Why Brian & Stewie Fails as Drama (For Me)

[@jessetorres8738]

I miss the days when Peter & Brian were best friends & Peter was just a goofball father while Brian was the voice of reason to his antics.

[@PunishedKrab]

It comes to show that sometimes, simple can mean more

[@mechajay3358]

Yeah, shame what Flanderization does to a show.

[@justju0rd]

What an NPC opinion

[@Oneforus21111]

FG should have stayed dead after it's second cancellation

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

​@@justju0rd Normal Person Commitment?

[@1visualfxguy]

It's hard to take an episode where a character eats poop and vomit seriously.

[@salmanedy]

Was about to say this.

[@builttoscalevideos]

I mean, yeah, it’s cheap shock humour, but it’s there for a reason, most evident by the fact that later on in the episode Stewie drunkenly tells Brian that he only made him do that cause he knew he could manipulate Brian into doing it. The way the episode breaks down the two characters flaws and lays them out is why I personally think it’s one of the last “Good” family guy episodes

[@andykishore]

Yeah, that part of the episode is a real turn off for some people.

[@matthewdilday7918]

I hated that part! Other than that, the episode was good.

[@abelmantor7557]

I would've liked the episode a little bit more if it wasn't for that part.

[@TheBlockerNator]

The part where Brian eats stewie's shit really killed the mood and took away any emotion the episode had for me.

[@andykishore]

Yes!

[@darksideofevil13]

That's the one thing for me that stopped the episode from being perfect. Why did they do that? It makes no sense with what they were trying to do.

[@FurKid_the_Gg_roo_99]

Yeah, but there's this one other bit in the serious conversation itself that made me iffy; Stewie calling Brian selfish, while pretty acurate in terms of who he is now, was because of how Brian was considering "sudoku". Sure, he may not've seen how Stewie deeply cares for him then (ignoring how he's likely been butchered in that way after this), but calling the "sudoku slidal" one that they're selfish for not considering how their friends & family would feel (as well as any other reason for that matter) doesn't help & just makes the person feel worse! They aren't choosing to feel this way; it ranges from trauma, anxiety, to other mental problems; modern Brian is selfish, but "sudoku-slidal" people aren't, as they're victims of some kind of pain. Sorry for the length!

[@theconqueringram5295]

I don't think it was a bad episode per se, just a mixed bag. The gross out humor didn't fit in at all, but there was a heartfelt moment between Brian and Stewie. This episode could have worked earlier in the series when the humor was a bit more lighthearted and the characters weren't so awful. In the early seasons Brian and Stewie had a dynamic was that developing and Brian was the straight man of the show.

[@e1iteyoshi998]

I feel like the episode is more of a victim of aging poorly cause of the show itself and not really the contents of the actual episode.

[@chrisunruh8217]

But any heartfelt moment is forever undermined by the horrible ways they treat each other. Stewie almost beat Brian to death because he owed him money. I don't believe they love each other.

[@elliottpak]

It’s pretty surreal to hear Mr enter talk about why he personally doesn’t like a family guy episode without raging, but hey it’s a pleasant surprise

[@princessmarlena1359]

I was done with Brian and Stewie after Stewie went to college with Brian. For some reason, Brian took a hard class instead of taking an easier class to finish his credits, and was flunking as a result. He let Stewie cheat for him, and then tried to honestly pass after goofing off, only to flunk his finals. After flunking, he acts happy about it. He never tried to get his diploma again after that. Stewie didn’t really do Brian any favors by cheating for him, only to fall short of properly teaching Brian the material and helping him properly study to pass his finals. That felt like not only the beginning of Brian’s pseudo intellectualism and increasing of his pretentiousness, but the pointlessness of Stewie and Brian as a duo [to me].

[@LibraGamesUnlimited]

Didn't Brian take that class because it was the one he didn't finish? As I recall, it was the last class he had left and he needed credits from it to graduate. Also the reason he was happy was that he didn't quit, he completed something for the first time in his life. I agree though that he should have gone back later to actually graduate.

[@bigmacintosh1766]

Family Guy is controversial

[@unclefranklin4575]

Didn't Brain finish college later in the meth lab episode?

[@LibraGamesUnlimited]

@@unclefranklin4575 He went to an agricultural college and learned how to manage a farm.

[@ironrevenger9386]

This episode was alright. Also fun fact: Brian & Stewie: Across the Multiverse is another episode with no cutaway gags and universally loved unlike this episode

[@ethnictendo]

Across The Multiverse had cutaway gags, but only at the beginning when they were at that town fair.

[@ironrevenger9386]

@@ethnictendo They got them over with quickly and the episode was great so no wonder I forgot. Thanks a lot for the info

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

​@@ironrevenger9386 You mean Road to the Multiverse

[@ironrevenger9386]

@@AkameGaKillfan777 Indeed I do. Thanks for the correction

[@lennypayne4241]

There have actually been a few episodes from recent seasons with no cutaway gags. "Girl, Internetted" is a good example of this.

[@MxCartney_Lou]

I loved this episode when it first came out and for many years……however as the years passed and I’ve grown up, I really dislike the dynamic between Brian and EVERYONE not just Stewie, Brian is extremely unlikable which immediately takes away any sympathy or care that I’d even think to have for him….thus that destroys the tension this story had

[@_Sage967_]

not only is Brian unlikable but it feels like they have to make him progressively WORSE as other characters commit heinous acts and transgressions themselves but often not an intellectual manner which makes Brain feel like the worst. then there's the fact that Brain often brings out the worst in others so they can both either compete for whose the worst or lambast Brian far more than he deserves in the given situation Stewies relationship with Brian can occasionally be the worst of the bunch because of this with his pregnancy and Brian giving him Herpies being standout examples

[@tacaloking4]

in the beginning i feel he was a good character same thing could be said about peter and stewie but after like three seasons the show decided to fully embrace there worst personality traits and dialed things to 1000 which for me completely killed anything the characters had going for them

[@MxCartney_Lou]

@@tacaloking4 that my friend is flanderization

[@davidmcgill1000]

They somehow managed to make Peter into not even a top 3 worst character.

[@blueizumi]

In 2013 online media was furious when Brian died. If Brian died in 2023 not only would viewers be cheering they’d ask for the whole cast except Meg to be killed off as well.

[@captain_crook1993]

Fucked up as this may seem, having Brian eat Stewie's shit wasn't just about making a gross-out gag. It was about Brian sacrificing his comfort and dignity for Stewie's sake. In this case, so he wouldn't get sick from a diaper rash. This, right after Stewie screwed up royally by not using what little time he had left on his phone to call for help. It showcased a selfless side of Brian that we've seldom seen since this episode. Could they have found a better way to get this across? Absolutely. But the meaning is there.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Stewie certainly didn't sound understanding of why Brian was hesitant to do it

[@davyjones3105]

My ending point with the duo was when Brian got worms and Stewie hired him for a pyramid scheme. That episode’s subplot was literally Stewie going “Screw you, you’ve got parasites.” Come to think of it, Brian and Stewie have always had an annoying amount of unnecessary subplots together (and this is coming from someone who watched more “good” Family Guy than bad)

[@princessmarlena1359]

Right?

[@davyjones3105]

@@princessmarlena1359 Hey, we’ve all got our “jumping off” points.

[@princessmarlena1359]

@@davyjones3105 My “over Brian and Stewie” was when Brian and Stewie went to Brown. Stewie didn’t really do Brian any favors by cheating for him, only to fall short of properly teaching Brian the material and helping him properly study to pass his finals. But to be fair Brian didn’t stick to his goal and goofed off, only to flunk. The worst part was he was okay with it, and never tried again.

[@NUISANCE_ANIMAL]

seeing somebody comment under a regular video after seeing them comment under multiple fetish videos is definitely quite strange

[@davyjones3105]

@@NUISANCE_ANIMAL Yeah but I don’t see you trying to stop me

[@entityontheinternet]

"Hey Lois, this reminds me of the Time TheMysteriousMrEnter put Family Guy at Number 1 on his List of the worst Cartoons of the 2010s"

[@paulienuti8031]

Who cares

[@entityontheinternet]

@@paulienuti8031 You cared enough to reply to a two Month old Joke Comment

[@paulienuti8031]

@@entityontheinternet I heard this joke so many times

[@Absquatula]

In the same way that this episode of family Guy is a microcosm for why it can't be taken serious, this review is a perfect example of how much you've grown with this channel. You found ways to acknowledge the positive and negative, see the potential, and express how you feel without attacking or using harsh language. Seriously dude, you've come a long way and it's shown a lot 👍👍

[@thecinematicbandicoot7280]

A lot of the early "Road to" episodes were directed by future "Phineas and Ferb" co-creator Dan Povenmire.

[@weegee_hates_the_blind]

“I’m gonna kms” “Oh wow, that’s really deep, Brian”

[@ffjreviews9029]

This is the calmest family guy review I’ve seen on this whole channel.

[@TuesdaysArt]

It's really nice to see his growth. Even little things like "(For Me)" in the title or having him consider there's something he missed mean a lot.

[@tentrilliconlp7748]

I really feel like this episode has many good things about it, but the inability of Family Guy to stay serious just ruins all its messages.

[@EruveyConB]

Yeah, I don't want the characters to be all serious and deep, but the fact that Brian Is explaining why he's depressed and feels His life is meaningless while Stewie keeps saying things like "if you hang yourself you might grow a little from the stretch" or "you want to point the gun at your balls?" It really takes you away from the message they try to tell.

[@dizzyx7]

It feels almost like they’re scared to just be that way for too long… they gotta jump back to absurdity once in a while to feel like they can win back any audience that might switch off. I get that shows like this are “not supposed to be X” but they should allow THEMSELVES to be, especially if they can somehow do it well. worst case scenario it’s just a weird moment in a sea of episodes people will let go and forget in no time.

[@s.nifrum4580]

@@EruveyConB I don’t remember either of those lines

[@EruveyConB]

@@s.nifrum4580 then watch the scene again, They're there Right after Brian admits he's depressed and wants to use the gun Stewie says that the gun Is too messy and it would be easy to just hang and later he ask if the gun Is not just a sexual thing and mentions the whole pointing the gun at his balls thing

[@robinkholmes7127]

"Committing Sudoku", that's the level of censorship we're dealing with now😬

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

KZbin has very inconsistent arbitrary guidelines now. They're more lenient on swearing when it comes to livestreams than regular videos for some reason

[@jlev1028]

It's a meme that was fairly popular in the 2000s.

[@TuesdaysArt]

I mean, it's better than "Kermit Sewerslide" or "unalive".

[@cadjebushey6524]

God, I hate the modern internet

[@wackywoodchuck9283]

​@@cadjebushey6524same here brother fuck youtube censorship

[@Enter_the_Toshiverse_1996]

It's funny because a long time ago, Blameitonjorge had made a Top 25 Saddest Cartoon Moments video and he put this episode on it. It wasn't high on the list but it was on the list, and he specifically addressed the scene where Stewie asks why Brian kept a gun in his safe deposit box, and Brian reveals it's for if and when he planned to kill himself. I'm sorry, but that was the one choice on his list I didn't agree with because despite that dramatic scene, I can't take this episode seriously because Stewie told Brian to eat his crap.

[@bigmacintosh1766]

Blameitonjorge is pretty good

[@digimonlover1632]

Eh, that’s pretty weak reasoning.

[@memesong21]

notice cartoon _moments_ outside of the context of the rest of the episode it's still really sad

[@redjirachi1]

The problem with Family Guy is that at some point it made a Faustian deal trading characterization for comedy

[@mesektet5776]

I legitimately like this episode; Seth McFarland quite famously has contempt for the Flanderization Fox spun the show into, so it feels like this episode is what would happen if he could just slash away all of that and make the sort of existential pondering he prefers. The poo eating feels more like him trying to make sure these characters still feel like the sort of nutjobs they’ve become while just having a moment in between.

[@antoniosalieri1048]

Wow

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

"And yet he still runs off with all the money every week, how noble." -Chris Griffin

[@pokemonmanic3595]

I remember seeing this episode as a kid and I like hard dry heaved gagged, like as close as you could get to actually throwing up, from the Brian eating diaper bit. And I'm one of those guys who unironically loves bathroom humor.

[@antoniosalieri1048]

They let you watch Family Guy as a kid? Everytime I tried watching clips of it as a little kid, my parents would tell me to change it

[@pokemonmanic3595]

@@antoniosalieri1048 I wasn’t “allowed” to watch family guy but that didn’t stop me from watching it anyways :P

[@blueizumi]

@@pokemonmanic3595 lol same I always got away with watching it too since my older siblings watched it all the time

[@tslavworks]

Same. Hell, even as a 23 year old, it still makes me slightly uneasy. Otherwise, this episode was just kinda "meh" to me

[@ninjawork111]

I’ve seen the clip of just Brian talking about suicide. I think that on its own is far better than the other garbage you described. But if we take just that conversation, it’s a great episode

[@andykishore]

It just makes you wish that conversation was placed in a different episode.

[@Channeleven2345789]

I guess the current appeal of Family guy comes from the fact that most episodes are easily quotable, they have clips that can be used for reactions or quick jokes, I don't like the show anymore, and yet sometimes I refer to clips from it. It's down to application more than quality.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Not helping is how some of their most iconic moments are from some of the worst episodes. "You guys all think you're better than me!" -Seahorse Seashell Party Iraq Lobster? -Screams of Silence

[@Channeleven2345789]

@@AkameGaKillfan777 exactly.

[@lesterwilliamsjr649]

Writing Tip: A good idea and execution doesn’t automatically equal good representation for a show's style and legacy.

[@andykishore]

2:08 WRONG! "Family Guy Viewer Mail #1" from season 3 also had no cutaway gags.

[@bananaleech2985]

Maybe I am just very jaded by Family Guy and Seth Macfarlane “looking smart” makes me seethe as an ignoramus. But this episode just feels like Macfarlane showing the world a big shock before telling everyone how deep and sophisticated he is.

[@jlev1028]

Family Guy is everything wrong with "adult" animation, priorotizing meanspirited characters, shock humor, and gross out over exploring mature topics with a tact tone.

[@brandongovreau9218]

it teaches the lesson no matter how negative you may feel people will always love you if you have at least one love one

[@FanSeitz]

Family Guy should have ended after Long John Peter. It started to decline after that episode.

[@seanchukwuezi3079]

It was all dogs go to heaven in terms of bad continuity

[@Oneforus21111]

​@@seanchukwuezi3079 Yeah

[@grapeshot]

I watched it for the first few seasons but then I quickly got tired of it.

[@gwimbly8683]

Lucky there's always a "Mysterious Guy" to rant on your adult nostalgia!

[@GSballreborn]

New Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, JonTron, and Mr. Enter all in one day. Kickass!

[@santiagoolaisola895]

We have been blessed today by the gods

[@PipeGuy64Bit]

I miss the days when JonTron did game reviews

[@Hammerhead547]

This was 100% the family guy "very special episode," where they get all serious for 22 minutes as if they're trying to apologize for trying to be funny the rest of the time. It was also the point where I 100% gave up on the show because the "humour" wasn't funny and their attempts at getting "serious" were so ham fisted that it was insulting.

[@ShenDoodles]

The poop thing doesn’t ruin it for me because it was taken somewhat seriously. Stewie didn’t do it out of spite, he didn’t have a way to clean himself up and Brian’s a dog who eats his own poop sometimes. It was conflict in the context of the episode. The “problem” with most of these gags are that they’re done out of spite by other characters.

[@Gamebuilder2000]

Yeah It's also gross

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

Or out of spite by the writers for the audience.

[@animegx45]

Except Stewie openly admitting that running around with a diaper full of shit is normal. He genuinely wanted Brian to eat it.

[@Im.Smaher]

⁠Yeah no, that’s dumb. He ate his shit. No need to overthink it

[@thestockimagequeen]

@ShenDoodles I agree with you 100%. It’s a little gross for my taste but it’s still one of my favorites of the show. I see that moment as the writers emphasizing just how far Brian’s willing to go for Stewie, but yeah it could’ve been a little less gross.

[@PipeGuy64Bit]

I really don't know how I feel about this one. It's certainly way better than the worst of that late 2000's - early 2010's era of Family Guy. Also yeah some of those songs they showed to fill up the rest of the hour were in fact cut.

[@Sly88Frye]

I do enjoy this episode for the conversations they have, but there are just some things they didn't need to include. Like the diaper obviously that should not have been there.

[@Nzcade]

Brian and Stewie are an absolute W

[@cordyceps7531]

Here’s a bit of a tangent based on a memory. Regardless of whether or not I liked it, seeing it for the first time was one of those once in a life time moments on TV that you can rarely repeat. My younger brother and I were use to adult swim being on in the background after CN came to a close. We’d let it play while taking turns playing games on the computer in my dad’s office room. But then this episode came on and watching it from beginning to end was something. The experience was so claustrophobic, uncanny, and surreal, for our young teenage brains at least. I’m not sure if I adored or disliked what I had just watched at the time. For that experience alone I can’t bring myself to hate this episode. But I did audibly gag at the poop and vomit parts.

[@daltonanderson3718]

Its a mixture of writers trying to come up with jokes while wanting to homage their favorite movies because the writers are nothing but old movie heads.

[@michaelbuehler3897]

That's the problem with Family Guy, especially the later seasons, is that it can be very hit and miss.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

The thing I didn't like about this episode beyond the stuff that you mentioned is that they did not play the beginning and ending themes. They were really trying to beat you over the head with: "Hey, this is gonna be like, a TOTALLY super-duper serious episode." It's not funny, it's not intriguing, it's just boring and unsettling. I don't often use the word "overrated" because it by definition is meant to disrespect other people's opinions, but if there's 2 things I do consider to be overrated, they're Sonic Unleashed, and this episode.

[@DawnOfTheOzz]

Why would you say something so brave and yet so right?

[@alexvaughan1013]

BoJack Horseman's Free Churro is a bottle episode done right. Everything Brian and Stewie wishes it could be.

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

Here's an actual fun fact: Somebody challenged Seth MacFarlane to write an episode of Family Guy without cutaways or any sorts of jokes, and he in my opinion succeeded at doing so. Both Brian and Stewie episodes together are really good, and this episode in particular, was powerful, the message it brought.

[@EruveyConB]

Well Stewie kept making jokes when Brian explained why he felt depressed, so he only delivered in the cutaway part

[@TheYoungGeninSasuke]

Stewie told Brain to eat his shit that was suppose to be gross out humor so the epsiode failed. It also told two jokes.

[@bigmacintosh1766]

Unbelievable

[@BrianIsTheGOAT594]

@@TheYoungGeninSasuke sure it had gross out humour in it, but outside of that, when Brian and Stewie were talking to each other about how they were feeling, and was supportive of each other to me was special.

[@andykishore]

@@BrianIsTheGOAT594 Technically, "Family Guy Viewer Mail #1" also has no cutaways so they have tried their hand at writing an episode without any cutaways before. Although, that episode still has a lot of jokes in it.

[@Siarosebell]

I think this review displays how Mr Enter is completely different as a reviewer to how he used to be as a reviewer. He went from raging in every one of his Family Guy reviews and used to always convey the attitude of “I hate this episode and anyone who likes this episode has no taste” to being calm in every one of his reviews and conveying the attitude of “I get why some people love this episode but I personally don’t”. I like this change.

[@Markimark151]

This episode was when I starting to give up on Family Guy, I was already losing interest in the series when it started using cheap shots! Family Guy was becoming the adult version of Caillou, particularly Stewie and Brian are so bratty and really unfunny! But it was the screams of silence episode that made stop watching Family Guy completely!

[@Dimensioneer88]

And of course Road to the North Pole has the stupid plot point I hate of "Let's just lazily rely on Santa to get our free stuff instead of just buying presents ourselves"

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

The point of that episode was that it was detrimental to Santa's health and needed to change, it's not portrayed as a good thing.

[@boydixonentertainment]

In Family Guy, it makes sense. It’s integral to the plot. In other shows or movies, how I never questioned that is beyond me. Why even put the tree up at any point before December 24th if you’re not going to put any gifts under it until day of?

[@JustNekoBea]

Kinda tasteless of stewie to call brian selfish for considering unaliving himself since thats the last thing you should say to someone dealing with s*icide. Maybe its just me but i found that moment to be quite repulsive.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Family Guy, written by Butch Hartman

[@jakenewland-griffin9460]

I wonder if this premise could of been a better American dad episode with Rodger and Steve or Rodger and Clause with Rodger questioning his life on earth he has so many identites about basicky have free range to do anything he want no earth but still feels lost as to who he is especially without being able or more willing to return to his species

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

They kind of did that in the episode where Haley reminds Stan about how Roger saved him when Roger escaped capture at the C.I.A.

[@builttoscalevideos]

Are we just gonna ignore that the whole diaper scene, while yeah, is cheap shock humour, is only really there to set up for Stewie drunkenly bragging about how easily he can manipulate Brian? Just gonna completely ignore the part where they have a whole argument that breaks down their flaws as characters?

[@diarawisteria2218]

Does it make the episode better? If not, then sure, ignore what isn't relevant to his argument.

[@builttoscalevideos]

@@diarawisteria2218 it SHOULD be relevant though, you could bring up the argument scene in the first place to show that there was a reason for that scene, from there you could discuss ways to get to that “I can manipulate you easily” theme and drunken argument without having that gross-out gag at the start there, you could discuss why there might not be enough character development later in the episode to balance out that gag. I’ll definitely agree that the diaper scene is an unnecessary gag mainly due to how long it’s drawn out, there definitely are better ways to build up to the scene where Brian and Stewie drunkenly argue with eachother, but really Enter’s whole argument here just boils down to a 10 minute video of what can be summed up as “Diaper scene bad therefore episode bad” to me there seemed like no actual analysis or constructive criticism here.

[@diarawisteria2218]

@@builttoscalevideos No, he made other arguments during the video. You can dislike that he didn't address a potential counterargument without dismissing his other arguments. Arguments he made: + Diaper scene is forced and ruins the character drama the episode was going for. When an episode of a comedy wants you to take it seriously as a drama, going for an outlandish gross-out scene that makes at least one character entirely unlikable kills the tension, as it is easy to lose any potential investment in the character and their relationships. + He argues that it's a bad episode *even without the diaper scene*. Mr. Enter points to episodes that have done more fulfilling riffs on this dynamic (without breaking tone or being preceded by scenes that ruin investment). + One of his main points is that the episode feels "empty". That is, it's a difficult format of writing to pull off ('locked in a box' stories need careful maneuvering to be interesting without setting changes and interruptions by other characters), and the sideplots either bored him or were annoying. I'd have to rewatch later to be clearer, as I am focusing most of my attention elsewhere, but if you'd like to make counterarguments to his arguments, or point out a, "Hey, I think you missed [X] in your video.", I'd suggest actually engaging with said arguments, and avoiding passive-aggressive diction. What you mentioned about the diaper scene doesn't really disprove or even hinder his arguments, and you even countered your own counterargument; I'd imagine you could have done this in a far less rude manner.

[@builttoscalevideos]

@@TSOTL-0302 we were having a discussion, I was more than happy to be corrected lol.

[@patrickkenneally3016]

This episode is pointless in hindsight considering how terrible of a character Brian becomes later on.

[@voiceofreason2691]

Even if Brian *was* stiII a good character, this episode’s moraI is overpraised. lt just doesn’t do me any favor

[@xXtrial_and_errorXx]

Remember, this dog gave a baby herpes

[@fortynights1513]

Family Guy is a show with some fun, solid, individual clips and scenes. But as a show, it’s plots of episodes can be very bad or middling. I probably wouldn’t give most episodes of the last several seasons a good review. One of the few episodes that is kinda recent that I can say I’ve enjoyed all the way through is Back to the Pilot. What do you think?

[@TheCrippledEgg]

That's kinda why I prefer American Dad to Family Guy. It's pretty much the same humor but executed better because it's neatly weaved into the plot, whereas Family Guy's reliance on cutaway gags interrupts the momentum of the episode and are generally hit-and-miss. There are tons of memorable cutaways, but not many memorable episodes.

[@fortynights1513]

@@TheCrippledEggObviously the show predates this type of approach, but in a way, Family Guy strikes me as a show that could have made a better series of online shorts than an episodic TV series for that reason. Family Guy the TV series I’d give a mostly negative review to, but a good number of KZbin edits of the show I’d give a positive review to.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

​@@fortynights1513 That's basically what Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy could've been

[@TECH097]

I'd love to hear Mr. Enter and ToonrificTariq to have a back and forth about Family Guy I feel it'd be very tasteful, professional and Enriching for either side. ^^

[@TuesdaysArt]

It'd be interesting to see how they play off of each other, ngl.

[@thestockimagequeen]

Yess I need this!

[@SephirothRyu]

For some reason, some people these days just hate being called "Weird." Apparently, a need to feel like they are the normal ones is crucial to their existence mattering or something. Like, for some reason, it is worse to be the weird person than it is to be literally dead. This is weird. Very weird.

[@MarcusXD100]

Well that was an unexpected upload...

[@Black_Revue]

Brian and Stewie Fails at Everything except getting rid of Cutaway Gags

[@Treydemark]

i like to compare this episode to “Fly” from Breaking Bad, which is basically Brian and Stewie, but infinitely done better because of how much it displays character and develops the story over Family Guy

[@tubguinace]

One little thing you got wrong here, there's actually a handful of Family Guy episodes that don't have any cutaway gags, a good number of them are from the newest season strangely enough.

[@supernew10doh64]

For me all this episode does is just show how bad Stewie and Brian as characters have become because Brian was nowhere near this depressed or depressing to watch in earlier seasons and Stewie is just kind of irritating to watch now. Stewie used to be a multi-faceted character he wanted to take over the world kill his mother for whatever reason and there were also hints of him wanting to kind of get over that and he couldn't make up his mind as to whether or not he was gay or not because it came and went with whoever was writing the episode at the time. But now Brian is just constant depression incarnate and Stewie is just the gay baby who sometimes is super smart. The most interesting thing about this episode is how many alternate versions of it there are cuz there's a version of the episode that outright points out that Dewey is a genius who invented a freaking time machine and he should be able to unlock the bank door and the Stewie's just like I'm not a miracle worker or something along those lines and it's just so dumb. Illegitimately feels like this episode was just a bunch of Improv

[@EatWave]

Didn't the episode "And then there were fewer" also avoid cutaway gags?

[@renamon5658]

Yep

[@fortynights1513]

Did that one turn out well?

[@MalechiShelton]

​@@fortynights1513idk watch it

[@voiceofreason2691]

No. There *were* cutaway gags in that one too

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

​@@fortynights1513 I thought it was okay

[@ferrygal6036]

I'm not much of a critic, but what you describe about this episode, you've made a good, obvious point. A part of me is not buying the chemistry between Brian and Stewie because "Status Quo Is God". Besides, Brian is never gonna better himself.

[@daltonmortimer7735]

Brian & Stewie is my favorite episode because it's a character study, of both the humor and and the depth

[@lollipopandbryce]

Yeah but nothing can't beat Peter or Babs or the one episode about Brian's grandma

[@ulti.matt04]

I think any episode that breaks the format of a show is gonna be divisive regardless of quality

[@josiahtheawkward6008]

2:08 At the time. There’s some episodes that came out recently that doesn’t have any.

[@aveganeverywhere]

I mistook uploaded 15 seconds ago with this having been a 15-second video 🤣.

[@sethlangston181]

While I do think that funny adult cartoons can pull off sad moments that actually make me feel really well (Simpsons and Futurama are some examples), Family Guy just isn't that show. When Family Guy tries it, it just comes across as really emotionally manipulative because those so-called serious moments are based on moments that were previously portrayed as funny. Seahorse Seashell Party was the perfect example of this, all the sudden the audience is supposed to feel guilty for Meg, despite 10 seasons of her being the butt of the joke, was super jarring and inconsistent with what Seth MacFarlane had been showing his audience all these years. In fact, I could really say the same thing about Season 10 in general, which got really dark and dramatic out of pretty much nowhere.

[@codyssmith73]

I feel like you’re viewing the diaper scene differently than I do. It’s shocking, but it’s also meant to help you sympathize with both characters. The fact that Brian would even do such a thing to help his friend is what you’re supposed to get out of it, and that tied with the poignant moments after the fact is what makes the episode strong. It shows the two have a true bond and Brian would do anything to protect the little twerp who gets him into whacky shenanigans. He’s a prick, but he’s Stewie’s prick, if that makes any sense.

[@bigmacintosh1766]

It's still gross

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

When Stewie manipulated him into doing it

[@TuesdaysArt]

The effect of that probably got lost over time, just like Patrick acting bad in "The Card" retroactively made previous Patrick episodes more messed up. Even though Patrick is supposedly a better friend to SpongeBob (from what I've heard) it still taints the image people had of him. The existence of "Herpe: The Love Sore" makes it harder to believe Brian genuinely cares about Stewie when he's willing to give him an STD (knowingly).

[@lcyurchuk]

One thing I don't like about the modern cutaway gags is that they overstay their welcome. It's like, when a joke goes on for too long, it stops being funny

[@DenderFriend]

I honestly feel like you have become far more of a well-rounded and level-headed reviewer than you had been in the early days. With this, the Patrick Star Show reaction, and the new OK K.O. review, I feel like you've significantly improved

[@twiceshy9773]

Some shows should NEVER have a "Dinner with Andre" episode

[@baalfgames5318]

"Comitting Sudoku." ...Why do people seem to hate the word "Seppuku?" This is the second time that I have heard someone say Sudoku instead of Seppuku.

[@mrheello5181]

What's the first time?

[@davidmeron4562]

I think the reason it works for me is because Brian and Stewie are a slapstick duo. They’re Tom and Jerry. Where like they constantly fuck with each other and give each other shit and beat each others ass, but in the end neither of them take it seriously, they’re both basically cool with it. And they never say it until this moment they never admit to each other that they really care about each other. Also just have a lotta good memories with this episode.

[@jesusrox4u]

Thank you for your reaction to the Conway Twitty gag. Even when I started watching the show at a younger age, I always hated the Conway Twitty jokes. They were never funny and always went on too long.

[@TuesdaysArt]

I find it funny where it's grounded enough in reality to consider a diaper rash a legitimate problem and distanced enough from reality where a baby getting drunk is "haha funny" instead of "holy hell that's horrible". They deliberately chose to make the diaper rash a plot point instead of operating on cartoon logic where toilet stuff doesn’t matter...all just so they could have Brian eat the diaper.

[@BigEWR]

When it comes to Brian and Stevie (the characters), the two of them tend to give us some of the very best. These episodes have inventive scenarios, sometimes without any cutaway gags. That said, this is the exception.

[@LemonClarkMedia]

I never understood the praise this episode got. Even more ironic these days where ppl use the “it’s just a comedy” excuse when Family Guy makes episodes like this. After watching it when it came out, the shift from comedy to dramatic character study was jarring.

[@maxresdefault_]

That opening background is much better than the standard one. The moving hats is unnecessary

[@Lucas-ut2qn]

Brian and Stewie were a dynamo team back in the day But now they're just...😞 Sometimes I don't regret blacklisting family Guy might have been my best choice might

[@thewewguy8t88]

Honestly for that episode I would say I feel indifferent towards the episode brain and stewie but at the same I think that's generally how I feel currently about family guy right now.

[@chrisunruh8217]

The problem with trying to take any heartfelt moment in this show seriously is that I've seen these characters torment each other in horrifying ways. There's no consistency to the show, characters will do literally anything to each other when a writer needs to make a gross out or shock joke. Nothing matters in Family Guy which is why I can't like it.

[@Vanghool87]

I would love to see your top ten best Family Guy episodes.

[@baryardeni9731]

It really feels weird to see an over the top show with an episode that is more down to earth. However, not every show can go there in the right way, and Family Guy is the perfect reason why. This show is known to be trolling, even in the episodes that they are describing meant to be more serious. Not All Dogs Go to Heaven, Peter-Assment, Seahorse Seashell Party, Life of Brian and ESPECIALLY Screams of Silence. Taking a show like this in a serious matter is impossible, because even then they kill the mood or shoving their self propaganda into our face when it certainly isn’t needed or even harmful. And yes, this episode is counted too. The diaper scene is enough to show that even in this episode they just have to keep trolling. This is why I despise this show with a rotting passion. It may not have been as unwatchable as it used to be anymore, but the past episodes were still enough for me to kill the show’s entire reputation, which is just sad.

[@juancruzrosales4968]

Kinda late on this but if you skip the part where Brian eats Stewie's crap it makes the message/reflection getting through a lot easier. The drunken bits weren't that much of a buzzkill for me tbh.

[@sonicroc237]

Pss… I wouldn’t share the information of what Meg says about the knife by playing the clip raw.

[@cloudlion1610]

Yeah. I enjoy dark humor but there is a fucking limit; that information is genuinely harmful, shame on Family Guy.

[@GURGLEGUY12345]

I wonder if it has anything to do with how they tried to pass off Brian eating Stewie's shit and then _licking his ass_ as a joke.

[@GURGLEGUY12345]

Yeah, thought so.

[@cadjebushey6524]

Remember when this COMEDY show only focused on COMEDY?

[@chad9186]

There actually was a pop culture reference in there. They reference The Dog Whisperer

[@blekksverd]

I watched the episode after hearing some praise for it and honestly felt kind of similarly to you. The long gross-out jokes desperately trying to fill the time left behind by the cut-away gags ruined any investment I had in the story. When I think of this episode, I don't think of Brian talking about his life being meaningless, I think of Brian licking a diaper. "Send in Stewie, Please", another episode without cutaway gags, had a similar problem. I think Family Guy's writers aren't able to fill the time of an episode without cutaway gags or side plots, because when they try to, you get these long tedious scenes that do nothing but detract from what is actually good about the episode.

[@ndm13]

By distilling everyone down to tropes, they've left Brian as the only serious character on the show, and that's not a role he can carry. He used to be Peter's straight man, and his intellectual angle worked there to balance out Peter's stupidity. But put against Stewie who started as a baby genius it just comes off as pretentious, and having seen that they've leaned into it, which makes the problem even worse. You absolutely can have a character who is in the right and the wrong equally often, but it takes finesse to do it well, and you need to not have these absolutely egregious character moments because it recontextualizes how we see the character. Imagine if after the rock opera episode of Bojack if the show kept the tone of the earlier episodes, and that's what Family Guy feels like.

[@ItsJustVin]

I feel like after around season 4 they heavily destroyed Brian's character, and that's truly what made the episode less watchable overall. Throughout the much earlier seasons Brian was an intelligent alcoholic that was the voice of reason around the house, and helped the family with their conflicts throughout the episodes. He had his own problems but he was a very respected character. After Family Guy decided to add some "character development" to him, they made him a perverted, more alcoholic, disloyal, suicidal narcissist who only spouted his political and theological beliefs every chance he could. It's hard to make an episode expecting the audience to respect the character who became awful in just about every way.

[@ironrevenger9386]

The moment he got a Prius and dumped sweet Jillian he hit rock bottom on the likability scale

[@marsmeetsearthproductions6279]

I’ve thought this for years.

[@autumbreeze1129]

I literally only have the season with that horrible pregnant Stewie episode because, unfortunately, it's the season with the Simpsons crossover episode, so had to buy that season to get it.

[@movieman410]

I’ve hear criticisms that scrubs is better at being funny than it is at being serious, I don’t know some people like the serious moments in scrubs…I’ve yet to meet a person who thinks Family Guy is good at being dramatic. Funny…on occasion, never at being serious Than there’s summer blockbusters like Transformers which suck at BOTH!

[@dellosayshello5405]

This episode has one of the most confusing tones I liked it enough

[@LibraGamesUnlimited]

I hated that episode. So self indulgent (only two characters and they're both Seth McFarland) and just dull. It kind of felt like an attempt to win awards.

[@mgtwrestling123]

When I got the notification I immediately clicked on it😉

[@anthonyfernandez82]

It's a bit hard to understand what you should take seriously in comedy shows when they do get serious. Like Bojack Horseman. Should you hate Bojack for that moment he told Todd to eat cyanide that was played for laughs? Or when he burned all that money that was for charity, that was also played for laughs, aside from showing how petty and narcissistic he can be?

[@sethisevilone02]

i swear after season 8 family guy fell off harder in quality then Simpsons

[@mrsmaggiekoch]

I do NOT get why people absolutely love these episodes. Quagmire's complete takedown of Brian's character still stands out as one of the best moments in the show, because everything he says is true. Then we had the over-serious Death of Brian only for Stewie to undo it a few episodes later. We are supposed to feel bad for Brian talking about his life being pointless when he is an objectively BAD person (dog) who continues to make bad choices for himself- and his best friend single-handedly brought him back to life?

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

The only stand-out roast Quagmire did was making fun of Cleveland for his boring spin-off. Between a selfish jerk like Brian and a pedophile rapist, I think I know which one is worse.