Season Review: Family Guy Season Nineteen

This show has dealt with plenty of obstacles throughout the recent seasons and usually comes out on top. Seeing that its nineteenth season is no different made me wonder how it still has some staying power after 22 years. The latest season of Family Guy once again continues the bizarre everyday adventures of Peter Griffin and his dysfunctional family, whether it’s dealing with real-life issues or encountering surreal mishaps. During the process, it attempted to avoid becoming a subject of mediocrity like the recent seasons of The Simpsons. For the most part, it managed to accomplish that task just fine. However, like the show’s previous seasons, it isn’t without its share of issues regarding both the quality and the broadcasting schedule.

After starting the nineteenth season with the 350th episode and Stewie’s very first word, the show offered another mixture of episodes that range from enjoyable to mediocre. It didn’t help that it had to deal with multiple delays throughout the season due to Fox’s sports programming, most notably the 2021 Daytona 500 back in February. The major 2020 events also affected the season’s production, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Despite those setbacks, season nineteen delivered another series of misadventures that provided some good and bad moments for the Griffin family (and its fans) to endure.

There were some episodes in Family Guy that I enjoyed for their plots and humor, such as the PeTerminator episode and the later ones involving Brian. Yes, the PeTerminator storyline would’ve been appropriate if it was released during one of the earlier seasons. Still, it was fun seeing Stewie and Brian take on a bunch of Peter-like terminators regardless. A couple of Brian episodes in the season’s second half, like “Who’s Brian Now?” and “Family Cat”, were good examples of the show’s ability to provide thoughtful development for the characters amid its satirical, sitcom-like comedy. Some of the other episodes I watched that didn’t involve Brian were also watchable for the most part, while the rest of them once again showed proof that Family Guy is still struggling with its quality.

With the proper execution in its plot and comedy, an episode can become a worthy and hilarious addition to the Family Guy lore. Unfortunately, a few episodes in season nineteen saw the writers and animators failing to capitalize on some fresh ideas and sticking with their usual comedic formula from the past. While the comedy in season nineteen had some laughable moments in some of the decent episodes, it still suffered from relying too much on jokes that were outdated, offensive, bland, gross, and on some occasions, mean-spirited. The worst offender in terms of humor was the “Meg’s Wedding” episode, in which it distastefully jokes about homosexuality and spousal abuse. In addition, some episodes lacked both good narratives and comedy for their concepts, such as “Boys & Squirrels”, “Pawtucket Pat”, and “Customer of the Week”. The show is at its best when they provide entertaining adventures that offer decent stories and hilarious shenanigans. However, it’s also at its worse when it recycled previous stuff from the earlier seasons with middling results.

It’s still hard for me to believe that a show like Family Guy managed to chug along reasonably well after nineteen seasons despite some of its problematic episodes. With its humor, characters, and stories, this is another season that delivered a consistent amount of solid and bland episodes with enough MacFarlane charm to go around. It’s far from a perfect season for the Griffin family, but it was suitable enough to entertain me and most of the show’s fans.