Family Guy has aired 20 seasons as part of Fox’s primetime schedule since 1999, but the show has yet to win its holy grail Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series or Outstanding Animated Program. Lauded for its writing, voice acting, animation, and original music and lyrics from organizations ranging from the Annie Awards to the Writer’s Guild of America, Family Guy hasn’t aired without adulation. However, upper-crust Emmy gold routinely eludes the show despite its mark on comedy and its brazen on-air appeals.

Family Guy took direct aim at the Emmy Awards early in its run. During season 2, episode 9, “If I'm Dyin' I'm Lyin’,” Peter Griffin (voiced by Family Guy co-creator Seth MacFarlane) breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience as he gazes up at a “golden idol” crafted by his recently procured cult followers. “I look like a friggin’ Emmy,” Peter says. When he glances at the audience and briefly utters, “Hint, hint,” it becomes clear that Family Guy seeks Emmy prestige. Fast forward to season 16 and the series dedicated an entire episode to its Emmy bid. The season opener, “Emmy-Winning Episode,” channeled bits from Outstanding Comedy Series nominees including TransparentThe Big Bang Theory, and five-time winner Modern Family. Peter declares, “Well, this week, we do classy comedy, Emmy comedy.” A conspiracy against Family Guy is later revealed and explained by Hollywood actors and writers fed up with Family Guy’s dubious plight.

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The Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Animated Program are unrealized goals for Family Guy (though their Animation Domination counterpart and plagiarism indicter, The Simpsons, has won in the Outstanding Animated Series category in the past). Two decades' worth of deprivation boils down to the show’s indiscriminate assortment of humor. While Family Guy deserves recognition for its takes on social commentary, satire, bodily functions, lewd jokes, sci-fi exploits, animated horror, and pop culture gags, the Emmy Awards’ dismissive treatment of the series results from confusion. Family Guy harnesses numerous comedy genres, making it difficult to identify where the series’ strength truly lies.

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The closest Family Guy has come to its holy grail Emmy win was its 2009 Outstanding Comedy Series nomination for season 7, becoming only the second animated series in Emmy history to receive this accolade (The Flinstones is the other). Family Guy season 7 was praised for standout episodes, including Stewie and Brian’s inaugural time travel escapade, "Road to Germany.” During 22-minutes of material, Family Guy takes viewers through an assortment of sci-fi plotlines, history lessons, a Little Shop of Horrors musical gag, a dramatic action sequence, Hitler booty dropping, and religious tropes. The breadth of comedy incorporated into this single episode is Family Guy’s signature formula. Yet, for infrequent viewership, this sporadic composition can seem polarizing.

Ventures into dark humor might also hamper Emmy voters’ adulation for Family Guy. For instance, season 13, episode 10, “Quagmire’s Mom,” presents a horrific cutaway interloping one of Family Guy’s core audience’s beloved childhood memories with carnage. The dark adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, in which Peter executes every last wild thing in front of the iconic book’s nine-year-old protagonist, Max, produces an emotionally disjointed reaction from the audience. An occasional viewer might be hit harder by the gag as their reaction isn’t primed by habitual exposure to this line of morbid joke-telling.

Family Guy has endued Fox’s Animation Domination block with a variety of dirty and intellectual humor for two decades and serves as a pop culture time capsule. The Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy pits Family Guy against live-action programming. Perhaps a shot at the Outstanding Animated Series Emmy is a more feasible get, though Family Guy hasn’t been nominated for this category since 2006. The cards are stacked, but Family Guy’s longevity just might help it pull out a win.

NEXT: How To Fix The Emmys & Make Them Interesting Again