November 27 2013
Sophie Mahon
Family Guy fans are left in mourning as Brian Griffin, the family pet and central character has been killed off in the show.
Viewers saw the loveable dog get hit by a car in the Fox comedy on Sunday’s episode titled Life Of Brian, and he later died on the operating table after doctors were unable to save him. In the emotional scene Brian says his last words: "You've given me a wonderful life. I love you all." Peter later tells the family at his funeral: "Brian wasn't just my dog, he was my best friend in the whole world." Loyal fans of the show have expressed that it feels like losing their own pet and friend having watched the witty character on their screens for the past 14 years.
So how did the family deal with the tragic loss? By getting a new dog of course! The new family pet is called Vinny, voiced by none other than The Sopranos’ Tony Sirico, but for many fans this just will not cut it. Unhappy about the abrupt change, over 83,000 fans have already signed a Change.org petition pleading with the Family Guy creator and voice of Brian, Seth MacFarlane, to bring the character back.
Brian wasn’t your ordinary family pet – he talks, drinks alcohol, dates women and was an aspiring novelist. He has been part of the animated show since it began in 1999 and has been central to many plot-lines throughout the 12 seasons, most notably with his best friend and talking baby Stewie. It will be interesting to see how MacFarlane develops Stewie’s relationship with Brian’s replacement Vinny, although some fans have vowed to never watch the show again.
Whilst the production team had already revealed that they were going to kill off a member of the Griffin family and bring in a new character, few expected it to be the intelligent and sophisticated canine.
Executive producer Steve Callaghan has explained to E! that the idea came about after it "sort of caught fire in the writers' room."
"We thought it could be a fun way to shake things up and got very excited about the way this change will affect the family dynamics and the characters.”
The show has been nominated for 12 Emmy awards and is currently one of Fox's top-rated series. But will the show’s success continue without Brian? Who knows – with time travel being a recurring theme in the show we just might see him again.
Watch Brian say an emotional goodbye to Peter, Louis, Chris, Meg and Stewie below:
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
