Brian Griffin

Family Guy character
name = Brian Griffin
picture =
birthplace = Austin, Texas
hometown = Austin, Texas
age = 7
relatives = Mother: Biscuit "(deceased)"
Father: Coco "(deceased)"
Son: Dylan
Cousin: Jasper
gender = Male
religion = Atheist
hair = White
politics = Liberal
vehicle = Toyota Prius (2005 model)
drink = Dry MartiniOr|date=March 2008
Jack Daniel'sOr|date=March 2008
BacardiOr|date=March 2008 MojitoOr|date=March 2008
family = Biscuit (mother; deceased)
Coco (father; deceased)
Jasper (cousin)
Dylan(son)
Lois Griffin (ex-wife)
friends = Peter GriffinOr|date=March 2008, Stewie GriffinOr|date=March 2008
religion = Atheist
appearance = "Death Has a Shadow" (1.01)
voice = Seth MacFarlane

Brian Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series "Family Guy", and is voiced by show creator, Seth MacFarlane. MacFarlane uses his normal speaking voice for Brian, as opposed to the vocal modifications he makes when voicing other characters in the show such as Peter and Stewie. In the Larry shorts, Seth MacFarlane provided the same voice as Brian for a dog named Steve, who had a similar personality. In the 1000th issue of "Entertainment Weekly", Brian Griffin was selected as the Dog for "The Perfect TV Family." ["TV: Breaking Down the List," "Entertainment Weekly," #999/1000 June 27 & July 4, 2008, 56.]

Overview

Brian is depicted as a talking dog who was born in a puppy mill in Austin, Texas and has lived with the Griffin family since Peter picked him up as a stray. While he exhibits some typical dog behaviors such as eating garbage and licking himself, he also possesses various anthropomorphic qualities, such as the ability to speak quite intelligently and walk bipedally. He also has a particularly sharp wit. ["TV Guide" staff, "TV Guide: The Ultimate Resource to Television Programs on DVD". New York: Macmillan (2005): 87. "Nihilistic animated antics of the grousing Griffins, including Peter, ... Lois, ... Meg and Chris; ... Stewie, ... and family god Brian, the smartest of the lot."] [Navjeet Singh, " [http://www.losangeleschronicle.com/articles/56703 Download Family Guy Episodes] ", "Los Angeles Chronicle" March 27, 2008. "That one dog, Brian, walks upright, can speak, is highly intelligent and loves to drink as well."] Peter is his best friend, despite Brian's vastly superior intelligence. Seth MacFarlane has once described Brian as "a dog who has a wit as dry as the martinis he drinks." Brian is often the voice of reason in the family, often reminding Peter how stupid his plans are.

Brian has a cultured background; he loves opera and jazz, has talented vocal ability, being able to sing all four parts to a barbershop quartet simultaneously.http://www.wvah.com/programs/familyguy/briangriffin.shtml] He is depicted speaking fluent French, Tagalog, and decent Spanish. He attended Brown University, is also a member of Mensa, and is an avid writer (in Brian Goes Back to College, he is invited to write for "The New Yorker"). He is also a third-degree green belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Brian is apparently working on a novel, but the fact that he just can't seem to finish it has become a running gag. It was first mentioned by Stewie in the episode "Brian the Bachelor" (the subject was brought up twice) and again in "Brian Goes Back to College", wherein Stewie mockingly asks him how he is coming along with the novel, his voice growing higher and higher in pitch until it reaches a comic level, only returning to normal after the subject is dropped (though in the latter episode, Stewie goes right into his high voice, with Brian quickly knocking him out in frustration). In Saving Private Brian, Stewie attempts to keep Brian from leaving the army by saying "You dropped out of college and you still haven't finished that novel," pointing out that he believes Brian rarely completes what he sets out to do. In the episode "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)", he tells Lois he has finally come up with a plot for the novel and has entitled it "Faster Than the Speed of Love". Lois merely cracks up at how stupid the title sounds, and finds it even more hilarious after realizing his plot is coincidentally a mix of the entire "Iron Eagle" series. In "The Former Life of Brian", Brian gets stoned with his son Dylan, and reveals details of the novel, including "In chapter 28, the other pilots finally trust the Japanese pilot and let him into their group." This refers to a plot line in the film "". In a future episode, however, Brian's novel becomes a hit amongst a group of mentally-disabled book lovers — which includes Peter. [http://investing.wsj.com/article/SB122057832909402221.html?mod=Media+%26+Marketing]

While not seen holding a regular job in Quahog, Brian is depicted owning a car, paying bills, and maintaining a credit card. In an episode he has been a substitute teacher at Chris' school, a contributor for the "The New Yorker", a taxi driver [ cite episode
title = Deep Throats
episodelink = Deep Throats
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2006-04-09
season = 4
number = 23
minutes = ] and a drug-sniffing dog for the Quahog police department. He also worked selling cars while the Griffin family thought that Peter had died in the episode "Perfect Castaways". Brian held several jobs while living in Los Angeles including waiter, car wash attendant, screenwriter and pornographic film director.cite episode
title = Brian Does Hollywood
episodelink = Brian Does Hollywood
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2001-07-18
season = 3
number = 2
minutes = .]

In contrast to the other characters on the show, Brian actually can remember things from show to show. In the "The Fat Guy Strangler" episode, Brian remembers Peter encouraging him to jump into the closed window of the General Lee in "To Love and Die in Dixie". Brian also recalls Stewie beating him up mercilessly over a bet in "Patriot Games" and lets him swallow Peter's chewing tobacco spittle in retaliation in the "Airport '07" episode.

As the most sensible member of the Griffin family, Brian often serves as the voice of reason or as a mediator during family arguments. He is also usually the first (and often only) one to realize that there is impending danger.

According to Brian Griffin's Guide To Booze, Broads And The Lost Art Of Being A Man, Brian's five musical artists who he finds most offensive are Ashlee Simpson, Coldplay, Jamie Foxx, Usher and Kevin Federline

In "Love Blactually", Brian is shown to be an atheist. He attempts to purchase a copy of The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, meeting love interest Carolyn, who reaches for the same copy.

Background

In the "Family Guy" universe, dogs are either talking, anthropomorphic creatures like Brian and his cousin Jasper, or regular animals such as his mother, Biscuit, and his one time lover, Seabreeze. Brian's anthropomorphism is accepted as normal, though the show has made fun of this de facto acceptance by bringing attention to it. Another example of Brian's "anthropomorphism" is his attraction to human women; Brian has dated several since the show began (such as Jillian), and is deeply in love with Peter's wife, Lois.

Brian was born in Austin, Texas, in a litter of 5 puppies, the other four being apparently non-anthropomorphic. The show has yet to explore his youth and adolescence in detail. He was homeless, panhandling, washing car windows on the side of a highway exit when Peter found him. Having no money to give Brian, Peter brought Brian home to the Griffin family. Brian also intermittently attended Brown University, though he remains one class short of graduating (in the season 4 episode "Brian Goes Back to College", Brian re-enrolls in an attempt to earn his degree, but fails). Brian references his unseen service in the Peace Corps in the season 4 episode "Jungle Love". When Brian returned to Austin to find his mother, in Road to Rhode Island, he found that she had died and her owners were using her stuffed body as a table. Brian absconded with her body to give his mother a proper burial. In another episode, when Brian teaches Chris's English class, it is mentioned that his father's name was Coco and was run over by a milk truck.

Despite his anthropomorphic intelligence, Brian shares certain traits and shortcomings with real dogs. For example, he cleans himself with his tongue and scratches at fleas with his hind leg. On the commentary of "Road to Rhode Island", he confirmed that he sees in black and white, and although since it was him and Stewie giving commentary, it's not known if this can be considered canonOr|date=March 2008 ). He has a fear of the toilet flushing (which is also odd, considering, he actually flushed the toilet, in the episode "Stewie Loves Lois"), and of the vacuum cleaner (which is again odd, considering that he was actually vacuuming in the episode "Fore Father")Or|date=March 2008 , though, being that the episodes are a distance apart he could have overcome these fears. He also couldn't control his animal urges for the prized Pewterschmidt dog, Seabreeze, resulting in a paternity dispute, although he was ultimately proven not to be the father of Seabreeze's pups (the father was revealed to be Ted Turner). In the episode Breaking Out Is Hard to Do, Brian is shown in the back of a van having trouble staying balanced while moving. When Questioned by Peter, he stated, "I'm a dog. I have trouble standing in a car." Another example occurs in the episode "Blue Harvest", where he (playing the role of Chewbacca) is coaxed into the trash compactor by Peter throwing in a dried pig's ear which Brian uncontrollably chases in a fit of barking.

He is also shown to have a liking for dog food at times: In "Chitty Chitty Death Bang", he chases a hallucination of the chuck wagon from the commercials for Purina Chuck Wagon, and in "Barely Legal", he comes running with joy when Peter's daughter Meg shakes a bag of Dog Chow. He also, like other dogs, defecates outside on a daily basis, which results in him being made to wear diapers in the episode "Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey". In "Brian in Love", he urinates inside the house and gets out of trouble by blaming Stewie for it, but the ruse is revealed when he urinates inside a supermarket.

Brian seems somewhat ashamed of his animal urges and insecure about his canine status in general. He once refused to do degrading pet tricks for Peter during a dog show, despite it being necessary to win the money needed to buy the family a new air conditioner. He also chastised "Lady and the Tramp" for acting in typical dog-like behavior, saying, "That's just what they want you to do". He suffers mistreatment as a dog, with references to movies like "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" and "School Ties", movies about characters who suffer from racial segregation and anti-Semitism. He is humiliated when the Griffins catch him with canine pornography.

In "", which is set 30 years in the future, it is revealed that Brian died (or rather, will die) after "getting into the garbage and eating some chocolate". Although this may be an "alternative" future, Brian's naturally shorter lifespan and more imminent demise than his non-anthropomorphic counterparts has become a bit of a running gag.

Relationships

Brian has had brief relationships with both dogs and humans. In the episode "Screwed the Pooch", Brian had a short relationship with Mr. Pewterschmidt's dog Seabreeze after he violates her and she ends up pregnant. The two run away together in order to raise the pups Seabreeze is carrying. Examples of humans with whom he has been involved are Shauna Parks from "Peter's Got Woods", Pearl Burton from "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", and Jillian (a relationship introduced in the episode "Whistle While Your Wife Works" and ended in the episode "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)"). Excluding Jillian, Brian's relationships with both dogs and humans have been short-lived.

Romances

In addition to behaving like a human, Brian sometimes pursues relationships with humans. Usually other characters do not comment on the zoophilic aspects of such a sexual relationship; exceptions include "The Perfect Castaway", where Peter asks Lois why she wants to stay with Brian, then remarks, "That, and uh, hi? He's a dog." MacFarlane mentions in the commentary for "Castaway" that making episodes about Brian being in love is "always a line that we have to walk," concerning the mainstream media's anxiety regarding bestiality.

"Whistle While Your Wife Works" was the first episode showing that Brian did have sex with a human woman (albeit a very dim-witted one) named Jillian (voiced by Drew Barrymore). Stewie pressed Brian the most for these details, noticing that his collar was inside out after being away for a whole night. After Stewie meets Jillian, he hassles Brian for the rest of the episode about her lack of intelligence, once asking if her parents were "brother and sister" (In the syndicated version, he asks "Is she retarded?"). Stewie also asks Jillian about the apartment saying, "So what is this Jillian, one bed one bath?" in which Jillian replies "actually it's a whole apartment." Brian finally decides to go with Stewie to attempt to break up with Jillian, but instead, he ends up having sex with her while leaving Stewie in the car for three hours. They ended their relationship in the episode "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)".

In the episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", Brian falls in love with an elderly human woman named Pearl Burton. Before Pearl passes away, Brian shares a virtual reality vision of their possible future together that involves marriage and children. He once made a pass at Meg while drunk, and had a brief fling with a prostitute named Tina while he was hooked on cocaine. During the show's fourth season, in "Brian the Bachelor", he falls for a woman named Brooke Roberts while appearing as a contestant on "The Bachelorette". Although she chooses Brian as the winner, she doesn't return his affections outside of the show.

In a different episode ("Peter's Got Woods"), Brian has another brief romance, with Shauna Parks (Gabrielle Union), one of Meg's teachers at James Woods High. Parks is black, in contrast to Brian's other on-screen girlfriends, who have all been white. Although not hostile (as in later episodes), Brian is awkwardly conscious of race in this episode, which Shauna seems to find sweet — "Nothing cuter than a nervous white dog". She breaks up with him over his loyalty to Peter, who foiled her (and Brian's) attempts to change the name of the high school to honor Dr. Martin Luther King.

Brian also has relationships with "regular" dogs. In the episode "Screwed the Pooch", he is faced with being neutered as punishment for impregnating Seabreeze, a racing dog owned by Lois' father, Carter Pewterschmidt. At the last moment, however, he discovers that the real father turns out to be Ted Turner.

Brian has had a kiss with Meg Griffin in the episode "Barely Legal". This resulted in Meg becoming very clingy towards him. When he tried to break it off, Meg became obsessed with him to the point that she baked her hair into an apple pie that she made for him, built a shrine in her room to him, and even abducted him and tied him up so they could have "good, old-fashioned, all-American fun" together.

In "The Former Life of Brian", Brian discovers that he has an illegitimate son named Dylan Flannigan; he slept with a former girlfriend named Tracy and unknowingly impregnated her before their relationship ended and they parted ways. Dylan is an extremely misbehaved and violent child and a handful for Tracy; during the episode, Brian refers to Dylan as a sociopath, due to his behavior. Tracy left Dylan in Brian's care for a time, and Dylan and Brian warmed up to each other. Brian helped turn Dylan's life around, which resulted in Dylan becoming a much nicer and calmer person. Dylan eventually went back to his mother so he can help improve her life. What is peculiar is that Dylan appears to be fully human instead of half-dog. Also, he is 13 years old while Brian is 7; Brian explains (albeit illogically) this problem by stating "Well those [his age of seven] are dog years."

In "Love Blactually" Brian meets the girl of his dreams, Carolyn, but Cleveland steals her from Brian. Brian then persuades Cleveland's ex-wife Loretta to renew her relationship with Cleveland. Cleveland declines to re-unite with Loretta, but Carolyn subsequently has sex with Quagmire.

In 2004, in an interview with "The Daily Princetonian", MacFarlane noted his similarities to Brian on "Family Guy", revealing, "I have some Brian type issues from time to time — looking for the right person — but I date as much as the next guy".cite news | first=Evelyn | last=Rusli | coauthors= | title='Family Guy': Today Princeton, tomorrow the world | date= | publisher=Princeton University | url =http://web.archive.org/web/20040821091530/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2004/02/05/arts/9500.shtml | work =The Daily Princetonian | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-05 | language = Published February 5, 2004.]

With Meg and Chris

In "Barely Legal", he makes out with Meg at a dance after he gets drunk. The kiss affects Meg, causing her to become deeply infatuated with him. Even after he tells Meg that he doesn't want to be attached to her, she continues to harass him. The infatuated Meg kidnaps Brian and brings him to a hotel where she attempts to seduce him. However, Peter, Lois, Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe appear and rescue Brian before she can.

Brian also seems to ignore Chris most of the time.Or|date=March 2008 He mostly reacts when Chris says something extremely stupid,Or|date=March 2008 such as "Brown is the color of poo!", when Brian reminisces about attending Brown University, or answering "eating a pebble!", when Brian asks the family what would be really exciting. In both cases, Brian reacted with a simple, flat "Yes, yes it is." However, he did give Chris advice on what to do when Chris kissed Sam in "To Love and Die in Dixie." And in the episode "Jungle Love" he tells Chris a story about when he was in the Peace Corps. Also in the Episode Saving Private Brian, Brian wants to go yell at the Army recruiter for what Brian thinks of as, 'Brainwashing Chris'.

Often, though, Brian does seem to help with the parenting, often babysitting Meg, Chris and Stewie. When Peter stands up for Brian in court, in the episode Screwed the Pooch, he shows that Brian even knows some things about his kids that he doesn't know like Chris's favorite ice cream flavor (chocolate chip), Stewie's bedtime story ("Goodnight Moon") and Meg's real father (Stan Thompson).

With Lois

Brian's crush on Lois is an ongoing theme in the show. He first confesses this to his therapist in the Season 2 episode "Brian in Love", in which he eventually decides not to reveal it to Lois, settling for her friendship.cite episode
title = Brian in Love
episodelink = Brian in Love
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2000-03-07
season = 2
number = 4
minutes = ]

In the episode "Perfect Castaway", Peter comes home (after a long absence where he is presumed dead) to find Brian has been married to Lois for a period of several months, with Brian having taken a job to support the family in Peter's absence. Lois has insisted on keeping separate beds despite Brian's requests that they consummate their relationship. Lois returns to Peter, but later mentions she was "one day" from deciding to finally have sex with Brian, to Brian's great frustration.

When Lois becomes obese in the episode "Sibling Rivalry", Peter tells Brian that he is no longer attracted to her; Brian replies, "I don't care what she looks like, I would "wreck" that chick."cite episode
title = Sibling Rivalry
episodelink = Sibling Rivalry (Family Guy episode)
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2006-03-26
season = 4
number = 22
minutes = Peter replies simply, "Well, you are a trooper".]

?" or in the unedited version, simply saying "I'd eat your poo."

In "Stewie Kills Lois," Brian gives Lois a pair of tickets for a cruise for her birthday. Though he intended for one of the tickets to be for himself, Lois assumes that one is for Peter and brings him instead. Later, when Stewie begins listing all the horrible things that he plans to do to Lois after she returns from the cruise, Brian suggests to Stewie that he do many sexual things for the sake of his own erotic fetish over her. In the following episode, "Lois Kills Stewie," Brian does not object to testing Lois' breast milk under a death threat from Stewie (though this is non-canon).

In "Play it Again, Brian," Brian takes Peter and Lois on a vacation to Martha's Vineyard, which he won to receive a writing award for a poem he wrote. There, he read an excerpt from the poem, which is about her. He then spends an entire day with her, though his repressed feelings of love lead him to have fantasies of him kissing Lois. He eventually loses his self-restraint and ends up trying to have sex with her while openly professing his passion. When Brian apologizes, Lois herself finally admits that she had thoughts about being with Brian , saying she imagined having sex with him would be the same as "doing it with a stuffed animal," though they both agree she should be with Peter. With this established, it is currently unknown if Brian has finally overcome his desire to be with Lois.

With Peter

quote|I'm not gonna call an ambulance this time because you won't learn anything if I do.|Brian, to Peter, injured on an indoor water slide made by running water down the stairscite episode
title = Fast Times at Buddy Cianci, Jr. High
episodelink = Fast Times at Buddy Cianci, Jr. High
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2005-05-08
season = 4
number = 2
minutes = ]

As Peter's best friend, Brian has had to adapt to Peter being substantially less intelligent than him. In a role reversal, he hits Peter's nose with a rolled-up newspaper for bad behavior, sternly saying "No!" in the manner of a dog trainer. Though Brian can at times be annoyed at Peter's antics, he as well considers Peter to be his best friend.

On other occasions, Brian plays the "dog" role, such as when lunging and biting Peter's arm when told that Brian shouldn't hang around with Frank Sinatra, Jr. in "Brian Sings and Swings".

Brian's affection for Peter is shown in the episode "" when, after Peter saves him from being killed, Brian licks Peter's face saying afterwards "If you tell anyone about that I'll kill you". Also in "The Thin White Line" when Brian defends Peter, even though he appears to be the reason why Brian is a drug addict.

Though Brian is openly attracted to Lois, this has never caused tension between himself and Peter until "Play it Again, Brian," in which Brian tries to have sex with her. He gets into a huge fight (a brawl, really) with Peter until they are broken up by Nathan Lane (whom Peter married while drunk). Brian and Peter then agree never to let anything like this happen again and rekindle their friendship right then and there.

With Stewie

Although they share a small level of dislike for one another, Brian and Stewie have similar levels of intelligence and sophistication, and suffer comparable reality-based shortcomings (being respectively a dog and a baby). This makes them kindred spirits of a sort, much to their mutual chagrin. They are often paired as a duo, most likely because Brian is the only one to fully understand Stewie. Stewie at times considers himself as Brian's "buddy" but sometimes openly professes his disgust of him, particularly for his natural dog behavior, alcohol problems, and incomplete novel. Brian, in turn, expresses open contempt for Stewie's plans to kill Lois and take over the world, as well as his occasional (although more and more frequent lately) homosexual behavior. In the episode "", when Brian is on the equivalent of Death Row, Stewie makes numerous expressions of delight at Brian's situation; however, at the end of the episode, when Brian has triumphed and returned home, Stewie addresses Brian (as "Dog") and bows to him, in a sort of gesture of respect between adversaries. In several episodes, it is hinted that Stewie has an attraction to Brian.

Brian and Stewie are often paired in storylines as a comedy duo, especially in the "Road to..." episodes (starting with "Road to Rhode Island"), [The full series: "Road to Rhode Island", "Road to Europe", "Road to Rupert" and "Road to Germany". Of these, "Road to Rhode Island" is most imitative of the Hope/Crosby series.] which openly imitate the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby pairing in their "Road" movies, complete with musical numbers. Though they seem to often show enmity towards each other, Brian and Stewie are good friends.

It is also apparent that despite the fact Stewie speaks in a perfectly adult voice, Brian is the only member of the Griffin family that acknowledges this fact, and actually has serious conversations with him.

Drug usage

Brian is the most drug-prone character on the show, running the gamut from the legal to the illicit.

Brian is depicted smoking in early episodes but did not smoke during the 2006-2007 season. In the commentary for the episode "Road to Rhode Island" on "The Freakin' Sweet Collection", "Brian" (MacFarlane in character) states he has quit smoking and has gained weight as a result.

Throughout the series, Brian is prone to alcoholism, one of the qualities for which Stewie derides him.

In The Thin White Line, he develops a cocaine addiction after becoming a detection dog.cite episode
title = The Thin White Line
episodelink = The Thin White Line
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2001-07-11
season = 3
number = 1
minutes = Brian becomes addicted to cocaine and attends treatment in the first part of this two-part episode.]

Fleeting mentions of marijuana usage are also recurrent in the show. Despite being apparently ignorant of the drug in Road to Europe in Amsterdam, Brian has referred to buying, being in possession of, or smoking marijuana in a number of episodes. [
* "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" - After Peter tells Brian his idiotic plan to get the family's presents back, Brian asks, "Can I buy some pot from you?" in reference to a line from "Animal House".
* "Jungle Love" - When Brian tells Chris about his time in the Peace Corps, he says that the country he went to had "great dope" which was growing wild, and that he and his friends had once gotten so high that they ate all the food that was meant for the natives.
* "Deep Throats" - Lois states Brian has some "inspiration" in a cigar box under his bed.
* "Whistle While Your Wife Works" - When Stewie asks how he can watch MTV Brian responds by saying "Pot helps."
* "Barely Legal" - When Lois is telling Brian how much it means to Meg that he is taking her to the school dance, Brian asks "You got any weed?" to which Lois answers, "I put it in your coat pocket."
* "No Chris Left Behind" - When Brian learns that Meg has connections to pot at her school, he makes up an excuse to Lois so that he and Meg can buy pot and make the night go by faster (they were watching "Swan Lake").
* "The Former Life of Brian" - Brian and his illegitimate son bond once discovering they both smoke pot.
* "Love Blacktually" - Brian and his girlfriend both smoke marijuana. Brian also offers cocaine, but immediately abandons the offer and tries to play it as a joke upon seeing her reaction.]

Political beliefs

Brian has liberal political leanings mirroring MacFarlane's;cite news |first=Voss |last=Brandon |title=Big Gay Following Seth MacFarlane |format=Magazine |publisher=Michael Phelps |pages=22-23 |url=http://www.advocate.com/issue_story.asp?id=51793&page=3 |last = Voss|first = Brandon|date = 2008-02-26 |work = The Advocate|publisher = PlanetOut|accessdate=2008-02-15|archiveurl= |archivedate= ] MacFarlane uses a voice close to his ordinary speaking voice while portraying Brian. Brian's views have been demonstrated several times; through his criticism of then-Presidential candidate George W. Bush in his musical number "You've Got a Lot to See;" he is shown reading Michael Moore's book "Dude, Where's My Country?". In "The Son Also Draws" he is seen relaxing in the garden with a copy of the "Utne Reader." In "North by North Quahog;" his car, a Toyota Prius, (which is addressed in "North by North Quahog" and the commentary for "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story") displays a "Kucinich '04" bumper sticker; also in "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" he is shown eating Stewie's teddy bear Rupert's leg because of Stewie's support for a flat tax system. Brian mentions in the episode "Don't Make Me Over" that he votes Democrat,Or|date=March 2008 though he also said in the first episode, "This is why I don't vote" suggesting that he was not a registered voterOr|date=March 2008 until a later date; in the episode "He's Too Sexy For His Fat", Brian is quoted as saying "You know, I like Hillary Clinton, I don't care what anyone says." In the episode "You May Now Kiss The...Uh...Guy Who Receives," Brian goes out of his way to prevent a same-sex marriage ban proposed by mayor Adam West after his cousin Jasper comes to Quahog to get married to his Filipino boyfriend (West merely wanted the ban as a distraction after he squandered the entire city budget on a gold statue of the Dig 'Em Frog). In "Hell Comes to Quahog," Brian turns off the air conditioning in favor of a more environmentally safe alternative, to which Lois replies, "Save your hippie BS for the winter months." In that episode, Brian can also been seen reading the book "Crimes Againist Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy" by Robert F Kennedy Jr.

In "Meet the Quagmires," it is revealed that in 1984 when Peter cancelled a date with Lois and thus altered the future, Al Gore was elected President, which Brian seems happy about. When they call for Death to help them fix things, he reveals that "it has been a busy day" because Dick Cheney shot Justice Scalia in a hunting accident and the bullet went right through him killing Karl Rove and Tucker Carlson in the process; this makes Brian think that staying in the altered future isn't such a bad thing, and earlier he tells Peter that his not marrying Lois is the best thing that ever happened to the world. Nevertheless, Brian puts his friendship before his political beliefs and assists Peter in fixing the past, even showing concern when things begin to look down for him in the ordeal.

Racism

Brian often uses civil rights metaphors to describe his second class status as a dog. However, in several episodes, Brian is embarrassed by his own displays of mild racism.

In "Don't Make Me Over" he barks in reflexive hostility toward a black man, then apologizes anxiously, blaming his father ("Oh God. ... Please forgive me ... I get that from my father"),cite episode
title = Don't Make Me Over
episodelink = Don't Make Me Over (Family Guy)
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2005-06-05
season = 4
number = 4
minutes = Brian: "Oh oh oh God, oh God, I'm so sorry I keep doing that. Oh God. Please, please forgive me. I... I get that from my father — he's from a different generation. It's... argh... We cool? We good?" "(later)" "Oh God, sorry, sorry, sorry. Oh my God that... that is not me. That is not who I am; I vote Democrat. Argh, it... it will not happen again. We... we cool? We good?"(to the Griffin family)" "You... uh... guys know I have no problem with black people, right?"] only to catch himself barking again (this is likely a reference to the movie White Dog)Fact|date=May 2008. In the episode "Chick Cancer", Stewie asks Brian a rhetorical question along the lines of "What kind of man would I be if I ran off now?" to which Brian replies "You'd be a black man". Even Stewie, never exactly the liberal humanist, is disgusted by this remark,cite episode
title = Chick Cancer
episodelink = Chick Cancer
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2006-11-26
season = 5
number = 7
minutes = Stewie: "You gotta work on that, man. Bad dog."] after which Brian again cites his father. However, in the episode Peter's Two Dads, Brian is taken aback after Peter says that he acquired crack cocaine "from Blacks," referring to a white guy selling crack behind Black's Hardware Store.Cleveland and the Brown family. However, when working as a cab driver, Brian gets in trouble anyway for not picking up Cleveland in his hurry to run an errand for Lois.cite episode
title = Deep Throats
episodelink = Deep Throats
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2006-04-09
season = 4
number = 23
minutes = Cleveland calls Brian a "honky son of a bitch", flips him the bird, and later trashes Brian's cab. It is not made clear if Cleveland knew it was Brian driving the cab.] In a flashback, we see Brian enraged by the verdict of the O. J. Simpson murder case while seated next to his black roommate, who is happy over the same outcome; the two pull guns on each other, and decide they can no longer live together.cite episode
title = No Meals on Wheels
episodelink = No Meals on Wheels
series = Family Guy
serieslink = Family Guy
network = Fox
airdate = 2007-03-25
season = 5
number = 14
minutes = Brian: "What the hell?!"]

However, in the episode ("Peter's Got Woods"), Brian dates a black woman named Shauna Parks, and is very conscious of her race. With her, he often nervously rambles about African-Americans, stating how much he likes them. He even requests to change "James Woods High school" to "Martin Luther King High school" in order to impress her.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* S. Callaghan "Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide : Seasons 1 - 3" New York: Harper Paperbacks, 2005
* A. Delarte, "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 4" in "Bob's Poetry Magazine", 3.January 2006: 11, 14, 17 - 21, 24 - 26 [http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs03Ja.pdf http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs03Ja.pdf]