What the deuce? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top theories that have circulated surrounding this animated sitcom, and some of them are so crazy they actually make sense.
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00:00 "Hey Stewie, I don't know if you have any interest in this, but I was wondering if you want to go to Vegas with me and see Celine Dion."
00:04 "Are you kidding? Of course I want to go!"
00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top theories that have circulated surrounding Family Guy.
00:13 And some of them are so crazy, they actually make sense.
00:16 "You want to hear it?"
00:16 "Oh, definitely. What are you calling it?"
00:18 "Wish it, want it, do it."
00:19 "Love it."
00:20 "Thanks."
00:21 Number 20. The Griffins are in Hell or Purgatory.
00:25 Could the Griffins actually be dead and are paying the price for the things they did when they were alive?
00:29 "Stewie, you got my text."
00:32 "Yeah, didn't so much get them as was panic startled awake by them."
00:37 There are a lot of juxtapositions within the main characters on the show,
00:40 with a baby who is a mad scientist, a pretentious scholar stuck in a dog's body, and an heiress turned housewife.
00:46 It seems as though they're being tortured by not being able to be their true selves,
00:50 or maybe they're being given a chance to redeem themselves from their past sins.
00:54 In this case, maybe they're in purgatory,
00:57 which is why Stewie has become a better person while Lois has become worse.
01:01 Watching the show given this perspective definitely gives it an interesting twist.
01:05 "Mag, listen to the lies. Nobody died. An aunt of your father's or mine is very ill."
01:11 Number 19. Stewie de-ages everyone.
01:14 Stewie is an eternal infant, and he certainly is a remarkable one.
01:18 Maybe he has the intellect of an adult because he really is one,
01:22 using his advanced brain to de-age himself and his loved ones.
01:26 "Stewie, I'm serious. Messing around with your DNA could have dire consequences.
01:30 Haven't you ever seen the movie 'Splice'?"
01:32 He didn't want to see his best friend Brian grow old and die long before him.
01:36 Stewie wanted to go back to a time when he and Brian could continue their crazy adventures.
01:40 To recreate this time, he de-aged his family except for Lois, since we know he doesn't care about her.
01:46 He de-aged himself into an even younger baby in one of the episodes already.
01:50 Clearly, he has the know-how for this, so maybe this theory has some traction.
01:55 "Doggy. Big doggy."
01:57 "That's right. The big doggy."
02:00 Number 18. Stan Smith is related to Quagmire.
02:04 In addition to Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane is a creator of American Dad.
02:08 There have been a few crossovers with plots and characters on both shows throughout the years.
02:12 "Looter!"
02:13 "Self-defense!"
02:15 "A black and a white talking as if it's normal!"
02:17 Some viewers have speculated that American Dad's protagonist, Stan Smith,
02:21 could be related to Peter Griffin's neighbor and best friend, Glenn Quagmire.
02:24 There is a striking resemblance between the two, especially in the chin.
02:29 While Stan has also been mistaken for Joe, his signature face shape is closer to Quagmire's.
02:34 Plus, both share the same voice actor.
02:37 Who knows, maybe one of the shows will have a family reunion and our questions will be answered.
02:42 "I'd drop the gun if I were you, Joe."
02:44 "What? It's Stan."
02:46 "Oh, sorry. You look sort of like someone from... Anyway, I'd drop the gun if I were you."
02:49 Number 17. Cleveland Jr. is Peter Griffin's biological son.
02:54 Cleveland Jr. was not a significant character in the early days of Family Guy.
02:58 The character has a much different look now than he did back then.
03:01 "Good evening, Cleveland Jr."
03:03 "Hello."
03:03 He became a prominent character on The Cleveland Show,
03:06 and his look on the new show is reminiscent of a very familiar Family Guy character.
03:11 With a rounder appearance complete with a sleeker hairstyle and round glasses,
03:14 Cleveland Jr. looks a lot like one of Cleveland's best friends, Peter.
03:18 Since Cleveland's ex-wife and Cleveland Jr.'s mother, Loretta, had an affair with Quagmire,
03:22 it's not inconceivable that she did the same with Peter.
03:25 Maybe Peter's imaginary sitcom, My Black Son, wasn't so far from reality after all.
03:31 "It was dark. I don't know why he didn't just say it was him."
03:34 "I couldn't hear you. I was listening to music, I went to turn it down,
03:38 and the next thing I know, you shot me!"
03:40 Number 16. Mr. Burns is Stewie Grownup.
03:43 This sitcom loves to poke fun at the parallels between them and The Simpsons.
03:47 "Eat my shorts."
03:49 "Eat my shorts. I love that.
03:51 Is that a popular expression, like what the deuce?"
03:53 "Probably more popular."
03:54 Seeing both shows together really highlighted the similarities and differences between them.
03:59 While it's clear that Homer is like Peter and Lois is like Marge,
04:02 viewers have a theory about a correspondence between Stewie and Mr. Burns.
04:06 They look and sound similar and they both have a villainous streak,
04:09 leading fans to believe that Mr. Burns is Stewie's alias,
04:12 as well as his older self in the future.
04:15 Why he needs an alias is something we would love to see explored on either of the shows.
04:20 Seth MacFarlane and Matt Groening, do your worst.
04:23 "Uh, Smithers, why don't we leave the room and hopefully,
04:26 when we return, the pile of money will be gone?"
04:30 Number 15. Lois gets money from her father.
04:33 Carter Pewter Schmidt has an unimaginable amount of money,
04:36 yet his daughter doesn't seem to reap the benefits of being his daughter.
04:39 "There's salmon over here."
04:41 "Is there really salmon over there?"
04:43 "No. You walk over there and he squirts you with a squirt gun."
04:46 "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."
04:48 Or does she?
04:50 With Peter barely going to work and Lois working as a homemaker,
04:53 it's pretty impressive that they can afford the house they live in while they raise three kids.
04:57 If that wasn't enough, there is no way they could afford Peter's,
05:01 let's say, extracurricular activities.
05:03 The Peter Copter, damage to the world with his fights with the giant chicken,
05:07 and his random purchases would cost more than a pretty penny.
05:11 And we suspect Carter is footing the bill.
05:13 This also explains why Carter is so hostile towards Peter.
05:17 And honestly, we can't say we blame him.
05:19 "When we were married, your father made me conceal the fact so he could get into country clubs."
05:24 "It was the right thing to do."
05:25 "It was the right thing to do, dear."
05:28 "Oh my God."
05:29 Number 14. There's a chemical in the water.
05:32 There has been a plethora of character development throughout the show's 20-plus seasons,
05:36 and it's made some viewers wonder how that happened.
05:39 Back in season five, we're shown that Lake Quahog is extremely polluted.
05:44 "This water feels kind of funny."
05:46 "Yeah, and it smells bad."
05:48 "Ahh! Dad, look!"
05:50 "Holy crap!"
05:51 So, does that mean the chemicals in the water could be causing some brain damage to the residents drinking it?
05:55 Peter, Lois, and Chris have become darker as characters, while Stewie has lightened up.
05:59 And maybe the contaminated water has caused these dramatic character changes.
06:04 Furthermore, the theory suggests that the cutaways in the show are actually the result of some chemically induced hallucinations from the water.
06:11 Maybe it's time the mayor tries to clean up the lake again.
06:14 "So they can just dump their waste into the lake?"
06:17 "This can't be legal!"
06:18 "What kind of world is this where you can't even trust the oil companies anymore?"
06:22 Number 13. Peter Griffin's welfare fraud allowed him to buy Quahog.
06:27 It seems like there isn't much that Peter Griffin can't get away with.
06:31 And no matter how ridiculous his actions, we never really see him face any consequences for them.
06:36 In the pilot episode, Peter ends up in jail for welfare fraud.
06:40 "But Dad, I thought-"
06:41 "Dad, they're the kind of a big raise that allow me to give my kids a big allowance just for keeping their big mouths shut."
06:46 Although Peter says he learned his lesson, he suggests this wouldn't be his last run-in with this type of situation.
06:51 This theory states that Peter gained so much money from his welfare fraud,
06:55 and possibly other types of fraud that we didn't see on the show,
06:58 that he actually made enough to buy Quahog.
07:01 This would explain why he can get away with anything on his home turf, including even killing people without any repercussions.
07:08 "Lois, I know what I did was wrong, but I only did it for you and the kids."
07:12 "Except for the jukebox in the bathroom. That was a gift for Peter."
07:15 Number 12. Lois is leaving Peter.
07:18 Lois and Peter don't exactly have a fairy tale romance,
07:21 but there have been endearing moments of care and affection between the two throughout the series.
07:25 "Oh my God, Peter, look at this. She actually wore this to an awards ceremony."
07:29 "Huh? Oh yeah, crazy."
07:31 However, in recent seasons, Lois seems to have become increasingly unhappy with her life and marriage,
07:37 while Peter has grown indifferent towards her.
07:39 Lois has vivid fantasies outside of her marriage,
07:42 does things to spite her husband, and has become generally unhinged lately.
07:47 Fans believe this may be a sign that she's on her way out.
07:50 While this may seem like it would cause a crazy shift in the dynamic of the show,
07:54 they did kill off Brian at one point,
07:56 so the creators clearly are not afraid to shake things up drastically.
08:00 "Oh, perfect. I have a dime and a penny. They're right here, in my hand, for you to take."
08:07 Number 11. Brian and Stewie's time travel has affected the show.
08:11 Some of the best moments on the show are the time-traveling adventures of Brian and Stewie.
08:15 We've also seen them do some serious damage to their universe when their time-traveling goes awry,
08:20 but is it possible they're doing more harm than we realize?
08:23 "Well, if you could recall exactly when you buried it, I suppose I could help you out."
08:27 "I remember the exact day. January 31st, 1999."
08:31 "Very well, follow me, Brian."
08:32 Most viewers agree that the show's quality has declined over the years,
08:36 and maybe that's because Stewie and Brian have gone back to try and make things better.
08:40 We've seen that any time they do that, the future actually ends up worse than it was before.
08:45 This may also explain some inconsistencies in the show,
08:48 and maybe it's all been the result of Brian and Stewie trying to alter the future of their show.
08:53 "Oh, we made it."
08:54 "Yeah, the Super Bowl was cool, but frankly, no Tommy Brady, no Stewie likey."
08:59 Number 10. Post-Cancellation Family Guy is a different universe.
09:03 There's no denying that Post-Cancellation Family Guy feels a little different.
09:07 The characters are meaner and flanderized beyond belief.
09:10 The jokes are darker, and the storylines more bizarre and outlandish.
09:13 "Wait, before you kill me, can you at least give me an extra bullet so I can pretend to catch one of my teeth?"
09:18 But maybe there's a reason for that.
09:20 Maybe it takes place in a whole different universe.
09:22 Thanks to Road to the Multiverse, it's clear that multiverses do exist in the world of Family Guy.
09:27 "The point is, every possible eventuality exists."
09:30 "And that's where you got the pig, in a parallel universe."
09:33 "Prepare yourself, Brian, and I'll show you."
09:36 [Beeping]
09:37 [Gunshot]
09:37 [Explosion]
09:38 [Gunfire]
09:42 [Explosion]
09:43 [Gunfire]
09:44 [Explosion]
09:45 Maybe the family seen in season 4 is just a wackier and meaner version of the family seen in season 3.
09:50 And maybe Brian and Stewie didn't go back in time and back to the pilot.
09:54 They went to the original universe.
09:56 "Wait, what are they doing?"
09:57 "I don't know, they're just standing there like zombies."
10:00 "Do you think they're alright?"
10:01 "I'm not sure."
10:03 "And then there was that time at the ice cream store."
10:07 "They're doing it again, what the hell?"
10:10 Number 9.
10:11 Joe Swanson was the Tick.
10:13 This theory from Reddit user MrDs444 states that Joe Swanson was, and maybe still is, the Tick.
10:20 "Hello again. Your door is broken, the knob came off."
10:24 "What are you doing here?"
10:25 "The knob, man, this is incredible, it looks just like an apartment."
10:29 The Tick aired on Fox between 2001 and 2002 and starred Patrick Warburton, the same man who voices Joe.
10:36 The Tick shares a lot in common with Joe, including a muscular frame, a big chin, a dramatic personality, and obviously the exact same voice.
10:44 "Are you Timmy? Merry Christmas, Timmy."
10:52 This led MrDs444 to think that they are, in fact, one and the same.
10:57 Maybe Joe wasn't doling out enough justice as a cop, so he became the Tick on the side.
11:02 The Tick costume may even grant the wearer superhuman abilities, as he has super strength and never gets injured.
11:08 Maybe it also has the power to heal Joe's paralysis.
11:11 "Don't worry, he won't get far."
11:13 "Stop, police!"
11:16 Number 8.
11:21 Stewie is a former dictator.
11:23 Stewie is obviously very aggressive in the early seasons and dictatorial in his machinations.
11:29 "Excellent, the mind control device is nearing completion."
11:32 "Stewie, I said no toys at the table."
11:34 "Damn you, vile woman! You've impeded my work since the day I escaped from your wretched womb."
11:39 The reason for this behavior could be that Stewie is a former dictator who's either been de-aged through magic or reincarnated as a baby.
11:47 "Dear diary, it seems the domestic overseers are plotting against me."
11:51 "Their plans somehow relate to the anniversary of my escape from the womb."
11:55 "I'm still haunted by the memories of how I came to be incarcerated in that amniotic attic."
11:59 This could explain why Stewie is so smart and ahead of his age, how he can talk and why he has a British accent.
12:05 "Alright men, the man in white is coming to put me back in the womb."
12:09 "Today he comes for me, but tomorrow it could be you. Or you!"
12:13 Maybe he's the reincarnated spirit of Oliver Cromwell or something.
12:17 It also helps explain how Stewie has calmed down throughout the seasons.
12:20 As time has passed, he has forgotten his dictatorial ways and simply embraced being a child.
12:26 "Yes, we!"
12:28 "We!"
12:29 "Oh my, oh my!"
12:33 "Hudson, time to go!"
12:35 "I gotta go home now. I'm glad I met you, Stewie. You're neat. Bye!"
12:39 "Bye, Hudson!"
12:40 Number 7. Da Boom is canon.
12:43 Season 2's Da Boom is obviously not canon.
12:46 After all, Y2K destroys the world via a nuclear holocaust,
12:50 Stewie turns into a tentacled creature,
12:52 and the ending reveals that it was all a dream of Dallas' Pam Ewing.
12:56 "Oh Bobby, I just had the weirdest dream.
12:58 I dreamt I saw the strangest episode of Family Guy,
13:01 and there was a giant chicken, and Stewie was an octopus!"
13:04 "Hey, hey, hey, come on now. It's alright, everything's gonna be okay.
13:09 What's Family Guy?"
13:14 But what if it is?
13:16 What if Da Boom was the official ending of the Family Guy story,
13:19 and all the following episodes are just delusions concocted by the traumatized family?
13:23 "Peter, we've gotta find some food."
13:25 "Oh my God, look!"
13:27 "It's Natick!"
13:30 "Yeah!"
13:32 This could explain the show's declining quality and wildly different tone,
13:37 as the characters are slowly losing sight of their past realities
13:40 and veering further and further into imagination.
13:42 "But when I saw the movie,
13:44 it looked like Audrey Hepburn not only didn't have breakfast at Tiffany's,
13:49 she hadn't eaten anything in a year! Ah!"
13:52 It could also help explain why the characters never age.
13:55 Talk about depressing.
13:57 There's a reason Family Guy is so outlandish.
14:04 It's a fictional TV show.
14:06 Well, yeah, but we mean it's a fictional TV show within a fictional TV show.
14:11 There are a few hints scattered across the series.
14:13 The obvious one is the episode "Inside Family Guy",
14:16 which takes the form of a behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of the show.
14:20 "It's certainly not easy being a family that also happens to star in a sitcom together."
14:25 There's also the fact that Brian and Stewie travel back to the pilot
14:28 and comment on its crude animation quality.
14:30 "Ew, I remember this. Peter's eye did that weird creepy thing where it went over his nose."
14:35 "Come on, you're worrying about nothing."
14:37 "Oh, remember when you got drunk off the communion wine at church?"
14:40 "Ah, ew, gross. Look at that."
14:42 Not to mention, Stan specifically mentions Brian in "American Dad",
14:46 calling him his number one favorite fictional dog.
14:49 So, is Family Guy a fictional show within the "American Dad" universe?
15:06 All signs point to yes.
15:09 #5. We see through the eyes of Stewie.
15:12 It's easy to do the whole "this show takes place within a character's head" theory,
15:15 but this one actually has some merit.
15:17 The theory posits that the events of Family Guy are merely Stewie's perception of the world.
15:21 Peter and Chris act goofy and childish towards Stewie,
15:24 so Stewie thinks they're stupid buffoons.
15:26 "Hey, Stewie. Nice sunburn."
15:28 "God, you horse's ass!"
15:30 Lois is the strict disciplinarian, so Stewie sees her as shrewd and humorless.
15:35 "Oh my God, look at Stewie!"
15:37 "You took him out without any sunscreen?"
15:39 "Maybe."
15:40 "You know the sun is dangerous for a baby's skin?"
15:42 Meg is an older teenager and often fights with her parents,
15:45 so Stewie thinks they all hate and abuse her.
15:47 "My God, you're condescending!"
15:49 "I'm making a legitimate point about how poorly this family treats me."
15:53 "Brian, you can't say this family doesn't treat me like crap."
15:56 And Brian doesn't actually talk.
15:58 That would be ridiculous.
16:00 No, his barks and whimpers are simply constructed as human speech in Stewie's mind,
16:04 just like his nonsensical baby noises.
16:06 "Some friends become enemies, some enemies become friends, yeah?"
16:09 "At the end, your main character is richer for the experience, yeah?"
16:13 "Yeah? Yeah, you got that? No, no, you deserve some time off."
16:17 One popular theory floating around the internet is that Meg is actually Stewie's biological mother.
16:25 "I am not letting you out of my sight again."
16:27 According to the theory, Meg became pregnant at a very young age after sleeping with an ex-boyfriend,
16:33 and both Lois and Brian helped cover up the pregnancy.
16:36 "Welcome to Flappies. Why don't you have a seat next to my little baby, whose debut dad doesn't pay child support?"
16:41 "BURP! HA!"
16:43 Why? We don't know. Maybe to spare Meg the embarrassment and shame?
16:47 "Being a single mother is hard, but the real challenge is having a baby that's addicted to crack. Right, Stewie?"
16:52 Or to spare Meg's boyfriend, who would have been subjected to Peter's wrath?
16:56 This theory is seemingly legitimized in partial terms of endearment,
16:59 when Lois outright states that Meg gave birth to Stewie.
17:02 This kind of crude joke should have elicited a response from Meg, but she doesn't say anything about it.
17:07 Could this be because Lois was actually telling the truth?
17:10 "Oh, come on, Meg. It was hard enough on your body when you gave birth to Stewie."
17:14 "What?"
17:15 "Ah, ha, ha, ha. I'm just joking."
17:18 "Oh, not cool."
17:20 We all know that Brian's a writer.
17:24 "This is why nobody bought my damn book. You know, this is what they want. The secret. Chicken soup for the soul. The purpose-driven life."
17:31 "I tell you, I could crap one of those things out in a night."
17:34 So what if he writes Family Guy as an exaggerated version of his real family?
17:38 This could help explain the rampant flanderization and general wackiness.
17:42 He began writing relatively down-to-earth stories, but when these didn't sell,
17:46 he made them more exaggerated and outlandish to help encourage sales.
17:49 "Yeah, we're walking in now. Make sure Tom Tucker knows he has 20 minutes and he is to only talk about the book. No personal questions."
17:56 It's also possible that his increased alcoholism has turned him into a sloppy writer,
18:00 turning a once-good story into the mess it is now.
18:03 "Well, that's it. No more. I'm done writing."
18:06 "What? Writing's the only thing that's giving your alcoholism any credibility."
18:10 This also explains why Brian and Stewie are often given their own episodes.
18:14 He's actually lived these adventures firsthand and has more detail to draw on and exaggerate.
18:19 Have you ever wondered why Brian doesn't really act like a dog?
18:25 According to this theory, it's because he's a human trapped inside a dog.
18:29 "Excedrin headache number one. Puppy mill. Damn. Hey, does anyone here have thumbs?"
18:35 Well, a human brain inside a dog's body anyway.
18:38 In "American Dad," Klaus is a German ski jumper whose brain was implanted into a goldfish by the CIA.
18:44 "I'm recalling how the CIA kidnapped him and switched his mind with a goldfish."
18:49 [Popping sounds]
18:52 [Splash]
18:53 [Gulping sounds]
18:54 [Groaning]
18:56 [Splashing sounds]
18:59 If these two shows share the same universe, it's entirely possible that the exact same thing happened to Brian.
19:04 This could explain how he can talk and write, why he was the only puppy from his litter to act like a person,
19:10 and how he's able to have a 13-year-old human son.
19:13 "Brian, this is Dylan. He's... your son."
19:18 "Oh, no way! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!"
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19:37 Number 1. Peter's heightened reality.
19:41 Reddit user bblank0308 came up with a very compelling theory.
19:45 Unfortunately, it is completely and totally depressing. Bear with us.
19:49 One night, Meg and Chris both died in a drunk driving accident after coming home from a school party.
19:55 [Music]
19:58 [Screaming]
19:59 [Groaning]
20:00 Lois then took her own life out of grief.
20:02 "Well, there is one thing we could do."
20:05 "What? What's that?"
20:06 "We could go out on our own terms."
20:09 Driven to insanity, Peter created the heightened reality of Family Guy within his head.
20:13 "I'm a tumor. I'm a tumor. I'm a tumor. I'm a tumor. I'm a tumor. I'm a tumor."
20:19 Meg is treated poorly because he still resents her for driving drunk and crashing the car.
20:23 He also makes Stewie highly intelligent as he likes to believe that his unborn son had great potential.
20:29 And he makes Stewie hate Lois because she took his life.
20:32 "You drove me here, Lois, with all the indignities I've been forced to suffer day in and day out under your matriarchal tyranny."
20:38 Finally, a combination of insanity and extreme guilt caused Peter to mentally regress into the man-child he is today.
20:45 "Ho ho, eggs. Who came first, the chicken or the porn star? Ho ho, the porn identity. Who am I? Oh yeah, the pizza man. Baka chaka bow wow. Ho ho, ho ho. Peter, can you pass the coffee?"
20:54 "Sure."
20:55 Which one of these fan theories do you think could be true? Let us know in the comments.
20:59 "I mean, the answer is obvious."
21:01 "I know, totally."
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21:10 [music]