It might be overshadowed by The Simpsons in the world of animated comedy, but Family Guy still holds its own. Seth MacFarlane’s dysfunctional family is almost impossible not to laugh at, whether it’s Peter’s exaugurated stupidity or the diabolical genius of Stewie, and they’ve kept us laughing for an impressive number of years.
In those years, there have been a lot of Family Guy episodes. Some are better than others. As such, we’ve used IMDb to gauge just which episodes are considered to be the show’s best, and which are its worst.
BEST: The Simpsons Guy (8.4)
Everyone says that Avengers: Endgame is the most ambitious crossover of all time, but they obviously haven’t seen ‘The Simpsons Guy’. A lot of animated shows of a similar world seem to be at each other’s throats a little, but Family Guy and The Simpsons are obviously on better terms.
This episode doubled each show’s standard run time and saw the characters from Family Guy visit Springfield. What resulted was a hilarious merging of two very different worlds, leading to an unexpected amount of extra-offensiveness than what we’re used to in The Simpsons.
WORST: Con Heiress (5.5)
A TV comedy is allowed to get away with some cringy parody titles for episodes, so we can let this one go. However, it isn’t really allowed to get away with releasing episodes that just aren’t that funny. This episode really just didn't do that much for anyone involved.
BEST: PTV (8.6)
Much like The Simpsons, season four of Family Guy is often considered to be the start of its Golden Era. This episode sees Peter Griffin start up his own TV network, before quickly being shut down and having his entire life censored.
It also has the notability of including Seth MacFarlane’s fake versions of Ozzy Osbourne, Osama Bin Laden, and George Bush for some great surrealist gags.
WORST: Trump Guy (5.3)
Obviously, at some point, Family Guy had to cash in on Donald Trump. They nail their depiction of the president and shine a light on him through well-timed references, but unfortunately, the episode simply comes from a time in which Family Guy had lost a lot of its ability to pull off its own comedic style.
BEST: And Then There Were Fewer (8.6)
Every now and again, Family Guy pulls something impressively artistic out of the bag. ‘And Then There Were Fewer’ doubles the standard run-time of an episode, re-introduces James Woods, and creates a genuinely interesting murder mystery.
It parodies various films of the same genre while allowing us to explore the nuances and humor of a lot of Quahog’s finest inhabitants in a single setting.
WORST: Fresh Heir (5.2)
Interestingly, quite a lot of the ‘worst’ episodes of Family Guy seem to revolve around money troubles. This one sees Carter make Chris the heir to his fortune, leading to Peter attempting to marry his own son. It probably would have been funny in the show’s early days, but this seems to really be a sign of Family Guy running out of ideas.
BEST: Back To The Pilot (8.8)
Another of the show’s more artistic moments came in season ten’s ‘Back To The Pilot.' Stewie and Brian are known for getting themselves into a range of whacky time travel situations way before it was cool thanks to Rick And Morty.
This one, in particular, saw them return to the events of the first-ever episode of Family Guy, where a Butterfly Effect-type situation saw Brian prevent 9/11 and cause a civil war in the modern-day, before going back and accidentally telling people about Harry Potter.
WORST: Life Of Brian (4.4)
This episode was a moment of pure desperation from Family Guy. They needed to gain new viewers, so what did they do? They killed Brian. Stewie has a time machine, but he couldn’t save him (which was truly heart-breaking, to be fair) and it led to the introduction of a new dog: Vinnie. Fans hated this change so much that MacFarlane rather quickly allowed for Brian to be resurrected.
BEST: Road To The Multiverse (9.1)
Achieving a 9.1 average on IMDb is an incredibly impressive feat. For this episode to exist a full 0.2 points above its closest competitor is even more impressive, but it makes a lot of sense.
This episode sees Stewie and Brian explore various parallel universes, making it full of references (such as a world stylized like a Disney film) and comedy (such as a world in which humans and dogs have swapped lifestyles).
WORST: You Can’t Handle The Booth (3.7)
This episode sees Family Guy attempt to go full-meta. Seth MacFarlane appears as himself, Family Guy exists as a show within a show, and the cast record a fake DVD commentary of the episode ‘New Phone, Who Dis?’ It really, really didn’t work and received negative reviews across the board.