OMAR AZIMI

Created by Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy premiered on FOX in January 1999. The series follows and centers on the Griffin family—Peter (MacFarlane), Lois (Alex Borstein), Chris (Seth Green), Meg (Mila Kunis), Stewie (MacFarlane) and their dog Brian (MacFarlane)--as they go about their daily lives. The show is set in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island, and features many of the Griffin’s neighbors, friends, and other family members.

​

The show was received many awards and accolades, having been nominated for multiple Primetime Emmy Awards, and has been met with its fair share of criticism. A primary part of the show’s charm and humor centers on the use of cutaway gags that serve to enhance a story being told by a character or have nothing to do with anything.

​

Popeye

Famed cartoon character Popeye pays a visit to Dr. Hartman in the season 5 episode “You May Now Kiss the…Uh…Guy Who Receives,” and receives devastating news about his health. Dr. Hartman informs Popeye that he has two large tumors in the lumps in his arms, and that a stroke he suffered years ago resulted in the known way he currently speaks.

Dr. Hartman goes even further to say that Popeye only has two months to live, making this cutaway even funnier.

​

National Geographic Firetruck

After winning a game of Trivial Pursuit against his family, who made the questions easy on purpose, Peter brags about watching a National Geographic special on firetrucks in the wild.

​

The scene then cuts to a snippet from the documentary where a firetruck is seen stalking a group of prey as a narrator speaks. It then pounces on a deer and honks its horn to prevent other animals from getting close. Later, Peter notices a firetruck waiting outside his house, hilariously closing out the gag.

​

Cookie Monster in Rehab

Cookie Monster, one of Sesame Street’s beloved characters, is featured in this cutaway as being in rehab for his cookie addiction. When the staff come in for a contraband check, they discover a plate of cookies hidden under Cookie Monster’s bed. The staff proceed to inject him with a sedative when he tries to fight back.

​

Later in the episode, Cookie Monster is discovered by Lois in the bathroom attempting to freebase cookie dough.

​

R—As in Robert Loggia

In the Season 5 episode, “Peter’s Two Dads”, Peter recounts the time when he was forced to stand behind Robert Loggia at the airport check-in counter. When asked to spell his name, Robert Loggia begins to painstakingly spell it out using each letter to state phrases about himself.

​

Robert Loggia was voiced by John Viener, and although this cutaway was hilarious in how quickly Peter gets frustrated in being forced to wait, it would have been even funnier to get the real Robert Loggia to voice the character, given that he was still alive when the episode aired in 2007.

​

Alan Rickman’s Voicemail

In the season 7 episode, “Peter’s Progress,” Peter, Joe, and Quagmire are at the Drunken Clam, waiting for Cleveland’s fortune-teller, who is also his cousin, to show. The trio order their drinks while they wait, and Peter makes a joke that Cleveland’s drink is even lonelier than Alan Rickman’s voicemail.

​

The scene cuts to Rickman’s house, and zooms on his answering machine, which has Rickman calling and leaving himself various voicemails. Each voicemail is Rickman with messages reminding him to take the pork chops from the freezer. A separate voicemail reminds himself once more: “Do not disappoint me.” Rickman is voiced in this cutaway by Alec Sulkin, and closely matches Rickman’s tone of voice.

​

Brian’s Reflection

In the season 9 episode, “Halloween on Spooner Street,” Stewie becomes frightened when, on Halloween, he sees various trick-or-treaters in costume outside. Thinking the revelers are actual ghosts and monsters, Stewie grabs a gun and begins shooting at the kids outside his window, and is stopped by Brian.

​

Brian expresses disbelief that Stewie doesn’t know anything about Halloween, despite how smart he is. Stewie retorts back by reminding Brian of the time that he didn’t know that his own reflection in the mirror wasn’t another dog.

​

Cutawayland

"Cutawayland", one of the episodes in season 19, features the Griffin family getting caught in a variety of different cutaways, including some of the cutaways from the show’s past.

​

When Peter and Lois want to get some time alone from the kids, they set up a cutaway and end up actually in the gag. They use their newfound power to jump from different cutaways, but eventually try to find their way home. The episode ends with Peter waking up back on the beach, realizing that their cutaway adventures was just a dream.

​

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

In season 10s “Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” Peter speaks about his most favorite film of all time, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988). Peter is further stunned when he discovers that Tom Tucker played the role of Michael Myers (originally played by George Wilbur).

​

A cutaway shows a scene from the opening of the film featuring Michael Myers and his niece Jamie (Danielle Harris), with Tom Tucker comically narrating the scene.

​

Conway Twitty

Conway Twitty, one of Family Guy’s most iconic cutaways, was featured in a variety of episodes. Twitty, who passed away in 1993, was first introduced as a cutaway in the episode, “Bill and Peter’s Bogus Journey.”

​

Twitty’s various country music performances were hilariously used as cutaways when a member of the family needed a distraction from a current predicament and served as an unexpectedly touching tribute to the singer.

​

Kevin Bacon In Footloose

When Stewie throws up while receiving communion, the residents of Quahog believe Stewie to be possessed, and demand that he be exorcised by the priest. The Griffins resist this and go on the run to Carol’s (Carol Kane) house in Texas.

​

While in Texas, Brian finds it difficult to fit in, especially after receiving a free gun with a purchase, which the clerk states is state law. Brian remarks that the residents are as “stubborn as a mule.” The scene cuts away to a mule and a man who are arguing. The man states that Kevin Bacon starred in Footloose, to which the mule hotly disagrees. This exchange goes on until the mule begins braying. Many know that Footloose is the film that made Bacon famous!