Insight: “Family Guy’s” Brian Griffin Is FOX’s Best Answer To Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman”

Could this be the future of FOX animation?

Last Sunday Night, Family Guy featured the first of what looks to be a few episode arc featuring “Brian Griffin” being booted out of his house and more or less cast out like a leper following a controversial Tweet. That’s right, when Brian Tweets silly shit, he gets accosted for it. Meanwhile, Donald Trump Tweets this and he doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

When Brian was booted out of the house, a few things came into play that the producers of Family Guy like to do. Whether it was when Brian was killed off for a few episodes or when Brian and Stewie got locked up in a bank, regardless, the people behind the scenes usually shelve the trademark elements of Family Guy, like cutaway gags and farting on Meg in favor of a more serious tone that should appease fans of BoJack Horseman.

Similar to BoJack, when Brian gets depressed, he’ll drink, get high, use women, and in the case of Sunday’s episode, make mac & cheese for dinner for a night alone (guys, we’ve all been there, haven’t we?). Regardless of what is on the horizon, FOX’s Family Guy has a real good shot at getting some of that audience that’s starting to favor animated content that has more meat on the bones than say a standard variety Family Guy episode. Cable networks like TBS are eyeing Final Space to give us animated fare with more of blockbuster space opera feel, South Park has done numerous arcs with Stan and Kyle including one that is ongoing right now with Kyle/Cartman/Heidi, and English dubbed content from international outlets are on the rise with streaming services like Funimation, Mondo Media, and Crunchyroll all taking note.

That’s not to say the FOX network can’t still screw this up. Fans may recall the hell that FOX put the final seasons of King of the Hill through when it came to scheduling episodes and in some cases, not air episodes at all much to the horror of fans who were knee deep in arcs that were very much ahead of their time.

With the success of Netflix’s adult animation lineup that also includes F is for Family and Big Mouth, FOX needs to take advantage of Brian’s more flexible sensibilities because, quite frankly, they don’t have another show that Family Guy’s “Brian” can go. Even the Emmy winning duo of Bob’s Burgers and The Simpsons don’t really have a character that has as much depth to their character as “Brian” from Family Guy has. From being a deadbeat dad to sleeping with a transsexual to the numerous women he’s disappointed, Brian has been to places most of animated television hasn’t even touched yet.

The departure of Brian from the Griffin family also opens the door to the possible return of Vinny or even the family entertaining the idea of a new pet altogether. “New Brian” was a personal favorite of mine, Jasper, too. All possibilities now that Brian is gone. In any case, it’s up to the network to TRULY show their support for the Family Guy franchise, a franchise largely forgotten by the network’s marketing department and has been subject to complaints by fans noting that Family Guy had lost its edge ever since Seth MacFarlane had left the writers room.

How ironic that it’s now up to one of Seth MacFarlane’s characters to stay relevant in an ever-more competitive industry.

Family Guy is all-new this Sunday Night @ 9 pm ET/PT, check your local listings.