Fall Asleep To Every Family Guy Controversy

Family Guy's full controversy history, covering every banned episode, lawsuit, network censorship decision, and international broadcast difference across the show's 27 years on Fox. This video walks through the complete record of Family Guy controversies in chronological order, from the show's 1999 Super Bowl XXXIII premiere through a bankruptcy filing in October 2025. It focuses on a detail most retrospectives skip: the material Fox itself killed before broadcast, not the jokes that aired and drew complaints. The episodes covered include "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," "Partial Terms of Endearment," and "A Shot in the Dark," along with the copyright lawsuits, voice casting changes, and the long rivalry with The Simpsons. What's covered in this video: The unaired DVD commentary story in which Seth MacFarlane described a cut scene from "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)" where Glenn Quagmire kills the Simpson family, a joke Fox executives reportedly asked him to drop over concerns about James L. Brooks. The show's 1999 Fox premiere after Super Bowl XXXIII and the immediate criticism from L. Brent Bozell III of the Media Research Center and Parents Television Council over the episode "Holy Crap," plus Ken Tucker naming it the worst show of the season in Entertainment Weekly. Fox's two cancellations, in 2000 and 2002, against a Thursday lineup that included Frasier, Survivor, and Friends, and MacFarlane's later comments about his mindset during that period. The four-year shelving of "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," featuring Max Weinstein and Rabbi Goldberg voiced by Ben Stein, its 2003 Adult Swim debut, its censored 2004 Fox airing, and the softer American lyric compared with the German broadcast version. The Bourne Co. copyright suit over the song parody and Judge Deborah Batts's 2009 fair use ruling in Family Guy's favor. The DVD revival, with season one selling over 2.2 million copies and trailing only Chappelle's Show, leading Fox to order 35 episodes on May 20, 2004. Self-referential jokes about the cancellations in "North by North Quahog," "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side," and the cheap-animation gag in "Lethal Weapons." The total US ban on "Partial Terms of Endearment," Kevin Reilly's explanation to The New York Times, its BBC Three airing on June 20, 2010, and its standalone DVD release with Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show. Carol Burnett's two million dollar suit over the Charwoman parody, dismissed by Judge Dean D. Pregerson citing Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, and Art Metrano's settled suit over a gag in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. The 2012 Emmy For Your Consideration ad that trade publications refused to run, which Fox mailed to voters anyway. Mike Henry stepping down as Cleveland Brown on June 26, 2020, alongside Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell, plus criticism of Consuela and Rich Appel's 2010 Chortle interview about the writers' room hierarchy of sensitivity. Mentioned in this video: Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy, Fox, The Simpsons, James L. Brooks, Glenn Quagmire, Marge Simpson, Peter Griffin, Lois Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Cleveland Brown, Consuela, Mike Henry, Ben Stein, Max Weinstein, Rabbi Goldberg, L. Brent Bozell III, Media Research Center, Parents Television Council, Catholic League, Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, Super Bowl XXXIII, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Chappelle's Show, Bourne Co., Deborah Batts, Carol Burnett, Charwoman, Dean D. Pregerson, Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, Art Metrano, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, Kevin Reilly, The New York Times, BBC Three, Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, TBS, Freeform, FX, Rich Appel, The Cleveland Show, Chortle, Jenny Slate, Kristen Bell, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Quahog Nights. Chapters: 0:00 The Joke Fox Buried 1:47 Cancelled Twice In Three Years 6:16 The Banned Weinstein Episode 11:38 DVDs Resurrected A Dead Show 16:07 The Abortion Episode Fox Killed 20:35 Carol Burnett Sues Family Guy 25:57 Cleveland Brown's White Voice 32:14 Real Tragedies As Punchlines 36:42 Jokes That Aged Into Scandals 47:27 GLAAD, Palin, And Backlash 53:43 When Reality Ruined Old Jokes 1:28:38 The PTC Empire Collapses