The 15 Best Guest Stars On Family Guy, Ranked

When "Family Guy" first came on the air, it was quick to draw comparisons to other animated adult sitcoms. The dynamics, such as having Peter Griffin (Seth MacFarlane) as the bumbling patriarch against his much more forgiving wife, Lois (Alex Borstein), were certainly similar, but "Family Guy" broke the mold, too. It utilized cutaway gags that were funny even divorced from the context of the episode. Plus, the show leaned far more into pop culture references than many of its contemporaries. 

Plenty of shows reference movies and other TV series, but "Family Guy" turned it into a work of art, such as by having an extended sequence ripping off "Amadeus." This can also be found in the way "Family Guy" utilizes its guest stars. Sometimes, a person returns repeatedly to voice a recurring character, but oftentimes, celebrities play exaggerated versions of themselves to hilarious effect. 

MacFarlane has already said "Family Guy" will continue as long as people keep watching, so there are bound to be numerous other guest spots in the years to come. For now, here are the 15 best "Family Guy" guest stars ever. 

In Season 12's "Mom's the Word," Peter's mother passes away, and he finds comfort in one of her friends, Evelyn, voiced by Lauren Bacall. It's a somewhat surprising addition to "Family Guy" canon, but it's indeed a great one. Bacall was a signature presence throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood and starred in many classic films like "The Big Sleep" and "Key Largo." In fact, her "Family Guy" cameo marks her final television role ever.

Throughout the episode, Peter views Evelyn as a makeshift mother figure while she attempts to seduce him. Her advances may be unwelcome, but Bacall brings a vulnerability to the character, where you can't help but understand her. Many of the jokes involving Evelyn are visual gags, like her dress getting blown up via an air vent a la Marilyn Monroe, but Bacall makes this one-episode character really stand out. 

Bacall passed away the same year her "Family Guy" episode came out. With it, she proved that whether her co-star was Humphrey Bogart or Peter Griffin, she could hold her own against anyone. 

David Lynch turned down the chance of voicing Bill Cipher on "Gravity Falls," but for some reason, he loved lending his voice to Seth MacFarlane projects. He played Gus the Bartender across 23 episodes of "The Cleveland Show," and he even voiced Gus during an episode of "Family Guy." Lynch as Gus is absolutely great, but for my money, the best Lynch appearance came in season 15's "How the Griffin Stole Christmas." 

Lynch pops up in a quick TV gag, starring in "How David Lynch Stole Christmas." He slithers down a chimney and tells a boy to look at a thumb inside of a box, allowing the fear to wash over him. Lynch's hilarious "Family Guy" cameo works so well because it's a pretty straightforward scene. It's not like when "The Simpsons" parodied "Twin Peaks" by having a horse dancing while a traffic light hangs from a tree. The "Family Guy" cameo is filled with so many more pertinent Lynchisms, like how the boy should leave out black coffee for him. Upon Lynch's tragic passing, the scene, as brief as it may be, is just the thing to remind us all why Lynch was so indelibly amazing. 

"Family Guy" has made plenty of jokes at Dwayne Johnson's expensive, like an extended gag where a narrator tries to figure out the actor's ethnicity. But the best bit is easily when Johnson came to play himself, in live-action no less, to simulate a sex scene between Peter and Lois in Season 8's "Big Man on Hippocampus." Johnson simply sits at a table and bangs a Peter doll against a Lois doll on a table until the Lois one falls off. He then sits there awkwardly before looking directly at the camera. 

It's one of the best "Family Guy" cameos because it's so against type for the actor; he doesn't even say anything. It's a far cry from Movie Star(™) Dwayne Johnson we're all so familiar with today whose entire image has to be expertly tailored to always be the toughest guy in the room. Here, he's just a dude. Johnson's brief appearance makes for one of the best "Family Guy" cutaways ever, and it's proof Johnson should lean more into comedies than action flicks. 

Liam Neeson was once the butt of a "Family Guy" joke about how his Irish accent would make it impossible to play an American cowboy. Therefore, when Neeson was asked to star in Seth MacFarlane's "A Million Ways to Die in the West," he agreed only on the condition he would use his thick Irish accent. To be honest, "Family Guy" is a pretty good showcase that a lot of actors have good senses of humor and are more than happy to come on the show after getting made fun of. 

In Season 13's "Fighting Irish," Peter boasts he could totally beat up Neeson, and when the latter finds out, he threatens to punch Peter, only for Peter to offer to be his servant in exchange for his safety. The best part of this role, any pretty much any other time Neeson's in a comedy, is that he tows the line where you can never quite tell if he knows what the punchline is. His voice is so gruff and tough that it's a hoot to hear him say ridiculous dialogue, whether it's trying to buy cereal in "Ted 2" or asking about improv comedy in "Extras." 

"Family Guy" proved to be a swan song for yet another actor, namely Ricardo Montalban, who starred as Mr. Cow in Season 6's "McStroke." (However, Montalban's true final credit would come in a different Seth MacFarlane vehicle, "American Dad!"). 

After Peter has a stroke from eating too many hamburgers, he seeks revenge on McBurgertown, leading him to meet Mr. Cow, who can speak eloquently on the horrors cows endure with mass farming practices. 

Like Neeson, the hilarity of Montalban's cameo comes from him having this incredibly iconic deep voice that creates the most amusing juxtaposition when he needs to say something ridiculous, like his impassioned speech where he thanks all of the "salad-eating homosexuals" for having the courage not to eat fast food. Plus, there's the hint of disappointment in his voice at the very end of "McStroke" where Lois says he can't live with them because he's a cow. It's tough for a sitcom to pull off an anticlimactic ending (something "Family Guy" has struggled with in future episodes), but here, it works very well. 

People are prone to say that "Family Guy" ripped off "The Simpsons." It's managed to differentiate itself, but one of the funniest similarities is how "The Simpsons" had James Woods playing a bizarre version of himself in "Homer and Apu," just one of many "Simpsons" cameos that haven't aged well. Years later, Woods would play an even stranger version of himself on "Family Guy."

James Woods first came to Quahog in "Peter's Got Woods." Peter and Woods begin hanging out after Brian (Seth MacFarlane) becomes too busy for the former, but Woods is a little clingy. He proves just how attached to Peter he is when he comes back in "Back to the Woods." This time, he steals Peter's credit card and personal information and begins pretending to be Peter, forcing Peter to steal Woods' identity. "Back to the Woods" even has a spectacular callback to Woods' first appearance when Peter traps Woods under a box, luring him there with candy, which is precisely how he ended his reign of terror in "Peter's Got Woods." 

Woods wasn't afraid to make fun of himself and go completely bananas during his "Family Guy" tenure. Thanks to him, "Ooh, a piece of candy" remains forever etched into our consciousnesses. 

"Deadpool" actor Ryan Reynolds has popped up in Seth MacFarlane projects more than once, and in both instances, his cameos have a homoerotic nature to them.

Reynolds appears in the "Family Guy" episode "Stewie Goes for a Drive" where he develops an intense fascination with Peter. When Peter confronts him and says that he doesn't want a relationship with him, Reynolds insists that he got everything wrong and doesn't want to see him now anyway. Reynolds' penchant for comedies make him an ideal match for the writing on "Family Guy." Some celebrity line readings on the show seem so unnatural, especially when they have to say something naughty. But it comes second nature to Reynolds. 

Reynolds also has a brief cameo in "Ted" as Guy's (Patrick Warburton) new boyfriend. Reynolds may not be gay himself, but he seems to be an ally at least, which may explain why "Deadpool & Wolverine" is so unapologetically queer. 

In the early 2000s, Will Ferrell was still coming off being one of the funniest actors ever on "Saturday Night Live." He still hadn't quite ascended into superstardom with the one-two punch of "Elf" and "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," but it was clear he was on his way thanks to various small roles, including a voiceover part as the Black Knight in the "Family Guy" episode, "Mr. Saturday Knight."

Ferrell's just so bad at playing up the Black Knight as a pompous jerk. The exchange he has with Bruce upon calling out his "fat ass," which in this case is literally an obese donkey, is pure gold, especially when he pivots immediately after to address Peter by name. It's here he adds extra emphasis when calling Peter a "Fizzle," which is such an odd insult. The Black Knight's lines are simultaneously witty yet absurd, and that's Ferrell's sweet spot as a performer. The Black Knight may have been a one-and-done character, but he's one of the most memorable from the show's early seasons.

In the "Family Guy" episode, "Peterotica," Peter begins writing erotic fiction with such tasteful titles as "Angela's Asses." During one sequence, we see how his work has been adapted into an audiobook, read by Betty White, and her line readings are fantastic. It's such a great juxtaposition to have Peter's obtuse writing read by someone as distinguished as White, but with her having such a massive background in comedy, it's no wonder she can make it work. 

At first, she offers a pretty deadpan delivery that's perfect for lines like, "Oh God, you should've seen this one hot chick." She ups the emotion later when confronting Peter directly about getting served as a subpoena due to her involvement with "Peterotica." White is a comedic legend for a reason, even well into her 80s and 90s. She always seemed to know how funny it was when a kindly-looking old woman suddenly turned ferocious, which also made White's casting on "Community" positively inspired, as she was prone to lashing out at other characters there, too. 

In 2005, Robert Downey Jr. was definitely in a far better place compared to his tumultuous time in the 1990s, where he dealt with drug addiction and run-ins with the law. He was still a few years away from "Iron Man" catapulting him back into A-list status, but for the time being, he still managed to make us all laugh with a turn as Patrick on the "Family Guy" episode, "Fat Guy Strangler."

Patrick is Lois' estranged brother, whom she welcomes back into the family after he's been institutionalized. However, everyone quickly deduces that he's a serial killer known as the Fat Guy Strangler who kills any fat men, and that puts Peter at risk. Downey only wanted the "Family Guy" cameo because his son was a fan, and it led to one of the best guest spots on the show ever. He has plenty of funny lines, but he's also pretty menacing when he wants to be. Patrick would return later on in the show's run, but by that point, Downey's star had risen, and he didn't return to voice him. There was just something missing the second time around. 

Brian Griffin has been with a lot of women over the years. Human women, to be precise. We don't have time to get into that right now, but easily, the best partner Brian's ever had is Jillian, voiced by Drew Barrymore. 

To a degree, it's understandable why Jillian is so funny. She's an idiot and frequently says dumb things, which are hilarious to hear. It's even better that she's paired up with Brian, who's a self-obsessed and supposed intellectual, so it's obvious he's only with her for her looks. However, there's a real art to delivering such stupid lines. They could come across as trying too hard to be stupid, but playing dumb comes effortlessly to Barrymore (I mean that as a compliment, don't get mad at me). 

This is likely due to the fact Barrymore makes Jillian grounded when necessary, like when the two break up, and you can hear the heartbreak in her voice. Jillian could've easily been a one-dimensional dumb blonde character, but she gained a surprising amount of depth, and that's all thanks to Barrymore being a spectacular performer. 

"Family Guy" may have recreated the original "Star Wars" trilogy, but from watching the series, it's abundantly evident the writers also love "Star Trek." In season 7's "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven," one of the best classic "Family Guy" episodes, that love for "Star Trek" comes full circle with the main cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" beam aboard to voice themselves. 

Every part of this B-plot is perfect, with the pièce de résistance being Stewie taking them all through the McDonald's drive-thru. No one knows what's going on, with Michael Dorn asking for a McDLT, which doesn't exist. His dry way of saying how it might be available regionally is perfect, and for some reason, Patrick Stewart bullies Wil Wheaton the entire time. It's a great distillation of the adage "Never meet your heroes." Of course, we like the think the cast is on friendlier terms than this, but everyone acting so chaotic is nothing short of iconic. 

Norm Macdonald is probably one of the funniest guys ever to live. From his droll punchlines doing Weekend Update on "Saturday Night Live" to causing havoc when Conan O'Brien is trying to interview someone else, Macdonald could make anything funny, even if you didn't quite know where he was going with something at first. It should come as no surprise that Seth MacFarlane tapped into Macdonald's comic genius more than once on "Family Guy." 

Macdonald played Death in the first season's "Brian: Portrait of a Dog," and he would return the next season after Peter tries to fake his own death, leading him to assume Death's duties after he gets injured. Macdonald's acerbic wit is on full display, so it's no wonder he'd return to "Family Guy" in season 16 to play himself. Granted, he already was pretty much playing himself as Death, but we're not one to argue over getting more Macdonald. 

Macdonald's skills as a voice actor didn't go unnoticed by MacFarlane, who tapped him to play the blob Yaphit on "The Orville." Macdonald's voice can make anything funny even when he's talking about killing people. 

Fun fact: Seth MacFarlane wanted Adam West on "Family Guy" after he had a cameo on "Johnny Bravo." MacFarlane worked on "Johnny Bravo" briefly, and there's an episode where West plays a ridiculous version of himself. MacFarlane got him to come over to "Family Guy," where he plays the mayor of Quahog, allowing him to pop up frequently over the years. Every time he shows up, you can be confident he's going to do the most random thing imaginable. 

Much like Drew Barrymore's Jillian, it would've been easy for Mayor West to fly off the rails, but West understands the assignment with every episode. He understands the absurdism at play, but he also functions crucially within how Quahog operates. He makes this city, as bizarre as it may be, feel like a lived-in place. Arguably, Mayor West became a more iconic character for Adam West than Batman, which is really saying something. Sure, the character would occasionally reference his own celebrity, but most of the time, he was just silly for the sake of being silly. 

Carrie Fisher as Peter's boss, Angela, is the best "Family Guy" guest star ever, and not just because she's consistently hilarious. She certainly has plenty of funny moments, but the thing separating Fisher from a lot of other guest spots is that she turned Angela into a three-dimensional character when she could've easily phoned it in. 

Angela is a basic sitcom archetype. Once Peter starts working at the Pawtucket Brewery, she's there to knock him down a few pegs. She could've just been a buzzkill and nothing more, but Fisher imbued a genuine sense of sadness within Angela, especially in episodes like "Peter-assment" when she wants to go out with Peter because she's been so lonely for long. 

Executive producer Steve Callaghan even told Entertainment Weekly in 2017, "It would be easy for a less capable actress to make that character kind of one-note, gruff and yelling all the time. But Carrie brought to it a depth that I don't think just anyone could have." For a show as off-the-wall as "Family Guy," Angela kept things at least moderately relatable, and with her and Mayor West gone, something just feels off about the show.