Family Guy: 10 Major Ways The Show Has Changed Throughout The Seasons

When a show goes on for more than twenty years, it is bound to change in many notable ways. Unfortunately for Family Guy, these changes are often for the worse. Family Guy is a shadow of its former self, as it seems destined to simply offend and bewilder as many people as possible. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that; South Park does it all time.

But it also needs to be funny and well-told, and unfortunately, Family Guy has been suffering in that department.

10 Peter’s Personality

At the heart of Family Guy is Peter Griffin, the lovable oaf and patriarch of the Griffin family. In the early seasons of the show, Peter was a relatable, if somewhat exaggerated, figure. He was a typical working man who loved his family and spent time with his friends in the bar. Over time, Peter drastically changed. He’s now much dumber (so much so that the audience genuinely questions his mental capacities), much more childish, and he often veers into the psychotic behavior. He’s a darker version of past self, and it’s borderline disturbing to witness.

9 Stewie’s Personality

Another Griffin family member to undergo a rapid change in personality is baby Stewie. In the early seasons of the show, Stewie was some kind of brilliant criminal mastermind, often conjuring up elaborate schemes, wondrous pieces of technology, and various creative ways in which he tried to kill his own mother. That aspect of his character has been entirely abandoned (aside from the odd contraption for story’s sake, like a time travel machine). Now he’s more camp than anything, and a lot of humor is derived from his ambiguous and often caricatured sexual orientation.

8 Darker Humor

Family Guy has always been about pushing buttons, but it knew where to draw the line. Before, the show was a cute little animated program in the vein of The Simpsons, often favoring a well-told story and interesting characters with lots of humor sprinkled in for good measure. Now it’s the most crass program it can possibly be; the series is filled with many controversial scenes depicting dark and rather un-funny scenarios. Case in point – the “gag” which saw Quagmire sexually assaulting Marge and killing the entire Simpson family (including Maggie). Early Family Guy would never do something like that, as crass as it would often get.

7 Use Of Graphic Violence

To go with the darker humor is a more concentrated focus on depicting graphic violence and gore. Again, this was certainly not an issue in the early seasons of the show.

But for some reason, the show has shifted to depicting the most grotesque images it can possibly get away with. Peter crushes children to death and hides their corpses under the bed, Stewie spends an entire episode with his brains exposed, Peter cuts people up with a chainsaw, Quagmire shoots Peter in the head, exposing his brains and causing his eyeball to dangle — these are just a few of the most notable examples.

6 Drawing Out Fan Favorite Jokes

Many shows fall into the trap of repeating jokes ad nauseum. Some particular jokes prove popular, and suddenly they’re telling that joke (or some iteration of it) in what feels like every single episode. Unfortunately, Family Guy has often resorted to this old age trap. A great example of this is Herbert the Pervert. Herbert’s scenes in “To Love and Die in Dixie” were really funny. So, naturally, the show brought him back. And then they made him a recurring cast member whose jokes get progressively get more salacious and less funny. It’s lazy, and it only makes fans wish for the good old days.

5 More Outlandish Stories

Like The Simpsons, Family Guy once proved a nice little slice of American life. The stories would often veer into the unrealistic, but it always kept things relatively grounded. It wasn’t rare for an episode to focus on Peter joining a theater troupe or fearing a visit from his mother. But now, the show has lost all semblance of reality. Episodes are often totally outlandish, centering around time travel, certain “themes” like adapting Stephen King stories, and Peter doing something totally outrageous.

4 Increased Politics

Brian Griffin was often seen as the show’s most politicized character, as he is not afraid of voicing his most extreme opinions. He is very liberal and openly atheist, which could throw off some of the show’s viewer base – it’s why prime time shows don’t often veer into overt politics.

And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with the character and his opinions, many people (even the show’s most liberal viewers) believe that Brian’s constant preaching has gone too far, as he’s veered from a character with liberal viewpoints to a preachy political mouthpiece.

3 Flanderization

For that matter, most of the characters have suffered from some degree of flanderization. “Flanderization” is when a character completely imbibes their defining character trait. Brian is a perfect example, as he went from a character with depth to a walking political spokesman. Other characters that have suffered from flanderization include Peter (he is unhinged and vindictive), Meg (increasingly more pathetic and bullied), Quagmire (increased creepiness and inappropriate behavior), and Chris (his mental faculties have significantly waned).

2 Ratings Grab

It’s not like Family Guy to resort to ratings grabs, but that’s exactly what it did with “Life of Brian.” For those who don’t remember, “Life of Brian” was an episode in season 12 wherein the title character was run over by a car. His death and subsequent return just three episodes later was seen as a massive ratings ploy by long-time fans; a gross way for the show to get back into the cultural conversation. Old Family Guy would have joked about using just such a ploy.

1 Overly Long Gags

It wasn’t rare for early Family Guy to utilize overly-long gags as a form of comedy. But it managed to do so while still being funny — Peter holding his knee and wincing in pain goes from funny to annoying and back to funny again. There’s an art to the overly-long gag, as making it too long will simply annoy the audience. Unfortunately, many of modern Family Guy‘s gags — like Conway Twitty, Peter impaling a beached whale with a forklift, the karaoke bit in “Quagmire’s Mom,” and Peter attempting to park a boat — are simply too long for their own good.

About The Author

Nathan Sharp
(852 Articles Published)

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Nathan Sharp is a writer from outside Toronto, Ontario. He has a love of movies and television, having enjoyed them for more than twenty years. His preferences include drama, action, and horror, with the former being a particular point of interest and fascination.

He also has a love of video games, particularly those of Rockstar.

Whether it be about film, television, or video games, Nathan loves a good discussion and has written hundreds of articles for Screen Rant.

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