiving" tree. (the scene was later re-added to the DVDs, at least in Europe)

Originally, he was going to be either a creepy school bus driver that Chris was afraid to go near, or as an eccentric ice cream man (which is played out when he goes to the Hummer dealership and asks if his car with the ice cream vendor song is ready). Herbert was just to be a one-shot character in his first appearance, but he proved to be extremely popular with fans.

According to Seth MacFarlane, Herbert was created when Mike Henry would do his voice, every time the writers had trouble coming up with new ideas for episodes, in a disapproving manner. He admitted that it made him laugh every time and decided to adapt him as a character.