The Griffin family watches TV together in their first appearance. The top image is from MacFarlane's hand-drawn pilot; the bottom image is from the completed episode.
"Death Has a Shadow" is the series premiere and the first episode of the first season of the American animated television series Family Guy. Written by series creator Seth MacFarlane and directed by Peter Shin, the episode aired as a sneak peek on Fox in the United States on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII. In this episode, Peter loses his job after drinking too much at a stag party, causing him to fall asleep at work. He signs up for welfare to keep his wife Lois from finding out but gets much more money than he expected. After spending his money foolishly, Lois finds out and Peter decides to dump it from a blimp at the Super Bowl. He is arrested for welfare fraud and must await his family's rescue, as well as various performers who would later serve as frequent recurring and guest voices on the series.
The basis for "Death Has a Shadow", as well as Family Guy as a whole, was MacFarlane's thesis film The Life of Larry, created in 1995 while he was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design. A sequel was conceived in 1996 called Larry & Steve, which aired in 1997 as a segment of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons. Both shorts caught the attention of Fox, who contacted MacFarlane in 1998 to develop a series based on the films. A hand-drawn pilot was created by MacFarlane with a budget of $50,000, which led to the series being accepted for production and the pilot being remade and extended into its broadcast form.
Critical responses to the episode were mostly positive. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed by 22 million viewers during its original airing in the United States. In the tenth season episode "Back to the Pilot", which premiered on November 13, 2011, Brian and Stewie go back in time to the events of this episode.[2]
Plot
As Lois prepares dinner, Stewie puts the final touches on his mind-control device, only for it to be taken away from him by Lois, who will not allow "toys" at the table. Later, Peter asks Lois for permission to attend an upcoming stag party. After he promises he would not drink alcohol, Lois allows him to go. However, Peter forgets his promise to Lois and plays such drinking games as "Drink the beer". He goes to work the next day with a hangover and falls asleep on the job as a safety inspector in a toy factory. Peter misses dangerous objects such as a butcher knife, a surge protector, a gasoline can, razor blades, a porcupine, a toaster with forks inside, and plug-in water. The company receives bad press after releasing unsafe toy products, and Peter is promptly fired by Mr. Weed.
At dinner, Peter breaks the news to his children but decides to keep it from Lois. He tries different jobs, such as cereal mascot and sneeze guard, but fails miserably. Brian pressures him to tell her the truth, but all he manages to do is to tell Lois how fat she is. Brian insists that Peter must look out for his family's welfare. With the word "welfare" in his mind, Peter soon applies for government assistance at a welfare office. But a processing error creates a weekly check for $150,000, which is based on a remark former President Ronald Reagan made of a woman called Linda Taylor from Chicago, Illinois, calling her a "welfare queen" by making assumptions of earning such proportions from government benefits in 1974.[3] Telling Lois he received a big raise, Peter spends his money on many foolish and extravagant things, such as renting the Statue of David, treating Meg to cosmetic surgery and even going so far as to surround his house with a moat to protect them from the Black Knight.
Unfortunately, Lois is given the welfare check by the mail lady and storms at Peter for lying to her. Peter decides to return the money to the taxpayers by dumping it from a blimp during Super Bowl XXXIII with Brian. After the commotion they cause, they are immediately shot down.
Eventually, Lois receives the bad news and goes to court, still angry at Peter for lying to her in the first place. After Peter apologizes for lying to Lois and accepting the money instead of reporting the welfare error, the judge sentences him to 24 months in prison for welfare fraud. Lois tries to explain he is not that bad and she loves him and insists that, no matter what, she will always stand by her husband. The judge agrees and sends her to jail with him. Stewie then whips out his mind control device and forces the judge into letting his father go free and get his job back.
Peter states that he has learned his lesson and will never commit welfare fraud again. Instead, he is going to try for such things as a minority scholarship, a sexual harassment suit, and a disability claim.[4]
MacFarlane initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation under the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[5] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry,[5] which was later submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera, which led to MacFarlane being hired by the company.[6] In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to The Life of Larry entitled Larry and Steve, which featured a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. The short was broadcast in 1997 as one of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons.[5]
In 1997, MacFarlane planned to develop the Larry shorts into a short film series for Mad TV; however, the project was abandoned because the show did not possess a large enough budget to make any kind of animation.[7] As development continued, the genre gradually shifted to a prime-time series,[7] while the characters of Larry and Steve formed the basis for Peter and Brian, respectively.[8][9] During the year, a Hanna-Barbera development executive introduced MacFarlane to alternative comedians Mike Darnell and Leslie Collins in an attempt to get Hanna-Barbera back into the prime-time business.[7] The executives were unimpressed; a year later, MacFarlane contacted Collins at Fox; she arranged a meeting with him and the company executives to create a series based on the characters entitled Family Guy.[7][8]
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane wrote the episode.
Production of the pilot for Family Guy began in 1998,[8] and took six months.[6] Recalling the experience in an interview with The New York Times, MacFarlane stated,
I spent about six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot.
—Seth MacFarlane, interview with The New York Times[12]
For "Death Has a Shadow", several changes were made from the original pilot pitch. For the series, Lois was a redhead, as opposed to the original pilot, where she was a blonde.[18][19][20] In the original pilot, Lois discovered that Peter lost his job, and by the end of the episode, he fails to get a new one nor does he apply for welfare.[19] The idea for Peter to apply for welfare and unintentionally become wealthy was suggested by executive producerDavid Zuckerman, who suggested the idea in order to add a larger amount of plot to the episode.[18][19] Several sequences and gags were integrated into the episode from creator MacFarlane's 1995 thesis film The Life of Larry, including the sequence where the Griffin family sees Philadelphia, and a brief cutaway where Peter farts for the first time at the age of 30.[18]
MacFarlane was cast as four of the show's main characters: Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin, and Glenn Quagmire.[21] MacFarlane chose to voice these characters himself, believing it would be easier to portray the voices he already envisioned than for someone else to attempt it.[11] MacFarlane drew inspiration for the voice of Peter from a security guard he overheard talking while attending the Rhode Island School of Design.[22] Stewie's voice was based on the voice of English actor Rex Harrison,[23] especially his performance in the 1964 musical My Fair Lady.[24] MacFarlane uses his regular speaking voice when playing Brian.[11] The voice of Quagmire was inspired by fast-speaking radio advertising spokesmen from the 1950s.[25] MacFarlane also provides voices for various other recurring and one-time characters, including news anchor Tom Tucker and Lois' father Carter Pewterschmidt.[26]
Alex Borstein was cast as Lois Griffin, Tricia Takanawa, Loretta Brown, and Lois' mother Barbara Pewterschmidt.[27] Borstein was asked to provide a voice for the original pilot while she was working on MADtv. She had not met MacFarlane or seen any of his artwork and said it was "really sight unseen".[28] At the time, Borstein performed in a stage show in Los Angeles, in which she played a redheaded mother whose voice she had based on one of her cousins.[27][28] The voice was originally slower, but when MacFarlane heard it, he replied "Make it a little less [...] annoying...and speed it up, or every episode will last four hours".[27]Seth Green was chosen to play Chris Griffin and Neil Goldman.[26][29] Green stated that he did an impression of the "Buffalo Bill" character from the thriller film The Silence of the Lambs during his audition.[30] His main inspiration for Chris' voice came from envisioning how "Buffalo Bill" would sound if he were speaking through a public address system at a McDonald's.[31]Lacey Chabert was cast as Meg Griffin.[26] Chabert voiced Meg Griffin for the first production season (15 episodes), but due to a contractual agreement was never credited.[32] Chabert left the series because of time conflicts with schoolwork and her role on Party of Five,[33] and was replaced by Mila Kunis.[34]
Towards the end of the courtroom scene, the Kool-Aid Man is seen breaking through a wall, which later became a running gag in the series involving a certain character or breaking through a wall and Peter's job as a Mascot is a parody of the Cocoa Puffs commercial.[18]
During Peter's recount of his job search to Brian, the talent show flashback mirrors the setting from The Sound of Music and refers to the characters of the film, the von Trapp family.
Reception
"Another surreal and imaginative running gag involves Peter's attack of conscience. The devil on his shoulder instructs him to keep lying but when he turns to hear the angel's perspective no one appears. We cut to the small angel stuck in traffic on the conscience's highway. Later in the show the conscience arrives and Peter seeks his advice. So the small angel gets advice from the small devil on his shoulder and then turns to his other shoulder and again no angel appears. Cut to an even smaller angel stuck in traffic. Pretty memorable".
Robin Pierson, TV Critic describing his favorite joke of the episode [35]
The episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. In a 2008 review, Ahsan Haque of IGN rated the episode an 8.9/10, praising the integration of humor into the episode's storyline. Haque noted that the episode was "a very strong start to this long running classic series, and revisiting it serves as a reminder that unlike many other television shows, there are very few awkward moments, and much of the show's brilliance is immediately apparent."[36] In 2009, the site singled out "Death Has a Shadow" as a "strong start [to Family Guy]".[37]
Robin Pierson of The TV Critic gave the episode a mixed review, rating the episode a 67/100, calling it one of the most densely packed pilots on television. He mentioned that it was entertaining but said that there were many jokes that followed the quality-does-not-win-out-over-quantity saying.[35] He compared Peter to Homer Simpson and he compared the show to The Simpsons and King of the Hill. He criticized the amount of unfunny jokes while he praised the surreal moments.[35] At the end of his review he stated that Family Guy was a different kind of animated comedy which set out to do jokes that other cartoons couldn't do, also mentioning that the show had promised to become really funny.[35]
A more negative review came from Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker, who called the animation clunky, which he said made Hanna-Barbera's animation look state-of-the-art. Tucker also said in his review that he hoped that smart people would use the Family Guy half-hour to turn off the television set and start a debate over the air strikes in Kosovo. He also called the show "The Simpsons as conceived by a singularly sophomoric mind that lacks any reference point beyond other TV shows".[38] Even before it aired the pilot had received some criticism from the Parents Television Council, a watchdog; the creator of this website L. Brent Bozell III wrote that he initially speculated that Family Guy would be "pushing the envelope".[39] The episode was watched by 22.01 million people after the Super Bowl.
Family Guy is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois, their children, Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their anthropomorphic pet dog, Brian. Set in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, the show exhibits much of its humor in the form of metafictional cutaway gags that often lampoon American culture.
StewartGilligan "Stewie" Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by the series creator Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Griffin family, in the episode "Death Has a Shadow" on January 31, 1999. Stewie was created and designed by MacFarlane himself, who was asked to pitch a pilot to the Fox Broadcasting Company, based on The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve, two shorts made by MacFarlane featuring a middle-aged man named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve.
Christopher Cross "Chris" Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is the second of three children of Peter and Lois Griffin and is also the older brother of Stewie Griffin and the younger brother of Meg Griffin. He is voiced by the American actor, producer, and writer Seth Green and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Griffin family, in the episode "Death Has a Shadow" on January 31, 1999.
Alexandrea Borstein is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is best known for voicing Lois Griffin in the animated comedy series Family Guy (1999–present), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She gained further acclaim for starring as Susie Myerson in the comedy-drama series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023), which earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Peter Löwenbräu Griffin Sr. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American animated sitcom Family Guy. He is voiced by the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane, and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Griffin family, in the episode "Death Has a Shadow" on January 31, 1999. Peter was created and designed by MacFarlane himself. MacFarlane was asked to pitch a pilot to the Fox Broadcasting Company based on Larry & Steve, a short made by MacFarlane which featured a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. For the series, Larry was renamed Peter.
Lois Patrice Griffin is a fictional character from the American animated television series Family Guy who is part of the Griffin family. She is voiced by Alex Borstein and first appeared in the show's pilot episode, "Death Has a Shadow", on January 31, 1999. Writer Seth MacFarlane created and designed Lois after his 1995 student film, The Life of Larry, was picked up by 20th Century Fox for a series order. Lois is the matriarch of the Griffin family. She and her husband Peter have three children: Meg, Chris, and Stewie.
Brian Griffin is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom Family Guy. He is one of the main characters of the series and a member of the Griffin family. Created, designed, and voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is an anthropomorphic white labrador retriever who is the best friend of both Peter and Stewie and comic foil with the ability to speak, drive, and stand on two legs.
Cleveland Orenthal Brown Sr. is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family and is best known for his mild-mannered deadpan delivery. His established profession was that of a deli owner, before he switched over to being a postal worker after his return to Family Guy.
"Deep Throats" is the 23rd episode of season four of the television series Family Guy. The episode aired on Fox on April 9, 2006. It was written by Alex Borstein and directed by Greg Colton. Appalled at parking charges introduced by Mayor West, Brian decides to expose the corruption of the Mayor, despite the prospect of potentially destroying Meg's new career as the Mayor's intern. Meanwhile, Peter and Lois decide to participate in the Quahog community talent show with a folk singing act, as they did in the 1980s, but the couple becomes largely reliant on marijuana for inspiration and eventually fail the competition for their poor performance, despite their belief that they were singing well when under the influence of the drugs.
The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve are two animated short films created by Seth MacFarlane in the mid-1990s that eventually led to the development of the animated sitcom Family Guy. He originally created The Life of Larry as a thesis film in 1995 while attending the Rhode Island School of Design. His professor at RISD submitted MacFarlane's cartoon to Hanna-Barbera, where he was hired a year later.
The first season of Family Guy aired on Fox from January 31 to May 16, 1999, and consisted of only seven episodes, making it the shortest season to date. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, son Stewie and their anthropomorphic dog Brian, all of whom reside in their hometown of Quahog, a fictional city in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The show features the voices of series creator Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, and Lacey Chabert in the roles of the Griffin family. The executive producers for the first season were David Zuckerman and MacFarlane. It is also the only full season to feature Chabert, before she was replaced by Mila Kunis for the rest of the series' run, starting with the season two episode "Da Boom".
The Griffin family is a fictional family and main characters in the animated television series Family Guy, and who also appear in The Cleveland Show. The Griffins are a dysfunctional family consisting of the married couple Peter and Lois, their three children Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their anthropomorphic dog Brian. They live at 31 Spooner Street in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island. Their family car resembles a red seventh-generation Ford Country Sedan. They were created by Seth MacFarlane, in model of his two animated films, The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve. The family and the show itself debuted on January 31, 1999, after Super Bowl XXXIII, in the episode "Death Has a Shadow".
The fifth season of Family Guy first aired on the Fox network in eighteen episodes from September 10, 2006, to May 20, 2007, before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It premiered with the episode "Stewie Loves Lois" and finished with "Meet the Quagmires". The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stewie and Brian, the family pet, who reside in their hometown of Quahog, a fictional city in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The executive producers for the fifth season were David Goodman, Chris Sheridan, Danny Smith and series creator Seth MacFarlane. Sheridan and Goodman served as showrunners for the fifth season.
"Road to the Multiverse" is the first episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. Directed by Greg Colton and written by Wellesley Wild, the episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2009, along with the series premiere of The Cleveland Show. In "Road to the Multiverse", two of the show's main characters, baby genius Stewie and anthropomorphic dog Brian, both voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane, use an "out-of-this-world" remote control to travel through a series of parallel universes. They eventually end up in a world where dogs rule and humans obey. Brian becomes reluctant to return to his own universe, and he ultimately ends up breaking the remote, much to the dismay of Stewie, who soon seeks a replacement. The "Road to" episodes which have aired throughout various seasons of Family Guy were inspired by the Road to ... comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, though this episode was not originally conceived as a "Road to" show.
"Brian Griffin's House of Payne" is the 15th episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 28, 2010. The episode features Brian after he discovers an old script he had written that Stewie found in the basement, and subsequently pitches the show to television executives. The show is quickly and dramatically altered by the executives and James Woods, however, much to Brian's frustration, who nevertheless attempts to adapt to the new format. Meanwhile, Chris and Meg attempt to hide the fact that Stewie is unconscious, after they accidentally bump him down a flight of stairs in the house.
Night of the Hurricane is a 2011 crossover event on the Animation Domination lineup on Fox. The event involved the three animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane: The Cleveland Show,Family Guy andAmerican Dad!. The event depicts a hurricane which hits the towns of Stoolbend, Quahog and Langley Falls. The actual three-way crossover of the event occurs at the end on American Dad! with the three fathers of each family in the same scene.
"Back to the Pilot" is the 5th episode of the 10th season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, and the 170th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 13, 2011. In "Back to the Pilot", two of the show's main characters, Stewie and Brian, both voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane, use a time machine to travel back in time to the first episode of the series, "Death Has a Shadow". Trouble ensues, however, when Brian tells his former self about the September 11 attacks, causing the present to be dramatically changed, and ultimately resulting in an apocalyptic second American civil war. The two must then prevent themselves from travelling back in time in the first place, but soon realize that it will be much more difficult than they had originally thought.
Family Guy is an American animated comedy franchise created by Seth MacFarlane and originally developed for Fox. Consisting of two television series: Family Guy (1999–present) and The Cleveland Show (2009–2013), the franchise primarily focuses on the Griffin family and their friends and associates. The franchise also shares a fictional universe with American Dad! (2005–present), another series developed by MacFarlane with the same art style, to which it features numerous crossovers and shared characters.
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