Family Guy was canceled by Fox after season two and again following season three. But post-axing DVD sales were robust and ratings on Adult Swim were high, so Fox gave it another shot. That provided to be a wise decision for a profoundly silly show: the animated series is now in season 17 (!) with no signs of going anywhere. A world without Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson on Sunday nights is hard (and if you were born after 1999, impossible) to imagine. In January, creator Seth MacFarlane celebrated Family Guy‘s 20th anniversary with a nod towards its history, and now he’s listed his 20 favorite episodes.
Here they are, in no particular order:
“Brian Sings and Swings”
“Road to Rhode Island”
“The Griffin Family History”
“Road the Multiverse”
“Patriot Games”
“PTV”
“Petarded”
“Road to Germany”
“I Dream of Jesus”
“Brian Wallows and Peter’s Swallows”
“And Then There Were Fewer”
“Road to Rupert”
“Back to the Pilot”
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Road to the North Pole”
“Brian and Stewie”
“Extra Large Medium”
“North by North Quahog”
“Brian Griffin’s House of Payne”
“Blue Harvest”
Of the 20, MacFarlane called the Clue parody “And Then There Were Fewer” his personal favorite. “A classic format, great-looking direction, and, I hope, a genuinely surprising ending,” he said about the season nine premiere. “It was also the first episode to air in HD. It was really cool to finally see Lois’ pores.” It’s clear that MacFarlane prefers any “Road to…” with Brian and Stewie and episodes with musical numbers, like “Patriot Games” (that’s the one with “Shipoopi”). He also included format-breakers “Back to the Pilot” and “Brian and Stewie” — my personal favorites — but weirdly left out the season two highlight “Da Boom.” Randy Newman is so furious, he’s going to write a song about it.
