Brian Griffin returns to 'Family Guy.' Was there ever any doubt?
Brian Griffin, the popular martini-drinking pooch that 'Family Guy' famously killed off three weeks ago, has been written back in to the show. Attention grabbed. Mission accomplished.
The Griffins (l.-r.): Meg, Peter, Lois, Stewie, Brian, and Chris, on the FOX animated comedy 'Family Guy.'
Fox
Brian Griffin is back.
Was there really any doubt? The FOX animated comedy 鈥�Family Guy鈥� resurrected the popular walking, talking, martini-drinking pooch Sunday, following a three-week absence.
鈥淵ou didn't really think we'd kill off Brian, did you?鈥� tweeted 鈥淔amily Guy鈥� creator Seth MacFarlane Sunday. Earlier, he posted, 鈥淎nd thus endeth our warm, fuzzy holiday lesson: Never take those you love for granted, for they can be gone in a flash.鈥�
When a car struck and killed Brian in an episode airing Nov. 24, fans took to social media to howl in protest; online petitions also circulated, the combination of which provided 鈥淔amily Guy鈥� millions of dollars in free media attention.
Brian returned through the help of Stewie, his conniving infant friend, who 鈥� well, it had something to do with a time machine.
Rob Salkowitz, a comics expert and author of 鈥淐omic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture鈥� (McGraw-Hill), says killing off characters, even if they resurface later, is 鈥渁 sure-fire attention-getter.鈥�
鈥淭he death of a character, especially a character that has people sentimentally attached, is shocking, it triggers an emotional response,鈥� Mr. Salkowitz says. Killing off a character is valuable for any creative property, especially one that 鈥渋s in a creative rut鈥� and 鈥渘eeds something to refocus attention.鈥�
Nearly every superhero has been killed and brought back to life, starting in 1994 when DC Comics announced it was killing Superman. That sent sales of the title through the roof and people into stores that had drifted from comics for years. The success of that maneuver summoned boardroom executions of many other iconic comic book characters.
Fans may not understand why a comic book or a television franchise would decide to kill off a popular character out of nowhere, but Salkowitz says the decision is never a creative one, but is more about the franchise owner reinvesting in their property to keep it relevant.
Killing off a character permanently wouldn鈥檛 make sense because millions of dollars would vanish, and the copyright on those characters would eventually become lost.
鈥淭hey have to manage it like a portfolio. They can鈥檛 sell off the core value for a one-time gain,鈥� he says.
One 鈥淔amily Guy鈥� character is assured to never return: Vinny, the new dog that replaced Brian for those three episodes voiced by 鈥淪opranos鈥� actor Tony Sirico. Brian鈥檚 return to the Griffin home, forced the family and Vinny to permanently part ways.
At one point, Vinny tried to cheer Stewie up by dressing up as Brian, but it didn鈥檛 work. The same was apparently true for the show鈥檚 fans.