10 most controversial Family Guy episodes, ranked

Family Guy is an animated sitcom made popular by its penchant for the darkest, most controversial episode plots. It is never just serious for satire’s sake but always daring to tread where traditional sitcoms do not usually like to go.

Family Guy integrated everything from social taboos to emotionally provocative storytelling that sometimes led to praise and other times sparked outrage. These ten episodes didn’t just push envelopes; they redefined the boundaries of sitcom storytelling.

Family Guy (Image via Amazon Prime Video)

The show always had its own brand of humor, often edgy and nihilistic, making audiences develop a taste for the dark and unusually twisted magnetism. Some episodes were a hit, but others tried to invoke fun through tone-deaf boldness (or, in rare cases, emotional cruelty).

Here is a list of 10 episodes ranked according to their penchant for crossing the line.

10 most controversial Family Guy episodes, ranked

10. Turban Cowboy (Season 11, Episode 15)

This controversial episode was removed from streaming platforms. The timing of its controversy was the key factor. It aired just a month before the Boston Marathon bombing.

The episode became a center of hot debate not because of a single scene, but because of an out-of-context fan-made video that spliced two unrelated scenes together.

Peter befriends a Muslim man named Mahmoud, who is a radical extremist plotting an attack. He even learns to ululate. Through Mahmoud, he meets more Muslim friends of Mahmoud, like Omar.

9. A Shot in the Dark (Season 14, Episode 9)

This episode was inspired by the Trayvon Martin controversy, Peter courageously shoots a black teenager (from Cleveland Show) named Cleveland Jr. The way the gag tackled sensitive topics like race and racial violence drew criticism.

Some viewers felt it was reductive and inappropriate.

8. Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q (Season 10, Episode 3)

This episode dealt with the sensitive topic of domestic violence. At the core of it is Quagmire’s sister, who is trapped in an abusive relationship with a guy named Jeff. Quagmire emotionally appeals to his sister to leave her abusive partner with a heartfelt letter. But Brenda declares that they’ve decided to get married.

This shock is stretched even further when Peter comes up with some nasty and insensitive jokes, guessing names of the couple’s children as ‘slappy’, ‘bruisy’ etc.

Brenda Quagmire and Glenn Quagmire from Family Guy (Image via Amazon Prime Video)

The episode adapted a grim tone and the graphic emotional weight stayed with viewers. The episodic narrative sparked controversy and brought in a rare, uncharacteristic seriousness to the show.

The outrage was further heightened when the characters resorted to vigilante murder, a serious and morally complex act that felt out of place in a show known for its comedic violence. The jarring shift from comedy to heavy drama was clear and thus, the episode became a topic of pop cultural debate.

7. Stewie Is Enceinte (Season 13, Episode 12)

At the heart of this episode from season 13 is Stewie, who weirdly impregnates himself with Brian's DNA. Things get really weird when Stewie gives birth to grotesque human-animal hybrids. The bizarre plot, coupled with body horror, pushed the boundaries of shock humor.

The transgressive storyline that centered on the birth of a monstrous, deformed offspring was received as bizarre and controversial.

6. No Meals On Wheels (Season 5, Episode 14)

After a sudden windfall and a series of bizarre discoveries, the Griffin family lands their hands on 50,000. With the money Peter opens a restaurant, but Joe turns the place into a favorite hangout place of his paraplegic friends.

Peter gets into a fight with Joe, and he bans the party from ever visiting the establishment.

The show often walks in a moral grey territory often Joe is used as a punching bag for many of the jokes. Yet, this episode from Family Guy trampled into really sensitive territories, with many viewers finding its disability-targeted humor quite outrageous.

5. The Fat Guy Strangler (Season 4, Episode 17)

This episode revolves around Lois’s brother, who turns out to be a serial killer. What makes this entire story offensive is how he targets only overweight men. The premise—always teetering between satire and appalling—is unsettling. Even the episode title walks on the charged wires of an offensive, dark humor territory.

4. Partial Terms of Endearment (Season 8, Episode 21; unaired in U.S.)

In a rare case of censorship for the show, Episode 21 from season 8 was only limited to DVD and overseas. This was mainly due to the plot of the episode, which centered around Lois.

She decided to become a surrogate for a couple, only to face grief and abortion. Fox deemed it too incendiary to air, relegating it to only a limited medium for airing it to the public.

3. Halloween On Spooner Street (Season 9, Episode 4)

In an episode titled "Halloween on Spooner Street," of Family Guy, things go into incestuous territory after Chris and Meg hook up, dressed in their Halloween costumes in a party.

Even when they realize what has happened, they continue with the relationship.

The episode involves explicit use of incest as a central plot point and couples it with racially-charged jokes. It struck not an all round pleasurable chord with the viewers.

2. “Life of Brian” (Season 12, Episode 6)

Brian the anthropomorphic Griffin family pet, is killed off in this episode. The episode had two parts and the plot largely revolved around Brian and Stewie as they escaped a Native American-controlled alternate timeline they created.

Stewie destroys the time machine, and a car fatally hits Brian, killing him. As shocking as Brian’s death was, the family soon adopts another pet dog named Vinny, who eventually becomes a trusted member of the family.

Stewie is heartbroken by Brian’s death and when Vinny arrives, he builds a good bond with grieving Stewie by comforting him. The decision to kill off one of the core, fan favorite characters of Family Guy like Brian led to a huge fan outcry before the show revealed its plan to bring Brian back.

1.The 2000-Year-Old Virgin (Season 13, Episode 6)

This much debated episode of Family Guy centers around Peter as he turns into Jesus. When Jesus finds out that he is a virgin, Peter and his company try to help him sleep with Lois.

Later, Peter finds out that the fact about virginity is only a lie that he uses to get gifts. The episode portrayed a religious figure in a dark, outrageous plot which sparked controversy among the viewers.