5 Worst Episodes of Family Guy, Ranked
Seth Macfarlane’s “Family Guy” has fallen hard. Yes, it’s always been a hodgepodge of jokes and random cut-aways, but at its core, the show remained funny. Additionally, the cast of “Family Guy” is one of the best in television history. But even their performances have become lazy and parodical.
“Family Guy” ran out of ideas years ago. Now, it seems like Macfarlane is deliberately tanking the show to see just how bad it can get. Either that or the show’s creator doesn’t have anything smart or funny left to say.
Today, we’re going to rank the 5 worst episodes the show has put out. Surprise surprise, many of which come from the later seasons of the show.
Before we get started, we’re going to leave “Life of Brian” out of this. Its low-bearing fruit and Tony Sirico being added to the cast of “Family Guy” made for a pleasant few episodes. Besides, who didn’t think Brian would come back eventually.
But I digress, so let’s jump into this.
5. Stewie Is Enceinte (Season 13, Episode 12)
“Stewie is Enceinte” pissed a lot of people off. It came out at that critical point in the later seasons when some were holding on for the show to regain some semblance of quality. But then this episode assassinated any hope that was left.
The episode features a falling out between BFFs Stewie and Brian. In order to save the relationship, Stewie results in drastic measures. The baby impregnates himself with Brian’s DNA.
Some may argue that shock humor is what built “Family Guy” up in the first place. But this episode felt so low-brow that it was embarrassing.
IMDB Rating
5/10
4. Road to India (Season 14, Episode 20)
Critics like to tear this episode apart for its racism and stereotyping of Indians. But this is “Family Guy,” a cartoon, so we’re not sure what they expected.
However, this episode does feature some of the laziest writing throughout the show’s history.
The jokes fall flat left and right, and it’s a prime example of how the cut-away formula can get so tiresome that a single episode can overuse it.
It’s incredible to see the chemistry Macfarlane can display between Stewie and Brian on their adventures (both characters he voices). Sometimes it feels like the creator doesn’t even need the cast of “Family Guy.” But this episode felt mundane and unfulfilling by the end.
IMDB Rating
7.1/10
3. Fresh Heir (Season 12, Episode 14)
If “Stewie is Enceinte” is low-brow, “Fresh Heir” is some hillbilly redneck shit. Actually, that’s giving it too much credit.
In “Fresh Heir” Peter wants to marry his son to inherit his father-in-law’s fortune. As you might expect, people were pissed, again. But they were pissed for the wrong reasons, again.
Sure, the premise is dumb. A dad who wants to marry his son is strange, disturbing, and likely will offend plenty of people. But my real issue is to see how devolved the characters have become.
Much like Homer from “The Simpsons,” Peter Griffin started out as the everyman dad. He made mistakes but had redemptive qualities that made him relatable. This episode was another example of how one of our favorite cartoon dads has become a deviant sociopath with no redemptive attributes at all.
There are no characters on “Family Guy.” Just evil, greed, lust, and dogshit.
IMDB Rating
5.2/10
2. Vestigial Peter (Season 12, Episode 2)
Seth Macfarlane hates his fanbase.
This episode is the equivalent of sitting on an airplane with a crying toddler behind you.
Its the stranger who’s talking loudly on their phone in a library.
This episode is 2020 in nutshell.
IMDB Rating
5.6/10
1.Seahorse Seashell Party (Season 10, Episode 2)
This episode is great — until it isn’t.
The Griffins are stuck inside due to a hurricane. Brian gets high on shrooms, Stewie baby-sits him, and Meg finally opens up about being the butt of everyone’s jokes.
On paper, this episode is solid. The cast of “Family Guy” delivers a hilarious yet heart-wrenching performance. And Brian’s trip is ecstatic madness. But where this episode sucks is in its ending.
Meg exposes everyone in her family as being vain, self-absorbed assholes that only bully her because they’re all deeply upset with their own lives. Each Griffin realizes she’s right and doesn’t know how to cope with it.
Then, Meg realizes her family needs someone to rack on or they can’t survive. So she admits that although she is technically right, she’ll say she’s wrong. The family then resorts back to “shut-up Megs” and fart in her face.
I don’t know what it is about this one. But at the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I think it’s because the ending feels too cynical. Yes, even for an adult satire show like “Family Guy” it’s too cynical.
This episode dangles the “high-road,” an actual message in front of you, and then farts all over it. No, we didn’t need a Charlie Brown-Esque speech to tie everything together. But something feels fundamentally wrong about the argument this episode is making. It’s enough to make me hate it.
IMDB Rating
6.4/10