Be warned, this I LOVE article contains themes of an adult nature, swearing, references to sexual activity and other fun stuff which may not be suitable for children… in fact, it’s really not, so don’t read this if you’re a child. Promise? Ok, then read on…

Anyone who’s ever seen Family Guy and who shares the quirky sense of humour that this show requires to appreciate it fully will undoubtedly agree that it’s compulsive viewing once you get into it… and it’s one of THE funniest programmes on TV ever.

In case you’ve never seen it – and you just plain have to; it’s incredibly funny – here’s the basic outline of what it’s about…

Family Guy is an animated American television sitcom that was created by Seth MacFarlane. In the US, it airs on Fox as well as a variety of other channels and here, it’s now on late at night – on various nights – on BBC3 and again, a variety of digital channels.

It’s about a dysfunctional family who live in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island, and revolves around the ‘adventures’ of the Griffin family. Peter Griffin, the father of the family, is an Irish American lapsed Catholic who has an exaggerated Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts accent. His wife Lois is a stay-at-home mother and sometimes piano teacher who also has a distinct New England accent. She’s the daughter of the rich and powerful Pewterschmidt family who are “wealthy socialites”.

Peter and Lois have three kids; there’s teenage daughter Meg, who’s always the butt of everyone’s jokes due to her ‘plainness’, plumpishness and lack of popularity at school. Here’s a clip of Peter farting on Meg which is typical behaviour for him… he loves to annoy Meg.

Then there’s teenage son Chris, who’s very overweight, dumb as a box of hair, and, in many respects, a younger version of his dad Peter. This clip shows Chris on his first date which Peter ruins…

Next is baby son Stewie, who’s a highly intelligent talking baby who may well be gay. He has adult mannerisms and speaks very articulately with an upper-class affected English accent. Stewie’s one of my favourites with his wise-cracking digs at everyone and very sarcastic one-liners.

Also living with the family is Brian, the family dog, who is alternately Stewie’s best friend or arch nemesis. Brian walks on two legs, drinks Martinis, smokes and engages in human conversation, though he’s still a ‘pet’ in many ways and often does ‘doggy’ things, butt sniffing in particular. He also fancies Lois like mad.

This clip shows Stewie demanding – at gunpoint – that Lois breast feed him… and bear in mind while viewing that Brian fancies Lois.

This one is where Stewie gets drunk which was Brian’s fault…

There are lots of recurring characters who appear in the show including the family’s freaky neighbours… there’s the sex-crazed airline-pilot Glenn Quagmire who’s catchphrase is ‘giggidy giggidy’ or ‘giggity giggity’ every time something remotely sexual is said or done…

Here he is in full on giggidy action…

Then there’s mild-mannered deli owner Cleveland Brown – whose voice is hilarious in itself, regardless of the funny things he actually says – and his wife who became his ex-wife in the fourth-season. He has a hyperactive son, Cleveland Jr. who drives everyone nuts but who hasn’t been around much since season two. Here’s a Cleveland clip…

Up next is paraplegic ex-police officer Joe Swanson and his eternally pregnant wife Bonnie. Joe’s often the butt of Peter’s very politically incorrect jokes, as is paranoid Jewish pharmacist Mort Goldman, his wife Muriel and their geeky son Neil.

Here’s a clip of Joe fighting against Peter banning cripples from his restaurant…

One of my favourite characters is the creepy old homosexual paedophile Herbert The Pervert who has a ‘thing’ for Chris Griffin. He claims to hate gays, is against gay marriages, but is clearly gay. He shuffles about on a zimmer frame and speaks with a sibilant and pronounced ‘s’ – something akin to a lisp, but, not. He’s forever trying to get young boys into his house and basement or to somehow touch him.

Here’s some of Herbert The Pervert’s best bits, including his constant pursuit of Chris…

Another of my favourite supporting characters are TV news anchors Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons who not only report on stupid news stories, but they can’t stand each other and are always having sly digs at each other. Other regular appearances include characters such as Asian Reporter Tricia Takanawa and Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams, and the mentally disturbed Mayor Adam West who’s voiced by – and named after – the real Adam West.

This clip is of Tom and Diane and includes a typical ‘weather report’…

And here’s one with Tricia…

This final Tom and Diane clips shows how much they hate each other…

This clip is a compilation of Ollie Williams doing weather and various other reports…

And here’s Mayor AdamWest at his weirdo best…

Family Guy and its cast have been nominated for eight Emmy Awards and won three for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin; Outstanding Music and Lyrics, Walter Murphy composer and Seth MacFarlane, lyricist. Then there was Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation which went to Steven Fonti who’s the storyboard artist.

The show’s also been nominated for ten Annies, and again, won three times, twice in 2006 and once in 2008. It’s also been nominated for a Golden Reel Award three times but only won once.

In my opinion, it should win every award in the world; it seriously is one of the funniest thing I’ve ever seen and in our household, much as with Father Ted we often use phrases from the show during normal, everyday conversation.

I absolutely love this show and I hope if you’ve never seen it before, this article has made you a Family Guy fan too!