Before starting this article, I would like to say that I'm sorry for being absent for so long; I've been under a good deal of pressure during my freshman year of college but have finally found time to make a decent post, at least, I made time for this subject.
I once enjoyed Family Guy quite a bit. It was a funny and clever comedy in it's early years and I adored the characters: a bumbling drunk Peter, an intellectual Brian, a megalomaniac Stewie, etc. But as time went on the show and the characters took on a negative spin, becoming less funny and more brutal and mean spirited. Peter became a selfish, violent man-child, Brian became a liberal buzz-kill, Stewie became an uninspired stereotype of homosexuality, and so on. Add to it two more series and a movie with equally flat, despicable characters and bland cutaway jokes and I was convinced this was all Mr. McFarlane could do and that was all I needed to see of his work... I was wrong. Turns out, Seth does have balls and can break his formula in rare circumstances in very unexpected but very meaningful ways. I warn you, what follows is a huge spoiler and unless you've seen last Sunday's episode or had it otherwise spoiled to you by a careless or overly cynical newscaster I would recommend avoiding this entry entirely and in particular the following sentence and the video accompanying it to show I am not bullshitting the audience.
Brian Griffin was killed off in yesterday's episode of Family Guy. Permanently killed off.
Like I said, Brian was once a major draw to the series for me. In fact, he was once my favorite character in the whole series. But, as the show aged and characters were Flanderized into oblivion, many a fan turned their back on the Griffin Family dog. Many fans agreed with Quagmire's angry rant in Jerome is the New Black, and I was one of them.
He had become pretentious, even for me. And his liberalism was not only extreme but almost never played for laughs (if you bring religion or politics in to comedy, you better be ready to make fun of them). Still, when I found out he died for real, I felt a strange mixture of sadness and relief; sadness in memory of a character I once respected and relief that his character could no longer be subverted into the twisted non-joke that he was. Also I commend McFarlane for doing something even serious shows are often reluctant to do in killing of a major, tenured character for real. and that's why the movement to bring him back sickens me. Many fans now want Brian to be brought back from the dead despite the show explaining that time travel and faked death are not options. I call this the Micheal Jackson Effect
Or Whitney Houston, whoever gave you love-hate boners the most. Basically when an infamous person or character dies, all sins are forgiven and that person or character becomes a sacred angel and people immediately wish they didn't die so they can go back to hating them without looking like assholes. Well, there's a petition out now to bring Brian back and undo the events of the episode. I won't link to it, but feel free to sign it if you hate emotional writing and character development.
You see, Brian dying was one of the most meaningful things Seth has ever done in his writings. He heard his fans complaints and instead of defending them chose to retire the character with dignity (well, mostly dignity) and give the show a bit of a new dynamic by introducing Brian's substitute, Vinnie.
What's so great about Vinnie? For one, he looks like Drippy from Ni No Kuni:
and that is amazing. Second off, he's voiced by Toni Sirico from the Sopranos, and a lot of his jokes (REAL JOKES!) remind me of Goodfeather's skits from Animaniacs. Then there's that he's 1/16th Cat (thus a literal pussy-hound), he's an actual criminal, his introduction to the Griffin Family hearkens back to McFarlane's original concept for the show seen on Cartoon Network:
and that the episode ends with him and Stewie bonded over simultaneously losing pet and master recently, and this becomes a character I hope stays with the Griffins as long as they see prime-time. Though Brian will be missed, the series can carry on and perhaps see new comedic potential without him.
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