Family Guy follows the Griffins of Quahog, Rhode Island: a loud, dim father, a long-suffering mother, two teenagers, a baby with a British accent and a plan for world domination, and a dog who drinks martinis and is writing a novel. Seth MacFarlane created the show for Fox, where it premiered on January 31, 1999, straight after the Super Bowl.
The series was cancelled in 2002. Strong DVD sales and Adult Swim reruns then brought it back in 2005, and it has run ever since, passing 20 seasons. Its famous cutaway gags mean dozens of one-off characters drift through each episode, but the core cast is fairly small: the Griffins, Peter's three neighbours, and a few recurring Quahog regulars. This guide covers them all.
- Creator
- Seth MacFarlane
- Network
- Fox
- Premiere
- January 31, 1999
- Setting
- Quahog, Rhode Island (31 Spooner Street)
- Spin-off
- The Cleveland Show (2009–2013)
The Griffin family
The Griffins aren't a warm family in the Simpsons sense. They're cruder and meaner, and the show rarely pretends otherwise. The relationships still have real texture, though, especially between Stewie and Brian.
Peter Griffin
Father · Brewery worker
Peter is a big, loud, impulsive man with almost no common sense. He works (in theory) at the Pawtucket Brewery, after an early run at a toy factory. Most episodes begin with him getting an idea and end with a disaster he barely notices. His cutaways ("this is worse than the time…"), his long fights with a giant chicken and his wheezing laugh are the show's trademarks. Beneath it all he does love his family, though he's terrible at showing it.
- Voice
- Seth MacFarlane
Lois Griffin
Mother · Piano teacher
Lois, born a Pewterschmidt, grew up rich and married Peter anyway, to her parents' lasting disgust. She's the household's sanity, but the show often gives her a wild streak: a gambling problem, a rebellious past, a temper that snaps at the worst moment. That stops her from being just the sensible wife.
- Voice
- Alex Borstein
Meg Griffin
Eldest child · Teenager
Meg is the family's scapegoat. Her parents and brothers ignore and insult her constantly, and her "Shut up, Meg" treatment became a running meta-joke. A handful of episodes take her side, most famously one where she finally tells the family what they're doing to her. Those episodes are some of the show's most honest.
- Voice
- Mila Kunis (Lacey Chabert in season 1)
Chris Griffin
Middle child · Teenager
Chris is a large, sweet-natured teenager who's as clueless as his father but much gentler. He has a real talent for drawing and a long-running belief that an evil monkey lives in his closet, which turns out to be true. His oblivious friendship with Herbert is one of the show's darkest recurring jokes.
- Voice
- Seth Green
Stewie Griffin
Baby · Would-be supervillain
In the early seasons Stewie is a football-headed infant genius with a ray gun and a burning wish to kill his mother. Over time he softened into something stranger and more interesting: a theatrical, insecure toddler with a time machine, a teddy bear named Rupert and a deep friendship with Brian. Only some characters seem to understand what he says, and the show never fully explains who can.
- Voice
- Seth MacFarlane
Brian Griffin
The family dog
Brian walks upright, drinks martinis, dates human women and keeps failing to finish a serious novel. He sees himself as the only intellectual in the house. The show increasingly treats him as a hypocrite and a fraud, which makes him funnier. His adventures with Stewie, especially the musical "Road to…" episodes, are Family Guy's best-loved format.
- Voice
- Seth MacFarlane
Peter's friends and neighbours
Peter's drinking buddies at the Drunken Clam are almost as central as his family. All three live on Spooner Street, and each is built around a single trait the show pushes to extremes.
Glenn Quagmire
Airline pilot · Next-door neighbour
Quagmire is a womaniser with no boundaries and a catchphrase ("Giggity") that has outlived its joke many times over. He's also the friend most likely to see through Peter, and he has a well-known, deep dislike of Brian, which he finally lets out in one long, scathing speech. A few serious stories, including one about his sister's abusive boyfriend, show more of him.
- Voice
- Seth MacFarlane
Cleveland Brown
Neighbour · Deli owner
Cleveland is soft-spoken, mild-mannered and permanently patient with Peter, the calm voice in a loud group. A running gag sees him fall out of his bathtub as his house is wrecked around him. He left for his own spin-off, The Cleveland Show, in 2009 and returned to Quahog when it ended in 2013.
- Voice
- Mike Henry (1999–2020), Arif Zahir (since 2021)
Joe Swanson
Police officer · Paraplegic neighbour
Joe is a hyper-intense cop who uses a wheelchair, and he refuses to let that slow him down in the slightest. He tends to shout. His marriage to the sardonic Bonnie and his barely contained rage give the show plenty of mileage. In one episode he regains the use of his legs and becomes so arrogant that his friends prefer the old Joe.
- Voice
- Patrick Warburton
Bonnie Swanson
Joe's wife
For years Bonnie was "the pregnant one," until she finally gave birth to daughter Susie. She has a dry wit and quiet contempt for her husband, which she expresses mostly through looks and sighs.
- Voice
- Jennifer Tilly
Herbert
Elderly neighbour
Herbert is a frail, whistling old man with a walker and an arthritic dog named Jesse. His creepy fixation on Chris is played as one of the show's most uncomfortable running gags. He's also a World War II veteran, and the show occasionally lets him be heroic when Chris is in danger.
- Voice
- Mike Henry
Mort Goldman
Pharmacist
A twitchy, hypochondriac pharmacist and Peter's occasional companion. His wife Muriel died in a later season.
Neil Goldman
Mort's son
A nasal, overconfident nerd who is hopelessly fixated on Meg.
Extended family
Carter Pewterschmidt
Lois's father · Billionaire
Carter is a ruthless, short-tempered tycoon who despises Peter and makes no secret of it. He's Family Guy's version of the cartoon plutocrat, and the show sometimes lets him lose badly. It never lets him become nice.
- Voice
- Seth MacFarlane
Barbara Pewterschmidt
Lois's mother
Babs is a genteel socialite who loves her daughter and tolerates her husband. Most of her laughs come from glimpses of a past wilder than her pearls suggest.
- Voice
- Alex Borstein
Francis Griffin
Peter's stepfather
A severe, devout Irish Catholic who disapproved of nearly everything Peter did. He was killed off early in the show's run.
Thelma Griffin
Peter's mother
A chain-smoking, hard-living mother whose occasional appearances explain a lot about Peter.
Quahog residents
Quahog's wider cast is mostly local TV, workplaces and recurring oddballs. Many of them exist for a single, endlessly repeated joke.
Mayor Adam West
Mayor of Quahog
The real Adam West, of 1960s Batman fame, voiced a dazed, surreal version of himself as Quahog's mayor. His non-sequitur logic made him a cult favourite. After West died in 2017, the show honoured him and named the high school after him.
- Voice
- Adam West
Tom Tucker
Channel 5 news anchor
Tom is a vain, cynical anchor who openly bickers with his co-host on air and treats every story with mild contempt.
- Voice
- Seth MacFarlane
Tricia Takanawa
Field reporter
Tricia's clipped, deadpan sign-off delivery is a recurring gag, and so is her ruthless ambition.
- Voice
- Alex Borstein
Ernie the Giant Chicken
Peter's nemesis
A man-sized chicken who once gave Peter an expired coupon, sparking a feud. Their sprawling, building-wrecking fights, which parody movie action scenes, have recurred over many seasons.
Death
The Grim Reaper
A put-upon, sarcastic Death who shows up when the plot needs someone to die, and often gets roped into the Griffins' nonsense. Norm Macdonald voiced him in early appearances.
Consuela
Housekeeper
A housekeeper whose stubborn refusals ("no, no, no") make her one of the show's most recognisable side characters.
- Voice
- Mike Henry
Angela
Peter's boss at the brewery
A tough, lonely supervisor voiced by Carrie Fisher until Fisher's death in 2016.
Dr. Elmer Hartman
Family doctor
A smug, wildly unprofessional physician whose diagnoses are often jokes in themselves.
Bruce
Local
A soft-spoken man who turns up in every kind of job and greets everyone with a gentle "Oh, no."
Evil Monkey
Chris's closet
A snarling monkey that points accusingly at Chris. Much later, he gets a backstory.
Seamus
Sea captain
A Drunken Clam regular with wooden legs, and as the jokes pile up it turns out more and more of him is wood.
Horace
Drunken Clam bartender
The man pouring the beer for Peter and the guys.
Family Guy voice cast
Family Guy's main cast is unusually small. Seth MacFarlane alone voices four of the most important characters, and most supporting roles are shared among the regulars.
| Actor | Characters |
|---|---|
| Seth MacFarlane | Peter, Stewie, Brian, Quagmire, Tom Tucker, Carter Pewterschmidt, Dr. Hartman |
| Alex Borstein | Lois, Barbara Pewterschmidt, Tricia Takanawa |
| Mila Kunis | Meg (from season 2) |
| Seth Green | Chris, Neil Goldman |
| Mike Henry | Herbert, Consuela, Bruce; Cleveland until 2020 |
| Arif Zahir | Cleveland (from 2021) |
| Patrick Warburton | Joe Swanson |
| Jennifer Tilly | Bonnie Swanson |
| Adam West | Mayor Adam West (until 2017) |
| Lacey Chabert | Meg (season 1) |
MacFarlane's range is the reason so many of the main characters can share scenes. Peter's voice draws on a Rhode Island accent, Brian is close to MacFarlane's own speaking voice, and Stewie borrows a plummy English stage accent. For more on how cartoon voice work operates, see our voice acting guide.
How the show uses its characters
Family Guy is built around the cutaway: a sudden, unrelated sketch triggered by a line of dialogue. That means the Griffins often act as hosts for jokes rather than as characters with arcs. The episodes that stand out tend to be the ones that slow down and let a relationship drive the story. Stewie and Brian's "Road to…" adventures, Meg's occasional revenge, and Quagmire's confrontation with Brian all take the cast more seriously than usual.
The show is often compared to The Simpsons, and it began as a deliberate, cruder answer to it: another bumbling father, another sensible mother, another town full of eccentrics. The two families even met in a 2014 crossover episode, "The Simpsons Guy." If you want more animated families, Bob's Burgers takes the same setup and makes it gentle, while South Park and Rick and Morty push the satire in other directions. Many of Family Guy's characters are textbook archetypes exaggerated until they break.
Where to start
- The early run (seasons 1–3): the original Fox episodes before the cancellation, with evil-genius Stewie at his peak.
- The revival (seasons 4–9): the era many fans consider the show's best, including the first "Road to…" episodes.
- Later seasons: a looser, more self-referential show that often jokes about its own long run. Watch by episode rather than in order.
Most episodes stand alone, so you can drop in anywhere. Keep in mind it's an adult show, with frequent crude, sexual and offensive humour.
All Family Guy character names A–Z
A–B
- Adam West — Mayor
- Angela — Peter's boss
- Barbara Pewterschmidt — Lois's mother
- Bonnie Swanson — Neighbour
- Brian Griffin — Family dog
- Bruce — Local
C
- Carter Pewterschmidt — Lois's father
- Chris Griffin — Griffins
- Cleveland Brown — Neighbour
- Consuela — Housekeeper
D–E
- Death — Grim Reaper
- Dr. Elmer Hartman — Doctor
- Ernie the Giant Chicken — Peter's nemesis
- Evil Monkey — Chris's closet
F–J
- Francis Griffin — Peter's stepfather
- Glenn Quagmire — Neighbour
- Herbert — Neighbour
- Horace — Bartender
- Joe Swanson — Neighbour
L–N
- Lois Griffin — Griffins
- Meg Griffin — Griffins
- Mort Goldman — Pharmacist
- Neil Goldman — Mort's son
P–S
- Peter Griffin — Griffins
- Rupert — Stewie's teddy bear
- Seamus — Sea captain
- Stewie Griffin — Griffins
- Susie Swanson — Joe's daughter
T–V
- Thelma Griffin — Peter's mother
- Tom Tucker — News anchor
- Tricia Takanawa — Reporter
- Vinny — Brian's temporary replacement
Frequently asked questions
Who are the members of the Griffin family?
Peter and Lois Griffin and their three children: teenage daughter Meg, teenage son Chris and baby Stewie. Brian, the family's talking dog, is treated as a full member of the household. Lois's wealthy parents, Carter and Barbara Pewterschmidt, appear regularly.
Who voices Peter, Stewie and Brian?
Seth MacFarlane, the show's creator, voices all three, along with Quagmire, Tom Tucker, Carter Pewterschmidt and Dr. Hartman. He also sings in many of the show's musical numbers.
Who voices Meg Griffin?
Mila Kunis has voiced Meg since season 2. Lacey Chabert voiced her in the first season, before the role was recast.
Who is the old man in Family Guy?
That's Herbert, the elderly neighbour with the walker, the wheezy voice and the dog named Jesse. He's a World War II veteran. His long-running joke is his unsettling crush on Chris, which Chris never notices. Mike Henry voices him.
Why was Cleveland's voice actor changed?
Mike Henry voiced Cleveland Brown from 1999 until 2020, when he stepped down so that a Black actor could take on the role. Arif Zahir has voiced Cleveland since 2021. Henry still voices several other characters, including Herbert and Consuela.
Does Brian die in Family Guy?
Briefly. Brian is killed by a car in the 2013 episode "Life of Brian" and replaced by an Italian-American dog named Vinny. Stewie brings him back two episodes later by using time travel to prevent the accident.