Family Guy ensures that its presence is known, whether it'd be a musical number, Peter's goofy shenanigans, or Stewie's initial planning of world domination. Yet, it's the premieres that could make or break a season, as they set the entire mood.
There has been absolutely sweet premieres and not-so-sweet-premieres of Family Guy, and while we heavily praise the effort and hard work put into the openers, we're going to be slightly salty with the ones that didn't meet the standards. For clarity, we're not hating; it's just that they could've been better.
5 of the best Family Guy premieres
Season 1: "Death Has A Shadow" (pilot)
The series premiere that landed on January 31st, 1999, was the perfect introduction to Family Guy. "Death Has A Shadow" gave us a glimpse of Peter's chaotic and dysfunctional family life, and the storyline of him committing welfare fraud was epic writing, as it delivered both positive and negative messages. Positive because Peter gifted his "earnings" to the Super Bowl crowd and negative because you don't take advantage of the government.
And you have Kool-Aid Guy bursting through the courtroom in the most awkward inconvenience. That itself is golden TV and a great reference to us 1980s kids who lived through the original bursting.
Season 2: "Peter, Peter Caviar Eater"
"Peter, Peter Caviar Eater" was another strong season premiere, as it depicted the Griffin family going from rags to riches and riches from rags. Plus, you got the first musical number of the series with "This House Is Freakin' Sweet," as Peter is so entranced with becoming a Newport millionaire that he sings about it.
The episode additionally gave fans a peek at Peter's hidden snobbery, and quick change back to his normal personification.
Season 8: "Road To The Multiverse"
We're skipping six seasons ahead to focus on the gem, "Road To The Multiverse-" the eighth season premiere. In this exciting chapter, Brian and Stewie jump to different corners of the Multiverse, and in each landing, the pair experience alternate realities of their family and neighbors.
The highlight of "Road To The Multiverse" is the Disney-inspired clip, with the characters drawn in its recognizable forms. Plus, we even got the tune, "It's A Wonderful Day For Pie" out of the premiere.
Season 13: "The Simpsons Guy"
In perhaps the best animated crossover ever to grace TV, "The Simpsons Guy" delivered the best of both worlds. You have the Griffins meeting Springfield's Simpsons, and all kinds of idiocies occur when you place Homer and Peter together. The same can be said with the other characters, such as Bart and Stewie, Brian and Santa's Little Helper, Lisa and Meg, and Marge and Lois.
The friendships dissolve into bitterness as Homer discovers that Pawtucket Ale is a ripoff of Duff Beer. His realization becomes a court matter and he and Peter become rather aggressive. The judge, who happens to be Fred Flintstone, rules in Duff's favor and Peter loses his brewery job.
Things became peaceful between the families (somewhat) but they go their separate ways.
2025: "Fat Gun"
Silly me thought that the season 23 premiere title was called "Top Fat" for some reason, but that has been corrected. In "Fat Gun," Peter and the Quahog residents become Top Gun personalities, and the plot follows the movie and its 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
That said, "Fat Gun" is one of the strongest premieres that Family Guy had in a while as it filled with comedic payoff and a solid narrative.
The 5 worst Family Guy premieres
Aside from these terrific premieres, there are some that didn't cut the cake for us. The reasoning is because the material was either offensive, or weak writing. Not every episode needs to be perfect, and that's okay, but as mentioned a premiere can make or break an episode.
- Season's 4 "North By North Quahog"
- Season 5's "Stewie Loves Lois"
- Season 7's "Love Blactually"
- Season 19's "Stewie's First Word"
- Season 20's "Lasik Instinct"