Family Guy is readying to return to FOX with its 22nd season, so now is the best time to look back on the animated series’ long history to figure out which are the best episodes overall! Family Guy has been running for a very long time, and is now much different from how it all began all those years ago. The series has survived cancellation, and has since become one of the pillars of FOX’s Sunday night animated programming for many years since. But as the seasons have rolled on, there have been all kinds of experimental episodes and humor that might have gone under the radar.
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Family Guy might have had an early golden era where DVD sales saved it from its cancellation, but there are still many episodes throughout the year that new or potentially lapsed fans should check out. This list narrows it down to one best episode each particular season, so your rankings could end up being much different than the ones seen here as it’s more of a chronological list than a full ranking of the best of the best.
Read on to see which of the Family Guy episodes stand out the most across its first 21 seasons, and let us know which are you favorites in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!
Season 1 – “Chitty Chitty Death Bang”
Episode 3, Original Air Date – April 18, 1999
Family Guy Season 1 definitely seems a lot more subdued than the current era of the animated sitcom, but the first standout episode of the series that teased what kind of humor we would get to see was “Chitty Chitty Death Bang.” Taking a story about Meg not being able to fit in (back when Meg’s stories were in her favor) and then twisting it to eventually being about narrowly avoiding a cult all while Stewie celebrates his first birthday, it’s a mix of the kinds of stories that fans would get to see later.
Season 2 – “Da Boom”
Episode 3, Original Air Date – December 26, 1999
Family Guy Season 2 quickly entered the golden years of the series that catapulted its DVD sales to massive numbers, and it was due to the strength of early on hooks like “Da Boom.” Imagining Quahog going through a full apocalypse due to Y2K, this classic episode gave the franchise many of its running jokes such as the Giant Chicken Fight, the first of its live-action cutaway with a Dallas reference, and Peter eating all of the dried food is still just a memorable gag after all this time.
Season 3 – “Brian Wallows and Peter’s Swallows”
Episode 17, Original Air Date – January 17, 2002
When you think of the real Family Guy “classics,” one of them is without a doubt “Brian Wallows and Peter’s Swallows.” Though there had been Brian focused episodes before this, but this was the first one that truly tapped into his forlorn love life. It had yet to be twisted in the way fans would see in later seasons (and has one of the first memorable singing performances from Seth McFarlane), and ultimately has one of the most emotional finales in the series to date as he lived out his and Pearl’s final days in virtual reality. It also has a compellingly sweet B story as Peter ends up growing attached to birds in his beard and has to let them go.
Season 4 – “PTV”
Episode 14, Original Air Date – November 6, 2005
“PTV” was the first real standout of the Family Guy post-cancellation comeback as the animated series addressed all of the complaints that the FCC had had against them over the prior seasons. Taking the idea of being censored for its wild content to the next level, this was the first episode of the comeback with a memorable song, and was a statement that the show was clearly here to say the second time around. Decades later and they were definitely proven right.
Season 5 – “Meet the Quagmires”
Episode 18, Original Air Date – May 20, 2007
“Meet the Quagmires” was a strong finale for Family Guy Season 5 as it featured both a return from Death, and a Back to the Future parody as Peter and Brian went back to the past and end up making Lois and Quagmire be the ones who got together. The high concept episodes are what really make Family Guy continue to stand out over the years, and this was one of the first time travel episodes we’d see that really explored the consequences of it in a fun way.
Season 6 – “Blue Harvest”
Episode 1, Original Air Date – September 23, 2007
Family Guy Season 6 has a few event episodes that make it stand out as a season from the others overall, but “Blue Harvest” should get a lot of credit for being a fully committed spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Not only does it result in some now classic gags such as Peter and Chris trying to get a couch through a door, but it honestly serves as a great retelling of the Star Wars story overall. It’s also the strongest of the three specials, and continues to stand out as just one of the best productions in the series overall.
Season 7 – “I Dream of Jesus”
Episode 2, Original Air Date – October 5, 2008
Although Family Guy Season 7 has some episodes that could potentially be more memorable than this one, but “I Dream of Jesus” makes it on the list for introducing Peter’s love of The Trashmen’s “Surfin Bird.” While the actual story for the episode admittedly isn’t the best, the “Surfin Bird” running gag turned out to be so memorable that it continued to be referenced in later seasons as one of Peter’s most defining qualities. For that alone, you kind of have to see the origin for it.
Season 8 – “Road to the Multiverse”
Episode 1, Original Air Date – September 27, 2009
It may not be the first of the “Road to” specials, but “Road to the Multiverse” has to be one of the best of Brian and Stewie’s adventure episodes in Family Guy’s run overall. Not only does it allow for some excellent jokes such as the universe where everyone has to poop right now, but there’s plenty of visual gags leading to Robot Chicken references, Disney references, and even a live-action version of Brian and Stewie. It was also the first special episode really opening up Family Guy’s science fiction and it would pay off much later.
Season 9 – “Road to the North Pole”
Episode 7, Original Air Date – December 12, 2010
“Road to North Pole” is hands down the best Christmas special in Family Guy overall. Not only does it get to tap into the inherent greatness of Brian and Stewie’s “Road to” specials, but it also is a full blown, hour long musical with plenty of memorable songs. It all leads to a Santa Claus reveal that’s appropriately cynical for the animated sitcom as he’s been beaten down by desires over the years. It’s just got a lot of great ideas executed well throughout and nine seasons in that’s a pretty big deal.
Season 10 – “Back to the Pilot”
Episode 5, Original Air Date – November 13, 2011
Season 10 also is another wave of episodes packed with its fair share of high concept experiments, but the standout is “Back to the Pilot.” Taking the core of the “Road to” specials by following Brian and Stewie as they go back in time, it leads to some great fan service for long time watchers of the series by sharing a fun outside in look at Family Guy’s first episode. It opens up to some pretty fun commentary on the early productions, and uses that fan service for its science fiction rather than be weighed down by it.
Season 11 – “Yug Ylimaf”
Episode 4, Original Air Date – November 11, 2012
You’ve definitely noticed by now that a lot of Family Guy‘s best episodes are the Stewie and Brian adventures, and it’s something that the team behind the series noticed by this point too as they are also the ones where the team gets to flex their more creative muscles. This episode twists the idea of time travel (by using Brian’s scumbag nature to screw it all up in the first place) by rewinding time around the duo, and it leads to a wild climax where Brian has to fix it all before Stewie is unborn. It’s a wild one that’s more fun than funny, but a standout.
Season 12 – “Life of Brian”
Episode 6, Original Air Date – November 24, 2013
Okay, so this isn’t the best episode of the season nor does it belong on any real “Best of” lists for Family Guy. But “Life of Brian” is here because it was the most notorious episode of the series for a long, long time (even more so than its banned episodes in the past). It’s wild to think that a show with plenty of jokes that haven’t aged well over the years had the most fan backlash from the episode where Brian was killed off. It lasted for quite a few episodes too, and made fans believe that Brian was going to be gone forever. It’s a part of Family Guy history, infamous or otherwise.
Season 13 – “The Simpsons Guy”
Episode 1, Original Air Date – September 28, 2014
This is another one of the cases where “The Simpsons Guy” isn’t the best episode of Season 13, but it deserves to be here for its place in Family Guy history. This crossover brings the two animated sitcom juggernauts together for a full episode, and it’s the first real one that The Simpsons cast was involved with. It’s more Family Guy than a The Simpsons episode, but it’s far removed from the more brutal shots Family Guy had taken at The Simpsons in the past. It’s one of those ones you kind of just have to watch.
Season 14 – “A Lot Going On Upstairs”
Episode 15, Original Air Date – March 6, 2016
The Brian and Stewie dynamic is one of the most evolved and explored relationships in Family Guy, but “A Lot Going On Upstairs” adds an interesting new wrinkle to it all. When Stewie starts having nightmares, Brian eventually discovers that it’s because Stewie’s most concerned about how Brian feels about him. It’s a new level of their close friendship, and it’s something that would be fleshed out even more in this direction in future season as the two of them fully open up to one another. Also, a rootily toot toot.
Season 15 – “The Peter Principal”
Episode 18, Original Air Date – April 30, 2017
Season 15 was one of the weaker years overall, but thankfully it rounded out towards the end with a rather fun episode for Peter and Meg. Peter and Meg stories can vary wildly over what kind of connections the two form, but this one allows Peter to both have a wacky job (where he takes over the school) and actually be a good father to his daughter by helping her against bullies. Naturally it’s not long before they take things too far, but it’s a rare win for Meg in the later seasons. Which doesn’t happen often at this point in the series’ run.
Season 16 – “Dog Bites Bear”
Episode 11, Original Air Date – January 14, 2018
The later Family Guy seasons often get criticized for losing the heart and character seen in the first few years, but “Dog Bites Bear” proves the series can hit still strong emotional beats when it really wants to. When Brian kills Rupert, he and Stewie go on an adventure to put the toy bear to rest. But it’s soon revealed that Stewie truly cares for Rupert because he’s afraid of losing Brian someday, and Brian learns to respect this childlike side of Stewie as a result. Also, the Boys II Men needle drop at the end is both hilarious and did make me unexpectedly cry when rewatching the episode years later. It’s just frickin’ sweet.
Season 17 – “You Can’t Handle the Booth!”
Episode 16, Original Air Date March 24, 2019
Another one of the fun concepts Family Guy experimented with in the later years was how the Griffins themselves were actually actors in the “Family Guy” TV show, and it all came to a head with “You Can’t Handle the Booth!” that sees them recording the commentary for the DVD release of an episode. It leads to Lois finding out Peter makes more money, was once married to Sarah Paulson, and then a full breaking of the fourth wall as the voice cast themselves tells the Griffin family they’re all fakes anyway. All the while some wild random episode plays out visually on screen.
Season 18 – “Coma Guy”
Episode 17, Original Air Date – April 26, 2020
This episode might have an extended shout out to Van Halen’s “Panama” that goes on for a bit too long, but it ends up exploring a new dynamic for the Griffin family as Peter realizes they tried to pull the plug on them. He ultimately forgives them before it all comes to an end, but the real highlight of the episode is Peter’s coma itself. It’s a wild slate of visuals filled with more recent era callbacks (such as Peter’s “It insists upon itself” critique of The Godfather), and stands out from the rest of the season because of its experimental nature.
Season 19 – “PeTerminator”
Episode 13, Original Air Date – March 7, 2021
While it’s not the highly experimental episode of the season with lots of fan service (“Cutawayland”), nor is it the most full of interesting character developments (“Fecal Matters”), but “PeTerminator” stands out above the rest for just being packed to the brim with tons of jokes. It’s a fully committed parody of Terminator that still takes place within the normal world of the series, has a pretty on point fart gag, and ends with an honestly laugh out loud moment of Peter jumping towards a high tree branch while Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes the Hotstepper” plays.
Season 20 – “The Fatman Always Rings Twice”
Episode 5, Original Air Date – November 28, 2021
Family Guy Season 20 had a fair share of notable episodes, but once again the big standout is the experimental one of the season, “The Fatman Always Rings Twice.” The detective noir inspired episode takes the characters and puts them into a black and white new story with several fun jokes about the noir genre itself. It might not be as outwardly hilariously funny as some of the episodes on this list from the earlier season, but that’s admittedly the state of these more recent episodes. The more interesting ideas just stand out.
Season 21 – “The Munchurian Candidate”
Episode 4, Original Air Date – October 16, 2022
Okay so the final episode of this list is unfortunately another example of being here simply because it’s become so infamous. There hasn’t been a lot of talk about recent Family Guy seasons outside of the occasional meme that happens to fit with a situation, but this one really broke through. It’s where Lois hypnotizes Peter into performing an activity, and he eventually performs that activity on Lois’ mother. It leads to one of the most standout performances from Alex Borstein’s Lois that she’s had since, ever, and it leads to an end joke that somehow gets even wilder. It’s just something you have to see to be ready for whatever could be coming next.
