Family Guy/Headscratchers

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


What really grinds your gears?

Note: This is not a complaints section.

  • Why does Lois have the thicker accent? Her upper-crush parents sound English, but her accent is thicker than mud, whereas Peter's barely given an accent at all.
    • Lois' parents sound English to you?! I'm English and I really, REALLY hope I don't sound like them
      • The bigger question is "Why are Lois and Peter the only characters with a Rhode Island accent, when that's where the entire cast lives?"
    • Lois' parents are * not* English. Lois' parents have a * New England* accent, specifically an upper-class Ivy League accent; this is because they are millionaires who live in Newport. The fact that Lois herself has a very thick lower-class Rhode Island(-ish, the lady doing her sounds like she keeps mixing Long Island in there, but whatever) accent can probably be fanwanked to her being a rebellious kid who broke away from her parents' crowd and learned to talk like/live with/sleep with common people. (Not unlike a lot of teenagers in the UK who put on a fake Cockney to be cool, after all.) The non-fanwank real reason is probably that the original character concept for Peter and Lois was that they'd be a heavily stereotyped lower-class Rhode Island couple, and Lois' blue-blood origins were a plot point introduced later on in the process.
    • Also, the range of accents across Peter's social group isn't that remarkable. Having actually lived in Rhode Island, I can tell you that the stereotypical blue-collar thick RI accent isn't something you hear all the time, it's something you tend to have to listen for. Just like everywhere else, there's a growing number of people of all classes and backgrounds whose regional accents have receded thanks to TV. (And while it's true Cleveland's accent isn't straight RI, it's a pretty good attempt at an exaggerated version of the mixture of Southern and Northeastern intonations you hear in African-American communities in New England.)
      • And we now know that Cleveland is a Virginia native, which explains why his accent isn't RI.
      • Though his VA, Mike Henry stated that the inspiration for Cleveland's voice was from a Marylander he knew. Speaking as a fellow native of Maryland (less than an hour from Baltimore,) the accent exists, but in small doses (see John Waters's old movies like "Hairspray" for examples.)
    • Probably at least partly because Peter's voice is based on a real person where Lois' isn't.
      • No, Lois's voice is based on one of Alex's cousins.
  • How did Brian, a seven year old dog have a thirteen year old kid?
    • Rule of Funny
    • Those were dog years. The REAL question is how he could've had an entirely HUMAN child, despite having said in a previous episode that he's the wrong species for that.
    • Hey, as Brian says, "If you don't like it, go on the internet and complain." Oh, wait, you did.
      • Would've probably been a funny episode if they'd made Brian's kid 4-5 years old (ie, suitable for Brian's age) and gone from there (I find I could overlook the genetics part of the equation fairly easily * shrug* ).
      • But the Hand Wave they had and Brian's comeback to Stewie was supposed to be the joke here. I for one thought it was pretty funny.
    • Brian probably stumbled into Stewie's time machine and didn't want to admit it.
    • Because Dylan is only 1 year old. It's in dog years you see.
    • Wait, if Dylan ages in dog years, than that means his whole entire life will be accelarated to the point that he'll be an old man when he's thirteen, if he even lives that long. Downer Ending much?
    • Come to think of it, didn't Mr. Pewderschmitt's greyhound Seabreeze have a litter of human-headed puppies, fathered by Ted Turner? Seems dogs on Family Guy have rather amazing reproductive abilities.
  • One thing that bugs me is when Peter loses weight and later on falls off a cliff and into a lard factory, he pretty much emptied out that whole huge tank of lard, yet we only see him at his regular fat size in the end?
    • There's only so many calories you can absorb at once no matter how much fat you eat. Most of that fat probably trickled straight through his digestive system, unabsorbed. (Yep, let's run that thought through our heads a while.)
  • Same episode, when Peter gets a liposuction, why does he still have a double chin?
    • It magically turned the unattractive fatty double chin into an attractive bony cleft chin, thanks to the magic of stylized simplistic art.
      • Remember, first came the liposuction (which didn't really affect his face much) - then came the extensive plastic surgery, butt implants, etc., to turn him into a Beautiful Person.
      • And I'm pretty sure you can't get liposuction to your face.
        • Yes, you can.
    • Because those are his testicles.
  • The episode where Peter returns from being stranded on a deserted island and comes back home to find Lois is married to Brian: Even if you ignore the fact that somehow, Lois was allowed to marry a dog, there must be some strange law in Quahog that states that even when your dead husband proves not to be dead....well, there may be a FEW things.
    • Lois' marriage to Brian is not annulled when Peter returns. Lois and Brian remained married and Peter was....
      • Well, WHAT exactly? If he's not dead, he should still be married to Lois. If not, then how can Lois remain married to Brian without divorcing Peter? And at the end of the show, it appeared as though Lois and Brian simply "broke up" rather than getting a divorce and Peter and Lois were back together without having to get remarried. And, yes, I know it's a cartoon but that episode drives me NUTS!
      • Think of it in terms of the paper work. Peter and Lois marry, say something until death does them part. A marriage certificate is filed. Years later Peter is presumed dead, a death certificate is filed, the marriage certificate has a stamp put on it that says "Death did them part". Lois marries Brian- new marriage certificate. Peter comes back so he can go have a stamp put on his death certificate that says "Whoops" but when it comes to the marriage certificates Peter just can't have a stamp that says whoops on those by himself. They need Lois (since she is in both certificates) to say " I want the old certificate reiussed and the new marriage annulled" - note annulled not divorced because I could imagine having your old husband come back from the dead may be ground for an annulment rather than divorce. Of course all these bits of paper don't determine what the people (and dog) involved actually do. Lois can start having freaky dressed-up-as-Grimace-and-The-Hamburglar sex with Peter in the bedroom and send Brian to the kennel whenever she likes, since she owns the house.
      • Since Peter wasn't dead, he and Lois are still married and Lois' marriage to Brian was invalid. Simple as that.
        • No, not "simple as that". In fact, you're completely wrong. Being declared legally dead is as good as being actually dead with regards to paperwork, otherwise there'd be absolutely no reason to ever declare someone legally dead in their absence, instead of just waiting to see if they turn up. Peter and Lois' marriage ended when Peter died. Lois remarried, as she was legally a widow. When Peter turns up again, it is up to Lois what she does: she can either stay married to Brian without any complications, or she can have the marriage annulled or divorce Brian. Whether she then has to remarry Peter depends on whether she went for a divorce or annulment.
      • People remarrying after a spouse is presumed dead is stuff that can and does happen in real life, you know. We may need to Wiki Magic up a professor of legislative history to figure out the details, but there's no reason to treat this as a bizarro world thing.
      • Annulment would have been simple. They never consecrated the marriage. Had it gone on one more day though...
    • Speaking of that Episode, who was the third person in Lois & Brian's hotel room? It was too fat to be Quagmire. Cleveland?
  • Whatever happened to the tank?
    • It was Blitzwing. Let's just leave it at that.
      • Well, they do live in the same Universe as Transformers...
  • In the episode where Peter meets Jesus, Jesus tells him the true religion is a mixture of voodoo and Methodist. What would that even be?
    • Awesome.
      • No that was The Simpsons. Jesus said all religions were pretty much crap anyways, at least during the Jewish Lois episode.
        • How would Jesus know the truth about non-abrahamic religions?
          • ....Because he's Jesus?
  • In the "Airport '07" episode, two things get me: 1) When Quahog News 5 airs the tape of Peter's call for help, it's accompanied by a picture of him. Unless Peter's been in trouble that often, how did they know it was Peter's voice? 2) Hugh Hefner knows who Glenn Quagmire is?? They weren't introduced but Hef says "...and Glenn Quagmire is the best pilot I've ever known."
    • For problem 1, look back to "Peter Griffin, Husband, Father... Brother?" For problem 2, Hugh Hefner is magic.
    • Sigh, you kids. Hugh Hefner's speech is a parody of the movie Airplane! Complete with the music.
      • Also, the whole scene was a tribute/parody of the many other movies (Ed Wood and Dodgeball a True Underdog Story come to mind) where a discouraged protagonist just happens to run into an idol, who gives them an inspiring pep-talk that leads them to go back and win the big game/the girl. Who better than the king of the Playboys to give an inspiring speech to a player sex maniac like Quagmire?
    • By the way, I know it was all Peter's fault for getting him fired, but are we really supposed to feel sorry for Quagmire? Especially since in the same episode he's shown to be dealing in human trafficking?
      • A Million Is a Statistic. Quagmire is an established character, those were a bunch of random girls who were never seen before or since.
    • Another thing - why in the hell is Quagmire fired and blacklisted over Peter stealing fuel? If anything, wouldn't it be the people who were supposed to be filling the plane and those in charge of security who would be punished?
      • Because it is a pilot's responsibility to personally inspect their aircraft before take off to ensure that everything is in order. That means checking that it has fuel, all necessary maintenance has been performed, it is loaded properly, all the equipment in the cockpit works properly, etc. Quagmire taking off without checking that there was fuel in the plane is a sign of gross negligence on his part.
  • In the Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story three-parter, Peter gets a job doing a complaint segment on the news. After that, Stewie has his near-death experience and decides to start being nice, which leads to him becoming drunk and crashing the car through the Drunken Clam, which results in Peter being fired. Then at the end, Stewie does some time-traveling and eventually prevents his aforementioned near-death experience from ever happening. So that now means he never got in his drunk driving accident, and therefore Peter should still be working for the news. Am I the only one who has realized that plot hole?
    • Perhaps Peter ended up losing his job in some equally bad way? That happening wouldn't surprise me.
    • Yeah, but the three-parter's meant to be a film made by the Griffin family in later years, according to the prologue and epilogue: ergo, nothing in it happened within the show's continuity with the possible exception of the events covered in the aforementioned intro-outro segments.
  • Why is Brian an atheist when he's met both Death and Jesus?
    • Because the shows creator is an atheist and he wants the voice of reason to believe the same things he does.
    • Just because you met someone doesn't mean you have to believe in him. Plus, in the words of Peter "Uh, hi, he's a dog." Dogs (and all other animals) aren't promised anything in the Bible. He's atheist because he's getting the short end from religion anyway.
      • Also, Brian's existence is a sort of proof of Evolutionary theory, which means that most conservative religions would hate him for existing, whether he's an atheist or not. There are some people who identify as Atheists more out of a need to rebel after being wronged by organized religion than out of any careful consideration - this could be the case for Brian.
        • How is Brian proof of the existence of evolution? If anything he directly disproves it since the only dogs that are confirmed to talk are him, Jasmin, and New Brian (ignoring the dog universe). If he did prove evolution more dogs would probably not be one of three dogs that could talk, and his parents would be confirmed to be able to talk. Also, apparently all of his siblings cannot talk since he told the man who ran the puppy mill where he was born that he was "the one who could talk" when the old man couldn't remember him.
        • Except that Peter and apparently the kids (judging from the baptism episode) were raised as Catholics, a denomination which doesn't have a problem with Evolutionary Theory. Now obviously Meg had deviations from her denomination, but barring any of those on his part, Brian was presumably be assumed to be Catholic like everyone in the family except Lois (it was only her singled out by Francis for being Protestant).
    • Point of Order: Atheists reject ALL religion, not just Christianity. And generally believe that there is no God, period. Not that God won't reward them or that God doesn't care, but that God doesn't exist. Earlier episodes did have him pegged as being a church-goer, he probably stopped when he found out how much of a crap deal he's getting from religion.
      • Atheists don't reject all religion, just theism. You can be an atheist Buddhist, atheist Taoist, atheist Hindu (which describes the Cervaka school of Hinduism wonderfully), etc. And if you follow Don Cupitt and John Shelby Spong, it's arguably possible to be an atheistic (or at least post-theistic) Christian, too.
      • Um, what? I'm sorry, but do you actually know anything at all about Christianity? Not being a scholar of Buddhism, Taoism, or Hinduism, I will concede that it's arguably possible to be an atheist Buddhist, atheist Taoist, or atheist Hindu (although it would require a very careful interpretation of both atheism and those religions). But it is most definitely NOT possible to be an atheist Christian. The entire point of the Christian religion is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and only by accepting Him as our Lord and savior can our souls be saved. If you reject the divinity of Christ and the existence of God you are, by definition, NOT a Christian.
        • Christian Atheism is when someone follows the moral teachings of Jesus, but does not believe in God or that Jesus is His son.
      • '[...] only by accepting Him as our Lord and savior can our souls be saved.' This is an (mainly) Baptist and Evangelical tenet based on Protestant predestination doctrine (partly following Augustine) and as such is particularly prevalent in 'born again' circles. It does *not* represent the whole of Christianity. Just wanted to point that out. Now back to Brian.
        • Atheinsm and Buddhism don't really conflict that much, Buddhism is more a philosophy with spiritual elements than a religion much like Taoists there are many Buddhists who believe in a separate faith or who are what we would call atheists.
  • ^No it isnt read John 17:3.
    • So what are you if you believe in the teachings of Christ but do not believe he was the son of God?
      • Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, yet many claim He was a very good man with great ideals, and that He should be emulated to a degree. However, Jews are waiting for the Savior to come for the first time.
        • Religious Jews certainly do not believe this, and saying so would be considered pretty blasphemous. To the extent that some secular Jews may have said something like that, it's more or less parallel to Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch. And no Jew would ever use a term like "Savior" which is a very Christian concept.
      • "So what are you if you believe in the teachings of Christ but do not believe he was the son of God?" Same as if you believe in the teachings of Milton Friedman without believing she was the daughter of God; you are whatever religion you believe in (or atheist if you don't), and you also think he was a Pretty Cool Guy.
    • Even though Brian in an earlier season had expressly told Peter why they were being hit by blood, frogs, and other biblical miracles was because GOD WAS PISSED. No evidence my ass.
      • He may have rationalized this after the fact. There's no atheists in foxholes, as they say. The same principle may apply to rains of frogs.
    • If anything he should be a Misotheist or Maltheist, since God burned down his bar.
    • Because the show has little to no continuity. Whenever the plot needs an atheist, that aspect of his character is emphasized, even thought it makes no sense for him to be one given what he has witnessed and he behaves like a believer on several unimportant and unrelated occasions. Sort of like Stewie can be gay or straight depending on the episode's needs. He must have Schrödinger's faith.
      • But Stewie at least can be HandWaved as bisexual. There is no in between in Brian's case. Either you're an atheist or you're not.
      • He could be agnostic, yes I know it's stated that Brian's an atheist but hear me out. There was an above quote from Brian stating that he didn't see any evidence that there was a god. And this would explain his yelling at Peter about God being pissed, what with the blood in the bathtub and the other signs.
    • Also, to my knowledge, Jesus was a real person. It's just whether or not you believe he was the son of God.
    • Brian realizes that in his universe God only exists when it's funny for God to exist. When it's not, God doesn't exist.
    • Do the same people that think it's incredibly offensive for Brian to rant and make jokes about conservatives also criticize South Park just as heavily? I'd certainly hope so, being as South Park has demonized people who disagree with Parker and Stone's libertarian-ish ideals far more often than Seth has demonized his favorite targets.
      • South Park is famous for attacking ALL extreme views. Hell, one of the reasons Isaac Hayes left the show was because they went after Scientology and treated it like every other religion they've poked fun at. They do not play favorites. By contrast, Seth MacFarlane ONLY attacks conservatives. When was the last time you saw Obama or Nancy Pelosi as a mental child hiding in a tree house "Reading Superfudge?" When was the last time you saw a Nazi wearing a "Harry Reid for Congress" button? When was the last time Parker or Stone went to Canada and declared a sitting president a "mass murdering fuck face" for some cheap laughs? The point here is that MacFarlane, as the voice of Brian, ONLY attacks conservatives and conservative values, and THIS troper is sick of it.
        • You must be extremely nonobservant. Pelosi was depicted as a crackhead and there have been jokes about the Kennedys and Clintons too. And South Park isn't as equal as you think. The left is usually portrayed a lot worse than the right. This troper has no problem with either show doing that, because they have the righ to express themselves as they please and there's no law that says that they have to offend both sides equally.
        • South Park "goes after everyone equally" because the creators are extreme libertarians, a faction far smaller than the general left or right wings. Just because South Park attacks both sides in favor of a smaller third side doesn't mean they're fair. In fact, you could make an argument that Family Guy shows Brian to be a Ted Baxter far more than South Park has ever taken digs at itself or its own equally strawman-filled messages.
          • The Libertarian Party is actually the third largest political party in the USA.
            • A very, very distant third.
  • Let's all calm down people. The episode where Brian met Jesus ended with Him restoring Peter's recording "Surfin' Bird" as sort of a permanent floating soundtrack; earlier Brian and Stewie had destroyed Peter's copy (plus every known copy in town) because of his incessant playing and subsequent monomania over the song. To have their source of extreme annoyance restored, and in such an invulnerable state must have put Brian into a permanent rejection of anyone who would do such a thing.
    • To sum up: Flat Earth Atheist, Nay Theist, Jesus has indirectly screwed Brian over, and animals don't get to go into heaven according to Christian doctrine and when we do see God he's usually acting pretty immature (enough to embarrass Jesus, at least). And of course, all of it is moot anyways because as we saw in the Stewie time-travel trilogy flash forward that Brian is let into Heaven anyways presumably because the standards of God and Jesus in the Family Guy universe aren't as high as they are in religious doctrine (or because All Dogs Go to Heaven was actually a gospel delivered by an unknowingly prophetic Don Bluth).
  • What ever happened to Lois's job as a Piano teacher? Considering that Peter spends large amounts of money on schemes and other things, it's kind of a conundrum. Also taking into account that Peter is shown to be extremely incompetent at his job (which most likely does not pay a lot), it makes me wonder how the Griffins are not poor yet.
    • Lois's mom probably chips in when times start getting rough. Alternatively, she steals from her dad, but only a thousand bucks here or there - amounts of money that a billionaire like him wouldn't even realize he's missing.
      • And as we've seen in Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater, Lois has other rich family members who think well enough of her that borrowing money from them is a possibility.
  • Did Brian ever get neutered? If not, why not?
    • Of course not. As we saw in Dog Gone, the Griffins really care about Brian, and they see him as human. Would you get your son neutered?
    • They also confirmed in Screwed the Pooch that Brian hasn't been neutered, when it was feared that he impregnated a prize pedigree dog and Brian had to sue for custody of his children. Part of the settlement was that Brian could have custody if he agreed to be neutered... but it turned out that the puppies weren't his, so he wasn't.
    • However, in the episode, "Blind Ambition," when the guys and their wives take Quagmire out into the mall, Peter removes a "training cone" from Quagmire's crotch saying that he got the idea when "Brian had his operation." A cutaway shows Brian wearing a cone around his neck, and he has a stitched up crotch, but no one makes any kind of indication as to what "the operation" was. I've always wondered if he's actually been neutered or not.
  • Is Stewie Bisexual or Gay? He seems Bisexual or possibly Pansexual, but I've heard Word of God is he's not. Did they mean "gay" as in he's attracted to boys too? Or are they just pulling our leg? He can be Heterosexual, Asexual, Bisexual or Homosexual Depending on the Writer.
    • This may not be Wikipedia, but still you can't just say things like that & not provide a valid source. Stewie has been attracted to plenty of females before. He was even married. A large part of the Family Guy fandom seems to think that Family Guy has a No Bisexuals rule, when this hasn't been proven.
  • Is Stewie still 1? If I recall correctly the rest of the Griffin family is said to have aged (or at least Meg, Chris, and Brian) The last time I recalled Stewie's age being brought up specifically was in "Road To Rupert" where Stewie remarks "I'm 1" and Brian responds with "Still?".
    • I think its more that the older characters have vague ages that can change by a few years when appropriate. Stewie on the other hand is a baby, and so there isn't a particularly large range of ages that he can be put in - even if they said he was two he should really look noticeably different.
    • They've shown Stewie with kids who are about 5 years old that are the same height. And in Real Life, this troper's little brother looked almost the same as a five-year-old as a one year old (same face, same haircut, same head, just bigger and taller with more five-year-old knowledge.)
  • In the multiverse episode, in the universe where Christianity never took over, why does the Sistine Chapel even exist? A Chapel is essentially a church, why would a huge church be built in a non-Christian world?
    • Christianity is not as original as many may think. Chapels are a very, very easy concept to come up with in a religion.
    • I think the question is why the SISTINE Chapel was built, and not the Sistine CHAPEL.
  • In Road To The Multiverse, the first world Stewie and Brian went to was a world where Christianity never existed. If that's the case, what was to keep any other religion from filling that void and "holding science back" for centuries?
    • The biggest religions right now are Christianity and Islam. No Christianity means no Islam, so maybe there just wasn't another huge religion which caught in the coming centuries. Maybe some secular ideology (like nationalism or humanism or something) became popular instead. Who knows?
      • It is very likely that without Christianity (and subsequently Islam), all the other religions may have gone the way they have gone, becoming something of a group of minorities instead of jumping up to grab the spotlight. As reason stands, the Library of Alexandria existed during what I believe was a Jewish rule, so if my premise is correct, it stands to reason that the beliefs at the time were already lighter on growing science than Christianity was.
        • Uh, no, it wasn't under Jewish rule at any point. First it was under the Ptolemaic hellenes and after that under Roman rule, passing into Roman christianity and Islam after that. When it comes to what would have happened without christianity and islam, let's not forget that several new faiths, such as mithraism and manicheism competed with christianity, so it is hard to imagine that no other religion would have taken their place. It is hard to imagine humanism or nationalism taking religions place too, without the printing press and in a slave economy. And besides, the Roman republic was quite nationalistic in itself.
        • A straight up Conflict thesis is hardly the common modern view of historians anyway, despite the hold it has on the popular culture (mostly because there is conflict today between certain religions and scientific tenets, most notably non-liberal Protestants and Muslims on one side, and the theory of evolution on the other). An atheist, with no formal history background, believing it is hardly unrealistic however. The whole universe serving as a visual confirmation of his beliefs on the other hand...
  • In Stewie Kills Lois, Peter is blamed for Lois' death and put on trial, and would have been found guilty if Lois hadn't walked in. How could it possibly get that far? A simple fingerprint analysis would have shown Peter never touched that gun, so there was no evidence that he killed Lois.
    • Considering that the whole thing was a story written by Stewie...
      • Actually, it was an computer simulation of exactly what would have happened.
    • Usually in these situations the main character has to be the main suspect no matter how implausable it is.
    • Fingerprints aren't anywhere near as ubiquitous as people think they are. Even if Peter didn't wipe the gun it would be entirely possible for him to hold it without leaving an identifiable print.
  • Wait, so is Shamus a Pinnochio analogue, or was his father a tree?
    • Actually,James Woods ate his arms and legs. He didn't mention what happened to his torso...
    • I always thought he was being sarcastic when he said "No, me father was a tree", because Quagmire asked if he had been in an accident, and realistically, it's obvious he was
  • It's always bugged me how in the Multi-verse episode, in some universes they take on the appearance of that universes Brian and Stewie, yet in others they look normal.
  • How the heck did Stewie know what Bertram's name was? He wasn't named in "Immissionary Impossible", and there's no way he could have known what Bertram's lesbian parents named him.
  • Here's a non-petulant question for once. **SPOILER ALERT** After the events of And Then There Were Fewer, Tom is wrongly charged with murder after falling victim to Diane's plans. But then a few episodes later, he's back on the air. The only person who heard Diane's confession was Lois, who also saw Diane get shot by Stewie and fall into the ocean. Of course, not only would her story be rather hard to believe, since no one else heard Diane, it might make people wonder if she killed Diane, or perhaps that she was the previous night's murderer. (Of course, they might have found Diane's body and been able to compare the bullet from Stewie's rifle with the bullet from her revolver, but it looked like there was a pretty strong current out there.) Okay, bottom line is, how did Lois spring Tom, and how did people believe her story?
    • This is the same town that was convinced a baby was possessed by Satan because it threw up, and elects people mayor just by saying "9/11" over and over. I'm pretty sure she didn't have to roll a 20 to bluff.
    • Remember the award Meg found? Most likely it didn't have Toms fingerprints on it(and mayabe Dianes was on it if she didnt wear gloves) and it was confirmed to be the murder weapon for Jillians husband. So most likely they dusted it and found only Megs, James Woods, Consuelas and mayabe Dianes but no Toms.
  • And I'm Joyce Kinney had a part that made me stop and think. Joyce reveals Lois's porn past as revenge for being embarassed by her in high school. In order for this to have happened, Joyce would be only a few years younger than her. Lois is in her forties, so Joyce is at the least in her late thirties and at the most in her forties as well. The problem here is that Diane was fired for turning forty. So, why would the station fire Diane for getting old and hire someone so close to her age? Joyce was brought on because Tom wanted a younger co-anchor. Unless Lois graduated several years behind or Joyce skipped a lot of years, this is a pretty bad plot hole.
    • But she doesn't look forty. That's why Diane was gonna get fired, because no one wants to hear about terrorism from Phyllis Diller on screen.
  • "Tiegs For Two". So, does that mean Brian and Quagmire have ended their feud or not? It looked like they were about to, but then he drives off, leaving Brian outside the restaurant by himself, then hits him with the back of his car. According to Wikipedia, it does, but that site isn't completely reliable. What will this turn out to mean?
    • No, it doesn't, while audacious in his own right, that's not Quagmire's strong suit, besides, what Brian did was really messed-up childish and uncalled for, not only did it make things worse, it just proves how much Quagmire was right -- oh yeah and the whole "Brain vs Quagire" is just the verbal version of "Peter vs Giant Chicken" plus the way how they like to recycle bad jokes, it's not likely to lessen over time.
      • Arguable, since that instance actually took out the recycled gag of their recent bouts (ie. Brian accidentally offending Quagmire and getting his face chewed off) and upgraded the character's chemistry a little (Brian now hates Quagmire back, while Quagmire is becoming more calculating in dealing with him) suggesting even if the feud isn't going to end, they want to develop it into different scenarios making it less "Peter vs Ernie the Chicken" and more "Brian vs Stewie" from the early seasons. The following episode also used their feud in a different manner, with Peter exploiting Quagmire's hatred for Brian to get him to turn his plane around. It is a rather sadistic "Jerkass vs Jerkass" concept that displays both of their petty and unpleasant tendancies at full scale, but even without their rivalry they were heading in that direction fast anyway.
  • Okay, so when Stewie and Brian fails to save Leonardo Di Vinchi, the universe doesn't break because Stewie goes on to be his own (Great great great...) grandfather. So why did the universe start falling apart when Bertram first went back in time?
  • In "Peter Griffin: Husband, Father... Brother?" it is established that Peter has a black ancestor (Nate Griffin) who slept with his (Peter's) white great-great-grandmother and "her fine sister." However, in "Untitled Griffin Family History," Nate started a family with Lois Laura Bush Lynn Cheney Pewterschmidt, which would imply either: a) Lois and Peter are related, or b) Nate is Lois's ancestor, not Peter's, and the family name and resemblance is a coincidence.
    • Considering Peter's real dad is a white drunk born and raised in Ireland, I'm pretty sure the writers have no idea how Nate Griffin factors in any more.
      • It's not impossible one of Nate's descendants spent time in Ireland, but still...
    • Allow me to remind you of a very disturbing fact. Everybody on the planet is related to everybody else on the planet. In fact, considering all life on earth has a common evolutionary ancestor (the first spark of life), every living thing on the planet is related to every other living thing on the planet. All of you have at least one common ancestor with your significant other (And realistically speaking you probably would have hundreds if not thousands) You would have to actually shag an alien to have sexual intercourse without technically committing incest.
  • Was Brian born on a Puppy Mill or what?
    • Yes. He reveals that he was born in a puppy mill in "Road to Rhode Island".
      • It barely resembles a puppy mill though. Plus, doesn't Brian know anything about them? His mom didn't give him away, they took him away.
      • ^ It was a farm that also sold dogs. Plus it wasn't about whether or not he was actually given or taken, the point was he had serious abandonment issues at the time stemming from a traumatic childhood memory of separation.
  • So if Adolf Hilter is Peter Hitler's brother, that would make Peter Griffin indirectly related to Hitler. If Adolf Hitler is derived from the same ancestors as Peter (Nate Griffin), than wouldn't that make Adolf Hitler part black?
    • In the Family Guy universe, yes. Then again, the show isn't exactly known for it's strong continuity and Peter's bizarre family tree is pretty much just a running gag.
      • For the record, Adolf Hitler did have an older half-brother, Alois, who married an Irishwoman and had a son by her. Considering Peter's natural father is also Irish, it's not impossible for their fates to intermesh in the Griffin-verse, manatee balls permitting.
  • Why exactly was Quagmire pissed off when Brian said he was half-polish?
  • Peter is clinically retarded. In the state of Rhode Island, is it even legal for him to consent to having sex?
    • It's probably safe to say that the writers forgot/stopped caring about this detail several seasons ago, considering it was only mentioned in two episodes.
  • How was peter drinking only three beers out of a six pack an example of moderation in the recent ep when he meets death?
    • It's shown in many episodes before that he tends to go through an ENTIRE six pack within a day. Half of that a day IS moderation to him.
      • and lois is okay with that?
        • Yes. Half a six pack is better than Peter's usual intake.
          • but is still will eventually end up to alot of beers.
    • Also, why does he throw half of the six pack in the garbage instead of saving it for later?
      • I know isn't that wasting money?
      • well, Peter IS an idiot...
  • Why do women even date Brian?! He's a fucking dog!
    • It's a cartoon. Try not to think about it too hard.
      • That works up until the show itself calls attention to this weirdness such as the episode where he gets arrested for not wearing a leash, or when him and Stewie go to another universe where the roles of Dogs and Humans are reversed and the other dogs are disgusted by him taking interest in a human woman
        • You're right. Up til you pointed that out, I thought Family Guy had brilliant world-building on par with The Lord of the Rings, instead of being entirely nonsensical and based on 'whatever the writers thought was funny at the time'.
          • Come to think of it... are there any FEMALE anthropomorphic dogs or are they all male like Brian and Jasper?
          • The closest we get is the Pewderschmidt's greyhound Seabreeze, she did have a litter of human-headed puppies fathered by Ted Turner.
  • In Baby Not On Board, how did Peter get out of the car and into another car without a single injury to watch a movie?
  • In "Stew-Roids" where Peter says that he's so hungry that he "can eat a horse", why did it lead to a cutaway where he was implied to have had sex with one?
    • Are you up on your slang for oral sex? That's what they meant.
    • He mis-spoke.
  • In "The Big Bang Theory", Bertram goes all the way back in time to kill Leonardo da Vinci in order to eliminate Stewie (a descendant of da Vinci). However, he is Stewie's half-brother, by Peter. So why didn't Bertram just go back in time to kill Lois before Stewie's birth instead? That way, it would ensure that Stewie wouldn't be born without risking a potentially huge Butterfly of Doom scenario that killing Leonardo da Vinci would entail.
    • Maybe he wanted to literally erase the Griffin family.
  • Is the show anti-drugs, pro-drugs, or do they just write whatever they feel? Lately it's been rather pro-legalizing drugs however an early episode (the folk singer one) seemed anti.
    • There's a big difference between marijuana and drugs that are actually dangerous.
    • The show's opinions on topics all depends on who the writer was that week. The show has been getting fairly sloppy in that sense.
    • Marijuana is definitely dangerous, just not to the same extent as cocaine, ecstasy etc.
    • The earlier episode (the folk singer one) was made due to pressure from the network to make an "anti-drug" episode.
  • On The Road to the North Pole feature people who don't believe in Santa but have apaprently never heard of buying gifts for others themselves. It's all on Santa
  • In one episode (I forgot the title, sorry), Peter is declared mentally retarded, and therefore incapable of looking after Meg, Chris and Stewie. By the end of the episode, Lois gets them back because she's declared capable of caring for them. Fine... until Fridge Logic kicks in and you realise that Lois can be just as bad as Peter, except without the excuse of not knowing any better. For a start, her libido borders on nymphomania - she has various unhealthy fetishes (remember that time Peter accidentally shot her and she told him to twist the bullet?), and has raped Peter on a number of occasions. Out of the three children, she's worst towards Meg, in particular one instance where she all but tells Meg to commit suicide, but her treatment towards Chris and Stewie is far from loving as well - she's been shown to steal money from Chris while he's asleep (with the implication that she does this a lot), and Stewie just seems to wander about wherever he wants, and Lois doesn't care at all. Now, obviously the authorities wouldn't know all of this, but at the very least she makes her cruel treatment towards Meg extremely obvious, and also most people would probably notice something wrong with a two-year-old walking the streets alone. Yet apparently Lois is still considered a capable mother. Brian lives in the house and witnesses more of Lois' cruelty than most - why doesn't he blow the whistle on her?
    • Rule of Funny; neither Lois or Peter are great parents to their children, and have become increasingly worse over the years. And Brian wouldn't dump Lois in it because he's in love with her.
      • Not even Rule of Funny really cuts it - the fact that Lois has become increasingly sociopathic (plus Brian becoming egotistical and intolerant) means that the show doesn't really have a Straight Man anymore. From Brian's point of view, even if he does love her, wouldn't he become just a little bit irritated by her attitude towards him? She seems to belittle his political and religious views whenever the opportunity arises, and constantly pokes fun at his hobbies/girlfriend/whatever he's doing. You'd think that Brian would lose respect for her and report her...
        • However, Brian has been noted for his preference in women for looks rather than their personality, something that is still implied to be in Lois' favor.
  • What is Consuela's deal? Is she really that ignorant or is she just pretending to be so she can get out of doing work?
  • In a recent episode, they had a joke about school shootings. How the hell did that get on television?
    • Are you new to this show or something?
    • No, I've watched the show for a long time, but seriously. SCHOOL SHOOTINGS?!?
    • I can think of worse things that the show has joked about. The "Terri Schiavo" musical featuring infants stands out in particular.
  • So the ep "Big Bang Theory" has Leonardo Davinci and time traveling and making yourself you're own ancestor... Where the hell did I see that before!!
  • Why is it that Stewie joined the army just to get a gun in "Saving Private Brian"? It had been well-established that he could - and often did - get any gun he wanted, even keeping aside a munitions budget! I don't think the army keeps their standard-issue weapons *that* hard to get...
  • Why does "Prick Up Your Ears" imply teenagers know next to nothing about sex, even at Meg's age? The way the characters talk about sex ed imply the students are unaware of condoms, and haven't been through a sex ed class before. Most kids and teens have sex ed class during middle school, while kids are starting puberty, and not when they're almost adults.
    • It was heavily implied that there was never any sex ed in Quahog schools. That could explain why thy're so naive.
      • Pretty much this. You'd be surprised how ignorant some teenagers are about sex, and often it's the result of not getting any (comprehensive) sex education. In my high school, a lot of teens were pretty ignorant about sex and birth control, which could've been the reason the school had so many pregnant teenagers...
    • I know 10 year olds without a lick of sex ed that know more about sex then these teens did.
  • The Jewish joke in the Disney-universe. Yea.. There's really no proof to prove Walt hated Jews.
    • Where have you been? Rumors about Disney's anti-Semitism have flourished for decades.
      • Yes, but the same can be said about rumors of Mr Rogers secretly being a racist or covered in tattoos. They've been gossiped about for decades but there's never any actual evidence beyond word of mouth.
        • Of course. The show was just having fun with those rumors, that's all. That's what I meant to say.
  • The boy that was in love with Meg. What the HELL. They just meet and they instantly fall in love?? There's another thing that's confusing, too. First, he says that he ran away from home because he couldn't stand the thought of losing Meg. But at the end of the episode, he decides he wants to stay in the community? What caused that shift in logic?
  • Is there any consistency with DVD's/Itunes/Netflix being censored/uncensored? From what I can tell, some seasons are, others are not. Words are bleeped, scenes are changed and it almost seems to be random at that rather then just older/newer seasons being censored for release.
  • Here's what eats at me. Am I the only one who feels like in "Something Something Darkside" that it seems like the way peter/han treats Louis/Leia just sort feels like peters venting out all of his issues toward louis and projecting how he'd like to deal with it onto Han/Peter?
  • In that episode where Chris gets expelled from school for being the dumbest student and is then sent to a rich university, he tells his roommates that he is poor. How exactly are the Griffins poor? They rarely talk about anything money related and there's only been very few episodes that showed the Griffins have money troubles. Unlike The Simpsons, the house isn't falling apart, they got nice furniture and property, and they can afford more than one car it seems.
    • Probably they were poor in a sense that they couldn't affort the academy Chris was attending. Besides, you've probably saw in many teen movies about how the unpopular girl is poor yet she has a huge house and her own car. Man, there should be a trope named Hollywood Poor.
    • Well, he's poor in comparison to the other students there. In general, the Griffins' money problems/lack thereof seem to be based entirely on Rule of Funny (like everything else on the show).
  • In one episode, we're told Chris is very well-hung. Yet in the episode where he runs away to avoid the freshman punishment, he ends up wearing a tiny loincloth. Not that I want to see his danglage, but if he's big enough to impress Loose Lois, that loincloth won't get the job done.
  • In The Cleveland Show's part of the "Night of the Hurricane" crossover, the hurricane is said to hit Stoolbend, then pass through Quahog, and then finally end up in Langley Falls. The episodes were aired that order, but from a geographical point of view... the hurricane went from Virginia, to Rhode Island, and then back to Virginia. It went 450 miles to Rhode Island, AND THEN BACK AGAIN! ...why?
    • Rule of Funny, in order to correspond with the shows' time slots.
  • In the episode where Stewie's friend is sick and his Christian Scientist parents won't get him the healthcare he needs, Joe says there's no law against it. Uh. Yeah, there is. Doesn't withholding adequate healthcare from your child count as "neglect"? There have been several cases where parents were deemed guilty of manslaughter when their kid dies from a treatable condition.
  • Why is it that despite all the punishment she received from the Griffins as a result of her bitchy behavior towards them, and especially towards Meg (which includes getting the crap beaten out of her twice), Why does Connie D'Amico still continues to act like a jerk? To think she should learn by now? Is this proving this trouper right that bullies have the privilege to be stupid?
  • How is it that Tom Tucker doesn't know that Heath Ledger has been dead for years? As a news reporter, you'd think he would've reported on it.
  • Where are the FEMALE talking dogs anyway? Most of the talking dogs in Family Guy are males like Brian and Jasper yet we never see a talking female dog... no wonder why Brian dates human women.
    • We've seen so few talking dogs in general, so far there's no indication that there's a disproportionate amount of male talking dogs to female ones. But it does still raise the question as to why there are so few talking dogs in the first place.
  • In 420, Mayor West passes a law making marijuana legal in Quahog. Now I admit I don't know much about the goverment, but can a municipality really make marijuana legal? Isn't it an issue for the state to decide, not just one random city or is there something I'm missing?
    • For the same reason they had an episode where the mayor has the ability to legalize gay marriage. It's simply easier for the writers to radically over simplify how the legal system works. Plus this way they could have Adam West, rather than the actual governor at the time.
  • Why is Lois willing to put up with so much of the crap Peter has pulled? Even if you can look past the whole rich, beautiful, responsible (for the most part) woman marrying the fat, ugly slob thing, why doesn't she put her foot down when Peter does something ridiculous, destructive, or money-wasting?
    • Rule of Funny. Does it even need to be said?
    • This is actually addressed in the season 10 episode "You Can't Do That On Television, Peter." Lois finally gets fed up with Peter not contributing anything and resigns to just leave him to kill himself with his antics.
  • This troper realized after watching "Family Goy" tonight, why does Peter still listen to the ghost of Francis Griffin even though he isn't his real father, that and he wasn't quite nice to Peter when he was alive.
    • In the episode where Francis died, Peter does acknowledge that even though Francis wasn't his biological father, he still raised him and took care of him.
  • Is Brian attracted to human women or female dogs? He used to date women but once he has impregnated a bitch.
    • In which episode did he impregnate anyone? He has the one human son, but that's the only account of offspring from him that we have, I think. As far as your question goes, he seems to be more attracted to human women as the series has progressed. In earlier episodes, we do see him looking at "dog porn" and being attracted to Seabreeze, but I think it's safe to say he's attracted more to human women.
    • He did have a pregnancy scare with Seabreeze, but the puppies weren't his.

And THAT, People, is what grinds my gears! Tom...

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