Family Guy

Family Guy is a FOX animated sitcom, aimed at a mature audience (rated TV-14), revolving around a dysfunctional family known as the Griffins. The family, who resides in Rhode Island, in the non-existent city of Quahog, consists of overweight, bumbling patriarch Peter; his wife Lois, unfortunate daughter Meg, oldest son Chris, youngest son Stewie – a Rex Harrison-esque talking infant, originally a diabolical child-genius obsessed with world domination and matricide, but in recent years, has become more of an eccentric, sexually ambiguous character – and anthropomorphic dog Brian. Created by Seth MacFarlane, who had previously worked as an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera, Family Guy first premiered in January 1999, originally running for three seasons until 2003, but resumed production two years later following successful DVD sales and high ratings during syndicated reruns.

Pop-culture references and satire are the norm of Family Guy, most of which usually occur during the show's signature "cutaway vignettes". The Muppets are among the cultural figures that have been parodied and/or mentioned.

Verbal Mentions

 * "Peter Peter Caviar Eater" - In an attempt to raise money to buy back the Griffins’ house in Quahog, Peter tries to convince a couple of investors that the Pewterschmidt mansion has historic value by passing off random, ordinary objects as proof. The investors are unimpressed and leave the room, at which point Peter urges them to come back to see the rock he is holding in his hand, which he explains, is "where the pilgrims landed on ''Fraggle Rock!"


 * "A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks" - Earlier on in the episode, before Meg and Peter's rather awkward encounter with Big Bird, the Griffins check into the Plaza Hotel, where Peter asks the receptionist, "Do you guys have bellhops that are rats, like the Muppets?"


 * "Fifteen Minutes of Shame" - Peter tries to get attention on the Griffins' reality show with a puppet (Wayland Flowers' Madame) when the camera starts to pan away from Peter to something more interesting. Peter wants the cameraman to come back because "she's gonna sing Rainbow Connection!"


 * "Let's Go To The Hop" - Quahog 5 news anchors Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons report on a drug craze called Toad (licking toads). Tucker points out other names for the drug: “Lillipadding”, “Frenching the Prince", and "Doing Kermit”.


 * "A Fish Out Of Water" - A tough biker wants Jim, the con-man posing as a tattoo artist, to draw a skull on his thigh, but Jim suggests Kermit the Frog. The biker says he just wants a skull, but Jim goes ahead with drawing Kermit.


 * "Ready, Willing, and Disabled" - In an attempt to outdo Joe, Peter, posing as a handicap, meets with Tom Tucker in his office at the Quahog 5 TV station, demanding, among other things, his own telefilm starring Valerie Bertandernie (his mispronounciation of actress Valerie Bertinelli's name).


 * "Saving Private Brian" - Brian and Stewie have joined the army (much against the former's will), where at one point they hear from the announcer that their platoon will be shipped out to Iraq. Brian distressly exclaims "Iraq!?!" to which Stewie assures him, "He probably meant 'Fraggli-Roc'."


 * "Stewie Kills Lois" - After Stewie begins admiring the echoing of his inner monologue, his thoughts echo Pigs in Space in the style of the sketch's opening narration.


 * "And Then There Were Fewer" - At a dinner party, Carl asks Tom Tucker if he'd ever seen "Jim Henson's Labyrinth".


 * "Road to the North Pole" - After Stewie is told that Santa Claus isn't real, he sarcastically asks if Elmo isn't real also.


 * "It's a Trap!" - An early script for this Star Wars spoof was called "Episode VI: The Great Muppet Caper", but it was thought to be too confusing for people who might be trying to buy the actual The Great Muppet Caper.

Connections

 * Paula Abdul re-recorded her lines in a rehashed version of the music video of her song, “Opposites Attract” in the episode, “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz”, and voiced as herself in “Lois Kills Stewie”


 * Jason Alexander appeared on the CD, Family Guy Live in Las Vegas


 * Ed Asner voiced Steve Bellows in the episode, “One if by Clam, Two if by Sea”


 * Dan Aykroyd voiced himself in the episode, “Spies Reminiscent of Us”


 * Drew Barrymore provides the voice of Jillian Russell, and Mrs. Lockhart in the episode, “Fast Times at Buddy Cianci, Jr. High”


 * Candice Bergen voiced Gloria Ironbachs in the episode, “I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar”, and reprised her role as the titular character of Murphy Brown in “A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks”.


 * Pat Crawford Brown voiced a Skanka Dancer in the episode, “Peter’s Daughter”


 * LeVar Burton voiced himself in the episode "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven"


 * Carol Channing voiced herself in the episode, “Patriot Games”


 * Lacey Chabert voiced Meg in the first season.


 * Chevy Chase reprised his role as Clark Griswold from the National Lampoon films in the episode, “Blue Harvest”, and voiced as himself in the episode, “Spies Reminiscent of Us”


 * Tony Danza voiced himself in the episode, “Ready, Willing, and Disabled”


 * Phyllis Diller voiced Thelma Griffin in two episodes, “Peter’s Two Dads” and “Padre de Familia”


 * Michael Dorn reprised his role as Klingon Worf in the episode, “Peter’s Got Woods”, and voiced as himself in the episode "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven"


 * Robert Downey Jr. voiced Patrick Pewterschmidt in the episode, “The Fat Guy Strangler”


 * Charles Durning provided the voice of Francis Griffin, up until the character’s demise.


 * Erik Estrada reprised his role as Ponch, his character from CHiPs, in the episode "I Never Met the Dead Man"


 * Jimmy Fallon appeared as himself, in live-action footage, in the episode, “We Love You, Conrad”


 * Dakota Fanning voiced a little girl in "To Love and Die in Dixie"


 * Jamie Farr voiced himself in the episode, “Believe It or Not, Joe’s Walking on Air”


 * Craig Ferguson appeared as himself, in live-action footage, in the episode, “We Love You, Conrad”


 * Harvey Fierstein voiced Tracy in the episode, "The Former Life of Brian"


 * Jennie Garth voiced Kelly Taylor in Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story


 * Gilbert Gottfried voiced Peter’s horse in the episode, “Boys Do Cry”


 * Seth Green provides the voices for Chris Griffin, Neil Goldman and other various characters


 * Mark Hamill reprised his role as Luke Skywalker in the episode, “When You Wish Upon a Weinstein”


 * Neil Patrick Harris reprised his role as his How I Met Your Mother character Barney Stinson in the episodes, “No Chris Left Behind” and “Peter’s Progress”


 * Anne Hathaway voiced Mother Maggie in the episode "Go, Stewie, Go!" and as herself in “April in Quahog”


 * Sherman Hemsley voiced himself in the episode, “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz”


 * Randy Jackson voiced himself in the episode, “Lois Kills Stewie”


 * Allison Janney voiced the editor of Teen People in the episode "Dial Meg for Murder"


 * Waylon Jennings provided narration in the episodes, “Chitty Chitty Death Bang” and “To Love and Die in Dixie”


 * Carol Kane voiced Carol in the episode, “Emission Impossible”


 * Jimmy Kimmel voiced Death’s dog in the episode, “Mr. Saturday Knight”


 * Emeril Lagasse voiced himself in the episode, “The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire” (uncredited)


 * Hugh Laurie voiced a bar patron in the episode “One If by Clam, Two If by Sea”, and reprised his role as the titular character of House in the episode "Business Guy"


 * Cloris Leachman voiced herself in the episode, “Petarded”


 * Jay Leno appeared as himself in live-action footage in the episode, “We Love You, Conrad”


 * Ray Liotta voiced Zack in the episode, “Brian Does Hollywood”


 * Marlee Matlin appeared in "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show"


 * Gates McFadden voiced herself in the episode "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven"


 * Michael McKean voiced Pengrove Pig, Andy Rooney, and a camel salesman in the episode, “Road to Europe”


 * Ed McMahon voiced himself in the episodes, “Death Has a Shadow” and “When You Wish Upon a Weinstein”


 * Kevin Michael Richardson voices various characters


 * Jason Mraz voiced Some Guy with a Hat in the episode, “April in Quahog”


 * John O%27Hurley voiced the Cult Leader in the episode, “Chitty Chitty Death Bang”


 * Haley Joel Osment voiced several characters in the episodes, “Dammit Janet!”, “There’s Something About Paulie”, and “The Thin White Line”


 * Jim Parsons voiced Sheldon Cooper in the episode, "Business Guy"


 * Regis Philbin voiced himself in the episode, “Family Guy Viewer Mail #1”


 * Helen Reddy voiced herself in the episode, “Blue Harvest”


 * Kelly Ripa voiced herself in the episode “Family Guy Viewer Mail #1”


 * Christy Carlson Romano voiced Quagmire’s One-Night Stand in the episode, “I Take Thee Quagmire”


 * Jason Segel reprised his role as his How I Met Your Mother character Marshall Erickson in the episode, “Peter’s Progress”


 * Florence Stanley voiced Thelma Griffin in the episode, “Holy Crap”


 * Ben Stein voiced Rabbi Goldberg in the episodes, “When You Wish Upon a Weinstein” and “Family Goy”


 * Patrick Stewart voiced himself in "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven" and his American Dad! character Avery Bulloch in "Lois Kills Stewie"; he also provided voices in the episodes, “Peter’s Got Woods” and “No Meals on Wheels”, the former in which he reprised his role as Picard from Star Trek


 * Ben Stiller voiced himself in the episode "No Meals on Wheels"


 * Tara Strong provided Meg’s singing voice in the episode, “Don't Make Me Over”


 * Nicole Sullivan voices several additional characters


 * Alex Trebek voiced himself in the episode, “I Take Thee Quagmire”


 * Neil deGrasse Tyson served as Science Consultant on "The Big Bang Theory"


 * Leslie Uggams voiced herself in the episode, “Mind Over Murder”


 * Patrick Warburton provides the voice for Joe Swanson, and appeared as Cal Johnson in Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show


 * Frank Welker has voiced characters on numerous occasions; he reprised his roles as Fred from Scooby-Doo in “I Never Met the Dead Man”, and Megatron from Transformers in “Ocean’s Three and a Half”


 * George Wendt reprised his role as Norm, his character from Cheers, in the episode, “Road to Rupert”, and voiced himself in “Three Kings”.
 * Wil Wheaton voiced himself in the episode "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven"


 * Betty White voiced herself in the episode, "Peterotica"


 * Fred Willard voiced Dave Campbell in the episodes, “From Method to Madness” and “Road to Europe”