Brian, the Griffin family’s talking dog on the Fox series Family Guy, was killed off the show Sunday night. Voiced by Seth MacFarlane, Brian was a major character on the show for all 11 seasons before being hit by a car in last night’s episode.
Stewie tried to save his best friend by going back in time and preventing the accident, but earlier in the episode he had taken his time machine apart. The boy genius was unable to rebuild it in time to save Brian.
“You’ve given me a wonderful life. I love you all,” were Brian’s final words as he died from his injuries on the veterinary bed.
While the world was shocked, writers of the show had been in talks about killing of a member of the Griffin family for some time now.
“This was an idea that got pitched in the writers room and it sort of caught fire,” Family Guy producer Steve Callaghan told E! News. “It seemed more in the realm of a reality that a dog would get hit by a car, then if one of the kids died.”
After Brian’s death, the Griffin family adopted a new dog named Vinnie, voiced by The Sopranos’ actor Tony Sirico. “[MacFarlane] is a big fan of The Sopranos and always loved Tony Sirico in particular and he thought it would be fun to write a character based around his voice and his personality and just who he is as an actor,” Callaghan added.
Brian was replaced by new dog Vinnie, voiced by Tony Sirico
Some saw the death of Brian as an “act of depression” by the show to increase ratings. In the past, Seth MacFarlane has been very vocal that it is time for the show to end and that it may have run well past its sell-by date.
“Part of me thinks that Family Guy should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about the right lifespan for a TV series,” MacFarlane told The Hollywood Reporter. “I talk to the fans and in a way I’m kind of secretly hoping for them to say we’re done with it. There are plenty of people who say the show is kind of over the hill… but still the vast majority go pale in the face when I mention the possibility.”
Is it time for Family Guy to end? Was it wrong to kill off Brian in order to add Tony Sirico to the show? You be the judge. Comment below.
3 Comments