Family Guy and American Dad fans are in the midst of one of their most heated debates yet as they try and figure out which is the better character between Family Guy‘s Lois Griffin and American Dad‘s Francine Smith. Both Family Guy and American Dad are celebrating big milestones in their tenure as not only are the two series some of the most streamed shows of the last year, but they both reached their own respective 25th and 20th anniversary milestones within the past year as well. So it’s been a perfect time to look back at both franchises to see how they’ve developed.
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Because while Family Guy and American Dad might be sharing a universe sparked from Seth MacFarlane’s creations, they couldn’t be any more different from one another. That’s even truer now after all these seasons, and both Lois and Francine have gone on to have wildly different characteristics. In fact, it becomes tougher to decide which of the two might be the better character as they serve entirely different functions. But with @ReignofPride sparking this debate on X, fans have shared their opinions.
Family Guy & American Dad Fans Debate Lois vs. Francine
While animation fans are showing love to other sitcom favorites like Marge Simpson from The Simpsons and Linda Belcher from Bob’s Burgers, it seems like the overwhelming favor in this debate is leaning towards Francine. That’s not entirely surprising as they are very different kinds of characters. Lois in Family Guy serves as the voice of reason for Peter, and is often meant to be the “wet blanket” that “spoils” Peter’s wacky shenanigans. When in most of the situations, she really is making sure he stops before doing something truly terrible. That’s her function in the series, and that unfortunately makes her a bit unlikable in the grander scope of the series.
In a show like Family Guy where the wacky stuff is put at the forefront of the episodes, Lois being the one to shut it down often makes her a point of contention. But in the evolution of her character, she bites back more against Peter and his nonsense in the later seasons. She’s just more of an aggressive presence overall, and that’s sort of the base for the entire Griffin family as a whole. They’re all just more aggressive and just a bit meaner than they used to be.
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Why Francine Is Better Than Lois
Francine is just an entirely different concept from the ground up. Rather than being a voice of reason for Peter, in the earlier episodes she’s shown to be someone who offers a lot of blind support for Stan. But like American Dad as a whole, she began to change in many ways as the stories and situations got wackier. She started to reveal more of how fun of a person she was, and keeps that party vibe going despite how long it’s been since she was at her partying peak.
Unlike Lois who’s only interest is “groceries” for a long time, Francine became a fully fleshed out character with her own desires, interests, and dreams. Every episode makes it clear that she’s got something going on even when not on screen, so it’s no surprise that fans have gravitated more to her than to Lois after all these years. Lois might have partied when she was young, but she carries a regret and near hatred over the fact that she started a family. But Francine? She’ll do what she wants either way.
Who do you think is better between Lois and Francine? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments!
