Family Guy general discussion/upcoming episode thread

[That Don Guy]

3/17: a repeat of The Griffin Winter Games (followed by a repeat of Con Heiress)

3/24: You Can't Handle the Booth (the "DVD Commentary" episode)

[That Don Guy]

3/31: Island Adventure (Stewie and Brian head to "Garbage Island" to get back Stewie's Big Wheel that Peter threw away - but it's not really a "Brian and Stewie" episode as there's a subplot involving Lois and Quagmire)

[John95]

Island Adventure sounds like it could be decent, so long as it doesn't derail into yet another fucking "Brian sucks and here's why" story like the last few have.

And hopefully the subplot actually is about Lois and not yet another Stand by Meg scenario.

[Beggs]

Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I wonder if Island Adventure will end up having an Adventure Island/Wonder Boy reference or parody at some juncture.

[Rutherford]

Here's an update of future episode titles:

• "Girl, Internetted"
• "Throw It Away"
• "Adam West High"
• "Yacht Rocky"
• "Bri-Da"
• "Absolutely Babulous"
• "Heart Burn"
• "Short Cuts"
• "Disney's 'The Reboot'"
• "Quagmire Guy"
• "Cat Fight"
• "Christmas Is Coming"
• "Shanksgiving"
• "Peter & Lois' Wedding"
• "Coma Guy"
• "Fecal Matters"
• "Connie's Celica"
• "Rich Old Stewie"
• "Undergrounded"

Does anyone have an idea what happened to the episode called "Doc Brown"? Did they rename it to something else? I can't find anything about it. "Shrinky Dinks" was renamed to "Big Trouble in Little Quahog" when it aired.

I swear the show's episode titles are so bland and boring.

[erichoff]

Oh COME ON!!! Why do they keep using the same old bullshit guy titles for episodes? Are these writers on drugs or something?

[That Don Guy]

4/7: repeats of Trump Guy (9:00) and Bri, Robot (9:30)

I count 17 episodes this season through "Island Adventure"; assuming a 20-episode season, that's three episodes remaining in six weeks.

As a comparison, The Simpsons will have had 20 new episodes, and Bob's Burgers 19, through 4/7, although there are rumors that The Simpsons will have a 23-episode season to make up for the 21-episode season it had last year (because an episode was pulled at the last minute for a "long lost" O.J. Simpson special), so presumably each show has 3 new episodes and 3 repeats left, and I wouldn't be surprised if all three have repeats on 4/14 (Palm Sunday), 4/21 (Easter), and 4/28 (er, uh, Fox doesn't want to run new episodes against the premiere of CBS's The Red Line? okay, how about, it's Greek Orthodox Easter?).

[fas1997]

Surprised no one has noticed this, but this month TBS is airing a Family Guy marathon in honor of 20 years. They're all picked by MacFarlane himself and it only go up until season 10.
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/03...0th-anniv-eps/

Also, Throw it Away description: After Lois reads a new book on the joys of decluttering, she challenges the rest of the Griffins to throw anything out of the house that does not spark joy. While all starts out well, Lois soon takes the decluttering to a surprising extreme.

Read more: Listings - FAMILY GUY on FOX | TheFutonCritic.com http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listin...#ixzz5k4mlwOqM

[That Don Guy]

As a comparison, The Simpsons will have had 20 new episodes, and Bob's Burgers 19, through 4/7, although there are rumors that The Simpsons will have a 23-episode season to make up for the 21-episode season it had last year (because an episode was pulled at the last minute for a "long lost" O.J. Simpson special), so presumably each show has 3 new episodes and 3 repeats left, and I wouldn't be surprised if all three have repeats on 4/14 (Palm Sunday), 4/21 (Easter), and 4/28 (er, uh, Fox doesn't want to run new episodes against the premiere of CBS's The Red Line? okay, how about, it's Greek Orthodox Easter?).

For those of you who missed this from the Simpsons Season 30 thread, FG's season finale (as well as The Simpsons and Bob's Burgers) will be on 5/12. The consensus appears to be that Fox does not want to air new shows against the Game of Thrones finale on 5/19.

[John95]

I'm calling it now, Adam West High is gonna be the finale!

[John95]

Girl, Internetted (5/5)

When Meg suddenly becomes internet famous, she and an excited Peter work together to build her following and create content for her new image that revolves around unhealthy eating. Meanwhile, Brian and Stewie revel in a new ride while Brian's car gets repaired.

[fas1997]

Surprise no one has brought it up, but starting this week, FXX and Freeform (owned by Disney) will now air Family Guy reruns from season 16-present. FG reruns of earlier seasons on Adult Swim and TBS will still remain in syndication until fall 2021. https://www.thewrap.com/members/2019...etwork-rights/

Also, while we're on the subject of FG, creator Seth MacFarlane will be honored a star in the Hollywood walk of fame: https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1118257760171380738

[That Don Guy]

I'm calling it now, Adam West High is gonna be the finale!

How does he do it!

"FAMILY GUY" HONORS THE LATE MAYOR ADAM WEST ON THE ALL-NEW SEASON FINALE OF "FAMILY GUY" SUNDAY, MAY 12, ON FOX

When Brian's proposition to rename Quahog's high school "Adam West High," to honor the late Mayor West, is successful, he feels encouraged to run for office as Quahog's new mayor. The race takes a turn when Quagmire campaigns against Brian for the open seat in the all-new "Adam West High" season finale episode of FAMILY GUY airing Sunday, May 12 (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (FG-1616) (TV-14 D, L, S, V)

Voice Cast: Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, Quagmire, and Tom Tucker; Alex Borstein as Lois Griffin; Seth Green as Chris Griffin; Mila Kunis as Meg; Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown; Patrick Warburton as Joe

Guest Voice Cast: Adam West as Mayor West

Mayor Quagmire, I can see happening - it gives the writers something else to do with him - but my gut says that Quagmire and Brian either pretty much cancel each other out with their campaigning or they both agree to withdraw and somebody else wins (my guess: Lois's sister, and Mayor West's widow, Carol...so watch it end up being Mr. Herbert)

[John95]

@That Don Guy, It just seemed obvious since it was always the next episode listed after Girl, Internetted; plus having an episode honoring their most recurring guest star as the finale would be a perfect way for them to drum up ratings.

Sadly, my expectations for this episode are now lowered upon finding out it's a Brian vs. Quagmire because when have those type of episodes EVER worked? Like every other time they've done this, they'll likely make Brian act scummy, yet still succeed at unintentionally making Quagmire the worse of the two mostly on the basic premise of him being modern Quagmire who always fails to do anything worth making him a sympathetic character!

[Captain_Smiley]

How does he do it!


Mayor Quagmire, I can see happening - it gives the writers something else to do with him - but my gut says that Quagmire and Brian either pretty much cancel each other out with their campaigning or they both agree to withdraw and somebody else wins (my guess: Lois's sister, and Mayor West's widow, Carol...so watch it end up being Mr. Herbert)

I was hoping for Mayor Burt Ward.

[sideshow ken]

Seeing Burt Ward or even Julie Newmar win would be fantastic.

[Dr. Nihilistic]

I wonder if this will be like "The Peter Principal" where we don't get a single explanation as to why Quagmire is running for mayor. I could see him doing it just to spite Brian, but other than that, I don't know why else he would.

Also, at this point, I'm done with the Brian/Quagmire feud. It's not that interesting and it's run its course. Plus, I feel like it's one of the things that contributed to Brian's character getting worse.

[John95]

@Dr. Nihilistic, the feud did more damage for Quagmire then Brian.

[Nitsy]

^I think so too. Brian was already on his way to becoming the unlikeable fraud that he is today, but Quagmire was changed out of nowhere. It was the launch of "cynical Quagmire" (which is the same derailment that affected almost every other character).

[John95]

@Nitsy, And at least Brian's taken a small level in kindness in the last two to three seasons. Or at the very least, it's more preferable when compared to how he acted in Seasons 12 & 13.

[Dr. Nihilistic]

@John95, I agree that Quagmire got worse when the feud started too. They started taking his character more seriously and giving him some kind of moral code, which doesn't make sense when you consider the fact that he was still a misogynist and a sex addict. It seemed like he went on to start hating his friends and get annoyed with them all the time. Before season eight, I can't remember too many times that Quagmire got upset about anything (unless it was justified like when Peter cost him his job in "Airport '07").

But it still hurt Brian because I believe that was what destroyed his character for good. Quagmire read him the riot act and brought up a lot of valid criticisms, things that fans were criticizing Brian for. All that did was make the writers realize that Brian is an awful person and they should stop pretending like he isn't. That rant gave them the right to start portraying Brian in awful ways. He wasn't even a terrible person before season eight. He did a lot of terrible things, but he came off as more self-aware and was capable of shame. Later seasons tried turning him into a monster, and it was like he was aware of it, but he no longer had any shame or remorse. It just got replaced with an enormous ego and delusions of grandeur. What made it worse was that they gave this speech to Quagmire, someone who has no leg to stand on morally and doesn't seem like he would hate anyone. If they made Joe hate Brian, or make Chris hate Brian, it would be funnier and at least make a little more sense because neither of those characters are horrible people.

For Quagmire of all people to say this stuff meant two things: Either the writers recognized Brian's flaws and were going to correct them, or they were openly admitting that the show now recognizes Brian as horrible, so they were going to start doubling down on how horrible he could be from now on. "Brian Writes a Bestseller" was them going with option two.

[Nitsy]

The trouble with Brian started post-Season 3 when Brian became Seth's mouthpiece. Before that, Brian's only real function was to be the voice of reason, the intellectual as contrasted with Peter and his contribution of political or social commentary was minimal. When he became a liberal mouthpiece, though, people began to find him irritating. Brian's function was now to moralize, while at the same time being drawn as increasingly flawed. The contradiction, I think, is what spawned the Quagmire rant. Following that, the writers definitely took the "double down" method. Realizing that Brian was unredeemable following that moment, they decided the funniest thing to do would be to continue to degrade his character, to reveal that he never was an intellectual, that he's an egomaniac, a pervert, an asshole, and a total fraud, no more intelligent than Peter. He still has moments that are reminiscent of his old characterization and I do think he maybe is past his nadir, but the future of the character (or any of the characters with the possible exception of Stewie) doesn't look good. Watching Brian in the earliest seasons and comparing it to 8-14, there's just no comparison. All the characters have been horribly derailed (Lois seems to be especially awful lately), but the old Brian was nearly unrecognizable.

[Dr. Nihilistic]

@Nitsy, I always hated the idea of Brian being a fake intellectual. It feels like a complete betrayal of who his character was supposed to be. It's not like that was the joke in the earlier seasons, like he would often use big words and talk about famous authors with no context. He actually was more intelligent than everyone else. It was a funny gag in how the family dog had morals and principles, and at times, he was less cartoonish than other characters on the show.

I feel like in the later seasons, after they came back and brought in new writers, they lost their idea of Brian's character and started exaggerating him because they thought he was too boring or he wasn't funny enough. Now, it's gotten to the point where even if they try bringing Brian back to more of his original characterization, it won't matter because of how many years they've spent derailing him and making him look like a loser.

[mrtallman]

Surprise no one has brought it up, but starting this week, FXX and Freeform (owned by Disney) will now air Family Guy reruns from season 16-present. FG reruns of earlier seasons on Adult Swim and TBS will still remain in syndication until fall 2021. https://www.thewrap.com/members/2019...etwork-rights/

Also, while we're on the subject of FG, creator Seth MacFarlane will be honored a star in the Hollywood walk of fame: https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1118257760171380738

The funny thing is, these days FG has mellowed out enough that it doesn't feel THAT out of place on the network, as compared to what it would have been years ago. It's not nearly as edgy as it once was.

[erichoff]

All the characters have been horribly derailed (Lois seems to be especially awful lately), but the old Brian was nearly unrecognizable.

Unfortunately what you said is terrifyingly true. Brian and Stewie to me are basically Barney and Baby Bop in terms of annoyance. Lois could be considered B.J. probably since she's not much better if not worse. I honestly have to say that Brian and Stewie should be killed off permanently or given their own show.

[sideshow ken]

Give Brian and Stewie their own show? HELL NO!!!! Do we really need another show with Seth in the lead? Seth also voices the leads in American Dad and stars in The Orville. Isn't that enough? I rather they be killed off permanently. I won't miss them.

[erichoff]

Give Brian and Stewie their own show? HELL NO!!!! Do we really need another show with Seth in the lead? Seth also voices the leads in American Dad and stars in The Orville. Isn't that enough? I rather they be killed off permanently. I won't miss them.

Neither would I and I kinda do agree with killing them off instead. Seriously they are just as bad as Barney the Dinosaur and Baby Bop.

[kwijibo]

The preview for this year's season just got uploaded!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTrreSCziB4

It's pretty funny.

[John95]

Stuff I liked
Peter & Quagmire being covered with more cats after every cut.

Stuff I didn't like
* Very obvious Herbert gag.
* Chad getting beheaded.
* Overly long gag: Chris trying to throw Chad's head back to Meg.

Eh... Pretty weak offering of clips if you ask me.

[sideshow ken]

When I saw that clip with Chris trying to throw Chad's head, I was screaming STOP! jUST STOP!! It went on for 5 minutes. Stop with these over long gags!! Herbert has to die! He has worn out his welcome and that was a predictable gag. The only part I liked was Peter and Quagmire being covered by cats. I agree that the clips were weak.