MovieChat Forums > Family Guy (1999) Discussion > The pre-cancellation and post-cancellati...

The pre-cancellation and post-cancellation are different universes.


https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/5hg1bw/family_guy_the_precancelation_and_postcancelation/

Those who have watched Family Guy know the drastic changes that have occurred to the characters and show overall. This is usually a normal thing that happens when a show progresses for years. But I've noticed something after watching most, if not all, the episodes several times. Most of the events of the pre-cancellation episodes (seasons 1-3) seem to not coincide with the post-cancellation episodes (seasons 4-)

One example would be Brian's belief in a God. In the episode "If I'm Dyin', I'm Lyin'", Peter is revered as a healer by the people of Quahog due to lying about curing Chris's fake disease (that Peter created). As a result, the 7 sins of the Christian Bible that God used on the Egyptians were used on Peter, almost killing Chris until Peter admitted his wrong. Seemingly, only Brian actually knew what this was, and he showed his seeming belief in God by grabbing Peter and saying, "Wanna know what's happening? God is pissed!" In the post-cancellation episode "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven", however, Brian is revealed to be an atheist, despite what happened in the season 2 episode.

Another example is the treatment of Meg. Meg is the underdog of the show, getting treated with little to no respect and often called negative adjectives. In episodes prior to the cancellation, the family loves Meg. In "Chitty Chitty Death Bang", during a flashback of Meg's first birthday, Lois is shown hard at work preparing the party, and Peter is shown excited about the first of things Meg has done (speak, walk, play the drums). However in "Ratings Guy", Peter and Lois are shown to have tried to abandon Meg at a fire station. This would not be the action of the parents if one attempted to make their child's birthday a good one and the other excited about what she did. Even today, the family treats Meg horribly, despite loving her in the pre-cancellation episodes.

A major reason that the universes are different is Death. Not his character, but his role in two different episodes. In "Death Lives", Peter is struck by lightning on his anniversary with Lois and has an out-of-body experience with Death. In this episode, flashbacks of Peter's past with Lois is shown. (Side-note: It is implied that this date is the 1970s, but many events in the post-cancelation suggest Peter was 15-19 in the 1960s, but for him and Lois to be in their 40s in 1999, the air date of the series, then he would've had to have been in his 20s in the 1970s.) Peter meets Quagmire on a US Navy ship and (implied to be, based on the voice and mustache) Cleveland. Something to note is that Cleveland's physique is athletic. In another episode with Death, "Meet the Quagmires", Peter and Brian are allowed by Death to return to the 80s. In this, Peter is shown to somehow be a teen, and Cleveland is shown to also be a pool boy with Peter at a country club. Cleveland's physique is, however, chubbier, which is also how he looks in flashbacks in The Cleveland Show, a spin-off in the same universe. Something else to note is how Quagmire kissed Lois at a high school dance, and was implied to have been known by Peter, despite being in the Navy in the pre-cancellation, thus having to have finished high-school.

Now you may bring up "Back to the Pilot", the episode in which Stewie and Brian return to episode 1 to find Brian's buried ball. A rebuttal/a time travel theory: They did not go back in time. They simply went into a parallel universe, one where there are two Brians and two Stewies. Because it is a parallel universe, it is almost exactly the same except for the two pairs of characters.

Supporting reason would be the extreme change of the characters. Peter went from lovable idiot to obnoxious, inconsiderate, unmindful, rude, crude, pedophilic, and, all-in-all, a horrible person. Lois went from loving mother and second voice-of-reason character to a bitter person with an unpleasant past. Brian went from VoR and most down-to-Earth character to an extreme liberal and self-centered douchebag. Stewie went from evil genius with moments of innocence to a closet homosexual that most of the time has little to no signs of his past intelligence. Quagmire went from a comic relief pervert to the new voice of reason with many interests, and his perverse nature arises only sometimes.

Although this can be answered with simply, "Different writers, different show," but let's look at it as if this were still the same writers, and the writers weren't even known to anyone, not even the characters (who break the fourth wall frequently).

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Something else to note is how Quagmire kissed Lois at a high school dance, and was implied to have been known by Peter, despite being in the Navy in the pre-cancellation, thus having to have finished high-school.
That whole thing is certainly a theory although the dance in Meet the Quaqmires wasn't a high school dance, just a dance at the country club, a dance that Glenn while home from the Navy obviously attended.

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So? That's life. I still love all the characters and the show regardless of the changes.

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by checkiec (Sat Dec 10 2016 03:04:39)

So?
I know it's minor but if there's to be an accurate theory there should be accurate information.
I'm surprised whoever concocted it didn't mention another check mark for an alternate universe, Lois' age. She stated she's 2 years younger than Peter pre-revamp but in Meet the Quagmires she's the same age of 18.

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True. You right. Are people using tvtropes to get information?

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although the dance in Meet the Quaqmires wasn't a high school dance, just a dance at the country club, a dance that Glenn while home from the Navy obviously attended.
And both were different than Peter's "Dance with me Lois. Dance the Dance of Life!"

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I personally love both eras of Family Guy and I feel they are all in the same universe.

Metallica and Iron Maiden ship Fluttershy and Discord

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Me too. It's been on for many years and it's one of the best shows of all-time.

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Hmmm.... so almost some type of "Multiverse".

Is there a 3rd multiverse? One with Lacey Chaberet voicing Meg?

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I'd rather watch new family guy than old family guy any day.

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