There are subjectives, and then there are these. While you may believe a work fits here, and you might be right, people tend to have rather vocal, differing opinions about this subject. Please keep these off of the work's page.
fluffything: To prove not everything pre-revival was a classic, we have the Season 1 episode Brian: Portrait of A Dog, which shows the dog's Black Hole Sue tendencies went as far back as the first season. Why? Well, at first, the episode starts out great with Brian feeling Peter doesn't respect him and Peter also feeling Brian doesn't appreciate him causing the former to run away. But, then it goes COMPLETELY downhill after Brian runs away and we are subjected to many many parallels to the 1960s "Civil Rights" movements. No, just, no. It's a bad comparison for many reasons. First, equating a dog's (albeit a human-level intelligent one) problems with "leash laws" to the "Jim Crow" laws is just insulting on so many levels I don't know where to begin. Second, the indignities that minorities had to endure were FAAAR worse than Brian not being allowed to drink at a fountain or having to wear a leash for his own protection. And, finally, the parallel just doesn't work because most dogs in the series are realistic animal-minded dogs (About the only dogs in Family Guy that are of human level intelligence are Brian, New Brian (Deceased), Jasper, and the Griffin's old dog before they got Brian (I can't remember his name)). This isn't Brian asking for equal rights for his species. This is Brian complaining about not being treated "special" because he's a talking dog.
If it's actually SERIOUS and not just patronization of civil rights, then what is the intended message? People are trying to make dogs do human-like things all the time, so it's illogical to say that we're not treating them human enough. An all-too-easy conclusion is that it's referring to interspecies romance.
MadMan400096: For me, the Season 3 episode Peter Griffin: Husband, Father...Brother?. In this episode, Peter finds out he's part black, his ancestor's master was was none other than Carter's ancestor, and is given $20,000 to not mention it again. He blows the cash on a replica of Pee-Wee's Playhouse, a move that gets him kicked out of the black community. Unfortunately, at the basketball game (where the B-Plot is set), he ends up hated by both blacks and whites! NOT FUCKING COOL!! I can understand why the blacks hate him, but the whites!? And to cap it all off, the two races are segregated! I thought racial segregation ended in, I don't know,The Sixties!? I know that this is a Crapsack World, and that the moment is Played for Drama, but this just pushed the envelope. How's THAT for a Wall Banger!?
Season 4
Man Called True: The very first thing the show did on returning - having Peter list off every canceled Fox show since Family Guy went off the air. The sheer arrogance of the moment is staggering. It's Seth waving his dick around and yelling, "SUCK IT, FOX! I'M THE ONLY CHANCE YOU HAVE!" And it's also illogical - what, they all got cancelled because they're not Family Guy? The scene might have worked if they listed every show that was in Family Guy's time slot, but listing every cancelled Fox show takes it to the point of masturbation.
Sceptre: "Patriot Games" — the home of the infamous "Where's my money?" and "Shipoopi" scenes. The former scene was just unnecessary violence and is uncomfortable to watch. The sheer unnecessary-ness of the latter scene was parodied five years later in a clip show, when Stewie cringes at the fact that they have to play "Shipoopi" again.
dementia13: Don't have a problem with something being uncomfortable to watch, but musical numbers are usually the DEW line for a show having jumped the shark. Mostly averted in Family Guy's case, as they're there due to MacFarlane's fanhood, but "Shipoopi" was some of the most overlong, unfunny, obnoxious filler I've seen, and it was compounded by giving the London Sillynannies a musical number of their own. Its only funny moment was showing John Madden dancing along in the broadcast booth. IIRC, that episode was tied in with FOX's Super Bowl broadcast that particular season. Talk about putting your worst foot forward.
Ptorq: "Shipoopi" is hilarious. They're mocking The Music Man, which does the exact same thing. (If you haven't seen it, don't assume it makes any more sense there.) That said, any Very Special Episode where the characters serve as mouthpieces for the writers' personal opinions sucks. Here's a hint: we think you're funny. We don't think you're interesting, wise, or relevant. Stick with the funny, eh?
Goldeneye101: "You May Now Kiss the... Uh... Guy Who Receives". This episode was basically the start of the whole "Brian is the Author Avatar thing." Basically, Brian's cousin comes to visit and brings a Filipino boyfriend. They say that they are getting married and Lois is the only one not impressed by it. Mayor West then bans Gay Marriage in order to get around him building a solid gold statue of the Kellogg's cereal mascot Dig 'Em. Brian, in a complete wreckage of anything canon before it, automatically goes to try to help his cousin, trying to get signatures to repeal it. He gets the signatures and West disregards the signatures. In yet another wreckage of character, Brian holds West at gunpoint and takes him hostage. It is only then that Lois decides to go along with it and accept gay marriage. Brian immediately, after hearing Lois tell him to stop, ends up stopping... to which West tears up the gay marriage ban. So, a person (well, dog) holds you up at gunpoint unless you sign some idiotic paper repealing a gay marriage ban, so you... help him? Instead of arresting him? The episode ends on the gay marriage itself. The subplot wasn't much better at bashing Republicans, as Chris joins a Young Republicans group and burns Brian's original petition, and then it's never resolved.
Merlock: Oh, you're missing half of the problems! For one, how is the mayor "banning" gay marriage? At the time this episode aired, gay marriage wasn't legal in Rhode Island yet—an inaccuracy that exists just to subtly make his side more "villainous." Secondly, Jasper and his boyfriends are the biggest stereotypes ever, and the most "romantic" thing about their relationship is Jasper making a sex joke. They don't even talk to each other (because the Fillipino can't speak English and Jasper makes no sign of speaking Spanish)—their relationship is as shallow as a puddle, so cares whether or not they can get a tax break for their zoophilia? And third, Lois is convinced to support gay marriage because Brian holds somebody at gunpoint. ...WHAT?! What sense does that make?! Her logic is that "he feels really strongly about this" so he must be right—that's idiotic! Brian is committing an act of terrorism right now! If gay marriage is right, it's right; if it's wrong, it's wrong. The fact that somebody (particularly somebody who's not even gay) "feels really strongly" about it does not prove their side is right! (Put another way—if the mayor was trying to legalize gay marriage and Brian put a gun to his head to stop it, would he be right then?) And then there was a "joke" about Elizabeth Smart, the real-life girl who was kidnapped by a crazy cultist for more than a year. The punchline is that she's horribly traumatized from repeatedly being raped. ...Fuck you in hell, writers. Seriously. (N.B.: the real Elizabeth Smart seems to have, thankfully, recovered from her ordeal quite well.)
The Dog Sage: From Stewie Griffin The Untold Story, which would become a three-parter in season 4: The cut-away gag in which we have Elmer Fudd repeatedly shoot Bugs Bunny and then snap his neck before dragging the bleeding carcass away. Seriously, that's the entire 'joke', Elmer Fudd violently and bloodily killing Bugs Bunny. Graphically murdering a beloved childhood icon isn't Black Comedy, it's just sick.
Season 5
darkrage6: Since someone already mentioned the infamous Brian And Stewie episode, I'll go with "Stewie Loves Lois" which I hated because it was just extremely unfunny and lazily written, the episode is essentially an Overly Long Unfunny Gag stretched out to 22 minutes (with the exception of the lame subplot where Stewie actually begins to like Lois, how is that supposed to be funny or entertaining?) the gag being Peter mistaking a prostate exam for an attempted rape and complaining about how he was "raped" for almost the whole episode, it's not funny the first time and it gets even more annoying every other time, how anyone can possibly find that funny is beyond me.
Jurgan: What's more is that, when Peter first tells Lois "I was raped," her reaction is to laugh. If it was after he said that the prostate exam he had was the "rape", it'd be understandable, but this was before! Remember, men can never be raped!
Manwiththeplan: Also, the scene where Lois imagines killing Stewie and then remorsefully cries "I'm like that Texas woman who gave her son brain damage by holding him underwater! I'm just like Barbara Bush!" Yep, in order to make a "Bush is stupid" joke, the writers apparently felt they needed to drag "his mama" into it and defame her character in the process. Real mature. And this was only a few episodes before "Love Blacktually", with the "Laura Bush killed a guy" joke. Family Guy staff, if you wanna bash George W. Bush, then bash George W. Bush. Leave his family members out of it!
Tropers/mpd011 That's more a DMOS for whoever wrote the Italian dub. The original line is "I gotta tell ya, that sounds terrible".
The Pocket: The one where they go to Texas. Like that one guy above said, you can't mix preachiness with over-the-top parody, and this episode shows why perfectly: The people they meet there are deliberately exaggerated for comedic effect, yet then you have Brian taking it totally seriously, which makes it seem like the writers did too (even though, unless you're incredibly cynical, it's obvious that they aren't and cannot possibly be that stupid). It's also an example of why a character like Brian does not work on this show: He's essentially a real person (namely the writer) living on Planet Eris, and for the most part they're stuck making him ignore the sort of behavior someone like him shouldn't be tolerating. It's only when that behavior offends his political sensibilities, apparently, that he can't stand silently by. Of course, "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" would end up taking this problem even further; I just lost patience sooner than most people apparently.
The Nth Troper: That episode lost me for a while (I was briefly won back until "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven") but another reason I hate it was for wasting Gilbert Gottfried in a nothing cameo. Still not as bad a waste as the TNG cast, and as it's Gilbert YMMV.
SG_Man_Forever: I hated this episode simply because I am tired of the stereotype that those from my state are ignorant, racist, sexist, dogmatic assholes who would attempt en masse to lynch people because they are gay or atheist. I recognize parody when I see it, but as the first troper noted, when you mix preachiness with over-the-top parody and include extremely mean-spirited stereotyping, the result is you sounding like an asshole.
anoni: You forgot to add killing anyone who's mentally retarded. I'm pretty sure some of the show's mentally handicapped viewers didn't like the message of "if you're a mentally retarded Texan, your very existence is a state felony punishable by death."
Jurgan: At least "To Live and Die in Dixie" showed Southerners as being genuinely good people, if somewhat backwards. But the later episode where they go to Texas gave up on all of that.
Stevie Will Show You: The big problem I had with this episode was the entire setup to get them to Texas just so the show could make all the "Texans are backwards-ass jerkwad rednecks" jokes. Stewie throws up in church after ingesting too many crackers and too much wine — which is a completely understandable reaction — and just because the crackers and wine are part of Communion, he's immediately assumed to be possessed and sought after by the entire town of Quahog and the authorities for an exorcism. First: it makes religious people look like complete Jerkasses for wanting to deliver an exorcism to a child who threw up in church (I know, big shock, Family Guy hating on religion). Second: actual church-sanctioned exorcisms are few and far between, and even then, they're done by highly-trained members of the clergy (and only after the church has deemed an exorcism to be truly necessary), not some random priest and a bunch of pissed-off civilians. Third: the whole "the police are looking for a possessed child" bit makes no sense because, last I checked, the police aren't called on to arrest people just because they're accused of being possessed by the devil. Fourth: Even if the Griffins had to run from the entire population of Quahog, that's no reason to make everyone else on the Griffins' trip to Texas (including non-Quahog police officers) as dumb as the rest of Quahog. If the rest of the episode had been worth the intelligence-insulting setup, then maybe I could forgive the attack on religion and the general absurdity of the setup; too bad that, as the others have pointed out above me, the episode was nowhere near worth the setup.
Manwiththeplan: Carter is supposed to be a Jerkass, so the scene wouldn't have been too bad, really....if the episode didn't literatelly try to pull a Pet the Dog moment for Carter a few scenes later (helping Chris get back to his old school out of care for him). I'm sorry, but once you have a scene like the one mentioned above, a Pet the Dog moment afterwards is bullshit.
TyeDyeWildebeest: "Hell Comes to Quahog" was overall a pretty decent episode, but it had quite possibly the most tasteless and unfunny cutaway gag in the history of the series. When Brian complains about Quahog's new Superstore USA, Stewie claims that he just hates department stores because of that one time a "special" boy pet him too hard in front of a K- Mart. We then cut to a mentally retarded child continually petting Brian really hard (to the point where he finds it difficult to keep his balance) until Brian snaps and bites him. Then the child starts crying, and we cut back to the story. That's it. The scene doesn't have a punchline; we're just supposed to laugh at the retarded kidsimply because he's retarded. It wasn't quite enough to ruin the episode for me, but it certainly didn't help.
Westing1992: I have only seen one episode of Family Guy in my life, and it was bad enough that I'm unlikely to watch any in the future. The episode in question was "Whistle While Your Wife Works". For starters, it opens with Peter blowing his fingers off with a firework, scattering them around the neighborhood in a sequence that was uncomfortable and unfunny. Due to his injuries, Peter has Lois become his secretary and wants to have sex with her in his office. Meanwhile, Brian is dating a hot, but incredibly dumb, girl, and wants to break up with her. Neither storyline is very funny, and neither has an adequate ending: Peter and Lois have sex, but she's still working as his secretary; Brian tries to break up with the girl, but winds up having sex with her instead. Sex is not a valid substitute for resolutions. But what stands out for me the worst is a manatee gag where Peter mentions having lots of hiding places for his porn. The resulting gag is about a minute showing Peter going into an elaborate underground vault, and, at the end, takes out a porn magazine; it's an overly-long setup to a joke to which we already know the punchline.
Season 6
Furi Kuri: The moments in "Blue Harvest" where they just ripped gags off wholesale from Airplane. They don't make sense if you haven't seen Airplane, and if you have, it's nothing more than "Yep, that sure is a reference to Airplane". That's Seltzer and Friedberg-style humor right there. I hated the episode as a whole, but that just cemented it as the worst episode I've seen.
Megatronacepticon: The cutaway where Quagmire rapes Marge Simpson and murders her family. Many Family Guy fans (including myself) are also fans of The Simpsons, so naturally we do not find this the least bit amusing.
Purr Elise: Agreed. Even Matt Groening (a friend of Seth and a fan of the show) was so disgusted by this it almost ended the friendship between the two of them.
Midoriri: For me, it was one of the CutawayGags in "Padre de Familia". Brian reminds Peter that he (Peter) didn't even know about 9/11 until years later. Okay, fine... but then we cut to Lois, watching the coverage with tears in her eyes and a tissue in hand... and Peter walks in, glances at the TV, laughs and says "Must be a woman-pilot," before walking off. That's not f*cking funny!
Inuyasha FE: In "Padre de Familia", the scene where Peter gets a job as a nanny, crashes through the window, on top of two children, killing them. He gets up, vomits, shoves them under the bed, vomits again, cries, then jumps out the window to escape the scene of the crime. Who the hell thought something like this would be funny?!
Kuku Inkblot: As a whole, I find Family Guy kind of tasteless, but one episode just stands out with me. The one where Peter switches lives with James Woods and goes on Letterman to promote "his" new movie. A comedy about 9/11with David Spade as the airplane. That's when I stopped watching the show completely.
Lordhyper: Since Peter was trying to destroy James Woods career, this was probably intentional. Still, it's sort of offensive.
Kitschensyngk: How many of their writers were influenced by Monty Python? Influenced enough to include a scene where Brian's long-lost son subjects Meg to "the 178 hours of Monty Python that are neither funny nor memorable"? In the episode "The Former Life of Brian", which ironically references a Python film that is both funny AND memorable? As a Python fan, this so-called joke rubbed me so hard the wrong way that it took some skin off. I haven't watched the show since. Sorry, Seth. Come back when you've got a bunch of feature films and a cult following longer than your arm.
Season 7
theLibrarian: "Horton Hears Domestic Abuse In The Next Apartment, But Doesn't Call The Police". That's the Manatee Gag that cost the show what little respect it had from me. It was probably the most uncalled for, idiotic joke in the history of the show, because not only is it in really poor taste because it has a basis in reality, but the woman's screaming and there was a baby watching. No. Just... no.
Dragon Quest Z: The "Nazis would support McCain and Palin" joke. I'm not a conservative, and even agree with a lot of the show's politics, but that kind of joke is the crap people like Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter would pull, and I don't take it from them, so I won't take it from this show.
Happy Man: "Family Gay". How the "being gay is not a choice, and we should accept them the way they are" intended aesop was warped into "gays are amoral assholes that find partners easily replaceable and care for nothing but sex, and we should accept them the way they are". Because that's exactly what Peter says with his actions after becoming gay: he ditches his wife and family for a random guy named Scott, leaving them ravaged. Let's not forget that, apparently, being gay makes you want to bang ten guys at once. This shows how bad it is to preach in a comedy show, you simply can't be serious and funny at the same time. Oh, and the frosting of the cake was Lois saying, "I can't change your orientation, and I'd be wrong for me to try", when Peter's orientation was changed by the doctors through artificial means.
Deuxhero: Also, the "not a choice" bit gets combined with Peter having willingly chosen (with full knowledge it is what would happen) to have drugs that make him gay used on him.
Queensnyc2021: I thought this episode was shocking because it gives the off the assumption that all gay men are attracted to every guy on earth. I'm a straight woman, and I know every guy I see at the store isn't checking me out. One of my best friends is a lesbian, and I know she doesn't like me in that way, she's admitted it. When Peter goes ahead and has a 13-way or whatever, it just sealed the deal for me that the writers aren't in the business for shock value, but something a lot more sinister.
Wrathofachilles Actually, come to think of it, pretty much ALL the gay characters in Family Guy are Camp Gay stereotypes.
Dame Des Douleurs: I've heard from a few sources that the writers thought the gay community would actually like and identify with such characters. Yeah, I'm gonna go with a negative on that one. (Unrelated, but my DMOS was the Conway Twitty cutaway mentioned below.)
Thormy: "The Juice is Loose" is an OJ episode. Hey, remember back in 1995 when that would've been funny? The episode was written to probably coincide with the rumors of the OJ "What if I Did Do It?" book. But it seems in bad taste and a joke way too late to be really funny. Any episode after that is just awful.
NTroper:Wasn't Peter the one who killed Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman and framed OJ for it in the show's universe anyway? That makes this episode even more unnecessary.
RiddlerJ The extended Conway Twitty cutaway was the moment for me. That's when I realized that Seth and Co. knew they didn't even have to fill airtime with their own animation. That along with the pointless Stewie dancing with Gene Kelly for an entire sequence (which was just Stewie rotoscoped over Jerry Mouse) convinced me what a lazy crew the Family Guy team is.
erniebacon For me, it was the stupid throwaway ending in which OJ randomly stabs three people and runs off, with Peter saying "I guess he did do it." That was the exclamation point for an unfunny tactless episode.
mrjl: FOX-y Lady. The ending where they just stop trying. Seriously, she revealed that the icon of the right wing was a fraud. Even if she also revealed the icon of the left was too, that'd still be a pretty decent reason for Fox News to fire her.
SNES Master KI: The episode "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven", which can basically be described as an anti-theist Chick Tract, was the most jarring Dethroning Moment of Suck I have ever seen. There were so many Chick parallels; the old man in the sky "disproof" was similar to anti-evolutionist "I've never seen a monkey give birth to a human" sentiment, and after telling Meg her very existence proves no benevolent force exists, Brian tells her the physical universe is better than God, mirroring Chick tracts ending with "God is going to send you and everyone you know to hell for existing (one minute later) God loves you so much." I watched most of Moral Orel without getting offended (meaning I didn't see all of it, not that any of it offended me), so that should give some scope on how ridiculously hateful the episode was.
Grimace: The horrific icing on the moldy, smelly cake to the above is that the same episode had a wonderfully silly sub-plot featuring Stewie's antics with the cast of Star Trek: TNG. So not only was the main plot godawful (no pun etc), but they had an excellent opportunity for an episode of hilarious TNG gags that the audience would have loved, but they just wasted it.
King Cr Inu Yasha: If that isn't enough to get your blood-boiling, here's the kicker: Apparently the sub-story, not the atheism/Christianity "debate", was the one to be advertised on commercials, meaning FOX and/or the writers of the show, intentionally or otherwise, lured viewers with a somewhat interesting story and switched it with a Strawman argument on religion. As Confused Matthew once said, "Surprise! You're being preached at!"
Baroxio: The really worst part about it though, is that they could have given Brian an ACTUALLY GOOD reason to be an atheist. But no, we get the Hubble Telescope and man in the clouds debunk. Seriously? That's the only reason to be an Atheist? This atheist troper thinks the episode is more insulting to Atheists than it is to Theists. The worst part though, was that even though they already threw canon out the window just to put this episode in, they all the sudden want to retain the fact that Brian is an atheist (and of "Jerome Is The New Black", itself a DMoS, the fact that Quagmire hates Brian irrationally).
iheartmountains: Brian being shunned for his atheism was a bit funny as a Take That at religious intolerance (although the intent was probably to establish Brian as a Sympathetic Sue); as was Meg being portrayed as a typical zealous but misguided Christian teen (too bad the The Fundamentalist stereotype is clearly how Family Guy's writers view all Christians). Initially, the episode's overall premise seemed decent, but I lost hope right around the "Worse than Hitler!" bit. Gah, lame. The peak of the episode's awfulness, though, was when Brian tried to explain why Meg's stab at religion was misguided and atheism is more logical. Sweet baby Jebus, worst argument for atheism I've ever heard. A loving God would've created Meg beautiful, and that disproves His existence? Not only did Brian objectify Meg by not for a moment entertaining the thought that her character could be more important than and compensate for her ugliness, but how is it God's fault that Meg is fat? And blaming God for her genetics, too? Fuck, this Christian troper could've come up with a way better argument for atheism. Also, as Grimace noted, the subplot with Stewie meeting the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation was easily funnier than anything else in the episode. I especially liked Picard's lines. If only they'd scrapped the shitty main plot and stuck with that.
Gravityman: Another awful part of Brian's ending sentiment is that he says "Your mom looks like Lois. Do you think a benevolent God would make you look like Peter instead?" Even though 1) this isn't enough to convert the pavement you're standing on to a different religion, and second, Meg looks a lot more like Lois than Peter anyway. The only real physical similarity between Peter and Meg is Meg's hair color and need for glasses. They basically debunked and dismantled an entire town's religious belief system by playing into a teenage girl's informed ugly compared to her mother's Informed Attractiveness.
LooneyLuver: What really pissed me off about this episode? After Meg loses her faith (because, Hell, who doesn't give up on their beliefs when some asshole insults them to their face?) is that she asks Brian what point there is to her existence...his answer? "Well, you'll just have to find that out for yourself, because its all part of the human experience"....yes. Now, if your existence is only justified, in your newfound atheism, is too be shit upon by your horrible fucking family, why don't just keep living...WHAT?! Brian basically tells her life is meaningless, and she doesn't beat the ever-loving fuck out of him.
Main Man J: Peter accidentally killing Quagmire's cat. Not only does he try to shave a cat, which is pretty mean to begin with, (which Joe and Cleveland are on board with) he keeps trying long after he's killed it and caused blood to splatter all over the place in an Overly-Long Gag that doubles as a gross-out moment, and a real uncomfortable one for cat-lovers (Myself included). Then at the end of the episode, Quagmire is offering a reward for information about what happened to his cat, and Peter tells him he killed the cat and takes the money. That was what ultimately got me to stop watching the show.
Senor Incognito: Agreed big time. This troper gave up on Family Guy after that. As someone who loves animals, especially cats, I found absolutely NOTHING funny about this. Animal cruelty is a real problem, NOT something that should be used for a joke. Especially at the end, when Quagmire is distraught over the loss of his pet, just for that unfunny and downright unfunny joke. I'm sure anyone with a pet that they care about would see that situation was NOT funny.
Kashima Kitty: Of the Flanderization and Character Derailment among the cast, the one that angers this long time Family Guy viewer the most is Lois. Whatever happened to the caring mother who went so far to give her daughter a decent spring break? The one who sicked Quagmire on the popular kids at that party? The episode that really pulls this to it's peak is "Stew-Roids" where Meg's lunch consists of an orange peel, the crusts from Chris' sandwich, and a photo of Lois eating a turkey leg with the most disgustingly smug smile on her face. Later that same episode in a rather cold tone of voice, she hands her daughter a bottle of pills and a Sylvia Plath book and says "I'm gonna look away, and whatever happens, happens." I know Meg's the Butt Monkey, but this is going too far.
NTroper: It's actually Jesus saying that 'all religions are crap' and Brian agreeing with him. Doesn't make it any less of a DMOS, tho'.
Generic Handle: My problem with this episode is how fucking stupid Peter is being. Yes, I know Peter's stupid as hell but this is a new low, he goes gung-ho into being Jewish, then he goes into full on imitating a Nazi.
Kentucky Troper 1990: "Brian's Got A Brand New Bag". I. Hate. This. Episode. The second half anyway. I do find the Roadhouse gag slightly amusing (Don't judge me). So Brian starts dating a woman named Rita. A smart, nice, reasonably attractive woman. When the family finds out, they ALL take a MASSIVE level in jerkass, especially Lois, because Rita is an older chick (50. Less than a decade older than Lois if I remember correctly), and eventually drive her out of the house crying because of it. Brian goes after her, and proposes to her. A little rushed if you ask me, but its Brian, annoying liberal mouthpiece, being a genuinely nice guy. But this being Family Guy, something has to derail this. When he says she isn't an old lady, and I mean the very instant he says it, she calls him, asking about dinner...at 4:30 PM. From there, Rita starts acting like a stereotypical old lady, even though she didn't do this at all before. And Brian loses all character progress by fucking a bar skank, while she is laid up with a broken hip. Seriously, I hate this episode.
Tropers/taylorkerekes: The DMOS for this troper in this episode has to be Peter beating up Lucy Van Pelt. I know Lucy is always a b*tch for always pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, but, aside from the fact that Lucy is my favorite Peanuts character, she doesn't deserve such a harsh punishment from a grown-up who has to resolve certain situations with unnecessary violence, even when they have to sink to child abuse.
Rossmallo: Not to mention THEY DID IT ONCE BEFORE. Remember when Lois was training in Karate in Lethal Weapons? She had the ball gag done on her there, which resulted in her kicking her in the face. I will admit - I got a laugh out of it there. But then they pulled that stunt with Peter kicking the crap out of her. Too far.
F Mfan: All these moments are very bad, but for me, the absolute worst moment was the very end of the episode where Quagmire gets a new adoptive daughter. Throughout the whole episode, Quagmire had shown compassion for his daughter, and made many sacrifices to keep her happy, particularly near the end. Real heartwarming material... until the very end. After giving up his daughter to another family so she could be happy, he then says something along the lines of "I'll see her again when she's 18", obviously going to have sex with his own daughter when she's of legal age. While everyone reacts with shock, he simply says "You didn't think I'd changed that much did you? Gigitty Gigitty Goo!". That was probably the stupidest and most unfunny thing ever on this show. That totally and completely ruined the entire episode. All of the heartwarming moments and all of Quagmire's character development was killed by that one line, and he was turned back into a smug and callous rapist like usual. That one line killed the entire episode for me.
Debbiechan: I agree with you. Really, that episode was being so heart warmer, Quagmire was starting to be a decent character... Until he deliberated implies that he can't change and that he'll HAVE SEX WITH HIS OWN DAUGHTER. Yes, we all know that Quagmire is a pervert. But THIS? Come on, this is too much.
Shadsie: I think, like many, my DMOS would be "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven," but I actually watched a few FG episodes after that and even found some humor in "Road to the Multiverse." No, the moment that really tore it for me was a subplot at the beginning of that one episode where Brian runs over a dog and joins PETA. At the start of the episode, Brain learns he is to receive a "Special Reward" for his book. He goes to the location to find out that his book is beloved by mentally retarded adults because of the "simplistic" nature of the writing. While this was meant to poke fun at his "I'm the best writer ever!" attitude, the fact that he *whined* about it endlessly and decided his life had no meaning really ground my gears. I mean, I've been trying to get original work published for years to no avail. I'd be happy just to get published. I'd be overjoyed if my work found a small audience - even an audience I did not expect. I'd feel privileged if my work helped the mentally challenged even though it wasn't written "for" them! I'm freakin' overjoyed that people like my fan fiction! The fact that Brian was being such a douchenozzle about his work having an audience that was apparently "beneath" him to the point of feeling his life was utterly meaningless solidified him as a complete Jerkass for me (yes, even beyond taking away the one thing that made Meg feel worthwhile because he thinks she's ugly).
Goldeneye101: Being a Fic writer myself, I can agree with you, but the main plot was about as bad. It showed about 3 dogs killed (one only being CUT IN HALF), one dog PAWING AT A DOOR UNTIL ONLY HIS BONES ARE PAWING AT IT, and other PETA stuff. The thing that pissed me off about this episode was when a CALF IS LITERALLY SHOVED OUT OF A COW'S WOMB AND INTO A MEAT GRINDER, THEN PUT INTO A HAMBURGER TO FEED TO A STEREOTYPICAL FAT AMERICAN FAMILY. Alright, so we have 1. Mc Farlane's liberal bullshit pushed AGAIN for anti-corporation, 2. a Nightmare Fuel moment that shouldn't have been shown on television, and 3. something... making fun of Americans? When he is one? Hell, if he's so much of a liberal, apparently hates Americans, and thinks the average family is fat, why doesn't the guy move to England? The Entire episode could have been reported to PETA and it would have more than likely been considered controversial to them, despite the fact of a main character JOINING PETA. It confuses me so much.
(denz223) Hey, what makes you think we'd want him?
Matrixbeast: The episode where Peter loses his memory. The worst part was when Meg makes a joke about wanting to have sex with Peter. A weird joke, yes, but the DMoS comes from the family's reaction. They treat this as though it's the worst kind of joke you can make, and repeatedly make it out to be a sick and awful thing to say. This troper hated it the most when Chris throws her out of the kitchen, because Chris has shown sexual emotions towards Lois, his own mother, on more than one occasion.
Eoph: actually the joke was about being raped by Peter not wanting him, so when everyone stares at her, it is because they took her seriously then they get mad at her for making a incestuous-rape joke. So, it's okay to want your parents, but not to make jokes about getting raped by them.
taylorkerekes: Be that as it may, it is somewhat hypocritical, as almost a vast majority of jokes on this show are about a lot of unfunny things and some of which aren't supposed to be taken too seriously, as far as I'm concerned. However, in this case, though the family's reaction to Meg's joke might be the same reaction from fans toward this kind of joke, the family just has to become indignant about it toward Meg just because she's the least favorite in the family, which almost makes them look like hypocrites in plain sight.
Regu14: The episode Dial Meg for Murder has one. Though this troper thoroughly enjoyed watching Meg kick Peter's ass twice, and all, a joke early in the episode nearly made me miss it. I don't remember the lead in, but the punchline was that Goofy, yes THAT Goofy, was in HELL. For being the plotter of 9 FUCKING 11. Goofy, the kindest, most sweet hearted of Disney's characters is in hell for plotting 9/11. Because in his own words "That's what they get for supporting Israel." Speaking as someone who grew up loving the character, this was just sickening. FG really needs to learn that 9/11 wasn't, and will never be funny.
Boredman: Not to mention that it's once again another "Disney hates Jews" joke. Not. Funny.
ThisIsMadness91: For a while I was struggling to decide whether to keep going with Family Guy or drop it. I decided to drop it when I saw the episode "Extra Large Medium". Why? The end of the episode was incredibly grim and not at all funny. A missing man has an armed bomb strapped to him, and Joe wants Peter to use his (non-existent) psychic abilities to locate him. Peter stalls for time, and even tries to get Joe to let him feel the missing man's daughters breasts. When the bomb goes off, Peter bluntly admits to not really being a medium. They expect us to laugh at Peter's arrogance and idiocy costing an innocent man his life, and nearly getting his daughter molested mere moments before that. Sorry, Seth, but I don't find that funny.
Fashionist State: In the same episode, Chris dates a girl with Down's syndrome. I found it was not the plot but the way they handled it pretty offensive and I'm not that easily offended. Okay, a lot of it was very much tongue-in-cheek but still...
Mhj0808: To add to that, lets not forget that after Joe informed Peter that the man's daughter was TWELVE, Peter then asks if she was a "little girl" or one of those 12 year olds who "got big boobs early from drinking milk" (!), and he appears fully intent on molesting her. What. The. Fuck. That's not funny, especially for me who knew quite a few good-hearted but troubled yet "developed" 12-year-old girls back in 7th grade that went to my middle school and got taken advantage of (and usually pregnant) by random adult drop-outs from the neighborhood. So, yeah, Seth shouldn't make making humor out of serious subjects a habit, or else he'll find those Nielsen ratings dropping sooner than later.
Pagannerd: From the episode where Meg dates "A completely normal boy!", when Lois, who in the past has always tried to be a good mother who looks out for her children, undergoes the final step of her jerkasscharacter derailment by seducing her daughters' boyfriend, and then, when caught, claiming that he was RAPING her.
Ajustice: Let's not forget about Peter's performance this episode, he starts telling Lois that she's getting old and ugly which is what tempted Lois to seduce Meg's boyfriend in the first place and admits and hot did it end for him, he admitted he insulted his wife because he felt old and ugly and tried to make Lois feel that way so she would leave him and Lois just forgave and started kissing him with heartwarming music?! For crying out loud he makes his wife feel like crap until she ruins his daughter's relationship, I'd like to remind you at one point in the episode he admitted he felt sexually attracted to Meg after seeing her with her boyfriend, and in the end he once again gets off scot-free. The writers just love making Peter into nothing but a big fat selfish Karma Houdini.
Guy In White: Forgot the name, but there was an episode where Peter gets sexually harassed by his boss, and Lois responds by saying women can't sexually harass men. This may just be a case of the writers making her ignorant on purpose, but it still gives the wrong message.
Ultra Sonic 007: 'Terri Schiavo: The Musical'. Here's one of the lyrics: "Terri Schaivo is kind of alive-oh. What a lively little bugger ... Terri Schiavo is kind of alive-oh, the most expensive plant you'll ever see." Yes, because mocking a person who died slowly by dehydration is just HILARIOUS.
Baronobeefdip: The episode where Stewie cracks his head open and spends the entire episode with a coma and his brains falling out. Ok, people, there's Dead Baby Comedy, and then there's this. It's not funny, it's just cruel and disgusting. Remember, Dead Baby Comedy only works when it's so ridiculously over-the-top that it becomes hilarious. Stewie being seriously injured and/or dying is NOT ridiculously over the top and therefore is NOT hilarious. It'd be like someone stabbing a puppy and ripping out its intestines. That's just sick, man.
Ipdf3: The Brian and Stewie episode. You know the one. Brian gets locked in a vault with Stewie and what follows are the most unwatchable "humor scenes" in history. The only humor in that episode appears to be quite a few minutes of Stewie telling Brian to eat his poop and then Brian actual doing it. There were no laughs to be found in the entire first half of the episode. However, the serious scenes should have saved it, right? It should have, but it felt too much like Character Derailment. Brian has been occasionally unhappy but never showed signs of depression or suicidal thinking. And the last part, where Brian and Stewie admit they love each other after having spent the entire first half of the episode abusing each other, just felt forced. Bottom line: no humor and a very hollow emotional theme. Please Family Guy, stick to what you do best: raunchy offensive humor, not mediocre poop jokes and soap opera dramatics.
anoni: I like Family Guy, but there are a couple of episodes I don't like. This one is included. Worse, this was their 150th episode! They wasted it on this shitty plot that won't even matter!
Exorcise The Girl: 'Quagmire's Dad' seems to completely destroy the whole supposed 'liberal and open-minded' views of the show. The whole family acts disgusted by Ida being a transwoman. I know it's not completely out of character for the family to be complete jerkasses but it was really shitty of the writers to do that just for the sake of some cheap jokes. It's made even worse when Brian (who is the most liberal and open-minded and Author Avatar for Seth MacFarlane who views himself as a gay, lesbian, and transgendered activist) is so disgusted that he slept with Ida he pukes to an unrealistic extent. You know something's seriously fucked up when it's homophobic Quagmire who accepts Ida first being who she is. This again may be a personal thing for me (considering that I think transgendered people are severely abused by society) but it definitely proof that the show is complete crap. I can't think of why I was still watching the show.
Largo Quagmire: As someone who knows the very real discrimination that most transsexuals still face by even the most enlightened societies, this episode was made all the more horrific to me when I realized the people who put their names on it. These are people who created the ridiculously-Aesoped "Family Gay", which created the most bizarre reasoning for supporting gay couples and the gay gene theory I've ever heard, yet their opinions on transsexuals amounts to what? "Don't ever have sex with one or Glenn Quagmire will beat your head in"? "Transsexuals are only worth mentioning to create fodder for jokes"? And, perhaps the worst assertion that the episode never gives any clear answer for, "gay people are all transgendered on the inside"? This episode's complete idiocy transcends political bounds - it's downright cruel, thoroughly wrong about transsexuals and their motives, and a hypocritical slide away from the liberal ideals that other FG episodes were content with shoving down our throats.
45xxx: "Quagmire's Dad". I cannot, for the life of me, pinpoint ONE moment in this episode that was the worst of that piece of shit. The unfunny way it talked about sex change, the fact that Peter and Lois find it funny' that Brain slept with Quagmire's "mom", even the end where Quagmire beats up Brian within an inch of his life''. ALL of it was horrid, tasteless, and made me entirely give up on the series, ESPECIALLY Quagmire.
TheSupineLupine What got me is that, yes, the episode makes all the pre-op jokes you'd expect, but it shows a surprising amount of maturity (for Family Guy, at least) when Quagmire accepts his trans father for who she is and wants her to be happy. Then the show throws all that goodwill and maturity away for a punchline of "eww, trans-people are gross!!!"
Brass Buttons: "Quagmire's Dad". I didn't really like the episode. Not from a Trans-bashing standpoint (that message was pretty clear too.), but the writing. Is there a writer on the staff who hates Quagmire? It didn't really make sense from a story-telling standpoint. As per the character reactions, I wasn't surprised. I live in Rhode Island, where the show is set, and people's reaction's vary. Even pro gay rights people are uncomfortable with transpeople where I come from.
Baroxio: Aside from the fact that Brian was beat almost to death in his own home without anyone trying to help him, another horrible moment would have to be in the very beginning, where Lois and Peter outright tell Brian that they don't consider him a valuable member in the family. Why is this moment so bad? It directly contradicts an earlier episode (Brian Wallows and Peter Swallows, I believe) where they said that Brian was just as much a member of their family as any one of them!
Alternatevil: There was an episode where Peter and company embark on a journey to find the source of the world's dirty jokes. It was a decent enough episode, still littered with plot holes, but still moderately enjoyable. That is, until the gang travels to Washington, DC, and to the Vietnam War Memorial. There was a poor caricature of a Vietnamese man bragging to the mourners there about 'winning' the Vietnam War. Now I know that these writers are the kind that pride themselves on the amount of hate mail they get, but this sincerely broke my heart. I thought, how dare they? How dare you! Vietnamese people are barely represented in the media as it is, and the few depictions are the sort of exotic smuggler gang of the week or as a Vietnam War retrospective (think generic flashback into combat in a jungle). How dare you propagate blatant racism on national television? Why cannot you look to us as ordinary humans and not some inane gimmick plot device? Plus it doesn't even make sense in context. The Vietnamese guy is just randomly at the war memorial? Why? Just to brag? And why does he look like he's 30 when he apparently fought in the Vietnam War?
Sick Brit Kid: What made that joke the final D Mo S for this troper was the disgusting disrespect Hentemann made toward our servicemen and women. Why Hentemann didn't then show the two veterans beating the living shit out of that man is beyond this troper, but...really, Hentemann? That's the best "Vietnam" joke you could come up with? I mean, seriously, you made Hitler's final days during World War 2 into some of the funniest jokes in Western Animation, and the Simpsons knew how to exploit Skinner's traumatic stint in 'Nam to a laugh every time...and THAT is the best you could come up with!?
Crazy Luigi: I didn't like that joke either, but the Dethroning Moment of Suck in that episode was the ending. A random old man says that he finally got down the perfect dirty joke, and then he suddenly dies due to a heart attack or something like that. Peter then steals his dirty joke and bargains with the Dirty Joke Club or whatever its name was where Peter and his friends leave and in exchange, they hand the group the perfect dirty joke. Peter then burns down the club, killing thousands of people in the process... and the perfect joke was "Guess what? Chicken butt!" That was not only a poor joke that King of the Hill's Buckley did about ten or so years earlier, but also yet another completely pointless ending where even I could come up with a better naughtier joke! Hell, I bet you that even the Dirty Joke Club or whatever wouldn't like it.
Brainiac0982: I found that the true DMoS was right after that. Paraphrased, Peter said, "Well, you sat through all this, so as a reward, here's a monkey scratching itself. Some charity for cancer kids or something wanted this airtime, but we said screw you." It's like the creators are saying, "We know this episode sucks, but we can't think of a half-decent joke to end it on, so here's some immature stock footage."
Season 9
flashsucks: The Halloween episode became proof that the writers have completely forgotten about the characters. If Stewie from season 1 got his bag of candy stolen, he would have probably just whipped out his ray gun and incinerated those kids. This Stewie, a.k.a Gay Stewie, acts completely helpless and goes to Brian for help — and actually considers killing those boys to be too much. The same character who once kidnapped and tortured a seven year old for stealing his bike acts like that over this? Come the fuck on!
Manwiththeplan: Made worse because just a few episodes ago, in the murder mystery episode, we got an awesome ending in which Stewie's old, evil self sprung back to life. It looked like Stewie would turn around for the better... and then THIS episode happens.
Ace Of Places: The "Guy in a coma" gag from Brian Writes a Bestseller. It wasn't funny, it was overly long, and it was just uncomfortable to watch. I don't even know what the hell they thought they were going for, but neither the premise nor the material was funny and two wrongs do not make a joke. I mean seriously.
Mogo: Road to The North Pole had a good Space Whale Aesop by the end but the sheer uncomfortableness of it ruined it for me. But the absolute worst part of it was Brian and Stewie breaking into someone's house to deliver presents. Word to the Family Guy writers: IT IS NOT FUNNY TO KILL SOME RANDOM PERSON, SHOW HIS WIFE'S PANICKED REACTION, THEN KILL HER IN FRONT OF THEIR DAUGHTER AND TIE HER TO A CHAIR. THIS IS JUST SICK AND HORRIFYING.
bobdrantz: The whole episode was a DMOS for me. First of all, there was yet another "Brian VS Quagmire" fight, yet this one was completely unnecessary (Seriously, Brian made an honest mistake that ANYONE could've made. No need to get pissed at him, Glenn). Second, it was way too dark to the point where watching Hitler shooting puppies would've been an improvement. Finally, the message was far too preachy and rivals the infamous "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven" in terms of preachiness. Santa Claus is dying and the North Pole is in ruin because people are greedy? Really? Really? Way to make people feel good about the holidays, Seth. I'm sure people wanting to see a funny episode really enjoyed hearing Brian preach to them about how "greedy" and "selfish" they're being.
Shizari: Honestly, ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY none of the above examples have EVER made me disown Family Guy. Maybe that just makes me one of the biggest idiots out there, but that mall scene... my GOD that mall scene. I know they established that Quagmire hates Brian... but for the love of God. QUAGMIRE COULD HAVE TOLD BRIAN ALL THIS TO BEGIN WITH! BUT NO! It's like he INTENTIONALLY let Brian play with the Idiot Ball long enough to give him enough ammo to unload on Brian with. And when poor Brian tried to dig himself out of the hole, Quagmire forces him back in.
Kait0n: The episode "Road to the North Pole." Pretty much: Santa's elves are inbreeding, Santa is suicidal, the reindeer eat Santa's elves, and Santa has a massive factory that produces tons of toxic waste. Fuck you MacFarlane, this is not dark humor, or any sort of comedy: this is just being shocking for the sake of shocking people.
Vir: This Troper has a deep loathing of Brian in this episode, namely from him nonchalantly raiding that family's house for food and promptly killing the father and leaving his wife and child to rot. And the ending, where he convinces everyone they only need one gift. Assuming they literally get only ONE from any person it eliminates the "giving" part of the holiday and leaves behind the ugly "receiving" part. This Troper now wants a real life Dartboard of Hate of Brian.
The Real CJ: Okay, we can all agree that Quagmire chewing out Brian that one time was pretty damn cool, if not very subtle, but did we really need to see a repeat performance of that crap in Road to the North Pole? We get it, Quagmire hates Brian. But watching him shit on an obviously repentant person who made an honest mistake was just painful and stupid.
Looney Luver: "New Kidney In Town": After Peter drinks a Red Bull replacement concocted with kerosene after Lois got rid of his supply of the real thing, he has kidney failure and has to go on dialysis treatments to stay alive. He skips an appointment one day, and now he's gonna die if they can't find a donor. Guess who offers Peter one of his kidneys. Yes Brian. The episode is such a giant Rescued from the Scrappy Heap attempt it's sickening. Peter, who is one more episode like Family Gay or Family Goy from becoming a Complete Monster is going to be saved by Brian, who would willing lay down his life to save him. Hmm, wonder where they got the idea? Yep, they tried to make Brian, the worst thing to happen to Atheism since Stalin, into the Jesus of Atheists. Except ironically Athe-Jesus would still be likable! The rest of the episode has the family talking to Brian like his loss (he's a seven year old dog who smokes and drinks by the by) is gonna be like the death of Mother Teresa..and in the end...IT DOESN'T F$$KING MATTER. A hobo dies and the Doctor says, "Oh, we couldn't use your kidneys anyway because you're a dog". UGGGH WHAT THE HELL!
Manwiththeplan: Also in that episode was an attempt at heartwarming gone horribly wrong. Stewie learns that Brian is going to sacrifice his life for Peter, so he kidnaps Brian, hoping to hold him hostage forever so that he won't go through with it. When Brian then reminds him that Peter will die otherwise and asks "Do you want to lose your dad?", Stewie breaks down crying, blubbering "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANYONE!" Yes, he's crying and all torn up because either Brian or Peter will die, and he can't handle losing anyone. What the hellhappened to the Laughably EvilHeroic Sociopath this character started out as!? Why is it that the characters on this show who weren't total Jerkasses and were funnier for it have now become unfunny Jerkasses, but the one character who was a Jerkass and funnier for it now isn't anymore!?
Do Make Say Think: This troper stopped watching "Family Guy" some time ago, but to be honest, I'm not a big fan of Mother Teresa (due to her refusal to medicate her patients, allow secular knowledge to reach her patients and fellow nuns, and her habit of punishing her patients for doing things she didn't like), so this didn't really bother me. That being said, I hated this episode; like the above troper said, Brian is one of the worst things to happen to atheists in a long time, and the writers are so desperate to make him likable again that it's painful.
Replace Stalin with Ayn Rand in Looney Luver's statement and you can count Belfagor in too. While still thinking that Road To The North Pole is the worst overall episode, I must say this episode contains the biggest singular D Mo S ever in the end, which makes every attempt to save the episode vane, along with turning the doctor into a big Jerkass after portraying him as sympathetic and professional during the episode.
Tyrekecorrea: In "And I'm Joyce Kinney," there's a news segment about a boy named Angus Reed, who has cerebral palsy. Tom Tucker says that he looks weird, and asks his co-anchor Joyce about the life expectancy of people with cerebral palsy. Her response? "You never see a gray-haired one." The only thing to offend me on this show in twelve years. A lot of people with disabilities live long, meaningful lives. This kind of thing doesn't help them get any further. All of the battles with the Justice Department and local municipalities, and then THIS? Just...ugh.
Flan Master of Redrum: Personally, I just thought the entire episode sucked! For an episode that has an interesting premise (a Christian mother revealing that she was a porno actress to a news anchor, who soon reveals the secret to all of Quahog), the jokes just fell flat on their ass, the Breaking the Fourth Wall joke just makes me want to groan in pure disappointment, and, wouldn't you believe it, the Black Hole Sue Brian helps out someone in the family once again. Oh, but wait, turns out anotherAuthor Avatar in Peter gives his two cents on his shit as well. Can we just say that Peter's freakin' Mary Sue 2.0 of Family Guy here?
gongoroth: The biggest DMOS for this troper is in Friends of Peter G. After Brian makes a passing comment about how people 'were fine for thousands of years without religion,' we see a few peaceful BC-era characters suddenly begin killing each other at the announcement of Jesus' birth. Although the show has got plenty of biased / hateful / generalizing attempts at humor such as this, this in particular is a DMOS because it suggests MacFarlane's vast ignorance (or else, inexcusable carelessness) on not one but two ideas. First, it implies that there was no war before Christianity. I would say you could read the Bible to find out that's false, only I thought it was completely common knowledge that war has existed since practically the beginning of humanity. Secondly, it's almost as if the show is actually saying there was no religion before Jesus. If MacFarlane has ever so much as HEARD of the Ancient Egyptians, Greek mythology, and mainly, JUDAISM, he should know FAR better than to assert Jesus' birth as the beginning of religion. Despite the many cheap shots at religion on this show, this one felt the most pitifully ignorant and/or misinformed - far beyond justification.
DL Abaoaqu: "No religion before the birth of Christ?" Geez, not since Superman At Earth's End said Hitler was the reason wars exist.
L Bcrimson: Out of all the times FG has done something somewhat stupid in regards to religion, this one of the worst. I mean, the guy just suggested to Peter(who is Catholic) to take the religious route to solve his issues and Brian flips the fuck out! Not to mention the cutaway gag didn't make a lick of sense in pertaining to what was going on; it's like a drive by middle finger at Christians. Oh, and let's not get started on Brian's solution which was "Hey, if our loved ones don't know we drink, everything will be ok"! NO! Hiding your issues makes anyone who goes along a liar to their family. On top of that, you are still putting yourself and others in danger! And guess what! Peter (for a short time) dies in this episode because of this idiotic solution!
Forced Dj 7: Like what the other 3 tropers said, this has gone too far. Back in Season 1-3, Brian was the more reasonable person while Lois was more caring, now, we are stuck with "REPUBLICANS ARE DESTROYING THIS COUNTRY," "LIBERALS ARE GOOD/BAD (when wanting to be the underdog)," "DOWN WITH RELIGION," "RELIGION IS THE CAUSE OF ALL THE WARS," and "I AM THE BEST AUTHOR IN EXISTENCE, REFUSING TO SAY SO MEANS YOU ARE AN IDIOT!" Does that fucking dog need another beatdown, maybe from Lois? This troper thinks so after claiming everyone was doing fine before religion (by the way, I can name a good amount of wars in which religion wasn't involved), and suggesting that they drink beer in A.A, while fooling their friend into thinking they are being cured (there is something wrong with playing a piano while there is a picture or a cross in the same room isn't there), yeah, deserves another beatdown.
quackeytrope: For this troper, it was "Friends of Peter G", where Brian (As if I couldn't hate him enough already) says that THERE WAS NO WAR OR VIOLENCE UNTIL JESUS WAS BORN. Cut to a gag taking place in Biblical times: Two men are talking to each other about how peaceful the world is, and another man comes up to them telling them about the recent birth of a newborn infant named Jesus. The two men immediately stab and kill each other violently, because as we all know there has never been any sin,or violence,or murder before the birth of Jesus. Have these writers even so much as looked in a fucking history book?! I've seen a lot of shows that do something offensive to tell a joke, but that was not a joke! That was just plain religious intolerance! Family Guy has done a lot of terrible "jokes" over the years, but this has got to be, without a doubt in my mind, one of the absolute worst things they've ever done. It's like they weren't even trying to tell a joke. It was just the writers showing complete hatred towards another religion.
Radimir: The stupidest part of this 'joke' is that it implies that, prior to the birth of Jesus, religion didn't exist. So not only is the joke unfunny and stupid, but it literally does not make any kind of historical or logical sense.
Gr3mlinify: I never took this episode as evidence that the writers were actually being serious about "religion causing all of the world's problems." I just saw this gag as an exaggeration of that rationale. Either way, still not very funny.
Twilight Crow: For me, this episode had a moment of Fridge Horror. Namely, I realized that the WHOLE EPISODE was one long Blame the Victim on addicts. Think about it: Brian calls out everyone in AA as being weak willed and trading one addiction for another. They all start drinking again (which kills Peter). Then, they present the solution as being moderation. Oh, so it's not that the person is suffering a potentially crippling addiction, they just lack the ability to moderate! Brilliant. Knowing people who have been through AA and now live nicely adjusted lives as well as people who are serious alcoholics, I have to say this was where I just stopped. I agree with moderation, but for alcoholics, the solution usually isn't to moderate. They call that bargaining.
The Supine Lupine: In addition to the complete failure to understand addiction and alcoholism, there was another bit that bothered me. When Death takes Peter on a "this is your life!" journey, he shows an alcoholic Peter turning into a Complete Monster, leading him to swear off alcohol completely. Death says (paraphrased) "Wait a minute; before you go that far, let's see what that would be like," and we see a flash-foward: He comes home and the family lines up for hugs, with each one of them happy to see him. After a minute, Peter says something to the effect of "Wow, what a douche." Wait, so being a pleasant person is "douchey", and it's better to be an irresponsible and abusive manchild who routinely harms and endangers his friends and family, instead of a kind and friendly (if slightly boring) father whose family loves to be around him? I know it's part of Status Quo is God and I'm sure it was supposed to be a We Want Our Jerk Back plot, but it still comes across like Family Guy is set in Bizarro World, where common sense and decency are punishable by death.
Tropers/Sciencejoe: I officially felt like turning off the TV and never using FOX again when an evil Stewie clone TORE A WOMEN IN HALF FOR NO REASON.
Kashima Kitty: That whole thing seemed like a missed moment of awesome. I'm sure I wasn't the only one hoping to see Stewie as he was in the early seasons, as it seemed to be Stewie's intention, going back to how he was. Instead what we got was a Stewie-palette-swap who barely said anything, making overblown creepy faces, then violently attacking people for no reason, not the snarkyDiabolical Mastermind who had a funny way of talking.
Bored Me: You know... as a rule, if a comedy doesn't make you laugh, it should at least bring a smile to your face, and maybe alleviate your bad mood. Anymore? This show actually takes my good moods and makes them bad. Trading Places was just horrible. A "Carter smashing things" side-joke which had *several* directions that it could have gone in and been hilarious turned into another drawn-out non-joke, yet another member of the Griffin family Took A Level in Jerkass, and overly real reactions to cartoonish gags were liberally applied, while somehow miraculously avoiding any thread of logic in the main plot (the Griffins should be happy; after the lawsuit they have on their hands against Pawtucket Brewery, *no one* will have to be the breadwinner anymore). Not even getting into the police sketch cutaway. It's time for someone to be responsible with this mess. And by the by? That buck does stop with Seth Mac Farlane. While I am glad to see that a lot of the venom is starting to be deflected from Seth to the writers, let's not go overboard with it: Remember, Seth could have vetoed any of the more offensive/unfunny jokes of the writers at any time.
Lightning Storm 93: A relatively mild one when you compare it to the rest of the entries on this page, but I was sickened by the ending of "Tiegs for Two". The basic premise is that Brian joins Quagmires class on picking up women in the hopes it'll help him get with a girl he likes. It doesn't. Blaming Quagmire, he STEALS the woman of Glenn's dreams, Cheryl Tiegs. In revenge, Quagmire steals Jillian from Brian. Long story short, they end up with neither, and they seem to bury the hatchet. As Brian realizes that he needs a ride home, he asks Quagmire for one, who smiles, and then drives off without Brian. This I was expecting, but Quagmire REVERSES FULL SPEED INTO BRIAN, KNOWING IT'LL LIKELY KILL HIM (granted, it doesn't, but still), and then drives off. I was just sickened at the sight of it.
NTroper:Seconded(Thirdied?). As much as Brian had that speech coming, once is enough. All the scenes with Brian and Quagmire together after "Jerome is the New Black" were terrible and this one took the cake. Even a Quagmire fangirl I came across on Deviantart agreed.
Tropers/Ajustice: I just saw the opening gag of Brothers and Sisters, the one with the teens and about men not knowing what they say and well, THIS WAS FAMILY GUY'S WORST. JOKE. EVER!
Tropers/Nekogal: Maybe not as bad as some other instances on this page, but Foreign Affairs, just well and truely sucked. I laughed two times the entire episode, and they were the same joke both times (THIS IS HOW MY CLASSROOM SHALL RUN!). Other than that we had unfunny nationality jokes, unfunny jokes compairing crippled people to animals, Lois trying to take the moral highground over Bonnie and, once again, proving herself a hypocrite (What's that? It's bad to cheat on your husband? Well thanks for your husband? Well thanks for your input, Miss tries-to-sleep-with-your-daughters-boyfriend). And one joke which was just awful...a joke which took Overly-Long Gag to new levels of bad...a joke I can only describe one way. Ladies and Gentlemen, the NEW Conway Twitty gag.
mpd011 : Agreed. Never did I imagine the writers would be lazy enough to insert the whole damn "Dancing in the Street" music video just to tell us that it's gay. And a flash-quality video on top of that. That's not how you tell a joke, that's just an excuse for getting my mom to watch your show.
O Zone: Besides the pointless "Dancing in the Street" music video, which killed time that could have been used for funnier jokes, I'd like to also add that "Muppet-Style Sightseeing" scene. YMMV on this but really they couldn't have animated a short little montage so they had to use puppets for it instead? Even if it was part of the joke, I can't help but wonder...to be honest the whole plot itself is kind of off putting. Going to Paris so you can have a affair? Couldn't they think of a better reason to go and then somehow work in the affair?
terlwyth: I enjoyed the parody of Return of the Jedi except for two things. The first the death of Darth Vader which was for awhile faithful to the movie, but then they made Chris/Luke kill him by snapping his neck! Damnit that's just not funny especially considering Return of the Jedi was my favorite of the saga and that scene was moving originally. Also the cutaway gags sucked. Fantastic episode otherwise, really enjoyed the big Take That to Seth MacFarlane himself and how he ripped off The Simpsons, although it was also a missed moment of awesome because time could've been used to mention Brian Scully, producer of this episode and writer of some Mike Scully era Simpsons episodes. [Scully era is generally considered Dork Age].
Endocrom: I tolerated the pot shots at the Ewoks and the general phoning-it-in of one of my favourite movies, but what broke the camel's back was the part where Peter/Han freaks out and forces those troopers to dig their own graves, all the while they are crying for their lives. Just too dark, it kills the mood.
Season 10
Cookie Man: For me, it would be the episode, "Lottery Fever". There's one particular scene in the bar where Peter asks for some beer and "has his favorite Russian waiter do it." What do we get: freaking Trololo. What?. Seth MacFarlane not only ran out of jokes, but had to resort in using various overused and recent memes. *facepalm*
anoni: "Seahorse Seashell Party" turned out to be one! I was excited for it since Meg finally stands up to her family. She does, but guess what happens? Brian convinces Meg that she's the only thing keeping the family together. That's right, apparently constantly abusing Meg is the only thing that keeps the Griffin family from killing each other! So what happens next? Meg apologizes and says she was just taking her problems out on everyone, she returns to being a chew toy, AND NOTHING FUCKING CHANGES!!!! Meg, you had nothing to apologize for! Between that, and Brian's mushroom induced acid trips, this became the worst of the 3 hurricane episodes aired!
rednessamon I agree completely. We finally have an episode where Meg tells off everyone, (which they deserved, by the way) and in the end, it's all back to normal? ...WHAT?!?! Giving Meg the justice she so very much deserves, then having it taken away again is nothing short of a dick move.
flyingdingo0827: I agree as well, especially the ending of it. Why is it that anytime Brain tries to "help" Meg, her life seems to get worse because of it. Plus it ruined the one chance that Meg had to finally get some respect from her family and actually have her life improve beyond the sad, lonely existence of the resident punching bag but...no. We can't have her too happy or else we lose a large percentage of our jokes. Of course the family going back to hating Meg and blaming her for their problems just by existing was of course just there to add insult to injury.
Kashima Kitty: I could not believe that the entire family was so stupid. Lois in particular was completely right when she realized what a monster she is. But as soon as Meg "confesses" that she was just venting her frustrations, Lois gets hit with Aesop Amnesia that very instant. What began as a CMOA turned into a DMOS in mere seconds.
Azn Pinoy: Agreed, Meg finally stood up for herself, and instead of her finally staying with her ideals, she gets convinced to take all blame of her family. Guess who convinced her to do this, the Black Hole SueAuthor Avatar bastard dog Brian, WHO SHE DIDN'T FUCKING ATTACK AT ALL. For FUCKS sake, this is the same person who convinced her that there is no benevolent higher being because she exists. So everything went back to normal, its not being mature, its being a motherfucking idiot.
Aquila89: Agreed. So, the family needs to abuse Meg to stay together? Then it shouldn't stay together! It's basically saying that a bunch of horrible, selfish bastards need to abuse a nice person, because otherwise, they abuse each other. So what? Screw them!
Dynamite XI: It's difficult to choose just one DMOS in this show, since it's been mostly meanspiritedness and political/bigoted diatribes since the revival, but every so often it draws me back in—only to push me away again, which is why I chose "Seahorse Seashell Party." Family Guy is at its best when it deconstructs itself, which Meg does gloriously when she calls out her abusive family. Yes, in a sane world, these people would be branded lunatics, and Meg articulately enunciates every one of those arguements against the Griffins (along with a great performance by Mila Kunis while doing so). This episode could have been a neat way to write Meg out of the show (the writers have repeatedly stated that Meg became the designated Butt Monkey because they don't know how to write a teenage girl), but instead it shifted back to Status Quo is God*
in one of the worst uses of that trope EVER
as a way to try and justify nonstop character abuse. It was bad writing, frankly. (Also, I'll add a nitpick by saying that the "fingerbang" joke was already done on South Park, and it was better there.)
azul120: Wait, wasn't it Meg who came up with the idea, and not Brian? Anyways, the Silent Scapegoat approach reminded me of the Zero Requiem ending of Code Geass, in that it was utterly preposterous. Not for the reasons aforementioned. No. Lois was actually brought down to tears in a moment of realization, leading her too subsequently call Peter out on his abuse of Meg in response to being berated by him for crying. It was Peter's subsequent Jerk AssManchild tendencies alone that made things spiral downward, yet that wasn't addressed for a single moment. Yep, once again Peter is a Jerk AssHoudini.
Dimension Walker: Adding on to "SSP", the explanation Brian gave for why Meg should "confess" was just poorly explained. The family turning on each other is better than them picking on a teenage girl, who already has enough problems of her own. The whole ending was bad. I don't know why they had Brian talk to Meg, seeing as he wasn't given a Reason You Suck Speech. In fact, Brian isn't even one of the people who picks on her! This only makes the ending seem more poorly constructed, especially since up until the last two or three minutes, Brian wasn't the Black Hole Sue we all know him as throughout the episode. The only thing good about the ending is that at least it didn't end with them hitting her or something (though they did tease her a bit before the group hug), but that just means Brian didn't need to convince her to do anything.
Super Saiya Man: Seeing the episode myself, I can't believe how angry I got with the ending. Meg, you don't HAVE to be the family's Butt Monkey. That isn't your lot in life. If they can't handle things if they can't tear into you, its their fault. The only good thing was that you are strong enough to put your own needs behind the needs of your family. But even THEN, the rest of the Griffins should finally have realized it was a TIME FOR A CHANGE since everything that Meg said was completely right. There better be half a dozen Fix Fics that fix that ending...
ETeezey This was initially my favorite episode, right up until the end. It's also my only complaint, seeing how I forgive the show because I too have the same kind of humor it does. As for Brian, he was actually proud of Meg. Seeing how he's probably the second Butt Monkey in the family, it fit that he understood where she was coming from. I wanted her to basically just leave and find her own way without her family. Instead, they took a sea-change moment and nullified her epic Reason You Suck Speech.
Bored Me: Three words: Seahorse. Seashell. Party. Okay, I've calmed down a tad, but I can really see where the hate for this episode is coming from. I know that the current fad on TV Tropes is to blame the writers and not Seth, but you know what? Harry S. Truman used to have a saying across his desk: "The Buck Stops Here". There is nothing that the writers can come up with that Seth can't veto, and if he's too busy? Then it is the responsibility of Fox to come to the rescue of the nightmare that their cash cow has become, and remind him where he needs to keep his eyes glued. Hey, FG writers...can't "figure out how to write for a teenaged girl"? Maybe that's a clue that you should be working at Burger King instead of drawing six-figure writer's contracts. It sickens me to ponder what undiscovered talent is waiting tables and eating ramen out there in the Hollywood Hills while these hacks have jobs. That's to say nothing about the trip it took to get there. I'm done with this show, and I say that as a troper who has actively countered past criticisms in recent seasons. Oh, and Mila Kunis's performance was wonderful. And you know what? I have an inkling that a hefty part of it was Ms. Kunis thinking it was entirely deserved. Have fun keeping the now A-list actress on at contract negotiation time, Seth. P.S: This was watched on Adult Swim, and thanks to the present programming cycle, it's followed by one of the better Season 1 episodes. Back to back, it really shines a big spotlight on what has happened to this show.
j03b0b0fd00m : seriously, fuck this episode. I stopped watching Family Guy a long time ago (It was the no war before religion/no religion before Christianity one that got me originally), and was in the same room as my sister — who still watches it — when this episode was on. For once, I thought it would actually have an engaging plot and legitimate character development, but then it got Chuck Testa'd. I wasn't pleased. I have henceforth banned the viewing of Family Guy in my house.
O-Zone : Tonight's episode "Screams of Silence", which in my opinion is a new candidate for "Worst Family Guy Episode Ever". Not sure if it was supposed to be a parody of a Very Special Episode or taken as a serious one, but it was done poorly in both ways. Abuse is rarely funny and this was no exception, the jokes got progressively worse as the episode went on and the ending just distasteful. Oh by the way, did you know Quagmire chokes himself every morning and it somehow let him save the day? Yes Seahorse Seashell Party was bad but at least it wasn't...this.
Wrybread: Agreed, what especially got to me was the way they Did Not Do the Research with regards to police complaints and domestic abuse. Joe-a cop-says that the police can't do anything unless Brenda registers a complaint. While it's true that in most domestic abuse cases there's little that can be done unless the victim is willing to testify, that's because most abuse happens entirely behind closed doors, with no one to witness it besides the victim. Without the victim's testimony there's no way Prosecutors could begin building a case so charges can't be pressed. In this case, Jeff has been abusive in full view of at least four people, one a cop, all of whom could testify that they saw him assault Brenda and thus build a case. At the very least, Joe could arrest Jeff for assault and detain him while they did the intervention for Brenda. I realize this would be less dramatic, but if you're going to do a dramatic episode about a serious issue, you get your facts right.
anoni: The way it was handled was terrible! They solve the problem simply by killing Jeff. Instead of having Joe (who saw Jeff beat Brenda) arrest Jeff like Wrybread pointed out above, they resort to murder. They also lie to Brenda about it, who I'm sure that she will be worse off because of how this episode ended. You could have had the episode end with Brenda finally standing up to Jeff, but nooooo, common sense doesn't exist in Family Guy anymore! What has become of this show?!
Dibdobs: For me, it was, like Ozone above said, was how Quagmire choking himself every day saved him. He started off the episode in a coma becuase he choked himself. All of the sudden he just built up a resistance to it. At least have him suddenly fight back, or huh, maybe Joe should've just ARRESTED him. He threatens to arrest Quagmire for suggesting they kill Jeff, yet says there's nothing he can do as he hears Jeff abuse Brenda, unless she says something about it? really? I also don't like how Family Guy is trying to be serious now, if I wanted to watch a soap opera I would. I mean, I respect that they tried to take abuse seriosuly instead of making it a joke, but I watched this show to laugh at cartoon antics, not have them suddenly throw a Very Special Episode at me. Every tiem I see them deal with these soap opera antics, I just groan.
Wrybread: Me again, but some Fridge Horror occurred to me while I was looking over the entries for "Seahorse Seashell Party" above, I'm tempted to see if the Mods will let me get away with making the two episodes back-to-back one massive DMOS. So, in the previous episode it was meant to be this huge triumph for Meg as a strong character when she accepts her position as Chew Toy for the good of the rest of the family. Then, we have the moment during Brenda's intervention—and who the hell thinks it's a good idea to include their children in a domestic abuse intervention, anyway—where Meg suggests that maybe Brenda can make Jeff like her if she lets him keep abusing him. It's all Played for Laughs, but for anyone who knows anything about the kind of family background that leads women to be stuck in abusive relationships, it's disturbing to have Meg accepting her role as Chew Toy one week and then suggesting that she's prime for a domestically abusive relationship the next week.
DarkLadyCelebrian: "Thanksgiving" was hilarious whenever it wasn't focusing on Quagmire's transgender mom, Ida. Family Guy has managed to go 10 seasons without offending me, but broke that scale when they had Brian and Ida bring up Brian having sex with her in the Quagmire's Dad episode, and then had Stewie tell her something along the lines of, "He liked it before he found out you were a monster." And then when Ida asked where the bathroom was, Lois said "You may use the yard." No. Just no. Do everyone a favor and just never use that character again if you're only going to use her for transphobic "jokes." It's making me think the show is truly running out of jokes now if they must resort to blatantly insensitive tripe like this.
anoni: Seth's other shows, when they had their Thanksgiving episodes, were much better in execution. Hell, The Cleveland Show treated transexuals with more respect, and it freaking takes place in the SAME UNIVERSE! But there's also this fact: when Kevin actually returns after Joe revealed that he was killed off-screen several seasons ago and why he vanished was because he actually went freaking AWOL! He faked his death becuase "war is bad", and Brian agrees with him. That's right, Family Guy's first Thanksgiving episode turns into another freaking Author Tract! I know that bit at the end is supposed to be heartwarming with Joe letting a criminal go because he has a family, and so he doesn't turn Kevin in for going AWOL, but it just bugged me. I'm pretty sure harboring an AWOL soilder is a felony. Say goodbye to your police badge Joe!
AspieCrow: For me, one of the worst things of both the transphobia and the Author Tract is when Brian, surprisingly, asks Ida to share her opinion on the situation, at which time Ida says that she feels that Kevin going AWOL because he believed that the war was wrong is unforgivable, since he abandoned his fellow soldiers, the people he fought alongside. Which is a legitimate point, regardless of whether it's right or wrong. But, of course, Family Guy can't have a viewpoint other than Brian's be right, so this is treated with a dimissal of "Oh, that's just some drag queen". And the writers of Family Guy want us to believe that they're supportive of all walks of life...
Hell Kill Us All: In "Amish Guy", after Meg has been told to stay away from an Amish boy, she bursts into tears. This is immediately followed by her getting pooped on by a horse. AND THAT WAS A LOT OF POOP.
anoni: Agreed. That joke was never funny to me (and probably stopped being funny because, once again, it goes on longer than it needs to). Even worse is that it proves that Meg will never stop being the universal chew toy thanks to Seahorse Seashell Party. All because no one on the writing team knows how to write for a teenage girl (and yet every MacFarlane-produced series will inevitably have a teenaged girl).
N Troper : The funny thing is that Meg actually acted like your average teenage girl in the earlier seasons. Add this to the above entry, and it gives the impression that the whole "don't know how to write a teenage girl" thing seems more like a lame excuse than anything else.
Anarquistador: For me it was the portrayal of the Amish as this backward patriarchal society that disapproved of these new-fangled outsiders, and even seemed to be on the verge of burning the family as witches. Anyone who knows anything about Amish communities knows that they're violence-averse people, who choose to live without modern conveniences, and even encourage their young people to go out into the larger world to see how other people live. Maybe the writers were counting on the fact that they don't have televisions, and won't watch the show?
BoredMe: "Meg And Quagmire". Congrats, Glen. Your moral leverage over Brian? Completely gone. Brian lusting after his best friend's wife is wrong according to you, but it's perfectly OK for you to actively try to have sex with his 18-year old daughter!? You're the real monster here.
Anarquistador: I agree, and I'll raise you one: it's completely inconsistent with Quagmire's character development of late. Over the last few seasons he was gradually being established as a Chivalrous Pervert, lecherous but still fundamentally decent. All that got thrown out the window in this episode, and he's just a creepy pervert again.
LooneyLuver: Especially ridiculous since it doesn't seem to bother anybody that Brian is often dating human women. No, that's okay, Japan'sthe weird one.
monkeyman224: This troper found it more offensive that they were signifying that everyone Japanese watches tentacle rape hentai and that's all they do. This is why a lot of people look down on Japan and anime.
anoni: This troper has been having trouble seeing any good in Family Guy since Seahorse Seashell Party. But he didn't see any good in this episode. The main plot with Brian and the blind woman has some unfunny blind jokes where he tricks her into thinking he beat up a bunch of thugs and they went to Paris, and at the end tricks her into thinking he's a different person by using a different tone of voice (proving that he hasn't learned anything; she broke up with him due to the fact that he lied to her). So if you meet a blind person, you can trick them into believing anything? Not cool. The B plot was horrid as well. After the stairs prove to be a hazard, Lois has them replaced. Peter keeps slipping on them. So he eventually makes a "nest" upstairs so he doesn't have to trip every time he goes down the stairs. Lois eventually has the old stairs put back. The thing is, no one else had trouble with the stairs, so it was just Peter acting like a Spoiled Brat until he got what he wanted; he couldn't care less if the old stairs could get someone else seriously hurt.
