Family Guy - Television Tropes & Idioms

Animated Series created by Seth MacFarlane about a Dysfunctional Family who...well, that's it really. It simply presents us with four completely standard characters — slow-witted blue-collar jerk Peter, who is basically an Al Bundy type except often further retarded and crueler, often more cheerful, smart and efficient (and constantly Closer to Earth) housewife Lois, teenage girl with self-esteem issues Meg, and good-hearted but moronic son Chris — and puts them through a series of adventures usually sparked by Peter's selfishness and/or idiocy. In stark contrast to these cookie-cutter characters are two additional ones, Brian the dog and Stewie the baby, a martini-sipping intellectual and a laser-toting megalomaniac respectively.

Rambling and unstructured at all times, with episodes that, through Halfway Plot Switcheroos, have more plots than most television seasons, this show is only really concerned with throwing in as many gags per minute as possible. Liberally peppered with jokes stolen from the internet, pop-culture references (with an almost indecent interest in poking fun at small-time or has-been celebrities, and showing idealised personalities in unpleasant lights - e.g., Bing Crosby as a child abuser, Walt Disney as a pornographer, etc) and flashbacks, and a noted master of the Flashback Twist.

The show made history for American network television for being Uncancelled — twice. FOX announced the show's cancellation after its second season in 2002. The show was resurrected not long after, but ratings suffered as its time slot changed constantly and it competed against the ratings-behemoths of Survivor and Friends. After the third season, FOX called the show "cancelled for good". But in 2005, the show was resurrected yet again, due to popular request, impressive ratings for the reruns on Adult Swim, and unusually successful DVD-set sales. Family Guy is now one of the network's most successful franchises, promoted by the suits with the same fervor as 24, The Simpsons and American Idol.

Tropes:

Abusive Parents (Played for laughs)
Acquired Situational Narcissism: This trope is done heavily. Peter losing weight, Meg getting a makeover, Joe getting new legs, and Chris becoming popular.
Adam Westing (The Cloudcuckoolander Adam West, Mayor of Quahog)
Al Bundy (Peter)
All Just A Dream (Lampshaded, parodied hard, and combined with a massive/hilarious Take That at The Sopranos.)
Always Save The Girl
Anvilicious Any episode where Brian (Seth MacFarlane's avatar) gets involved in a political issue will involve an author filibuster and a portrayal of people opposed to Brian's viewpoint as ignorant strawmen.
- Some episodes sneak these in, as well. In one episode, JESUS delivers Seth's message of the day, with Brian loudly agreeing with him from offscreen.
Arch Enemy (Peter Griffin and Ernie the Giant Chicken)
Art Evolution (Averted. The animation and direction have gotten noticably lazier every season.)
Art Shift (The 2009-10 season premiere had Brian and Stewie visiting various alternate universes, including one drawn in a Disney style, a Robot Chicken universe in Claymation, and another drawn in an extremely abstract style.)
- Fans are already calling the Disney sequence to be one of the best in the show.
- Of course, there are other episodes that showcase different animation styles, such as Stewie dancing with Gene Kelly in place of Jerry the Mouse, and the whole family crudely animated to spoof the Simpsons' start on the Tracy Ullman Show.
- Don't forget the few moments Brian and Stewie are transported into the real world. I must admit, real baby Stewie was quite cute.
Ass Shove: Peter's prostate exam, among other instances.
At The Opera Tonight
Author Appeal: This show has a lot of Star Wars and 80's references.
- Seth MacFarlane loves 50's music and he's not afraid to to remind you of that whenever he gets the chance (Conway Twitty, Frank Sinatra Jr. and the New Rat Pack)
  - In the Road to the Multiverse episode, there's a universe where earth became a hellhole (indirectly) because Frank Sinatra never existed.
- Can you tell he enjoys old movies and musicals? MacFarlane's a good Real Life example of "born in the wrong decade" and it shows in his work.
Author Avatar Brian. Stewie may also qualify in some cases as well.
- Peter was this in the beginning, as he mirrored some of the creator's interests in sci-fi films and series, like Star Wars and Star Trek.
Big No
- Peter's reaction to being told his parrot has died
- How come no one has mentioned the Running Gag with Cleveland in the bathtub?
Bilingual Bonus (In one episode, the family hides out from the law in "Asian Town". Their apartment is above a Chinese restaurant that, judging from the sign, is actually Japanese-run...)
Bi The Way: Peter: "We all know that no woman anywhere wants to have sex with anyone, and to titillate us with any thoughts otherwise is — is just bogus." Lois: "Ah, he is so right on. Women are such teases. That's why I went back to men."
Biting The Hand Humor
Black Hole Sue: Brian whenever an episode concentrates on religion or delivering a liberal aesop. You know you have it bad when even Jesus bends to your will.
The Blank (Peter's "poker face")
Boot Camp Episode: A continuation of the Brian/Stewie duo episode tradition features one in which both of them are placed in the army.
The Brainless Beauty (Brian's ex-girlfriend Jillian and her friends)
Breaking The Fourth Wall: In one episode, Peter is sexually attracted to Connie D'Amico, an underage high school girl. He keeps saying and doing increasingly disturbing things until he turns towards the camera and angrily shouts: "Oh shut up! It's a cartoon!"
- "The fourth wall! You're breakin' the fourth wall!"
Breakout Character (Stewie)
Breast Expansion: On the episode "I Dream of Jesus," Peter asks Jesus to give Lois huge breasts and in the next scene Lois' boobs grow to absolutely enormous size.
Broken Bird (Meg)
Brother Chuck (Joe and Cleveland's sons Kevin and Cleveland Jr. only appeared once post-3rd season)
Butt Monkey: Meg.
Bunny Ears Lawyer (Quagmire is an unrestrained womanizer but is a superb pilot, and Joe Swanson is a highly decorated cop who is also a wheelchair-bound parapalegic.)
- Well, Joe became paralyzed in the line of duty, falling off a house in an attempt to apprehend the Grinch.
Can't Get Away With Nuthin': Parodied. Some of Chris' friends convince him to drink some vodka and the principal bursts in as soon as he puts the bottle to his lips.
Car Meets House (A drunken Stewie drives Brian's car into The Drunken Clam. Also, the Kool-aid Man gets his comeuppance when someone crashes into his living room for once.)
The Cast Showoff (Happens often. Mostly when a character voiced by MacFarlane sings — he has extensive vocal training and ability. Or when a character descends into Gratuitous German — MacFarlane is fluent and lived in Germany for a short time.)
Charlie And The Chocolate Parody (The first half of "Wasted Talent" and instead of candy it's beer)
- Complete with Oompa Loompa style midgets the "Chumba Wumba's" who sing a hilariously cruel song about the lack of wheelchair access.
  - A somewhat more accurate version appears as a one-off joke flashback where Peter chewed the gum (you know the one), and denied doing it (despite it being obvious he did).
Character Derailment This◊ really sums up what has happened to the characters
Chekhovs Gag (Spiderman saving people, fire-truck documentaries, etc. Take your pick)
Class Reunion (Peter's in "Patriot Games")
Closer To Earth (Lois's relationship with Peter, usually)
Comedic Sociopathy: Stewie practically owns this one, though some of the random comedic references do a bit too.
- Peter. Good lord, Peter. Actually, due to rampant Flanderization, pretty much everyone.
Congruent Memory (Peter can only play the piano when he's drunk)
Crapsack World: If you're a sane man in this show, don't expect to get any leeway.
- And if you're Meg, it's literally a Crapsack Multiverse.
Creepy Child: Stewie.
The Couch
Crossover: A brief bit with American Dad (Seth's other animated show) in Lois Kills Stewie. Though Seth has stated he toying with the idea to make a proper one.
- Characters from American Dad and The Cleveland Show have been confirmed to be making an appearance in the third Star Wars special.
Curb Stomp Battle Stewie vs Brian in Patriot's Game.
The Danza (Mayor Adam West)
Daydream Surprise (in parody of Scrubs's use of the trope)
Dead Baby Comedy: Always happened throughout the show, though more common in newer episodes.
Deadline News (Asian Reporter Tricia Takinawa reporting on a hurricane)
- She got better.
Deadpan Snarker: Death became quite possibly one of the biggest Deadpan Snarkers in Western Animation history... in his first appearance.
Deep South At least one full episode devoted to this trope. Seth MacFarlane is reportedly not a fan of the South.
Delicious Distraction
Dethroning Moment Of Suck. Many fans and former fans argue over this but on this wiki there seems to be much hatred for Not All Dogs Go To Heaven, the chicken fights, the Meg-bashing and Conway Twitty.
- Lampshaded on the show itself, in a gag where Quagmire thought he was the one getting the spinoff instead of Cleveland. "So long, Bitches!" he says to the cast, "Have fun with your [bleep]ing giant chicken jokes and Conway Twitty!"
Diabolical Mastermind: Stewie, before his Character Derailment.
Did Not Do The Research: One cut-away notes a "Half-elf mage" with a "+5 holy avenger". In 3.5 (the current edition at the time, and previous editions only allowed humans to be Paladins) a holy avenger is a +2 weapon when wielded by a non-paladin (+5 holy to a Paladin). Further, none of the special abilities function for a non-paladin and a mage should not be wielding a sword.
Distracted By The Luxury (a DeBears ad parody)
Dont Shoot The Message
Dork Horse Candidate (Peter runs against Lois for a seat on the school board)
Dude Not Funny: Even if you do like the show, chances are pretty good that some joke or other caused you to say this. For most people, it was the gag about Stewie bombing the Town of Happy. Even McFarlane himself admitted that one wasn't funny.
- The latter seasons tend to get more heat for this, especially with the rape/sexual abuse jokes. It's gotten to a point that nearly every single episode has such a joke, some more blatant and Dude Not Funny than others.
  - Four words: Prom Night Dumpster Baby.
  - Yes...so not funny... We're still laughing our asses off though.
Dumbass DJ: "Dingo and the Baby"
Dysfunctional Family: And how
Egopolis (Petoria)
Emo Teen - Meg. But can you blame her?
Enfant Terrible (Stewie)
Ensemble Darkhorse (Glen Quagmire)
Even Evil Has Standards - There was a somewhat debatable example, when Quagmire clearly had a chance to take advantage of Meg, and didn't. It's debateable because he wouldn't take advantage of a minor, or if this was just a way of emphasizing how unattractive Meg is.
- Considering Quagmire has on multiple other occasions shown a sexual interest in and sexually harassed Meg (and other minors), it should be obvious there are no such standards. The real reason he didn't take advantage of her was to make a "Made you think" joke.
Equivalent Exchange
Expy (Peter and Brian are expies of characters from Seth MacFarlane's old prototype "Larry and Steve".)
Eye Open (The giant chicken, once beaten)
Failed Attempt At Drama (Brian, thanks to the many, many locks on Pearl's door)
Fake Brit (Stewie)
Fan Disservice (Are so many shots of Peter and Chris naked really necessary?)
Fan Vid (Parodied. In one episode, Stewie makes a video with the Bryan Adams song (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. It's full of random effects and Shout Outs to various famous works of art. Of course, when Brian (the dog, not the singer) points out that he doesn't get the storyline of the video, Stewie promptly tells him to "Shut up!"
Fetish (Quagmire is loaded with them)
Fetus Terrible (Stewie was quite the bastard even before he was born. Ditto for his half-brother Bertram.)
Five Token Band: Peter's circle of friends. Arguably down to four tokens now that Cleveland's moved away.
Flamboyant Gay (Brian's cousin Jasper, and sometimes Stewie)
Flanderization (A lot of it since the revival, particularly Brian's politics, Lois's sex drive, and Stewie's ~~gay undertones~~ gay, just gay.)
- Joe. At one point he was a decent cop, and a great athlete, who just happened to be in a wheelchair. Now, being in a wheelchair just seems to be his thing, and he does not really appear to do as much or any police work anymore.
  - Cleveland too. Nothing more than just the black guy who has a few lines. Severe downgrade from former best friend status.
- Peter and Lois too. Peter used to just be a moron who tried to do what's best for his family in spite of his shortcomings but is now just the idiot Jerk Ass. Lois has gone from loving, sensible, and slightly sex crazed mother to nymphomaniac who really doesn't give a damn about her family. Well actually, she might care about her family but she explicitly hates Meg, she's never seen anywhere near Chris, and Stewie is off on his own almost all the time so it's up to you to decide.
- Meg also suffered heavily from this after the revival. Before, she was generally unpopular, but now, her entire family explicitly hates every fiber of her being.
  - Made worse by the fact that there have been at least a few episodes where Meg has gotten the raw end of the stick for helping her family. Remember when she quit her job instead of firing Peter? Or when she lost her job because she hired Chris?
  - It's no longer her family. It's everyone except Adam West that hates her. even the Multiverse. And that's terrible.
  - Chris has been the least Flanderized, but his role in the series is gradually shrinking.
  - Actually, it seems that Chris has gained an unexplainable baseline of intelligence, specifically in reference to movies, actors, and the like. Also something of a Deadpan Snarker.
Flashback Twist (makes up a lot of the show's humor)
- Subverted once in the episode "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air" — we never see the result of giving a monkey the keys to an amusement park.
- Also in the episode where Stewie and Brian join the army and Stewie makes a reference to one of Peter's antics and sets up for a cutaway that never manifests. He simply says "What? No clip?" and the scene continues.
- And again in the Spies Like Us parody where he (Along with Brain, Chevy Chase and Dan Akryod) get beaten up by a mind conditioned Adam West. Stewie tries to mutter a line that'll trigger a cutaway but it come out unintelligible. We then cut to said cutaway where Stewie standing in a blank space and admitting the joke didn't come out right.
Floating Timeline (Played straight, subverted, and lampshaded. Played straight: Show's been on for 7+ seasons, but the children are still in school; Stewie is still a baby. Subverted: Chris goes to high school. Lampshaded: Peter bemoans Bonnie's pregnancy: Peter: "You've been pregnant for like 5 years. Either have the baby or don't." Then she does. At which point Quagmire comments: "I can't believe she's already 18.")
Fridge Logic. Plots rarely make much "sense" but simply serve as vehicles for "humor."
Full House Music (parodied)
Funny Animal - Brian, who also acts as a living Deconstruction on occasion.
- Cleveland and Quagmire in the Disney universe.
Fur And Loathing (When Lois wanted a fur coat, she sold out her environmental views, rather than just saving up.)
- Shouldn't an environmentalist have iffy feelings about fur?
Furry Confusion (Anthropomorphic dogs like Brian and Jasper are shown alongside regular, non-anthroporphic ones such as Brian's mother, Biscuit and the Pewterschmidts' dog, Seabreeze)
- Occasionally lampshaded.
Future Loser (Stewie, and to a lesser extent Chris and Meg, in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story)
- They might be saved from that sad future at the end of the same episode, anyway.
Game Show Appearance (Mayor Adam West on Jeopardy; Peter Griffin on Wheel Of Fortune, The Dating Game, Survivor, and something called Bobcat or Bjork; Peter also hosted Family Feud and disrupted a taping of The Price Is Right.)
Gilligan Cut
Good Angel Bad Angel
Good People Have Good Sex (Peter and Lois still get it on at regular intervals.)
The Grim Reaper (Death is a recurring character)
Halfway Plot Switch (massively)
Happy Dance (When Peter finds out his father has died, Lois and Brian calmly walk outside and break into a quick victory dance before coming back inside to console him.)
Not So Imaginary Friend (The Evil Monkey in Chris' bedroom closet.)
- Except now he lives in Jake Tucker's bedroom
Heroes Want Redheads (Peter married to Lois)
Heroic Sociopath (Stewie starts out as this.)
Hero Insurance (Peter and Ernie the Giant Chicken's fights cause rampant property damage through Quahog and the surrounding area, but never have to compensate anyone for it)
Hilarious In Hindsight: At least its not all preachy and up its own ass in messages, you know?
Identical Grandson (Peter's many "ancestors")
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming (Played with, then dropped. The original idea was to name every episode with an ominous title, having to do with death or murder — many of them named after radio programs of the 30's and 40's. This was dropped eventually when the writers realized it was difficult to identify episodes without resorting to the Friends convention of "you know, the one where...'')
If I Were A Rich Man: one of the few shows where this tends to be acted on. Repeatedly.
I Love Nuclear Power
Indestructible Edible - Twinkies will survive After The End (or so everyone hopes that second).
Insult Backfire - When paired up with Fridge Logic: While mumbling in his sleep, Dick Cheney says, "18% approval ratings? I'll give you %18 of my foot in your ass!" So that's...what, the toes?
Interspecies Romance (Brian had many human girlfriends, and it's implied that he had sex with almost all of them. The most prominent examples are Jillian (his only girlfriend for more than one chapter) and Lois (Brian's love for Lois is a recurring gag, and they were married for over a year in the episode "The perfect castaway"))
I Want My Jet Pack
I Was Quite A Fashion Victim - Many characters, but Death really can't believe what he wore in The Seventies.
I Was Told There Would Be Cake - Stewie is aware that the perks of marriage is this wonderful, pleasurable thing called sex, it's just that he thinks that sex is some sort of cake.
Imagine Spot
Kangaroo Pouch Ride - Peter climbs into the pouch of a kangaroo, but the poor kangaroo can barely move.
Kavorka Man (Quagmire, and occasionally Peter)
Killed Off For Real (Francis Griffin and Mr. Weed.)
Knock Knock Joke
Lead In (almost every episode)
The Libby (Connie)
Living Motion Detector (Parodied in an episode where Peter and Lois encounter a prostitute like this.)
The Long List (most famously, after the series is brought back, Peter recites a long list of Fox programs that bombed while Family Guy was off the air)
Man Of A Thousand Voices Seth Macfarlane, and to a lesser extent Mike Henry
Madeof Iron (During their fights, Peter and Ernie the Giant Chicken suffer horrific injuries that should by all rights kill them, but Peter is never more than just breathless after the battle ends)
Malignant Tumor (Stewie, in that episode where he was an octopus)
Mass Hypnosis (Stewie tries to do this on Kids Say The Darndest Things, but gets hypnotized himself)
Medium Blending
Me Love You Long Time: Lampshaded when Trisha Takanawa, upon meeting David Bowie, blurts out "Me love to meet Ziggy Stardust! I take you home! I make you fish ball soup!"
Memetic Mutation (Mostly spawned by those mocking the show, most famously South Park and its supposition that the show is written by manatees with words scrawled on balls; the idea caught on enough that the Family Guy writers, in DVD commentaries, refer to weak jokes with comments such as "The manatees were kinda off that day".)
Midlife Crisis Car (Peter gets one...)
Mondegreen ("...all the things that make us ~~effin' cry~~ laugh and cry!")
Moral Event Horizon: Just about everyone except Meg and Chris at this point.
Most Common Superpower: Mrs. Lockhart. Just take a look at her◊
The Multiverse: The season 8 premiere, aptly titled "Road to the Multiverse".
Nice Character Mean Actor (Mother Maggie)
Nightmare Fuel: Some of the Dead Baby Comedy can do this. The final fate of Stewie and Brian's clones pretty much is a visual example of it, exponentially.
Nightmare Retardant: Said clones melting, then Brian eating their remains.
Nixon Mask
No Accounting For Taste (Peter and Lois, which is quite frequently lampshaded in the show)
No Indoor Voice (Blac-u Weather Reporter Ollie Williams)
Obnoxious In Laws (Peter's step dad)
Oh Kitty
Officer O Hara (Subverted: the Irish cop on the police force is actually a guy who's good with impressions).
Older Than They Look (One one-off joke shows Quagmire is actually in his 60's)
Overly Long Gag - a self-admitted favourite of series creator Seth MacFarlane. Opinion is constantly divided over whether such gags make the show better or worse.
Out Of Focus (Since the show returned, Lois, Meg and Chris only get one (sometimes two) episodes per season focused on them, while the rest of the season being focused on Brian and Stewie, and to a lesser extent Peter)
Pale Skinned Brunette
Paranoia Gambit Done successfully by Brian in Patriot's Game when Stewie, as payback for the brutal beating he gave Brian over the money that Brian owed him, offers Brian a free revenge shot. Brian agrees on the terms that he can use it at any time and that Stewie won't know when he will be hit. Brian does not use it, and Stewie goes crazy to the point of harming himself to even the deal. At the end of the episode, Brian evens it out by pushing Stewie in front of a moving bus. Also doubles as a Crowning Moment Of Awesome for Brian.
Plot Relevant Age Up (Cleveland Jr was quickly aged to his mid-teens for the Cleveland Show.)
Police Lineup
Power Trio Brian, Stewie, and Peter have stolen the screentime in more recent episodes. There used to be a 4 man group amongst Peter and his friends. However, with Cleaveland's departure from the show, we are left with the power trio of Peter, Quagmire, and Joe.
Rape As Comedy
Rapid Fire Comedy
Refuge In Audacity
Refuge In Vulgarity. You saw the part where it said rape as comedy, yes?
Retroactive Wish ("Imagine Lindsey Lohan naked and doing a backwards crab walk")
Road Sign Reversal (Peter does this in "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" in order to get the circus parade to come to Stewie's birthday party.)
Room Full Of Crazy (Patrick, Lois's traumatized brother, came to live with the Griffins. His room is decorated with photos of himself strangling fat people.)
Rule Of Funny
Running Gag
- Ollie, with the Blac-u-weather forecast. Originally a one-off (e.g. the Weather Mime), but used more and more since then.
- Play me off, Johnny!
- Cleveland: "No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO~~" *bathtub breaks*
- Peter's once-per-season Giant Chicken Fistfights.
Sadist Show Cheerful bullying of mentally ill, disabled, or terminally ill constitutes an awful amount of the jokes in the series. If someone is in intense pain to the point of suicidal it will almost invariably be mocked and worsened to the extreme.
Sassy Black Woman (Cleveland's ex-wife)
Self Serving Memory - When Peter recalls his prostate exam, it is incredibly sinister, and totally wrong.
Shoot The Dog (Literally done by the Board of Directors of the El Dorado Cigarette Company in the episode "Mr. Griffin Goes To Washington".)
Shout Out (Aside from all the pop culture Shout Outs, there are several made specifically for viewers who live in Rhode Island, although these have gotten rarer since the show was Un Cancelled)
Sorry I Left The BGM On
Spin Off (The Cleveland Show)
Spotlight Stealing Squad (Family Guy may as well just be "The Brian and Stewie Show" in its more recent seasons)
Status Quo Is God (A few minor changes have stuck, such as Cleveland moving away (to get his own show) and Brian's relationship status. But for the most part, this is strictly enforced.)
- Spoofed on one episode, where things are set back to normal by recreating the infamous all just a dream ending from Dallas (complete with the original actors.)
- Another ep has Chris being chased by poachers in Africa. It's never resolved, but during the end credits Stewie says to Brain that "the Chris thing was just a gag, he'll be back next week like always."
Strawman Political (A few religious or conservative characters tend to be way out there)
Suck E Cheeses (Cheesie Charlie's in "Chitty Chitty Death Bang")
Talking To Himself Seth Macfarlane voices Peter, Brian, Stewie, Quagmire, Carter, Tom Tucker, and Dr Hartman. This trope is pulled off in every episode.
- Lampshaded in one episode where Dr. Hartman and Carter are put in a conversation together, and notice that they have the same voice. One of them quips that "there are just so many voices in the world."
The Tape Knew You Would Say That (In one episode, Peter leaves a tape that tries to hold a conversation with Lois to convince her he's actually there. In a subversion, she figures it out when he starts to drift off topic. Double subversion when she calls the tape out on it, and it admits it and asks her to flip to side two.)
Teach Him Anger
Title Drop Spoofed in one episode where Peter is shown being amused by various title drops in films ("The only way I can stop this crisis is by being Superman IV: The Quest For Peace!") Then later, a walk-on character says "I'm a family guy!" and Peter is thrilled.
This Is For Emphasis, Bitch!
Took A Level In Jerkass Peter of course.
Token Minority (Two in the main cast, Cleveland and Joe; Lampshaded by Asian Reporter Trisha Takanawa and "Black-u-weather forecaster" Ollie Williams)
- As well as "Hispanic Reporter Maria Hee-Ji-Jiminez?"
Train Job (Subverted. Peter and his father-in-law, Carter, try to do this, but no one rides trains anymore.)
Trash Of The Titans
TV Never Lies
Un Canceled (twice)
Uncle Herbie
Unpopular Popular Character (Meg has much more fans than many people think. The most prominent example is Fanfiction.net. Just dare to say anything bad about Meg there.)
Victorias Secret Compartment Mrs. Lockhart
Video Wills (Mr. Weed's)
Weird Al Effect
The Wesley (Herbert. There are also some people who started to dislike Brian)
- Brian stopped being Brian and started being Stewie's friend/a mouthpiece for Seth MacFarlane's political views. The Wal-mart episode and Road To Germany are the most egregious examples.
  - Yeah Brian started off as a straightman with an alcohol and drug addiction who would uses his dry wit to contrast with Peter's stupidity. Pretty much everything that made Brian a unique character has been taken away during the Flanderization process.
We Want Our Jerk Back (Peter in "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater", among others)
Word Of Gay Seth Macfarlane recently revealed that Stewie's gay. If it wasn't obvious enough.
- Stewie himself tipped the audience off after learning exactly what the term "gay" meant, saying he could "totally get into that."
  - "Well, it sounds like in that situation, I'd rather be the parking space than the car."
Whole Plot Reference (Back To The Future, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Poltergeist, Star Wars: A New Hope)
Writer On Board
The Woobie (Some people feel sorry for Meg because of her extreme Butt Monkey status)
Yandere - Meg in the fifth season episode "Barely Legal".
You Will Be Spared