Family Guy Creator Seth MacFarlane Was Surprised By The Reaction To One Death

In 2013, "Family Guy" released perhaps its most controversial episode yet — no, not "Partial Terms of Endearment," it was "Life of Brian." After a seemingly typical opening act, the episode switched gears when Brian was hit by a car. There were no jokes — the Griffins' grief was treated with almost total seriousness in a way that was pretty jarring to most long-term fans of the series. The rest of the episode centers around the Griffins coping with their loss by getting a new dog, this one named Vinny (Tony Sirico). Stewie initially doesn't like this new foul-mouthed Italian dog, but he comes around to him by the end. 

Fans were not thrilled. Not only does this episode kill off Brian, but it moves past him with almost offensive speed. By the following week's episode, "Into Harmony's Way," the show had already embraced this new status quo, having Vinny casually hang out with the family as if he's been there the entire time. Even worse was how "Life of Brian" went out of its way to clarify that time travel, a common plot device in the series, was no longer an option; Stewie destroys his time machine right before Brian's death, and makes no attempt to rebuild it. The episode is often ranked among the worst in the show, although I myself chose not to include it in my list of worst "Family Guy" episodes.

To "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, the outrage over Brian's death was surprising, but not necessarily a bad thing. "We were all very surprised — in a good way — that people still cared about that character to be that angry," he said at the time. "It didn't occur to us. We thought it would maybe create a little bit of a stir, but the rage was not something we counted on."

Although "Life of Brian" seemingly got rid of Brian for good, "Family Guy" brought him back two episodes later in the season's Christmas episode. Stewie goes back in time to push Brian out of the car's path, erasing the entire timeline of the past two episodes and bringing everything back to normal. From that point forward, it was like Brian's death had never happened; Vinny only showed up once or twice afterward for minor cutaways, but was largely forgotten.

After the episode aired, MacFarlane tweeted, "Thanks for caring so much about the canine Griffin, he is overcome with gratitude," adding, "I mean, you didn't really think we'd kill off Brian, did you? Jesus, we'd have to be f***ing high." A lot of fans found the joke funny, although plenty of others found the entire chain of events frustrating and even insulting. The whole thing seemed like a cheap publicity stunt; why toy with our emotions so much if none of it actually meant anything in the end?

Still, MacFarlane considered the stunt to be worthwhile. He told reporters, "Based on the numbers, it helped because it did what it was designed to do: It reminded people that this is still a show where anything can happen despite the fact that it's been on for a while."

My thoughts on this whole ordeal are complicated. I don't have a problem with the show's creatives temporarily killing off Brian, but I do wish they had waited at least a few more episodes before bringing him back. That's because new dog Vinny, with his very Catholic and very Italian ways, was delightful as the new member of the Griffin family. He didn't get a ton of focus in the one normal episode before "Christmas Guy," but he and Stewie still made for a charming duo.

Maybe it's just because Tony Sirico's got the funniest voice in the world, or because I like how Vinny's eyebrows are drawn above his head, but I would've preferred if "Family Guy" had killed off Brian in the season 12 premiere, let us enjoy the entire fall season with Vinny by Stewie's side, and only then brought Brian back. This could've turned season 12 into one of the most interesting seasons of the show, even if it still probably wouldn't have won the /Film season rankings.

Don't get me wrong, I love Brian — even the pretentious loser version of him we got throughout the later seasons — but it would've been nice if the show had made the most of Vinny before bringing him back. He brought something fresh and new to the series; for the first time in years, it felt like "Family Guy" was being somewhat bold and inventive. To reverse this new status quo so quickly sure seemed like a waste, but hey, at least us Vinny fans will always have that very, very brief period in 2013 to fondly look back on.