Yahoo News The 16 best Family Guy episodes in order of yukyukyuks
Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy is 18. That's a hell of a lot of giggity's, Buzz Killingtons and Conway Twittys.
Not bad for a show that was actually cancelled and taken off the air for three years. Like fellow cartoons The Simpsons and South Park before it, we can't help but binge on the residents of Quahog whenever we get the chance.
But what are the particularly best episodes ever made? We've selected our ultimate favourites, so find out if yours made the list below:
16. 'Da Boom' (season 2)
Best line: Peter: "Sorry but I don't take coupons from giant chickens, not after last time."
Early Family Guy might be rather dated and tough to watch nowadays, but there are still some gems, and this was one of the first to move out of the normal sitcom conventions that it pretty much totally ignores today.
Airing in late 1999, it showed what Quahog looked like after the Y2K bug broke the world. Stewie became a radioactive squid, Randy Newman was found in the wastelands, and there was even a strange live-action sequence involving Victoria Principal and Patrick Duffy spoofing the "Who Shot JR?" storyline in Dallas. Classic bonkers Family Guy.
And of course, it launched the epic rivalry between Peter and Ernie the Giant Chicken that has returned many times since. This was potentially the first time fans realised this wasn't just a Simpsons ripoff.
15. 'Meet the Quagmires' (season 5)
Best line: Brian: "Wow. 18 year old Lois. Son of a bitch."
Any episode that features time travel is usually a winner (there's several in this list). Using the classic Christmas Carol trope, Death shows Peter what his life would be like if he did things differently.
He and Brian travel back to 1984 for a day, but this time he drops Lois at their prom, and the future is changed. Al Gore is President and shock horror: Lois and Quagmire are married. And the kids all have his chin.
The best thing about this episode is that it turns into a brilliant parody of Back to the Future, and was an example of Family Guy's amazing "Road to..." episodes (prepare for plenty more), but with Brian and Peter instead of Stewie this time.
14. 'And Then There Were Fewer' (season 9)
Best line: Quagmire: "Can't we all just be happy she's dead?"
For the season 9 hour-long premiere, Family Guy went full murder mystery spoof, because why not? Regular guest star James Woods invited every major character to his seaside manor for a Clue-style dinner party. After Woods is 'killed', the guests start a search to find the killer.
This was a rare episode which didn't rely too much on cutaway gags, and contained so many recurring characters who would normally never interact. We never thought we'd see Jillian's boyfriend Derek hanging out with Seamus the sea captain.
Most shocking was that several characters actually died and stayed dead – including Muriel Goodman and Diane Simmons. That's one way to cut some dead wood.
13. 'Road to Rhode Island' (season 2)
Best line: Stewie: "Oh God, you're not coming out of the closet are you? Ugh, why does everyone always come out to me?"
The first of several of the epic Brian and Stewie "Road to..." episodes, and we can never get enough of the bromantic pair.
In this one, Brian picks Stewie up from his grandparents' house but they soon get lost after their plane tickets are stolen. And so begins an amazing road trip as they attempt to go back to Quahog before Lois finds out.
Not only was it hilarious, but it didn't shy away from being ultra emotional either. Brian visited the puppy house where he was born, stealing his late mother's taxidermied body in the process. One of the rare emotionally-charged moments in the show.
12. 'Road to the North Pole' (season 9)
Best line: Stewie: "He was gonna call the cops, man, you can't call the cops on Santa."
Another Stewie and Brian journey saw them travel to the North Pole in order to kill Santa Claus, but all they discovered was a wrecked and polluted factory full of diseased elves and feral reindeer.
The pair help Mr Claus by attempting to deliver gifts around the world, but this of course just leads to disaster. And a family's Christmas being utterly ruined.
There are so many moments which are Christmas comedy gold, from the epic 'Christmastime is Killing Us' song to the Aurora Boreanaz cameo.
11. 'McStroke' (season 6)
Best line: Peter: "Then I guess we'll take our millions of dongs elsewhere..."
This was one of the best Peter-being-stupid episodes. Here, he decides to grow a moustache, but after he fails to do so he eats his weight in McBurgertown burgers, leading to a massive stroke and leaving the left side of his body paralysed.
So yep, Family Guy went there and somehow made strokes funny. He eventually gets instantly cured by stem cells, and met a talking cow at the McBurgertown factory, who Peter and Brian set free via a Monkees-style chase. A farce of an episode, but in a good way.
10. 'Quagmire's Dad' (season 8)
Best line: Brian: "Hey... I f**ked your dad."
As Brian went from sensible Joe to womanizing jerk, it also meant that we got to enjoy plenty of Brian vs Quagmire battles. The best of which, was when Brian accidentally shagged his dad.
As Dan Quagmire arrived on the scene, his creepy son was shocked to find that he'd transitioned, becoming Ida. And for Family Guy standards, it was surprisingly kind to the transgender community. Sort of.
Brian has a one-night stand with Ida, and when he discovers who she really is, he barfs all over the place just like in the amazing ipecac incident in season 4. Quagmire proceeds to beat the crap out of him, only for Brian to utter: "Hey... I f**ked your dad." Amazing.
9. 'I Dream of Jesus' (season 7)
Best line: "Sir, our maths shows that the bird is equal to, or greater than the word."
AKA the 'Bird is the Word' episode. Here, Peter actually finds Jesus. He's working at a record shop. Peter convinces him to reveal himself to the world, taking down President George W Bush in the process.
But the main reason the episode is so great is the aforementioned 'Surfin' Bird' running gag, in which Peter annoys the hell out of everyone by continuously finding ways to shoehorn in the catchy 1950s Trashmen tune. Even now, you never know when it might strike again.
8. 'PTV' (season 8)
Best line: FCC officer: "His chin looks like balls. You want me to cover that, too?"
Family Guy often pushes things as far as possible, so we're guessing the writers have a bit of a frosty relationship with the censors. This episode was their way of aiming all their anger at the agencies who get in the way.
The somewhat ridiculous episode saw Peter launch his own TV network, including R-rated reruns of classic TV shows and "Side Boob Hour", which saw the FCC shut him down too. And then they started censoring real life too. The family then journey to Washington to set everything right again.
It was one of those episodes where all the jokes worked, and it featured one of the show's first over-the-top song numbers, and it wasn't just to pad for time.
7. 'Brian and Stewie' (season 8)
Best line: Stewie: "You give my life purpose, and maybe, maybe that's enough. Because that's just about the greatest gift one friend can give another."
We've already made it clear how much we love Brian and Stewie episodes, and the title alone makes it obvious why we love this one.
The two find themselves accidentally trapped inside a bank vault all weekend, and soon they are forced to reveal their true feelings about each other, and question their existence and purpose in life.
While it's awesome to see these two together, this episode was particularly great because it is the only one ever not to use any cutaway gags at all, and they're the only characters on show. Not even Peter appears. Clearly, the writers know exactly what the fans want.
6. 'Something, Something, Something, Dark Side' (season 8)
Best line: Lois as Leia: "I love you". Peter as Han: "F**k off".
The second of the show's Star Wars parodies was almost as good as the first, but much better than the third. So, almost like the actual Star Wars films.
Like with Blue Harvest, the power in the Griffins' house goes out, leading to Peter retelling The Empire Strikes Back, with Family Guy characters playing Star Wars icons, such as as Peter as Han, Chris as Luke, even Ernie the Chicken as Boba Fett.
You kinda have to be a Star Wars fan to get all the jokes, and the whole exercise is a bit bizarre on paper, but it works.
Though, we disagree with Peter. We prefer the Robot Chicken specials.
5. 'Petarded' (season 4)
Best line: Stewie: "Chris, whatever happened to Geena Davis? She used to be in movies, but she's not in movies anymore. She's attractive enough but when she smiles you see too much gum. Not a good tooth-to-gum ratio... Chris? Ah, I'll tell you in the morning."
Another Peter going crazy episode, and one of the very best. He wins a Trivial Pursuit game, and instantly thinks he's a genius.
After being challenged to apply for a MacArthur Genius Grant, he's actually labelled as being mentally retarded. Whoops. In time, Peter is exploiting his diagnosis, and manages to even lose custody of his children to Cleveland.
Tackling a sensitive subject, it didn't go down all that well at the time with censors and charity groups. But if you like your offensive humour, this was one of the best episodes ever.
4. 'I Take Thee, Quagmire' (season 4)
Best line: Cleveland: "Hey, Quagmire, is that a banana in your pocket or an erection in your pocket?"
Quagmire is one dirty dog. He's borderline insane and should probably be in jail. But he's still utterly hilarious.
This was one of the first episodes to showcase just how ridiculously awful he could be. At first, it seems he might be changing when he falls in love with Peter's new maid and decides to marry her.
Before long, he's wanting out, but finds out she will kill him and herself if he leaves her. So, he has to fake his own death, leading to many silly scrapes for how to accomplish this, before Death himself takes Joan instead. And then Quagmire does stuff with the body, naturally. Dark and horrible, but brilliant.
3. 'Blue Harvest' (season 6)
Best line: Peter: "Hi, I'm Han Solo. I'm Captain of the Millennium Falcon, and the only actor whose career isn't destroyed by appearing in this movie."
See #6. Pretty much the same but better.
2. 'Back to the Pilot' (season 10)
Best line: Peter: "Hey Lois, I found some double-sided tape. I think I can do about seven minutes worth of funny stuff with it. That should get us to the 'Meg Kissing Booth' story."
This Stewie and Brian-centric episode was pure genius. The pair use a time machine to travel back in time to the very first episode – leading to many clever gags about how different the show looks, different cast voices and how different the comedy is in comparison.
Then, Brian tells his former self about 9/11, and their present time is totally changed, causing a second civil war. They then have to prevent themselves from going back in the first place.
However, this proves REALLY difficult, producing countless versions of each other at the same time. Not only was the episode hilarious with amazing Brian and Stewie moments, but it was genuinely quite clever in the time-travel stakes, which is impressive on a nerd level.
1. 'Road to the Multiverse' (season 8)
Best line: Quagmire: "Thanks honey, say hi to your husband. [a device on his belt beeps] Oh, I've got AIDS again, better take my NyQuil Cold, Flu and AIDS. [he takes the pills] All gone!"
Another crazy Brian and Stewie adventure. This time, they casually mange to visit Quahog in various other universes, including a Flintstones-style city, a Disney planet, a world where Japan won WWII, a Robot Chicken world, and even a live-action version.
This might not have had the most interesting plot, but with each new world, it just got more and more entertaining and so much fun. Coupled with Brian and Stewie front and centre, it made for the best Family Guy episode ever.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
You Might Also Like
