The 10 Best Classic Episodes Of Family Guy, Ranked

For more than 25 years now, "Family Guy" has been an absolute staple of the television landscape. While it may have once been viewed as a lesser competitor that was living in the shadow of shows like "The Simpsons" and "South Park," it has now firmly earned its place as one of the greatest, longest-running adult animated comedies in history. Much like "Futurama," it also managed to survive being canceled multiple times. Set MacFarlane's wack Rhode Island family known as the Griffins has achieved pop cultural immortality.

But what are the very best episodes of "Family Guy" 25 years in? At this point, that's a tough question to answer given that we're sitting at more than 400 episodes, and MacFarlane has no plans to end the show any time soon. A simpler (albeit still difficult) question is to look at the show's classic era and determine the best episodes from the show's early run. In this case, we're limiting that to the first 10 seasons. From adventures through the multiverse to surprisingly poignant bottle episodes, and even a parody of one of the most beloved movies of all time, we're going to rank the 10 best classic episodes of "Family Guy." Let's get into it.

"Family Guy" is a show that evolved a great deal throughout its run. One of the biggest changes was the dynamic between Brian and Stewie, which led to the duo anchoring some of the show's most cherished episodes, with the "Road to..." series serving as the obvious standouts. But late in season 8, the creators did something bold by giving the duo a bottle episode in "Brian & Stewie," which sees them locked inside of a bank vault for the weekend with no way out.

There are no cutaway gags. There are no other characters to bounce off of. This is just a pure exploration of the rich dynamic between these two characters. Yes, there are very funny moments, such as Stewie using the rest of his cell phone battery to try and return his $3,000 sweater, but mostly, this episode succeeds by not being afraid to get serious. Funny isn't easy. What's harder is subverting expectations as hard as this episode does so far into a show's run. But writer Gary Janetti and director Dominic Bianchi deserve a lot of credit for committing to this bit as hard as they did. Viewers were rewarded with a truly special episode that reached for something higher.

By season 7, it felt like "Family Guy" had really hit some sort of special stride. Several seasons after being revived by Fox for good, the show had really settled into a dynamic and had distinguished itself more than enough from the likes of "The Simpsons" and "Futurama." Few episodes embody the confidence of "Family Guy" simply being "Family Guy" than the now-classic "Stew-Roids." Stewie gets beaten up by Suzy Swanson, leading Peter to give him steroids. The B-plot is also great here, as Connie decides to date Chris and turn him into one of the cool kids. This eventually leads to a reluctant team-up between Meg and Connie. Hilarity ensues on both fronts.

The episode starts with a bang, with Joe asking Peter, "Can one of you other men come over here and comment on the meat while I'm cooking it?" in a classic example of the show roasting real life. Then there's arguably one of Seth MacFarlane's most underrated line readings in the history of the show when Stewie says, "What was weird was that she was crying but the way she was standing over me made it look like I was crying, which was weird."

With fantastic cutaway gags such as the Johnson & Johnson "no more tears" bit along with the phone sex with a blind girl thing, this episode truly has it all. It even has a surprisingly on-point homage to Spike TV, the former home of shows like "Deadliest Warrior." Hilarious, random, and jam-packed, this is the "Family Guy" formula at its most confident. Few episodes of television can claim to end on a line as funny as "I flew today." Chef's kiss. 

Those early seasons of "Family Guy" have some gems, but it doesn't feel like the show found its true footing until late in the third season. Many will point to "Road to Rhode Island" as a standout, but I say the episode was moreso important in terms of establishing that format, which paved the way for better episodes down the line. For my money, the best bang-for-buck episode of that early run is "A Fish Out of Water"

Peter is struggling to find a job after losing his gig at the toy factory. After he loses a great deal of weight, he decides he wants to become a fisherman. After buying a boat at a police auction with money he got by mortgaging the house, he has to set out on an adventure with the gang to try and kill the legendary fish known as Daggermouth.

This is the show firing on all cylinders, maybe for the first time in true, well-rounded fashion. It's one of the best "Peter and the Gang" adventures, with the group arguing about who they would do if they weren't married, with names like Margaret Thatcher and the chick from "Total Recall" with the three boobs being thrown out. Let's not forget the excellent B plot where Meg and Lois go to spring break, offering us a rare Meg and Lois plot. Not to mention the introduction of Seamus, who has since become a surprisingly key recurring character.

Let's not forget that this is the episode that gave us the famous, "It's a jackal" bit, along with great lines like as Chris exclaiming, "Oh boy! I get to go live at the bank!" No notes.

If this were a ranking of the best secondary storylines in "Family Guy" episodes, "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven" would unquestionably come out on top. There's nothing wrong with the 'Meg gets super religious” A-plot that drives the episode forward, but there's no denying that the meat on the bones here is Stewie forcing the entire cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" to hang out with him, with every one of the core cast members reprising their roles for the sake of the bit. It all seems very fitting, given that Seth MacFarlane's career began thanks to his love of "Star Trek." Here, he allowed that love to take center stage with hilarious results.

From perfectly roasting the notion of Q&As at fan conventions to a parody of the infamous fart helmet sketch from "Jackass Number Two," this episode truly does have it all. It's both a scathing takedown of the horrors of religious extremism and a hilarious showcase for the cast members of "The Next Generation." Michael Dorn getting to punctuate the McDonald's drive-thru bit with "Do they have beer?" will never not be funny.

This is one of the best examples of "Family Guy" doing two very different things at once and doing them both very well. This episode gets countless points merely because few things in this world will ever be funnier than Patrick Stewart holding up bowling balls to his chest whilst proclaiming, "Look at me! I've got girl boobs!" We should all be thankful such a moment exists.

"Family Guy" was no stranger to censorship, particularly in its early years. In that way, the season 4 classic "PTV" feels like a direct commentary on the ridiculous nature of what will and will not be censored on network television. The episode sees Peter start his very own TV network after the FCC begins censoring even classic shows in the aftermath of the "David Hyde Pierce incident" at the Emmys. Hijinks ensue.

The episode opens with a banger as Peter is laying down a red carpet in the bedroom at 5:30 am saying, "Sorry Lois I didn't know you were home" after waking her up. From that point on, the episode is a showcase for Peter being the most Peter that he's ever been. It's also an endless string of fantastic quick gags, such as Brian smacking Stewie to get out of watching Meg's play or Chris asking, "Are we there yet?" repeatedly before calling Lois a liar when she tells him they are at their destination when in fact, they were not.

From "The Peter Griffin Side Boob Hour" to a self-indulgent musical number bemoaning the FCC, this is just about everything fans want from an episode of the show. To that end, arguably the greatest cutaway gag in the show's history ranks as the episode's greatest moment when we see the imagined creation of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups resulting from a drunk driving collision and some questionable choices of road trip snacks. A stone-cold classic from top to bottom.

Not to cheat here, but the season 6 two-parter of "Stewie Kills Lois" and "Lois Kills Stewie" is essentially one big episode, and breaking it apart is madness. This over-the-top episode answers the question, "What would happen if Stewie finally let his worst instincts loose and actually killed Lois?" Stewie's murderous rage from the early seasons had softened an awful lot by the time season 6 arrived. Once Brian calls him out on it, Stewie decides to prove him wrong. What ensues is an explosive, essential entry in the "Family Guy" canon.

One thing that sets "Family Guy" apart from other adult animated comedies is its willingness to draw out a bit. The final confrontation between Stewie and Lois is a prime example. This show is never afraid of comedic violence and man, do they play it up here. This episode also finally references the "American Dad" universe, establishing that MacFarlane's various creations do indeed occupy the same world.

The episode itself offers plenty of laughs, including the incredible Beatles cutaway where Paul, George, and John placate Ringo for writing a song. But it's the way that MacFarlane and Co. end the whole thing, with the audience realizing this was an elaborate dream sequence of sorts crafted by Stewie so that he could see what it would be like if he actually killed Lois. Brian even suggests such a thing would probably piss a lot of people off. Maybe it did, but at this point "Family Guy" has become fearless for the better.

"Family Guy" tends to kick off seasons with some of its strongest episodes (more on that in a moment) and that was rarely more clear than with the season 8 premiere, "Road to the Multiverse." As far as the staple "Road to..." episodes featuring Brian and Stewie, this is hands down the funniest of the bunch. The duo gets stuck in alternate realities using one of Stewie's inventions, ranging from giving Peter and the gang a "Flintstones" makeover to one of the most impressive classic era Disney homages ever, which is all contained in a song about pie, amazingly enough.

The show has always thrived when playing in a sci-fi sandbox and, rather than being a murderous little s***, Stewie serves the show much better when he's a vessel for the sci-fi episodes. This is the best of the best examples of that. Brian is his "just smart enough" companion and the two-hander dynamic straight-up sings in this episode.

It's an episode that truly has everything, from one of the funniest Meg reveals in the history of the show to Stewie making out with his own second head elsewhere in the multiverse. There is so much to love here. Lowbrow gags, inventive explorations of alternate realities, and an episode with an actual story to tell, rather than one that is clearly just in need of a narrative to stitch various bits together. It's one of the shining examples of "Family Guy" working as bang-for-buck, half-hour entertainment. It contains so much in 22 minutes that it's hard not to Marvel at its storytelling efficiency.

One thing that "Family Guy" has done very well over the years is playing around with different genres to great effect. Case in point, the show tackled a "Clue"-like murder mystery to kick off season 9 in the form of "And Then There Were Fewer." Another absolute banger of a season opener, and one that is widely heralded as one of the show's finest moments — and for good reason. Aside from being a genuinely funny, oversized episode, it also serves as a genuine love letter to the genre it's sending up.

Dozens of familiar faces from Quahog are called away to a weekend at a mysterious estate. They come to find that guest star James Woods invited them all to make amends for his past injustices. After Quagmire's date Stephanie is murdered, it turns into a whodunnit with longtime members of the show being killed in the process, including Murial Goldman.

Aside from great gags, such as Brian being jealous of Jillian's new boyfriend and everyone unable to capture Tom Tucker running around a dinner table, it's one of the best-looking episodes in the history of the show. "Family Guy" season 9 may well be the best season of the show's entire run. Within that excellent season of television, this is its finest hour. It helped set the tone for what was to come.

"Star Wars" gags had become a staple of "Family Guy" throughout its early run. At one point, MacFarlane and the gang had to eventually reach out to Lucasfilm to make sure they weren't going to get sued. Quite the opposite, they were given permission to parody the entirety of "Star Wars: A New Hope" with "Blue Harvest" as the season 6 opener. They subsequently also did "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" in seasons 8 and 9, respectively. Taken together, the trilogy is some of the finest, funniest work that the show has ever produced.

Picking any one episode over the other in this trilogy would be damn near impossible. So, we're just going to give the entire trilogy of "Star Wars" parodies its due. Without diving into the many, many great gags, like Peter as Han Solo trying to get a couch out of the trash compactor on the Death Star or picking the chicken to play Boba Fett, a big reason why this whole experiment works so well is that the reverence for the source material is on display. Everyone involved clearly loves "Star Wars." Much like "Spaceballs," it's a parody that also serves as a love letter to the thing that it's sending up.

The biggest tragedy is that we'll probably never see the prequel trilogy or the sequel trilogy getting the "Family Guy" treatment. One can only imagine how much potential exists in a possible parody of "The Phantom Menace." The only reason we lament what won't be is because we know what exists. This trilogy serves as the sweetest of treats for both fans of the show and fans of a galaxy far, far away.

Picking the best episode of a show's classic era when that list includes nearly 200 episodes is a nearly impossible task. As a longtime viewer who caught the show's premiere when it aired in 1999, however, I can say that when I think of "Family Guy," I will always think first of the season 5 episode "Barely Legal." This is the most "Family Guy" episode of "Family Guy" to ever "Family Guy." The show was confidently on its feet at this point. The characters were well-established. The formula was established well enough that it could be f****d with from time to time. Everything converged in this classic episode to bring us the perfect representation of what this show can be.

The episode sees all of the police abandon Quahog thanks to Mayor West's bone-headedness, leaving Joe to recruit Peter and the guys as a substitute police force. But the main driving force of the episode is Meg distraught — needing a date for the school dance — and Brian reluctantly volunteering to go with her. He gets drunk, they make out, and Meg naturally becomes obsessed with him.

The central story of the episode is certainly funny, with Meg getting a chance to shine but it also contains some of the best bits that have nothing to do with the plot, none more famous than Stewie saying "Cool Whip" with real emphasis on the h, which drives Brian crazy. There's also the all-timer exchange when Meg asks, "How do I look Brian?" To which he replies, "You sure do Meg."

Rather than continue to highlight great bits (of which there are many in this episode), I'll say this: If one were to place just one episode of "Family Guy" in a vault to preserve what the show was for future generations, it would be tough to find an episode more emblematic of everything that MacFarlane's creation could be. That said, it's worth shouting out Brian's truly outstanding line, "I think I may be gay. Um I saw this penis on the internet today, and thought to myself 'Well, that's just fine!'"