Family Guy: 10 Perfect Episodes Sci-Fi Fans Will Love

You might be surprised to find out that Family Guy has quite a lot of science-fiction throughout its nearly 30 year history so far. The adult animated series might be more focused on delivering jokes than telling compelling character stories or complicated narratives most of the time, but there are many episodes you can point to where the creative team really thought outside of the box. Utilizing the most out of being a cartoon where wacky things happen all the time, it’s also led to some wild sci-fi moments throughout its tenure so far. Especially when it comes to Stewie and Brian.

The Stewie and Brian pairing is where Family Guy truly shines as Stewie’s genius level intellect often puts them in some wild situations that no other dog or baby could possibly get into. It’s not just limited to them, however, as there are some sci-fi episodes that bring the entire family (and sometimes even the entire Family Guy universe) into the fold for entirely different kinds of experiences.

Below are ten different episodes (or specials) from across Family Guy’s 23 seasons so far that really tap into the world of science-fiction that fans of the genre will love. Read on for our suggestions for the ten episodes that really go all out with the genre, and let us know your favorites in the comments.

10). Not All Dogs Go to Heaven

Coming during Season 7, “Not All Dogs Go to Heaven” remains a rather controversial episode of Family Guy all these years later. Not because of the episode’s focus on Meg and her take on Christianity, but the fact that it was advertised as a massive stunt episode featuring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode does feature all of them in fun guest roles, but they are relegated to a few jokes in the B-plot where Stewie gets annoyed with dealing with them all day.

It’s a fun episode poking at the Star Trek fandom in general (and offers a cute look at the cast making fun of themselves), but it’s just not nearly as much as fans might have hoped to see from the episode itself. Still, it’s worth it to see the Star Trek love.

9). Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story

This one is technically a cheat as Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story was actually a DVD release that was later repackaged as three episodes of the series ending the fourth season. This is the first real time in the series that time travel was used as a crucial plot point (and not just used as a final gag to return everything back to normal), and introduced Stewie to his much older self. It’s revealed that in this version of the future, time travel became so commonplace that people actually use it to go on vacation during certain periods.

That’s unfortunately the extent of the science-fiction elements of the idea, but it’s a cool story where Stewie tries to improve his future self’s life in any way he can. Science-fiction stories are always fun when these major technologies are treated as a regular facet of life, and this is a great example of that concept.

8). Da Boom

Season 2’s “Da Boom” is undoubtedly a Family Guy classic. Using the chaos of the Y2K age, the world is soon destroyed and the Griffin family is left walking the apocalyptic wasteland in pursuit of a new life. It’s one of the episodes that made the most of the Y2K fears at the time as technology truly causes an apocalypse, and also just has a lot of memorable jokes that make the most out of the idea. This is also the same episode that introduces long running gags like the Giant Chicken fights, and that’s honestly worth the price of admission alone.

7). Roads to Vegas

Stewie and Brian’s solo adventures are where Family Guy truly experiments, and the final of the “Road to” specials so far is one of the best. This Season 11 episode puts a fun spin on time travel as Stewie uses a teleportation device to get he and Brian to Las Vegas. It turns out it works, but not in the way Stewie thinks at first. It creates clones of the two of them where two of them end up in Vegas following a successful teleport, and two of them have to go the traditional route. So the episode unfolds in two different ways for the two groups.

One ends up having more luck than the other side at first, but soon enough the troubles catch up with both of them. Then they reunite in quite the hilarious way and realize that the machine did work, and it’s just a fun exploration of teleporting in general. It’s a cool idea that certainly sparks the imagination, and it’s hidden within a Family Guy episode.

6). Back to the Pilot

Season 10’s “Back to the Pilot” is a more traditional take on time travel that also works as a love letter to Family Guy’s earliest moments. This episode sees Stewie and Brian traveling back in time to the pilot episode of the series, and sees them commenting on just how much has changed about everything sense. Brian ruins it by stopping the September 11th attacks and ends up creating a much worse world after, and it ends with Stewie and Brians from multiple timelines voting on whether or not they should put a stop to that tragedy or allow it to happen. It’s a wild take on time travel that goes through some very real historical moments, but it’s all packaged within a fan service heavy episode. It’s a delicate balance that only time travel can spark.

5). Yug Ylimaf

Continuing through the time travel shenanigans is Season 11’s “Yug Ylimaf.” The final episode on this list dealing with time travel is also the best take on the idea. When Brian keeps messing with Stewie’s time machine, he tries to reverse the miles on it and inadvertently causes time itself to steadily rewind backward. It’s a cool premise that not only results in gags revealing some wild origin stories (like how it reveals why the Greased Up Deaf Guy is how he is), but makes room for a ton of fan service as it rewinds through memorable episodes and moments.

The real draw of this episode for science fiction fans, however, is the third act resolution. The stakes are ramped up a great deal when time catches up to Stewie and makes him go through being born all once more. It’s an intense final few minutes that really helps to emphasize just how high concept this truly all is.

4). Big Trouble in Little Quahog

Thankfully, Brian and Stewie’s adventures aren’t just all about time travel. Season 17’s “Big Trouble in Little Quahog” sees the two of them accidentally shrink themselves down to a microscopic level. Coming across a group of water bears in the process (with wild characterizations), the two of them go through quite a lot of chaos to try and make themselves big again. There are some fun sequences throughout like when Stewie tries to get Brian to push the “Tiny button” which could refer to the smaller button, or the larger button with the word. “tiny” on it. It’s quite a big adventure for being such a “small” idea, and it’s quite inventive with how it brings it all to a close.

3). Switch the Flip

Season 16’s “Switch the Flip” is also another Stewie device mishap when the two of them temporarily switch bodies so that Stewie could help Brian get his life back in order. There are a lot of shenanigans it’s able to get away with from this idea alone, but then it gets even more chaotic when Peter and Chris are thrown into the situation as well. Naturally, it all gets to the point where the entire town switches bodies and it’s one gag after another. It’s a really funny take on the body swapping idea especially if you already like Family Guy‘s characters. The team makes some very funny swaps, and it’s pretty great seeing it all in action especially when Peter and Chris quickly accept everything that’s happening to them. It’s just a ton of fun.

2). Family Guy Star Wars Trilogy

This one is also a bit of a cheat as this is technically three episodes, but it would have dominated the list otherwise. “Blue Harvest,” “Something, Something Dark Side” and “It’s a Trap” are Family Guy‘s takes on Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. These episodes are complete tributes to each film that adapt their events, but swap out each of the characters with fitting Family Guy counterparts.

It’s an incredible balance between being a faithful adaptation of each film and including lots of humor poking fun at them. But there’s also a healthy dose of personality than only Family Guy can provide as well. If you are the least bit interested in Star Wars, you owe it to yourself to at least see “Blue Harvest.” It’s probably the best out of all three of the specials in terms of finding cede balance.

1). Road to the Multiverse

But if there’s one perfect episode of Family Guy for sci-fi fans, it’s Season 8’s “Road to the Multiverse.” The multiverse premise might seem a bit tired out by now, but at the time Family Guy really was ahead of the curve. Brian and Stewie end up lost in the multiverse when Stewie crafts a device that lets him travel between dimensions, but he can’t choose where to go to. This leads to many fun ideas depicting alternate universes that are not only cool in concept (like the origin of all things), but also hilarious (like the guy who says hello from far away).

It’s probably the peak of Brian and Stewie’s adventures throughout the series, and is one of the most high concept takes on their usual sci-fi romps. It’s just a wacky episode filled with a lot of breezy fun (even before heading out into the multiverse), and should be high up on any Family Guy fans’ lists.

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