Why? Why him? Of all the characters on Family Guy, why did you have to kill off my favorite? Family Guy will never be the same after Seth MacFarlane and company opted to kill off one of the most beloved characters on the animated series. The November 24, 2013 season 11 episode followed in the footsteps of other popular shows in killing off a main character, but this time around the character killed off was the show’s voice of reason and unarguably the most endearing character on the animated series. And the death came after Stewie dismantled his time machine so there’s no going back.
Family Guy killed off Brian and fans are not happy about the decision, with some going as far as to wonder if this is truly the beginning of the end. Did the series jump the shark with the death of Brian? It’s too early to tell, but one fan (Aaron Thompson of Tuscaloosa) was so upset that he launched a petition on Change.org to demand the return of Brian.
However, in an interview with E!, executive producer Steve Callaghan said he’s not worried about the backlash from fans. “I’m not, only because our fans are smart enough and have been loyal to our show for long enough, to know that they can trust us. We always make choices that always work to the greatest benefit of the series.”
And one of those choices was to immediately bring in a new family dog (voiced by The Sopranos‘ Tony Sirico). “It felt like the way that this show was conceived by Seth all those years ago, it was this entire family unit including the parents, kids and a dog,” explained Callaghan. “So by losing Brian, it felt like a void needed to be filled both comically, and also for the interpersonal relationships between all the characters. We felt that we needed to fill that role.”
Okay Callaghan, if you say so. But Brian’s going to be deeply missed and if you want to somehow cheat and bring him back, we’d be eternally grateful. Pretty please.
