Family Guy landed on Fox with their season 23 opener, "Fat Gun," on February 16th. The premiere was a Top Gun parody and the perfect introduction to the new season.
If you know the movie Top Gun, you know that it was one of Tom Cruise's early Box Office successes, and since the movie was set in the 1980s, it was only natural for Family Guy to materialize it into its storyline. In the animated comedy's version, the plotlines of Top Gun and its 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, were blended in.
I truly enjoyed "Fat Gun" for its novelty and how strong of an episode it was. It's understandable why Seth MacFarlane and the Family Guy team wanted to make it one of the series' best premieres. While it was initially frustrating to have the 23rd season pushed to 2025 to make space for new shows, the wait was worth it. Then, the premiere was preempted by two hours due to NASCAR.
Family Guy "Fat Gun" should've been an hour
Peter, Joe, Lois, Stewie, Brian, and Chris seamlessly molded themselves into the Top Gun characters, as they have in other media spoofs before. Peter as Maverick (Tom Cruise's character) is what you'd expect. Still, I felt that Peter should've put more of his shenanigans into him, as that's what he's known for. Adding that little bit of his identity would've made Peter's Maverick original to the narrative.
There are some Family Guy premieres that are an hour long, allowing more content to be woven in, making a better story and lasting impression. That wasn't the case with "Fat Gun," and since there was so much going on in an eighteen-minute episode, the hour would have worked in its favor. The story would not have been so cramped, and we'd get more screen time for Peter interacting with his fellow Navy officers.
The noted blunders are minor, as the animators and writers do work hard to craft their story for the audience to enjoy. It's not going to be perfect, as nothing is, but that's what makes TV interesting and memorable. So, who am I to judge?
By the way, where was Quagmire in all of this? Wasn't he in the Navy before he was a commercial pilot? The episode felt off without him, and missed a golden oppurtunity there.
Some "Fat Gun" funny moments
"Top Fat" did deliver some appreciative core moments which made the episode stand out in terms of its writing.
- In the beginning, there was a musical number in which Maverick sang to Lois's character, Charlie. It brought back the original formula, as Family Guy thrived on musical acts in its early days.
- Charlie and Bonnie's character, Carol took control at the near end, and I enjoyed it a lot.
- Maverick and Chris's character, Rooster bonded over the now-deceased Goose (Joe) with a hug,
- We get an appearance of Tiny Tom Cruise, which was very appropriate.