The best family guy episodes cannot be gotten from watching one season of the adult animated sitcom. Having been in existence for over 2 decades as its first release was in January 1999, Family Guy has birthed 21 seasons and almost 400 episodes.
From this long list of episodes, we bring to you just 30 of the absolute best. In most of these episodes, you’ll find your favorites like Peter Griffin, Stewie, Quagmire, or even Brian. The show has been rated relatively high by a lot of people and rating sites.
This list of the 30 best family guy episodes was curated and published in chronological order alone. This means that it isn’t ordered from the best to ‘least good’ as all tastes vary.
Best Family Guy Episode You Will Watch Over Again
1. Da Boom (Season 2, Episode 3)
In this episode of Family Guy, a lot happened. A lot of weird stuff you may say.
First, who lets someone let Peter Griffin lead a country if not one having a nightmare? Secondly, there was Stewie’s disturbing egg-laying surprise scene and then Brian’s post-apocalyptic stubble.
As disturbing as this episode may sound, it actually has a lot of moments where your ribs would attempt to crack due to intense laughter.
2. Death is a Bitch (Season 2, Episode 6)
We see Peter declaring himself dead in order to escape paying the hospital bills. This in turn invites death himself who was portrayed as a jerk. The Griffin family, in this episode, also succeeded in ignoring a giant squid which made the episode even more interesting.
3. I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar (Season 2, Episode 8)
In this episode, Peter’s pseudo-feminine side comes to play with an attempt at breastfeeding Stewie. He also gets punished for a bad s*xist joke he made during a women’s retreat that humbles him for a while. However, upon reversion, we’re reminded of the same old unapologetic s*xist Peter Griffin.
4. Road to Rhode Island (Season 2, Episode 13)
https://youtu.be/mzYnQoyIFPY
In this episode of family guy, we get to see a different and darker side of the show. Here, part of Brian’s existence is explained while purposely leaving out some important and disturbing aspects.
Also, we get to see Brian bury his mother in a random park, buttressing how dynamic Family Guy can be in its storyline.
5. Petersbus Unum (Season 2, Episode 18)
The Favorite Family Guy character, Bill Clinton makes an appearance in this episode but unclad. The message one would get from this episode is the allegory to the Iraqi war and the United States’ extreme response to Pretoria.
Peter is depicted as a crazy man who would go to the extreme to get a swimming pool. Also, Tom Tucker proved that he cannot be trusted to give honest and accurate news.
6. Wasted Talent (Season 2, Episode 20)
Who knew Peter Griffin had a talent that doesn’t discomfort anyone else? Well, this episode showcases the talent that no one would have ever imagined as drunk Peter plays themes from TV shows, beautifully. He showcased how good he was with the piano albeit being intoxicated while doing so.
7. The Thin White Line (Season 3, Episode 1)
If you have been watching Family Guy and missed out on the fact that quite a good number of episodes are an allegory, then you have missed an important part of the sitcom.
This episode is one of those that showcase the ills of drug abuse and also shows a literate Peter. The Thin White Line tells the story of how Brains’ good intention to help the Quahog police department turned his rouge.
8. Emission Impossible (Season 3, Episode 11)
In a quest to remain the youngest Griffin child, Stewie channels his tech skills by shrinking himself. He tries to thwart his parent’s plan of having another kid by making his way into Peter’s body to destroy the sperm.
In his quest, he meets his match in Betram, who he could not destroy. As events pan, Stewie realizes he shares a lot with his prospective sibling and grows fond of him.
However, Peter and Lois change their mind about adding a fourth child.
9. To Love and Die in Dixie (Season 3, Episode 12)
Surprise Surprise! Who saw Peter knowing the actuality of something as the civil war? Even to the point of knowing that something is off! Again, who would have seen Meg getting attention in school?
Chris’ emotions have always been general knowledge but in this episode, the ‘mush mush’ feelings were a couple of notches higher. Every character had a time or two when something nice happened. Lest I forget, the bike theft story has to be the most hilarious content in this episode.
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10. Petarded (Season 4, Episode 6)
https://youtu.be/IQES5DPYS3Q
What do you get when you put Peter and retarded together? Yup, you got that one right! Peter is put in a confusing state as he tries to navigate his special daddy position. Then again, this particular episode is one from the entire show and perhaps, others that have one of the finest, most interesting dialogues, ever.
11. PTV (Season 4, Episode 14)
Again, the FCC got some blows from this episode that they most likely missed most of it. Here, we see a depiction of how the Federal Communications Commission forces TV shows to go by specific standards.
In the end, the episode shows the loopholes to these standards by the commission. Most of these Family Guy’s’ episodes made it to the best of them all because of it’s gags and use of allegory.
12. Fat Guy Strangler (Season 4, Episode 17)
https://youtu.be/4w8CRdS9m8g
An episode that is both hilarious and sinister is this one. Managing to score Robert Downey Jr. to voice the role of Lois’ secret brother was no easy task but his impeccable depiction is unmatched.
Patrick, Peter’s brother-in-law is a serial killer who had a lot of reasons and chances to get rid of Peter.
However, what is more, interesting is the fact that George W. Bush’s cutaway made a funny cameo somewhere in this episode.
13. Stewie Loves Lois (Season 5, Episode 1)
Weird title and even weirder scenes as Stewie disturb his mother with his incessant need to be around her. Lois clearly would have given anything to get Stewie back to the old him in this episode. Luckily, the ‘lovey dovey’ Stewie did not last for long and he soon went back to hating his mother.
14. Meet the Quagmires (Season 5, Episode 18)
The disturbing thing about this episode of Family Guy is the play of an alternate reality. The Griffins become the Quagmires and live almost perfect lives. However, the most disturbing aspect of this is seeing Lois living a happier life as Mrs. Quagmire than Griffin.
15. Blue Harvest (Season 6, Episode 1)
This episode mirrors Star Wars in the most Family Guy way ever. Here, it was obvious the team enjoyed themselves with this creation and there was, of course, a The Simpsons gag. The cherry on top was an extended time and a crawl that was specifically for Peter and written by him.
16. Stewie Kills Lois (Season 6, Episode 4)
https://youtu.be/1O_5IZUjDqY
Lois’ last child eventually gets his desire of killing her and everybody moves on smoothly. Peter even got himself a new love interest, Meg perfectly enjoys playing mum to Stewie and the only one who seemed a little perturbed was Chris.
In order to get Chris to do stuff like shopping, Joe has to dress up like Lois. This role he took quite seriously and Chris ignores everything odd about this new Lois and gets to do stuff. The shocking part of this whole episode is that Stewie actually regretted killing his mother almost as soon as the deed was done.
17. Lois Kills Stewie (Season 6, Episode 5)
Stewie becomes an evil, murderous infant dictator and Lois takes up the role of putting a stop to it. Interestingly, Peter Griffin makes himself useful and through this, lets off the most needed clue that the activities of the entire episode were unreal.
Once again, naked Bill Clinton makes an appearance in this episode but as a portrait hung in dictator Stewie’s office. The irony of this episode makes it interesting and part of the best episodes of Family Guy.
18. Road to Germany (Season 7, Episode 3)
This episode made it one of Family Guy’s best episodes because it carries many movie references. Some movies referenced are Back to the Future, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Blues Brothers (again).
These movies all made it easy for the jokes that make this episode special. There was also the show of the Nazi leadership and a blast to the early 1900s.
19. Three Kings (Season 7, Episode 15)
This episode was inspired by Stephen King and featured an array of the hilarious cast. The character Kiefer Sutherland was voiced by Adam West. There are actually amazing parts in the episode like when the guys let Peter escape on Taco night.
20. Road to Multiverse (Season 8, Episode 1)
A lot of people consider this particular episode as the best ever of the Family Guy series. It is also considered the best of the ‘Road to’ episodes. With its futuristic vision of flying cars, lightspeed rail travel, and of course, gags, it’s not so difficult to know why.
Peter is also depicted as a dog in this episode and there were quite a number of ‘what-ifs’ that further beautify the scenes. To be honest, ‘Road to Multiverse is an amazing masterpiece.
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21. And Then There Were Fewer (Season 9, Episode 1)
Again, in this episode, MacFarlane and the crew showed that they could mix humor with sinister. Here, we see a darker side of Stewie and a homage paid to the era ‘bygone’.
The storyline in this particular episode is so interesting that one wonders how they came up with the twists, turns, and hilarity.
22. Road to the North Pole (Season 9, Episode 7)
‘Road to the North Pole’ leaves quite a number of questions in the mind of people. Quagmire gifted Brain honesty and he opted to take baby Stewie all the way to the North Pole.
However, this episode doesn’t really depict the traditional festive spirit drawing us back to the question ‘what was the writer of this episode thinking?’
23. The Big Bang Theory (Season 9, Episode 16)
Evil-minded Stewie and his knack for time traveling come alive here again. He came in contact with Betram from Emission Impossible who is his nemesis. However, Stewie manages to totally send Betram off.
Another fun part of the episode is the fact that Brian’s character flaws were explained.
24. Back to the Pilot (Season 10, Episode 5)
This episode of Family Guy was a celebration of the show’s 10th episode. How best to celebrate than to go back to the very beginning of the show? Then, we are shocked by a twist of events giving off the idea that the entire sitcom may have been figments of Stewie’s imagination.
This episode and its interesting revelation definitely make the cut as one of the best episodes of Family Guy.
25. Forget-Me-Not (Season 10, Episode 17)
Tech genius, Stewie, struck again this time by stimulating a whole episode that caused a war and the death of Brian.
After a drunken feat by Brian, Joe, Quagmire, and Peter, they wake up in the hospital with no memory of themselves. Stewie prices on this and ends up birthing destruction and chaos while further confusing the drunk.
26. Yug Ylimaf (Season 11, Episode 4)
https://youtu.be/-rW_Sm8MXjw
A throwback to some epic moments from the Griffin family. We see how Stewie became a Griffin and then eventually Brian becomes the talk of the episode.
Once again, this was a time-travel episode and Meg got to be blamed for the malfunctioning of the time machine.
27. The Simpsons Guy (Season 13, Episode 1)
https://youtu.be/uwjqvou63qU
This episode blends two sitcom animations in Family Guy and The Simpsons. While attempts at this almost ended in massive failures, this one didn’t.
As there were very beautiful scenes in this episode, one that melted hearts was Meg finally finding a friend. This definitely has a spot as one of Family Guy’s best episodes.
28. Emmy-Winning Episode (Season 16, Episode 1)
This episode throws subtle gags at any movie that has an Emmy award to it. Despite winning some awards such as Outstanding Voice Acting a couple of times, the Emmy award organizers still go on to snub the show.
This episode pays tribute to Joe Stewart too and reminds viewers of what they miss in his absence.
29. The D in Apartment 23 (Season 16, Episode 6)
This episode is one of the few especially dedicated to Brian and confirms a lot of thoughts. Quagmire has almost always stated that Brian isn’t nice and we see it perfectly playing out. He is also very proud of who and how he is and this is evident.
30. PeTerminator (Season 19, Episode 13)
A lot went down in this episode but it all played out beautifully. For one, Brian was being a total jerk on Instagram. There was also the bird-fight that despite not being the first, is the most epic.
In this same episode which is one of the most recent, we also see a gag on another animation ‘Rick and Morty’. Though it is a recent episode, this episode makes it to the list as one of the best episodes of Family Guy.
