Family Guy is a television institution at this point in its run, and I think people take it for granted. Similar to The Simpsons or South Park, there's seems to be a point where a successful animated show becomes white noise, and a number of people tend to write off newer episodes in favor of the classic ones they remember. I'm here to say that the best Family Guy episodes didn't all air at the start of the series, and there are actually quite a few great ones that those who haven't been following the show since the early days might've missed.
The following is a ranked list of all the funniest Family Guy episodes out there, ranked from fun to outright outstanding and hilarious. If you're looking to laugh and need some recommendations while firing up that Hulu subscription, look no further than these episodes:
15. “To Love And Die In Dixie” Season 3, Episode 12
The Griffins are relocated to the Deep South of the United States after Peter unwittingly exposes Chris as the witness to a crime to the criminal responsible. The episode is fantastic for those familiar with that region of the United States, and it's an episode that both has fun at the expense of the region while also seemingly written by someone with experience of what it is to be raised there. The standout moments are Brian injuring himself while attempting to jump in Peter's recreation of the "General Lee", and it's the first appearance by one of the funniest Family Guy supporting characters, "Herbert."
14. “Emmy-Winning Episode” Season 16, Episode 1
Parody is what Family Guy does best, so when Peter gets upset about the fact the show has never won an Emmy, the Griffins go about making an episode that mimics every popular award-winning show they can think of. It's a very meta episode pointing to the fact that while the series is successful, it'll never win an Emmy for Best Comedy. It is worth noting, however, that the series has received nine Emmys in its run, though mostly for voice-over work or achievements in animation.
13. “Three Kings” Season 7, Episode 15
Stephen King superfans may feel this Family Guy episode needs to be much higher on the list. At the insistence of Lois that he needs to read more, Peter decides he's going to tell viewers adapted stories of King's works with the cast of the show starring as the central characters. Stand By Me, Misery, and The Shawshank Redemption are all tapped and executed with a great mix of irreverence and hilarity mixed in. Of all the appearances Stephen King has had in television and movies, I am mildly disappointed he wasn't included in this special episode of Family Guy.
12. “Death Is A Bitch” Season 2, Episode 6
Peter attempts to skate a costly health bill by faking his death, and it's so convincing that Death actually shows up to take Peter's soul. Unfortunately, he's injured while chasing the patriarch, and so Peter must become Death temporarily to prevent everyone in the world from being immortal. This is one of the older Family Guy episodes so the execution is not quite as polished as modern ones, but the presence of the late comedian Norm Macdonald as Death makes this one an all-time classic.
11. “Stewie Kills Lois” Season 6, Episode 4
It took six seasons, but Family Guy finally decided to pay off one of the frequent jokes that made it so successful in its early run. After being goaded by Brian, Stewie sets out to finally kill his mother Lois. The situation goes south when Peter is accused of the crime, only for Lois to show up and confirm it was Stewie who tried to kill her. This then spurs a two-part episode, in which the sequel is surprisingly better than this already great episode.
10. “Lois Kills Stewie” Season 6, Episode 5
In the follow-up to "Stewie Kills Lois," the Griffin matriarch reveals she's alive and only returned a year after regaining her memory following falling from the cruise ship. Now that he's exposed as an evil person, Stewie escapes the courthouse and somehow becomes the leader of the world thanks to the CIA. Things get crazy, and Peter ends up killing Stewie with a gun. In the end, it's all revealed to be a computer simulation, meaning that nothing in the two episodes happened. It's still a fun episode, and I love the joke at the end making light of the ending to The Sopranos.
9. “Meet The Quagmires” Season 5, Episode 18
Death arrives again in Family Guy, and we learn he can apparently grant wishes. Peter decides to wish for a scenario in which he was able to live a single life like Quagmire did, which causes a huge butterfly effect that results in Quagmire and Lois getting married. Despite Peter being married to actress Molly Ringwald and the world seemingly being much better due to his actions, Peter returns to the past desperate to have his wife and life he once knew again. It's one of the zanier episodes, which is often when the show is at its best.
8. “The Thin White Line” Season 3, Episode 1
Brian finds a new calling in life when Joe offers him a job on the police force because of his sensitive nose. The job goes well, right up until he accidentally ingests some cocaine and becomes addicted. The Griffins use vacation money to send Brian to rehab, and the two cause mayhem, causing Peter to be blamed for Brian's addiction. Brian ends up leaving rehab because of that, but viewers are hit with the surprise ending that he's leaving the Griffin family. Even if we know it's temporary, it's still quite a twist!
7. “Yug Ylimaf” Season 11, Episode 4
Brian and Stewie's adventures on Family Guy are often the best, which is probably why Seth MacFarlane attempted to brighten spirits with them during quarantine. "Yug Ylimaf" is an episode where Brian's meddling with Stewie's time machine forces them to experience time backward, which makes for a hilarious episode. It's also very disgusting, especially when we're forced to re-live the iconic puking scene in reverse.
6. “And Then There Were Fewer” Season 9 Episode 1
The Family Guy characters are invited to a dinner party hosted by actor James Woods, who claims he's a changed man despite his past appearances leading to trouble for many. All of a sudden, people invited to the dinner party start dying, and it's on the surviving characters to find out exactly what's going on.
5. “PTV” Season 4, Episode 14
Peter gets upset about FCC guidelines, and creates "PTV" as a way of fighting against censorship on American television. A lot of this episode certainly mirrors Seth MacFarlane's thoughts on the FCC, and it's pretty easy to understand his standpoint on the situation. What I love is the unique way the episode skirts that thin line, and makes the rules more clear to people who aren't involved in the industry.
4. “The Simpsons Guy” Season 13, Episode 1
The Simpsons and Family Guy doing a crossover was a long time coming and came years after the show, throwing playful jabs at one another. To see Homer and Peter team up and Stewie and Bart was truly a dream come true for this fan of animation, and I'd wager many others. Now if we could do a whole episode having them all reunite and work in the Bob's Burgers crew, that might be even better.
3. “Blue Harvest” Season 6, Episode 1
Family Guy is great at parody on a small scale, but "Blue Harvest" showed it could take something as ambitious as Star Wars: A New Hope and riff on the entire movie without the premise getting stale. In fact, it seems it did well enough that the franchise went ahead and did episodes dedicated to the rest of the original trilogy. It doesn't seem likely we will get more beyond that, though I keep my fingers crossed we'll see a take on the prequels.
2. “Road To The Multiverse” Season 8 Episode 1
I don't have any evidence to claim the Marvel Cinematic Universe decided to tap into the multiverse after watching Family Guy, but I can say that this episode aired in 2009 long before the multiverse trend invaded television and movies. Stewie and Brian travel through a bunch of alternate dimensions, each more zany than the last. There's lots to love about this episode, though I think human Brian being struck by a the same car that killed regular Brian seasons later is the coolest touch.
1. “Back To The Pilot” Season 10 Episode 5
Using Stewie's time machine, he and Brian travel back to the very first episode of Family Guy, which is the kind of fun premise that leads to a lot of meta humor. The story takes an additional turn when Brian uses hit knowledge of the past to make himself the hero who stops 9/11, though him doing so ultimately sets up a post apocalyptic future. It's such a well thought-out episode, and well deserving of the top spot on this list.
Family Guy airs new episodes on Fox on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET. Those looking to enjoy the episodes above can find episodes streaming on Hulu, or check local listings to see which networks have the show in syndication.
