Family Guy: All Season 1 Episodes, Ranked According To IMDb
It's hard to believe that Family Guy began airing over 20 years ago, introducing the world to the common-man, Peter Griffin, and his run-of-the-mill family living in Quahog, Rhode Island.
The raunchy comedy has survived two decades of some of the greatest television ever produced, as well as coming back from the dead after being canceled. But, before all of that could happen, it had to make it through its freshman season and prove that The Simpsons and South Park weren't the only obscene animated-series that could stand the test of time.
7 The Son Also Draws, Episode 6 (7.3)
It's only natural for a father to want to see his son follow in his footsteps, but Peter took a little bit too far when Chris got kicked out of the Scouts—after admitting that he didn't want to be a Scout in the first place—and Peter wouldn't stand for it. He makes the decision to drive the entire family to the Scouts' corporate headquarters in New York City and demand that his son be reinstated.
Unfortunately, on the drive there, they stop at an Indian Casino to use the restroom, and Lois ends up gambling away the family's car. In order to regain the vehicle, the Casino owners tell Peter that he and his son have to wander through the woods and have a "spirit vision," something Peter does and actually ends up seeing a vision of Fonzie, who tells him to pay more attention to Chris' needs and wants.
6 Mind Over Murder, Episode 4 (7.5)
Peter gets himself into hot water when he decides to punch an arrogant loud-mouth parent at Chris' soccer game but it turns out that the parent was a woman, and Peter gets placed on house arrest. Going crazy cooped up inside day after day, Peter decides to build a bar in his basement so that his friends will come over and drink with him.
Displeased with the new saloon in her basement, Lois goes to confront Peter and ends up singing for all of the patrons. Unfortunately, the bar catches fire from a lit cigarette, but Stewie saves the day by using his time-machine to turn back time to the beginning of the episode. Victory is Stewie's!
5 A Hero Sits Next Door, Episode 5 (7.5)
Die-hard fans might not remember that one of the four main guys in Peter's group of friends wasn't actually around in the first few episodes. In episode five, The Griffins get new neighbors, and it turns out to be Joe Swanson, along with his wife, Bonnie, and his son, Kevin. Peter immediately hates his new neighbors for no reason other than that they're new, but he later learns that Joe played baseball in college, and Peter's company baseball team needed a new ringer.
Joe agrees to play, but he shows up to the game in a wheelchair. As it turns out, Joe is quite "handi-capable," and everyone in town begins to praise the man for being a hero, prompting Peter to become jealous and try to stop a bank-robbery to prove he can be a hero too—only to have Joe show up and save the day.
4 Brian: Portrait of a Dog, Episode 7 (7.5)
Way to stick it to the man, Brian. When The Griffins enter Brian in a dog show that has a prize of $500, Peter takes it too far when he asks Brian to 'beg' as a trick. Insulted and offended, Brian tears off his collar and storms off. Later on, he gets stopped for "not having any tags" and gets returned home.
However, he doesn't stay long, as Peter immediately tells Brian he's being a bad-dog and Brian leaves once again. Peter buys a cat to replace Brian, and the demon-creature does nothing but growl and scratch the family. Meanwhile, Brian is living homeless on the street and regrets leaving, and he ends up getting hauled off to the pound when he attacks a man. At his trial, the judge finds him guilty, but then Peter pays the Judge $20, and he sets Brian free.
3 I Never Met The Dead Man, Episode 2 (7.7)
Meg is understandably nervous about passing her driving test, and she asks her parents to take her out to practice. Sadly, she still fails her exam, and, on the drive back home, Peter is the one who ends up crashing the car into the town satellite dish, effectively cutting off the entire town's cable. However, to save himself, he blames it on Meg, and she takes the heat when Peter tells her he'll buy her a new car if she does.
Eventually, living in a world without television, Peter decides to start living life to the fullest and refuses to return to the living room couch once television finally comes back. Unfortunately, living life to the fullest results in Peter getting run over by a car, admitted to the hospital, and re-consumed by television when he's forced to lie in the hospital bed all day long.
2 Chitty Chitty Death Bang, Episode 3 (7.7)
It's Stewie's first birthday and Lois wants everything to be perfect, so she makes a reservation at Cheesie Charlie's for his party. In typical Peter fashion, he screws up, loses the reservation, and ends up having to pull a party together at the last second, which he does by rerouting a circus to his backyard.
Despite saving the day and producing an amazing party, Peter screws up again when he tells Meg that she can go to a party with her friends—directly against Lois' wishes to have the whole family there. Peter makes amends again by retrieving Meg from her party, which turned out to be a cult-meeting, and actually saves her from accidentally killing herself.
1 Death Has a Shadow, Episode 1 (7.9)
The very first episode of Family Guy was also the highest-rated of the first season and followed the storyline that Peter lost his job and had to apply for assistance from a welfare office. As it turns out, the office made a mistake which resulted in The Griffins receiving $150,000 a week from the government.
When Lois finds out, Peter tries to apologize by giving all of the money back to the taxpayers—at the Super Bowl, for some reason—and ends up getting himself arrested. The judge finds Peter guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison, only for Stewie to pull out his first-ever gadget, a mind-control device, and force the Judge to let Peter walk free.