I happened to catch a whole slew of Family Guy episodes over the weekend, several of which featured Jillian.  I hadn't seen Jillian in a while, and I was surprised anew by how funny the Jillian stories and scenes really are.

It must be said that Jillian is a stereotypical "dumb blonde," which is a stereotype that really needs to die.  Jillian is so stupid in fact that one wonders how she makes it through life at all.  In one scene, Brian distracts her from her line of thought (they should go out dancing tonight) by panning a flashlight over the wall.  She leaps for the spot and scrabbles at it, like a kitty cat.

Two things elevate Jillian's deal to above average:

1.    Jillian makes everyone else look bad by how petty and unkind they are in their treatment of her.

Okay, so she's stupid.  But at least she's not actively cruel.  Instead of hating Jillian for being so stupid that other people take advantage of her, the show places the blame squarely on those taking advantage.  We hate Stewie for cruelly manipulating Jillian into a rash of bulimic purges, just so that he can get a spare tooth.

And in the end, Jillian takes a stand and walks out on Brian after deciding (correctly) that he only likes her body, and he doesn't give a damn about her as a person.  "Family Guy" shows a rare flash of human decency with this plot point.  (But don't worry - they're quickly back to the usual caliber of jokes like "Would you rather… get a massage from a male masseuse, or surgery from a woman surgeon?")

2.    The running jokes about how stupid she is rely entirely on the reading by the cast.  
If you were to read a hard copy of the script, Stewie's "Oh, this one's a keeper" wouldn't be funny at all.  What makes their lines funny is the way they drip with sarcasm, while making an audible effort to keep from laughing.  

This is surprisingly sophisticated humor, for a show that falls back on, e.g., a joke about who pukes last.  The scenes about Jillian somehow inspire the cast and the show to really shine.  ("Gloss rhymes with hair!")

Jillian also brings about one of my #1 favorite exchanges in all of television.  Stewie and Brian drive over to Jillian's house, with the idea that Brian will break up with her.  When Brian confronts her, Jillian drops her towel, and Brian is transfixed by her naked boobies.

Cut to Stewie in the car three hours later.  Brian gets in and Stewie asks, "What is that smell?  It smells like sweat, and anger and shame."

"Yup," Brian says.
 
It must also be said that Drew Barrymore has to take a lot of credit for Jillian's success.  Barrymore (also a blonde, although definitely not a dumb one) does a spot-on reading, which infuses Jillian with a cheerful, breathless sort of idiocy.  

And you can tell Barrymore's a good actress because she can say lines like "[This lemonade's] good, right?  I just wish they didn't have to kill so many lemons to make it" with a straight face.