Best Family Guy episodes to rewatch when you need a laugh (or a gasp)

Family Guy is a show known for its penchant for pushing boundaries and delivering animated comedy with a blend of sharp humor, absurd cutaway gags, and pop culture parodies. Created by Seth MacFarlane, the animated sitcom focuses on the weird antics of Peter Griffin and his family.

From self-referential humor to random cutaways, the show implements a number of established techniques to create its comic episodes. Pop culture enthusiasts love the catchphrases from the show, like Quagmire's “Giggity giggity goo” or Peter's "Freakin' sweet".

What makes a comedy show like Family Guy refreshing is the breath of fresh air it brings. When your taste buds are too full of serious, gritty thrillers or brooding, gut-wrenching horror shows, Family Guy scratches the itch for absolute nonsense and lazy entertainment with a side of social commentary.

Here’s a rundown of some of the most hilarious and gasp-worthy Family Guy episodes to watch:

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Best Family Guy episodes to rewatch when you need a laugh (or a gasp)

1. Road to the Multiverse (Season 8, Episode 1)

Road to the Multiverse belongs to the series of ‘road to’ episodes from Family Guy that offer a parody of seven comedy films. In this episode, genius kid Stewie and Brian, the family dog, traverse alternate realities with the help of a remote control.

What makes this episode gasp-worthy is the bizarre versions of Quahog Brian and Stewie find in the alternate realm. With a Disney-style animation, the episode offers laughs with its depiction of strange dystopian universes where every scene is packed with visual gags. Not to mention, cultural references are deeply woven into the narrative.

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2. Petarded (Season 4, Episode 6)

The very episode title, built upon a linguistic portmanteau, hints at what happens in the episode: Peter discovers that he is retarded. Known for his dim-witted antics, Peter Griffin often acts out of his odd, illogical whims.

In Petarded, he takes an IQ test, hoping to find out if he is a genius. Turns out, he is not. He is legally considered mentally challenged. This sends Peter into a bizarre trance of reckless decisions, like declaring himself above the law and crashing a car into a bar.

The humor of this episode capitalizes on Peter Griffin’s utter lack of self-awareness and his unwise boastfulness.

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3. P&T Road Show (Season 8, Episode 10)

Peter finds out that people tend to buy stuff that is useless at astounding prices. This realization launches him into the auction business. Soon, his greed and gullibility make him fall for the trap laid by a con artist.

The comic appeal of the episode arises from Peter’s whimsical, impulsive behavior that does not let him sense the impending scam. All the while these series of incidents happen, Peter does not let go of his boastfulness or his weird antics.

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4. Blue Harvest (Season 6, Episode 1)

This episode from Family Guy is a parody of Star Wars, where Peter acts as the parodic version of Han Solo, but Peter is clumsy and anything but heroic. Han Solo, the iconic Star Wars character is thus injected with classic offbeat Peter Griffin antics, inducing fun and humor.

On the other hand, Stewie plays the role of Darth Vader, and the evil-genius humor fits right in. What makes the episode fun and laugh-worthy is how we see pop culture’s beloved icons in a comic, bizarre light through the dysfunctional Griffin family’s personalities.

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5. Brian and Stewie (Season 8, Episode 17)

Brian, the anthropomorphic family dog possessing a rare dry wit and alcoholism, gets locked up inside a vault with Stewie. Stewie, a sociopath, along with Brian, engages in some crude toilet humor, and through these two, the show takes a deep emotional turn.

The standout laughs emerge from Brian’s signature sarcasm and his witty reactions. Also important is Stewie’s outlandish survival tactics, which are both hilarious and outrageous.

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6. I Dream of Jesus (Season 7, Episode 2)

Family Guy excels in stretching jokes through absurd escalations. Peter lands his hand on an old record of ‘Surfin Bird’ and becomes instantly, madly obsessed with it, torturing the rest of the Griffin family members with loud music.

He does not stop at playing it once or twice, making everyone suffer from his odd fixation. This situational-comic punch is further extended when Peter irritates Brian and Stewie almost unbearably.

They are driven to the brink of becoming crazy, and here, the humor comes from Peter’s complete disregard for others' consent or mood. He is stubborn and impossibly childlike. Of course, a grown-up head of the family acting in such an inexplicable manner induces laughs.

The second half of the episode picks up pace when Jesus enters the scene, who appears to be living in the town of Quahog. Even in his presence, Peter continues with his immature behavior with his selfish reasons, leading to a chaotic fallout.

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7. The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire (Season 4, Episode 5)

Family Guy’s Quagmire is known for his uncontrollable sexual appetite, and the episode spins it and twists it to give a weird turn to Quagmire’s obsession. Quagmire ends up having an affair with Loretta, Cleveland’s wife.

Thus, the episode explores both dark humor and exposes the extreme lengths to which obsessions can extend. As a reaction, the soft-spoken Cleveland ends up having a fist-fight with Quagmire for breaking trust in their close circle.

The humor emerges from the juxtaposition of Cleveland’s calm persona and his explosive reaction. Added to this is the cringeworthy fact that a grown-up adult like Cleveland would actually engage in a fist-fight.

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Also read: 10 South Park episodes that went way too far