When it comes to the hit animated sitcom Family Guy, it’s hard not to find an episode that doesn’t, in some form or fashion, run wild with crazy themes, wacky gags, and otherwise off-the-wall premises. Yet, in the course of its huge run of over two decades (minus a hiatus of a few years), a number of episodes stand out as truly bizzare, even for the show’s insane standards.
Given the unique cast of colorful characters - especially the charming duo of Brian and Stewie - and the seemingly limitless laws of the Family Guy universe, there’s no shortage of potential for craziness.
So let’s pay a visit to the fictional New England town of Quahog as we take a look at ten of the all-time weirdest Family Guy episodes ever. Trust us, this was no easy feat…
Brian Griffin’s House Of Payne (Season 8, Episode 15)
Brian, being the self-proclaimed writer he is, has decided to write a nuanced, dramatic script for TV, which is set to air on CBS and feature Elijah Wood as the lead role.
However, our favorite talking dog starts to lose his creative freedom as the studio bigwigs decide to tinker with the premise and themes to the point where it’s devolved to a goofy sitcom. The concept? A comedy starring a James Woods that has him moving into his college daughter’s dorm room - with a monkey. This dumb sitcom, which is cheekily rebranded “Class Holes,” is shown by Brian to Peter and their friends, and it turns out so terrible that their neighbor Joe attempts to attack him.
Buckle up, folks - it only gets stranger from here, believe it or not…
Family Guy Viewer Mail #1 (Season 3, Episode 21)
One of the original “weird” episodes of Family Guy, this was essentially the swan song for the show’s then-short run of 3 seasons, before being canceled and later brought back on the air by Fox.
This is actually made up of 3 shorts, each of which apparently plays with ideas for episodes which were submitted by viewers, and given the silly premise of all 3, it shows. One plays out like a rushed episode of Scooby-Doo featuring many of the show’s adult cast as children. When it gets really weird, however, is the two other shorts; one which revolves around a boneless Peter Griffin, and one where each of the Griffins get superpowers and terrorize the town.
Dial Meg For Murder (Season 8, Episode 11)
Poor Meg always seems to get the short end of the stick. In this episode, things reach a boiling point, you might say, as Meg becomes a cold, badass ex-inmate, hardened by the harshness of the prison system. After being caught harboring an escaped inmate who she develops a relationship with, she is sent to prison herself.
We actually feel roughly as uneasy as the rest of the Griffins do as she busts into the house in her bandana and tattoos, especially after she promptly curb stomps Peter’s face to the ground in a rather brutal fashion. It’s pretty bizarre and a tad unnerving to see one of the show’s most spritely and innocent characters turning into a hardened, aggressive ex-con.
The Splendid Source (Season 8, Episode 19)
In this fun romp, Peter, Joe, and Quagmire end up reuniting with the long-absent Cleveland Brown, who had gone off to do his own thing in The Cleveland Show.
The show begins humbly, with Chris Griffin being suspended from school for telling a dirty joke to his classmates. Things escalate as Peter and the gang chat with a number of people to pinpoint the source of the joke - including a random appearance from Futurama’s Bender. This soon mushrooms into a full-blown action-packed conspiratorial plot, as they seek to find the “source of all dirty jokes.” What begins as a simple joke somehow evolves into an adventure that’s simultaneously entertaining and bonkers.
As a fun sidenote - this episode was actually loosely based on a short story by horror and sci-fi writing Richard Matheson.
Roads To Vegas (Season 11, Episode 21)
If you were wondering why this episode implies the journey featuring Stewie and Brian involves multiple roads to Las Vegas, well, that’s where the weird part comes in…
After winning tickets to see Celine Dion in Las Vegas, Stewie decides to use a recently-assembled teleportation device to get them there with ease. But a problem arises when this device splits the two of them into alternate versions of themselves. One duo successfully teleports, while the other is left behind, having to deal with the headaches of air travel. Things go downhill from there with these guys, while the teleported version of Brian and Stewie seem to have everything going their way.
As you might imagine, various monkeyshines and hilarious bits ensure from there, especially once both sets of the protagonists make it to Vegas and affect the fates of the others. This isn’t just a bizarre premise, but this episode’s also unusually dark as things escalate.
The 2000-Year-Old Virgin (Season 13, Episode 6)
There’s not a whole lot to say about this wacky episode which stars Peter and Jesus himself…
As you might gather from the title, the plot is somewhat of a spoof of the hit comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin, laced with that trademark FG wackiness; silly gags and all! Oh - there’s also a pretty significant twist ending, as it turns out Jesus was merely pretending to be a virgin to sleep with the wives of other men. But not to worry - he only does it as a lesson to teach people to appreciate their spouses, or so he says…
Seahorse Seashell Party (Season 10, Episode 2)
There are quite a few layers of weirdness when it comes to this insane, trippy episode. It somehow manages to make for an epic viewing despite taking place in the Griffins’ house the whole time.
The family is holed up at their residence as it’s pouring rain, when Brian decides to do some mushrooms. We then see what’s quite possibly one of the most surreal and horrifying drug trip scenes in cartoons.
Then, in a rather jarring shift, we eventually cut to Meg, who basically snaps on her entire family (as they treat her like dirt), causing them to look introspectively and have an utter breakdown. It’s a pretty dark and twisted viewing, in a number of ways…
Stewie Is Enceinte (Season 13, Episode 12)
No, we’re not making this up - Stewie actually injects some of Brian’s DNA into himself which causes him to get pregnant and have deformed part-human-part-dog babbies…
Yep, this 2015 episode really felt like the point where this show ventured into unexplored territory - and not necessarily in a good way. Rather than just being weird, FG goes all-out disturbing here with a questionable concept. Obviously you’ve got to suspend some disbelief when it comes to this wacky cartoon - but a male baby using dog DNA to give birth to human-dog babies feels just a tad bit too “out there”.
Back To The Pilot (Season 10, Episode 5)
Unlike our previous entry, “Back to the Pilot” manages to run with an extremely strange premise and actually makes it cool and innovative; if not a little convoluted and controversial at times.
This is particularly unique in that it’s a rare instance of a show essentially paying homage to, well, itself, in this blast-to-the-past FG nostalgia trip. The neatest (and trippiest) aspect is that Stewie and Brian not only revisit the pilot episode - in which we see the actual events from the pilot transpire, but even that cruder visual style of the late ’90s is retained.
Things get to be a bit too crazy when it comes to the main plot, which involves drastically altered timelines, and a resolution that’s somewhat, erm, “controversial.”
Road To The Multiverse (Season 8, Episode 1)
This episode is both extremely trippy and somewhat Rick and Morty-esque in its playing with terrestrial sci-fi concepts; in this case, the idea of an infinite multiverse which contains endless possibilities.
Yes, this silly sitcom featuring a humble New England family has escalated into a full-blown philosophical science fiction adventure. Because why not? In all seriousness, this is an entertaining episode that constantly keeps things interesting, thanks to an insane diversity of settings, ranging from live-action to a “Disney-style” world.
Next: Family Guy: 5 Things It Copied From The Simpsons (& 5 That Set It Apart)
