Planet Family Guy

Episode guide

Pilot Episode

Written by Seth MacFarlane and directed by Seth MacFarlane

The pilot episode of Family Guy is an un-aired 15 minute episode made for preview purposes to convience Fox to pick-up the show. The pilot follows a similar story to that of "Death Has A Shadow" and despite poor animation due to a low budget, it impressed Fox and got turned into the show that we know and love today.

User rating

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Pilot Episode on DVD

We currently have no DVDs listed for this episode.

Episode number: 0
Production number: PILOT

All Family Guy episodes

Death Has A Shadow >

Cultural references

Cultural references from Pilot Episode.

Reference		Details
Aunt Jemima		A very popular brand of pancake syrup in the USA, she appears at the Griffin's window.
Big		In the cinema, whilst watching "Philadelphia," Peter mentions Tom Hank's 1980s comedy film "Big".
Cassablanca		The guys watch a pornographic parody of this classic at the stag party called "Assablanca".
G.I. Joe		G.I. Jew parody.
Holy Communion		Peter gets drunk off of the wine at Church.
Job		At Holy Communion in the Church, the priest is giving a sermon on Job.
Philadelphia
Pound Puppies
Stag parties		Peter goes to a stag party.
Statue of Liberty
The Brady Brunch
The Sound of Music

Episode notes

Facts, bloopers, and visual gags from Pilot Episode (not cultural references).

Note
Many of the voices in the pilot are different including Lois, Chris, Mr. Weed and many more. The animation is rougher, not nearly as good as the actual show. Most characters just "pop" on to the screen with little movement: they didn't have much money to work with. The studio was actually impressed they were able to make as much of a show as they did. The Music used is terrible (also accounted for by the low budget). Many of the characters are different, and Peter's friends (eg Quagmire and Joe) do not appear in the pilot. Chris is completely different, in the pilot he's a "frat boy" type and totally boring. Generally the pilot is boring. It has no comic timing and jokes sound forced. The characters are also dull. [Thanks go to Patrick Kellum for this information]
Chris wears a t-shirt with the slogan "5th Grade is Freakin' Crap" in the pilot.

Note

Many of the voices in the pilot are different including Lois, Chris, Mr. Weed and many more. The animation is rougher, not nearly as good as the actual show. Most characters just "pop" on to the screen with little movement: they didn't have much money to work with. The studio was actually impressed they were able to make as much of a show as they did. The Music used is terrible (also accounted for by the low budget). Many of the characters are different, and Peter's friends (eg Quagmire and Joe) do not appear in the pilot. Chris is completely different, in the pilot he's a "frat boy" type and totally boring. Generally the pilot is boring. It has no comic timing and jokes sound forced. The characters are also dull. [Thanks go to Patrick Kellum for this information]

Chris wears a t-shirt with the slogan "5th Grade is Freakin' Crap" in the pilot.

Characters (and voice credits)

Character	Voice	Notes
Brian Griffin	Seth MacFarlane
Charlie	Seth MacFarlane
Chris Griffin	Seth MacFarlane
Cleveland Brown	Seth MacFarlane
Diane Simmons	Alex Borstein
God	Seth MacFarlane
Johnson	Seth MacFarlane
Lois Griffin	Alex Borstein
Meg Griffin	UNKNOWN
Mr. Weed	UNKNOWN
Peter Griffin	Seth MacFarlane
Stewie Griffin	Seth MacFarlane
Tom Tucker	Seth MacFarlane