Family Guy's 25 Darkest Episodes

The following contains discussions of violence, abuse, terrorism, and ableism.

While certainly not the first adult animated sitcom on television to push the boundaries, the darkest Family Guy episodes prove how far the show is willing to go. Though often uncomfortable and controversial, much of Family Guy‘s identity is tied to its proclivity for potentially distasteful humor. Making light of everything from the assassinations of prominent political figures to all-too-soon topical jokes, there’s almost nothing from which the show will shy away. There are endless moments in Family Guy meant entirely to offend, and some are more palatable than others.

The darkest Family Guy episodes are just the most egregious examples of the show’s over-the-top satire and cutting humor — although many go above and beyond the regular line-crossing Family Guy is known for. Family Guy has often been criticized as a pale imitation of The Simpsons, and the show’s emphasis on the everyday suburban family made the comparison undeniably apt. However, Family Guy’s willingness to go to much more offensive and challenging places than The Simpsons, exploring dicier themes and pushing the boundaries of network television, has resulted in these unremittingly dark and controversial installments.

25 Road To The North Pole

Season 9, Episode 7

“Road to the North Pole” is one of Stewie and Brian’s “Road to…” episodes, which means it is a road trip storyline. Most Family Guy fans know that these specific episodes are almost always dark and disturbing, with more mature subject matter than the regular raunchy jokes the show is known for. In this one, Stewie and Brian encounter a rude Santa at the mall, so they head to the North Pole to kill Santa Claus. What they find leads to very disturbing moments, and it just keeps getting worse.

They find Santa, a depressed old man who wants Stewie to kill him. Santa forces the elves to inbreed to supply more workers, horribly mutating them. The reindeer have become feral, carnivorous monsters. When Stewie and Brian decide to take Santa’s place, things go from bad to worse when they assault and possibly kill two parents in front of their child because they caught them in their house. This is not a Family Guy episode any young Santa fans should ever walk in on.

24 Roads To Vegas

Season 11, Episode 21

In the season 11 Family Guy episode, the disturbing moments of the “Road To…” series continue as Brian and Stewie head to Las Vegas. “Roads To Vegas” sees Brian win tickets to see Celine Dion in Las Vegas, but Stewie convinces Brian to use his new teleportation device. It doesn’t work, so Brian and Stewie take a plane instead, not realizing the machine cloned them and sent the clones to Las Vegas, meaning there are now two each of them.

Only Stewie and the clone Brian survive in the very disturbing conclusion.

This switch causes problems as one version of Brian and Stewie have terrible luck in Vegas and lose money while the others are successful but end up losing their money to the other two, meaning mobsters put out a hit on them. What makes this disturbing is that one version of Brian becomes suicidal, and the other version of Stewie ends up with a gun to his head by the mafia. By the end, only Stewie and the clone Brian survive in the very disturbing conclusion.

23 Coma Guy

Season 18, Episode 17

“Coma Guy” is a disturbing Family Guy episode because it shows Peter Griffin on the brink of death and Lois making the decision to let him go. The episode starts as strange as expected, with Lois wanting Peter to learn how to read and telling him to start with George Orwell’s 1984. He misunderstands and starts listening to Van Halen’s 1884 instead. This leads to a confrontation with the Giant Chicken, and Peter ends up in a coma.

While Lois is trying to decide whether to unplug the life support machines, Peter dreams of several departed characters and is asked to cross over to the other side. However, humorously, he refuses when he sees there is no Wi-Fi password and wakes up right before Lois can pull the plug. It wasn’t over because Lois resigned herself to this fate and still considered leaving him. It remains very dark and disturbing to the last moment.

22 Quagmire’s Quagmire

Season 12, Episode 3

What makes the Family Guy episode “Quagmire’s Quagmire” so disturbing is that it almost seems to make light of domestic abuse and violence. Quagmire is always a character with no kinks that he won’t sample, and his actions have created some of the most disturbing moments in the animated adult series. What makes this Family Guy episode so disturbing, even more so than others, is that Quagmire is who is on the wrong end of the kinks, and in this case, it is far over the line concerning domestic abuse.

When Quagmire admits he prefers to be in control, it makes light of the subject matter.

In this episode, Quagmire meets a new woman named Sonya, who is repairing his computer. The two agree to go out on a date when she sees the porn on his computer and thinks they have a lot in common. However, when Quagmire shows up at the bar with a black eye, it turns out Sonya’s kink is being abusive and controlling. It takes his friends, including Joe in his role as a police officer, to save him from Sonya. When Quagmire admits he prefers to be in control, it makes light of the subject matter.

21 New Kidney In Town

Season 9, Episode 10

There has been more than one episode where Peter Griffin is at death’s door. There was also the very notorious episode where Brian actually dies. This episode takes both of those ideas and threatens them in the same episode. As expected with Peter Griffin, he does something very stupid and almost dies because of it when he drinks kerosene. It causes immediate kidney failure, and he has to have a transplant, or he will die.

Lois is not a match for him, and she won’t allow their kids to consider it. However, in what makes little sense, Brian the dog is a perfect match for Peter’s kidneys. However, since a dog’s kidney is smaller, Brian would have to donate both of them, which would likely kill him, and if it doesn’t work, it could kill Peter as well. When Peter and Brian were saying goodbye before the surgery, it was distressing and very dark.

20 Fresh Heir

Season 12, Episode 14

Like a surprising number of Family Guy episodes, season 12, episode 14, “Fresh Heir” has an incestuous-based premise, as Peter attempts to marry his son, Chris, to get his hands on the Pewterschmidt fortune, to which Chris is the heir. Peter Griffin is a terrible dad, who has been seen many times before and most fans of the show simply accept that as part of the comedy of Family Guy. However, this took his bad parenting into a new and even more disturbing area.

Family Guy
isn’t exactly a show about learning lessons, but “Fresh Heir” is a tough one to stomach.

Even though it’s already something of a weird and dark narrative, what makes “Fresh Heir” one of the most offensive Family Guy episodes is due to how he tries to win his own son’s love. Peter kills an innocent child and then proposes to Chris with Lois’s ring. Family Guy isn’t exactly a show about learning lessons, but “Fresh Heir” is a tough one to stomach.

19 The 2000-Year-Old Virgin

Season 13, Episode 6

Religion is another subject that Family Guy has never shied away from when it comes to offensive humor, and season 13, episode 6, “The 2000-Year-Old Virgin” is no different. The episode follows Jesus as he tricks men into believing he’s a virgin so he can sleep with their wives, alienating a whole religious group by depicting Jesus Christ as an absolute sleazeball who emotionally manipulates women.

Though Family Guy isn’t the only sitcom that has religion in its sights, few are as quick to depict messiahs and prophets as sleazebags. This episode caused a significant amount of backlash among the Christian community. While some think Family Guy went too far with such jokes, it is a sign of the bold and fearless nature of the series that they are willing to tackle any subject matter.

18 Brian Griffin’s House Of Payne

Season 8, Episode 15

Season 8, episode 15, doesn’t alienate any kind of religious group nor does it make fun of catastrophic real-life events, so there’s no guilt to bear if “Brian Griffin’s House of Payne” encourages some laughs. However, it’s still one of the most offensive Family Guy episodes, as it follows the whole Griffin family essentially treating Stewie like a ragdoll.

Seeing a baby subjected to such violent acts is hard to watch even for a cartoon.

After Meg and Chris accidentally injure Stewie by knocking him down the stairs, the blame keeps getting passed around, which leads to Peter making Lois unknowingly run her baby over. Stewie has been shown to be no ordinary baby as he is an evil genius at times and has even murdered people in the past. However, he still looks like a baby and seeing a baby subjected to such violent acts is hard to watch even for a cartoon.

17 Con Heiress

Season 17, Episode 8

This offensive Family Guy episode delves into the long-running relationship between Chris and Herbet, the perverted man who doesn’t hide his attraction to the teenager. When Herbert confuses Peter for a teenager and becomes sexually attracted to him, Chris gets jealous and fights with his father for Herbert’s attention. Though Family Guy indulges in this kind of storytelling, the show has never felt more wrong than this entry.

Herbert is a funny side character in the cartoon even if the entire joke behind the character is very dark. However, whenever the show focuses too much on him and tries to make him a more fleshed-out character, it is a lot harder to ignore those aspects. Herbert is meant to be someone who is creepy and lends some dark humor to the show, but this storyline simply gave him too much credit as a character.

16 Brian The Closer

Season 13, Episode 4

Season 13, episode 4, “Brian the Closer” sees every character indulging in their absolute worst traits. The episode is full of negativity, whether it’s planning to murder spouses, conning friends, or animal abuse, even if Brian is as anthropomorphic as it comes. Firstly, Peter refuses to pay for Brian’s facial injury, for which he is accountable, as he caused an accident which smashed out all of the dog’s teeth.

Darkest of all, Bonnie buys a home on a cliff edge because it will be easier to roll Joe to his death.

In one of the rare times Quagmire is a decent human being and friend by fixing Brian’s face, Brian responds by conning him, selling him a horrible home with countless problems. Brian is shown to be a self-centered and pathetic character on many occasions, but this episode risks making him too unlikeable. However, darkest of all, Bonnie buys a home on a cliff edge because it will be easier to roll Joe to his death.

15 Seahorse Seashell Party

Season 10, Episode 2

When Fox did a crossover event with hurricane-themed episodes of Family Guy, American Dad!, and The Cleveland Show, Family Guy’s entry in “Night of the Hurricane” took a strange turn and led to one of the darkest Family Guy episodes. Stuck in the house during the storm, Brian decides to take magic mushrooms and has a bad trip where he imagines terrifying monsters and gory torture scenes with him struggling to get a grip on reality.

Interestingly, it makes for one of the best Stewie and Brian Family Guy episodes as Stewie tries to guide his friend through the ordeal. There’s a lot of fun to be had with the surrealist animation as Brian hallucinates, but it’s more disturbing than funny, often evoking upsetting themes and playing on the paranoia of unfortunate experiences with recreational drugs.

14 No Meals On Wheels

Season 5, Episode 14

Family Guy embraces the fact that it is completely unrealistic, often pointing out that Peter’s many adventures are just not financially feasible. The audience just goes along with the adventures, but it gets hard when Peter is so outwardly meanspirited. After Peter receives a financial windfall in season 5, episode 14, “No Meals on Wheels,” he uses it to open a restaurant. Unfortunately, he struggles to maintain a loyal clientele, leading Joe to step in and make it the go-to hangout spot for his friends.

While the show often forces Joe to be the butt of many jokes, it feels particularly out-of-hand in this incredibly offensive
Family Guy
episode.

To Peter’s dismay, Joe’s friends were all paraplegic. Believing that this would somehow further impact his business, Peter bars them from the establishment, prompting a fight between the friends. While the show often forces Joe to be the butt of many jokes, it feels particularly out-of-hand in this incredibly offensive Family Guy episode.

13 Stewie Is Enceinte

Season 13, Episode 12

Stewie and Brian teaming up for a wacky adventure is usually what makes for the best Family Guy episodes. However, this particular one takes their friendship into some uncomfortable and disgusting territories. When he becomes worried that he and Brian’s relationship is falling apart in season 13, episode 12 “Stewie is Enceinte,” Stewie secretly takes some of the dog’s DNA and impregnates himself with it, resulting in a troubling litter of dog-human hybrid creatures.

Brian and Stewie end up with way more kids than they can handle. Most of their offspring have birth defects, necessitating round-the-clock care that ill-prepared parents Brian and Stewie can’t afford. Eventually, they ditch their kids at an animal shelter. It’s a grim take on domestic mistreatment paired with a certain Cronenberg-like unpleasantness that will likely make viewers feel sick more than it will make them laugh.

12 Trading Places

Season 9, Episode 13

One of the common tropes of Family Guy is when the show takes well-worn high-concept tropes and explores it in its own dark comedic way. With this particular episode, they take on the idea of kids and parents switching places. Chris works at a brewery and Meg becomes a homemaker, while Peter and Lois go to high school in season 9, episode 13, “Trading Places,” to determine whether it’s easier to be an adult or a child.

It’s a not-so-fun shoe-on-the-other-foot scenario that may cut a little too close to home in some cases.

Chris ends up being so good at Peter’s job that he’s hired permanently. However, the stress of being the breadwinner of the house at such a young age gets to Chris, and he starts drinking heavily, having heart palpitations, and verbally abusing his family at every opportunity. It’s a not-so-fun shoe-on-the-other-foot scenario that may cut a little too close to home in some cases.

11 Death Is A B****

Season 2, Episode 6

Late comedian Norm MacDonald made one of the best guest-starring roles in Family Guy, voicing the surprisingly sarcastic Death. In the season 2 episode, “Death Is a B****,” Peter marks himself as diseased to evade a pricey hospital bill. However, this prompts a visit from Death himself, who later twists an ankle in pursuit of Peter. Peter must then temporarily assume Death’s duties while he is recovering.

While it’s overall fairly light-hearted, it deals with an incredibly heavy subject, particularly during the final sequence in which Peter must decide who to kill during a potentially fatal plane crash. This was one of the earlier episodes before Family Guy was canceled initially. While it had not fully settled into its dark comedy, it was episodes like this that dealt with death in a flippant way that made it clear Family Guy was edgier than the average network adult animated shows.

10 Partial Terms Of Endearment

Season 8, Episode 21

Family Guy has always been willing to touch on controversial subject matter, but it is often criticized for not dealing with these storylines in a worthwhile way. In the episode, Lois is asked by friends to be a surrogate mother. She gets pregnant, and then the friends who were going to raise the baby die, so Lois has to decide whether to raise it herself or get an abortion. It’s a scathingly sardonic episode with a premise that doesn’t feel fit for a comedy series.

Fox refused to broadcast the episode and requested that Adult Swim not air it, either.

While it is available on home media, season 8’s “Partial Terms of Endearment” is the only banned Family Guy episode and has never been allowed to air in the United States. Fox refused to broadcast the episode and requested that Adult Swim not air it, either. Ironically, this likely drew more attention to the episode than if Fox had just aired it.

9 Airport ’07

Season 5, Episode 12

A loose Family Guy spoof of the classic 1980s comedy Airplane!, “Aiport ’07” sees Peter and the gang stage an airplane hijacking to portray Quagmire as a hero of aviation, thereby reinstating his pilot position from which he was fired. Things don’t go according to plan, though Quagmire saves the day at the last second.

Memorable thanks to a cameo from the late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, “Airport ’07” draws a few uncomfortable parallels to the September 11 attacks but that is hardly where most of the dark humor comes from. The most shocking gag in the show is its out-of-place “Prom Night Dumpster Baby” cutaway joke which makes light of teenage girls discarded newborn babies like garbage. While many fans often complain about Family Guy‘s overuse of musical moments, they are especially hard to watch with subject matter like this.

8 Halloween On Spooner Street

Season 9, Episode 4

Chris and Meg go to a party with the hopes of finding someone to hook up with in “Halloween on Spooner Street.” However, they unwittingly hook up with each other, and after being initially horrified by the revelation, they decide to just enjoy the fact that they hooked up, despite it being incestuous. Chris and Meg can often be some of the most off-putting characters on the show and this is an episode that just cements that.

Not only does the storyline feel very forced in its way to a very obvious punchline, but there are a lot of racial jokes made in order to reach that moment that feel lazy and ugly.

Meanwhile, Peter and Joe develop a habit of pranking Quagmire. Sick of their antics, Quagmire takes them for a near-fatal ride in a Japanese World War 2-era fighter plane. Not only does the storyline feel very forced in its way to a very obvious punchline, but there are a lot of racial jokes made in order to reach that moment that feel lazy and ugly.

7 Brian & Stewie

Season 8, Episode 17

Though it is a common tradition of sitcoms, there can be some truly terrible TV bottle episodes if done poorly. Such is the case with Family Guy‘s experimental episode “Brain & Stewie.” The episode’s titular duo of Brian and Stewie is trapped in a bank vault over a weekend in the extra-long 150th episode of Family Guy. The lack of cutaway gags and location changes puts the focus squarely on the characters, allowing for some uncharacteristic soul-searching.

The darkest point in the episode is when Stewie finds a gun in Brian’s safe deposit box and Brian reveals his dark reasons for keeping it. Unflinchingly morbid, “Brian & Stewie” strays from the show’s typical laugh-a-minute routine, forcing viewers through an uncomfortable emotional gauntlet. It is admirable that the show wanted to try something new, but it feels like going dark just for the sake of it and having no real purpose.

6 Turban Cowboy

Season 11, Episode 15

Peter befriends a Muslim man named Mahmoud in season 11, episode 15, “Turban Cowboy,” and, since the most offensive stereotypes are indulged at every turn in Family Guy, Mahmoud turns out to be a radical extremist plotting an attack. To cement “Turban Cowboy” as one of the most offensive Family Guy episodes, it also features a gag about Peter killing a bunch of people at the Boston Marathon, airing just a couple of weeks before the tragic Boston Marathon bombings.

As the sharp writing of the show started to fade in later seasons, some of these jokes seemed like less of a commentary on stereotypes and more like simply reiterating them.

Family Guy has tackled stereotypes many times before on the show, but as the sharp writing of the show started to fade in later seasons, some of these jokes seemed like less of a commentary on stereotypes and more like simply reiterating them. Line-crossing to some and outright insensitive to others, “Turban Cowboy” showcased just how unafraid Family Guy is to make light of taboo subjects.