The Big Picture: Dog, Gone

[Baron von Blitztank]

Haven't watched Family Guy since I lost my TV Connection (which is about a couple of years ago) but it's still kind of surprising news to hear. Strange how Brian was able to get shot, beaten to near-death and torched with a flamethrower, but in the end it's a car that does him in! Guess that's cartoon logic for you...

 

[Gilhelmi]

Let him stay dead. I like Brian, but the joke is just too stale (as is Family Guy, ba-zing).

So, apologies to Brian supporters, but let him stay dead.

 

[Psychobabble]

Haven't watched the show in years. Like Brian sometimes things just need to die. When your writers are so bored they resort to antics like this it's really time to pull the plug.

 

[TechTim]

Well, Death

can still potentially fix it. Timeline alteration and death mulligans are in his repertoire.

... I didn't see the ep, was Death around?

He was absent. I don't think the writers plan on having Brian come back.

At this point whether there is going to be a abrupt change of mind will be dependent on the integrity of the current creative team. Fox has opted to pull and refuse to air episodes in the past, but it was almost entirely based on externalities related to subject matter (abortion, antisemitism, and terrorism being the reasons). And while death is not exactly permanent in the Family Guy universe, not many characters that have died between the three shows have come back to life.

I'm rather curious how the writers decided go about doing this. I buy the seasons mainly for the commentary however the last few seasons have had very few episodes that included commentary. Also, the people with the most overall production knowledge/ability to keep the dialogue flowing without large stretches of silence have been notably absent. It's sad but I'll probably stop buying them if they drop the commentary, especially in times like this where there is a chance to hear some unique insight about the writing decisions.

or maybe they could say he's always been a clone and stewie has to get a "new" one for every week.

 

[Jeroenr]

It may be just a coincidence, but the Simpson announced weeks ago that they were going to "kill off" a prominent character.
so this this seems a little like an attempt to beat them to the punch.

I wouldn't put it past them at least.
If i'm wrong about this, Good job keeping this under the radar.

 

[Iceklimber]

Times of not every other website spoiling major Events that you wished to experience yourself, gone.

 

[Ashley Blalock]

Can't shake the feeling that it's a rating stunt and perhaps part of a bigger joke about how the show doesn't really work without Brain in the dynamics between the characters. The first season when Brain was just sort of a one note character with things like "ass ahoy" the show isn't very good. But when you got the Brain and Stewie team, Quagmire and Brain not liking each other, Brain as the straight man for Peter's stupid, or Brain as the only family member giving a crap about Meg then we got the Family Guy people remember instead of the early stuff we've mostly forgotten. Just can't see them pulling off an episode like Vinny and Stewie in a bank vault the whole episode.

As to the football game eh Patriots fans are too full of themselves to see why everyone else hates them. Have some seasons like the Jaguars or the Saints used to have and maybe people will like you.

 

[tangoprime]

Meh, my reaction to Brian's demise was about the same as Quagmire's at the funeral. I doubt he'll stay dead unless this is Seth McFarlane overtly trying to kill the show or leave, but in the mean time, at least we don't have to hear his lectures about religion and politics.

 

[maximara]

I know this show exists for the sake of explaining rarely-understood or little-known topics, but outside of Bob's own enjoyment of Family Guy I'm not sure how any of this is relevant to anything. Characters die all the time in every form of story-telling media you can think of. Doctor Who swaps out its main character actor every couple of years and each one of them has gone through handfuls of supporting characters, some of whom have remained famous and ubiquitous with the series as a whole despite only being around for a year or two.

Moviebob is right in that *main character death in a long running series* is rare. MASH for example only had one: Henry Blake.

Also current Doctor Who is a revival of a show that begun in 1963 and in fact has made itself into the Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show. Tom Baker in fact was in the role for 7 years and that was at a time when stories were 4 episodes long.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I read somewhere that Stewie uses the timemachine to get his christmas presents early during the episodes, so it probably wouldn´t be too far fetched that he meets up with himself in some future episode to fix all the problems. Can´t say that i care too much though, i haven´t really watched an episode of Family Guy for ages and last time i tried i barely laughed. At this point i prefer American Dad.

But seeing that Stewie and Brian (and Mayor West) were the only really funny characters in the show, i can´t say i´m too stoked about this.

 

[Slash2x]

Quick Wikipedia search ends up with two future episodes with Brian's name. Soooo... ya.

Also, didn't Stewie "kill" Lois once? And it ended up being a bad dream in the end anyways?

I believe you're referring to the episode where the events were happening inside Stewie's "simulation goggles". But I think I might be wrong.

You might be right, too. I can't really remember, it's been a long time since I've watched that episode.

It was a simulation chair where Stewie mapped out what would happen if he finally actually tried to kill Lois - it didn't end well, which gave the showrunners an excuse not to retread that plotline every episode like in the first seasons.

But that was 2 episodes. He killed her in the first one and then she came back in the second one and killed him.... Then it was a "VR" thing and they poked fun at shows that do dream or coma plots.....

 

[OfficialJab]

As someone who's been watching since first season, owns all the DVD sets and has seen every episode several times, this didn't really bother me when I heard it - I do hope it's true and they stick to it. Vinnie's character design is much better in motion, and while I initially thought he was just a stereotype, his speech to Stewie at the end was very nice and brought me over at the same time as Stewie. The show has been taking a lot of steps in the last few seasons to get the viewers to start accepting at least a bit of sincere storytelling from them, and it would bug me if they destroyed that by bringing him back.

I'd say Brian can still appear in some non-canon Road episodes with Stewie later on. That would give them even more charm, in fact.

 

[OfficialJab]

But that was 2 episodes. He killed her in the first one and then she came back in the second one and killed him.... Then it was a "VR" thing and they poked fun at shows that do dream or coma plots.....

You're right, but why is that an important distinction?

I'm rather curious how the writers decided go about doing this. I buy the seasons mainly for the commentary however the last few seasons have had very few episodes that included commentary. Also, the people with the most overall production knowledge/ability to keep the dialogue flowing without large stretches of silence have been notably absent. It's sad but I'll probably stop buying them if they drop the commentary, especially in times like this where there is a chance to hear some unique insight about the writing decisions.

I.... I thought I was the only one....

 

[Sansha]

I think it's temporary. Bob was right here, in that the episode is hugely lackluster. And the one thing that gets me is the accident itself. The car came screaming around the corner and barreled over him in a very deliberate fashion, and the vehicle itself was unusually detailed compared to most vehicles in the show... I feel like the next episodes are going to be Stewie trying to find a way to build a time machine, and maybe an investigation into who killed him.

 

[Vrach]

Pretty much agree with all you said, particularly about Vinnie being a downright terrible character. If this is anything more than a goof, Family Guy's coming off my to-watch list, not that it's there for any other reason than just killing 20 minutes while I drift off to sleep.

The episode was also completely awful and deliberately designed to kill Brian. Non interesting story, barely a funny joke here and there, Stewie destroying the time machine and then is unable to build it again because, with all his technology, he only has the one guy that supplies him with materials, two of them playing hockey in the middle of the street and Stewie needs a drink... yeah, it's all just designed with no other purpose than to kill Brian off, which makes me think that it's either a goof to spice up the ratings (particularly with them having announced killing a character off and considering the following episode names) or possibly, that it's the kind of bad writing that could make Vinnie look like an interesting character. Kinda hoping on the former as I did still enjoy Family Guy here and there even in these later series and I'd hate to see it turn to complete crap.

Btw, title/subtitle - cheers for the spoiler. Dog.Gone + "something important happens on an animated show" with a bonus of you actually talking about it, could've been a tad more subtle around the whole thing :\

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think it's temporary. Bob was right here, in that the episode is hugely lackluster. And the one thing that gets me is the accident itself. The car came screaming around the corner and barreled over him in a very deliberate fashion, and the vehicle itself was unusually detailed compared to most vehicles in the show... I feel like the next episodes are going to be Stewie trying to find a way to build a time machine, and maybe an investigation into who killed him.

This seems unlikely since the whole point of the episode was to make Stewie complacent with the new dog.

 

[Brockyman]

What I really hope happens is that Stewie fixes the Time Machine and goes and gets the Brian from the first 2 seasons. That Brian's dry wit and straight man gimmick was a major factor in those being the 'better seasons'. The more recent Brian is whiny, irresponsible, argumentative and unlikable in any episode other then time traveling with Stewie.

Bring Back 2000s Brian!

And while Stewie is at it, go back and get the evil genius Stewie that was actually funny and enjoyable to watch and then kill the Stewie that's nothing more than a walking gay joke, in other words himself.

I'm totally on board with that!

 

[emeraldrafael]

I wouldn't mind Brian staying dead. I wouldnt mind the show ending too, but most of all I wouldn't mind him staying dead. I know its his whole schtick but honestly he makes the show a bit too political.

First of all, South Park is no longer on Netflix, only Hulu Plus (The South Park Movie is still on Netflix however). I know it's an older picture for Netflix but your going to confuse a lot of people.

OT, however, I was surprised they chose to kill Brian. I didn't see the episode myself, but Vinny does look ugly. I was really expecting them to kill Meg; she really doesn't do anything, everyone (in the show) hates her to some degree, and I would assume Mila Kunis would want to be focusing more on Movies rather then the show where she's a Butt Monkey.

They had a bit of a resolution with that in the episode of the storm and brian doing drugs, but that would also probably depend on Kunis actually having a successful film career. Aside from Black Swan (which is a good movie but I suspect more known for um... other things), Ted (which could have been filled with any other woman for all the relevance her character had), and Oz The Great and Powerful (where she again had a big role but the movie wasn't really spectacular and didn't draw as much from her name as it did the brand, James Franco, and the "success" of the Wonderland movie) I cant think of a movie where she had a huge starring role and did exceptionally well with her in it and would be re-missed if she wasnt (except maybe Friends With Benefits, but again, Justin Timberlake screams more as the draw then she does/did).

Right now Family guy is her most stable paycheck and with only being known as Jackie from That 70s Show, Meg from Family Guy and from being in Macfarlane's first real attempt at making a movie, and dating Ashton Kutcher and getting Demi's sloppy seconds I dont know if she really has a great future in movies where she'd be willing to give up the safety of Family Guy.

 

[mistbornes]

I agree with Bob, this is all a giant joke or hoax on the fans. Brian will be back by seasons end or by Christmas episode as he has multiple episodes of his own and others. He was seen multiple times in the season 12 trailer in episodes that havent aired, Vinny is probably like a crime dog or something like it was hinted at or he would just be a guest character at the most, the producers will laugh at people for going to the lengths they did for Brian but be flattered by it as well and soon all shall be well, they are gonna want the normal status quo back when they crossover with the simpsons as having Vinny there would just be weird as opposed to Brian. Besides the famous 'Road to...' episode are a family guy staple and Vinny just wouldn't work in those stories at all, and I doubt he would even sing which is a family guy must.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

Moviebob is right in that *main character death in a long running series* is rare. MASH for example only had one: Henry Blake.

Also current Doctor Who is a revival of a show that begun in 1963 and in fact has made itself into the Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction television show. Tom Baker in fact was in the role for 7 years and that was at a time when stories were 4 episodes long.

You know what would have made a better episode? Taking about Marcia Wallace, voice of Edna Krabappel. Unlike Brian who's just another voice in Seth MacFarlane's Freakazoid-ish head, Edna Krabappel's voice actor actually tragically died, creating a real dilemma for TV and Movie-makers: what to do when your actors pass away? John Ritter, Mary Kay Bergman, this is a thousand times more interesting than some asshole choosing not to voice a talking dog in the World's Most Third Place animated Sitcom.