There have been some very controversial Family Guy episodes, which is obvious considering the entire theme of the show is to make fun of everything. This is a show that has a recurring character who is an old man who has a lustful eye for a teenage boy. Quagmire does enough controversial things to offend almost anyone. The way the Griffin family treats their daughter, Meg, is offensive on almost every level, and the idea of Stewie always trying to kill his mother is hilariously dark. However, there are some episodes that push things a little too far, with one episode outright banned from airing on television.
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Here is a look at the seven most controversial episodes of Family Guy.
7) “The 2000-Year-Old Virgin”
The 13th season episode, The 2000-Year-Old Virgin was sure to offend an entire audience of Christians thanks to its depiction of Jesus Christ. While South Park has no problem with making Jesus a part of the show, even having him fight Santa Claus at one point, what Family Guy did was almost more offensive than that. Jesus is hanging out in Quahog because he doesn’t really want to go home to live with God in Heaven.
When Peter and the guys start hanging out with Jesus, he tells them he is still a virgin, so they decide to help him lose his virginity. When Peter agrees to hook Jesus up with Lois as a birthday/Christmas gift, he soon learns that Jesus isn’t a virgin and pulls this every year on his birthday. When Jesus pretends he was teaching them a lesson about temptation and runs, it is clear he was lying. It was a bold joke, and one that had every chance to backfire.
6) “Road to Germany’
Some of Family Guy’s most controversial episodes are also some of its best. In the case of “Road to Germany,” this was one that took a very uncomfortable situation and tried to find the humor in it. As Family Guy fans know, the “Road To” episodes are about Brian and Stewie and their wild sci-fi road trips, sometimes involving time travel. That happens here when they end up in World War II Germany.
However, what makes this a controversial Family Guy episode is that Mort Goldman accidentally travels back in time with them. As the show’s main Jewish character, he ends up tagging along with Brian and Stewie during the Holocaust, and the idea of joking about this event, with a Jewish character in tow, was misguided, but it was still highly praised despite the controversy.
5) “Turban Cowboy”
What makes “Turban Cowboy” such a controversial Family Guy episode is the idea that it is mocking people of the Muslim faith in a society that already mocks and fears them anyway. There was also a real-life situation that made this even more controversial. In the episode, Peter Griffin makes friends with a Muslim man named Mahmoud. However, Mahmoud turns out to be an extremist planning an attack.
That, in itself, makes this a hard episode to rewatch years later. However, what makes it worse is that there is a gag that shows Peter killing several people at the Boston Marathon. The actual Boston Marathon bombing happened a few weeks after the episode aired, which really slams home why this is one of the episodes most fans prefer not to revisit.
4) “Send in Stewie, Please”
Stewie has always been a supervillain in training. However, what makes “Send in Stewie, Please” a controversial Family Guy episode is that it portrays Stewie as more cold-blooded than he has ever been before. In this episode, Stewie is sent to see a child psychologist because of an altercation with another child at the preschool. Ian McKellen voices the child psychologist who tries to help Stewie.
Stewie notices things around the room, which clue him in on learning more about the man trying to get the child to open up about himself. He finally breaks through, as well, when Stewie admits he fakes his British accent and opens up about his insecurities. However, what happens next is shocking, as Pritchfield has a heart attack. He asks Stewie to hand him his heart medicine, but Stewie refuses and lets him die to hide the fact that he opened up to anyone. Watching Stewie let a man die to keep his secret was shocking and a highly controversial Family Guy moment.
3) “Partial Terms of Endearment”
Shockingly, “Partial Terms of Endearment” is the only banned Family Guy episode, and it was never allowed to be aired in the United States. That alone makes this one of the most controversial Family Guy episodes, much less one of the most controversial animated television episodes ever made.
Not only did Fox refuse to air “Partial Terms of Endearment,” but the network asked Adult Swim not to air it as well, making it one of the most infamous and sought-after episodes in history. The storyline sees Lois agree to be a surrogate for a couple, but when the couple decides, Lois has to decide whether she will keep the baby or have an abortion.
2) “Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q“
Family Guy has never made anything off-limits when it comes to getting a joke out of a situation. The show mines even the most traumatic and depressing situations for a laugh. However, there was one episode where they didn’t work, and it remains one of Family Guy’s most hated episodes. In “Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q,” Family Guy approached domestic abuse.
This is nothing to laugh about in any situation. However, Brenda Q is Quigmire’s sister, and it is her fiancé who is abusing her, both physically and psychologically. There could be a way to play the laughs, but still take the abuse seriously, but the problem is that the show didn’t really know what tone it wanted to take concerning the abusive relationship. The ending also didn’t quite hit the right note, either, and this episode was just a huge mistake.
1) “Life of Brian”
Easily, one of the most controversial Family Guy episodes remains one of the most hated by many fans. In Season 12, Family Guy aired the episode “Life of Brian,” and the series killed the beloved family dog. There is often a line said in Hollywood that you can kill men, women, and children, but don’t kill the dog, and when a show known for comedy did it, fans rebelled.
Brian was hit by a car, and he died as the Griffin family mourned him. The show then tried to replace Brian with a dog named Vinny, but fans refused to accept the new dog. This was an out of left field decision, and the show trying to get emotional backfired, because the laughs that came on the following episodes didn’t hit with Brian’s death still on everyone’s minds. The show finally had Brian return from the dead, but this was a controversial Family Guy episode that almost killed the show.
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