Top 20 episodes of Family Guy

By Jesse Schedeen

As hard to believe as it may sound, Family Guy first aired 20 years ago after the Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999. The road has been long and interesting ever since. Family Guy has managed to develop a cult, survive the cancellation and return to FOX more popular than ever. It spawned a series of spinoffs and made creator Seth MacFarlane a major player in Hollywood.

And although Family Guy is not always known for its superior quality, with its emphasis on breathtaking jokes, shock value and pop culture references to intrigue, it's still produces memorable episodes in 17 seasons. In honor of this anniversary, we selected Family Guy 's 20 best long – time episodes.

20

North by North Quahog

Public 2005

"Christians do not believe in gravity."

"North by North Quahog" marks the return of Family Guy to FOX after several years of publishing it on Cartoon Network and garnering DVD sales. The show did not seem to miss a beat, fortunately. After being laughed at their own cancellation in the first moments, the screenwriters embarked on a new adventure during which Peter and Lois took a romantic vacation to revive their marriage, while Brian and Stewie were guarding Chris and Meg at home.

Much of the best material in the series comes from the Brian / Stewie couple (a fact that will be repeated many times on this list), and this episode is no exception. It's funny to see both of them quickly settle into the role of a quiet suburban married couple and do everything parents do, like planting cocaine in the locker room. Jake Tucker's school, the spilled enemy of Chris.

But the real pleasure in this episode comes from Peter's war against Mel Gibson. Desperate to retrieve his stolen reel of The Pbadion of Christ 2, Crucify This, Gibson kidnaps Lois and trains Peter on a thrilling adventure inspired by Hitchbad. In the end, Gibson is destroyed by his own pride. Rarely has a celebrity been so successful on the show. And given the frequency of public collapses of Gibson in the years that followed, this episode is only more appropriate.

19

Back to the pilot

Public 2011

"Brian, you should not have done that.Who knows what unforeseen consequences await us?" Saddam Hussein could be president, Mexico could be the dominant superpower in the world Cookie Monster could have invented Facebook. "

Although the adventures on the road of Brian and Stewie are nothing new when "Back to the Pilot" is announced, this episode managed to give a new twist to an old formula. The dynamic duo is found back at the premiere of the Family Guy series. This allowed the show to become even more self-conscious and lower to itself, mocking the quality of the extremely dated animation and unrefined humor of the season 1.

If that was all we had learned from this episode, it might not have been enough to make that list. Fortunately, things went awry once Brian warned of the September 11 attacks and the story took a serious left turn in Albuquerque. Brian and Stewie have learned the lesson that so many time-traveling adventurers have in front of them – you bother the timeline at your own peril.

18

I take you the quagmire

Audience 2006

"I do not know what to do, Brian Breastfeeding is so painful since Stewie's teeth are coming in. Now I know how Alec Baldwin feels when he feeds his brothers."

This episode draws on several cylinders, beginning with an entertaining scenario featuring Peter, who plays the most stupid of Quahog residents, who wins the free maid service after an unlikely victory in Wheel of Fortune. From there, Quagmire takes center stage as he falls in love with Peter's overworked maid and decides to settle down. Naturally, Quagmire will soon be in touch with his single and try to break his engagement by all means necessary. His attempts to escalate quickly to end the relationship are hilarious. They also show a much darker side of Glenn Quagmire. Example – his morbid request to death. Who else than Quagmire?

Balancing Quagmire's story is an equally entertaining look at Lois' futile attempt to wean Stewie from badfeeding. Between a well placed Baldwin family and wonderfully awkward moments between Lois and Brian, this simple place has really paid off.

17

E. Peterbus Unum

Public 2000

"Just like the wicked … Lethal Weapon 2 … I have diplomatic immunity … so Hammer, you can not sue."

"E. Peterbus Unum" was one of the first moments when Family Guy seemed to find his voice and become more than a clone of the Simpsons. And, like so many adventures with Family Guy, it all boiled down to Peter pursuing one of his fantasies.

Here, Peter has seized a mistake of writing allowing him to separate from the United States and become the leader of his small nation, Petoria. We could see Peter befriend the worst dictators and tyrants in the world, annex Joe's pool and even release a catchy musical number in the form of "Can not Touch Me". And for an episode so old that Bill Clinton is still described as the president of the United States, political humor is surprisingly relevant even today.

This is also a case where the end really binds the whole episode. We always have a kick out of the closing scene, where a futuristic clbad has finished learning more about Petoria's story, their only question being whether the Griffin family can understand Stewie. Honestly, we are still confused about it 15 seasons later.

16

Send in Stewie please

Public 2018

"Well, I like to talk about the dominance of the world.Some people think that I do not talk about enough anymore, but I tell you" keep your own bee wax ".

In many ways, this episode resembles the spiritual sequel to "Brian & Stewie". The premise is similar, with the series that precedes the usual jokes in section instead of focusing on two characters in the same setting. And the tone is much darker than the usual episode of Family Guy, and Stewie finally gets in touch with his real self as he devotes himself to a child psychologist (voiced by Ian McKellen).

This episode has its moments of hilarity – mainly making fun of the fake-British accent and Stewie's troubled baduality. But, overall, this episode is a rare opportunity to explore in real and serious ways a fundamentally awkward character. He celebrates Stewie Griffin's good and bad (mostly bad) and reminds us how a flamboyant and devilish personality of this awesome baby is a carefully crafted act.