Family Guy Was Influenced by Gary Larson’s Far Side, and it Honored It

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During an appearance on Marc Maron’s show, Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, discussed the comics that influenced him as a child. He said Peanuts had the biggest impact, though he also mentioned Mad Magazine as an important source of inspiration.

MacFarlane said:

I enjoyed Mad magazine, but The Far Side really changed the game for me. Looking back, those comics are now considered classics, but at the time, they were surprisingly controversial. If blogs and opinion articles existed then, they likely would have been heavily criticized. People found them shocking and offensive, but also undeniably brilliant.

MacFarlane later explained that the style of Family Guy, with its frequent cutaway gags, was designed to feel like constantly dropping in jokes from Monty Python or The Far Side comic. He pointed out that this was a difficult approach, as it essentially required creating a new *Far Sidestyle comic strip every few minutes.

Writing the short, comedic scenes that break away from the main plot is the most difficult part of creating the show. Jokes that directly advance the story flow more easily, but coming up with completely new, self-contained bits multiple times per episode is incredibly tough—it feels like creating a whole ‘Far Side’ cartoon ten to twelve times in each show.

During the interview with Maron, Seth MacFarlane discussed how Gary Larson’s comic The Far Side inspired Brian Griffin’s talking scenes in Family Guy, and even played a role in the later success of his film Ted. He explained that The Far Side often depicted animals behaving like people, and recalled a specific comic with a cow wearing pearls who simply says, ‘Wendell. I’m not content.’ MacFarlane appreciated that the humor wasn’t a traditional joke, but a thought-provoking observation.

Throughout its run, Family Guy has often referenced cartoonist Gary Larson and his comic The Far Side, recognizing the significant impact they had on the show. However, Seth MacFarlane hasn’t been directly in charge of Family Guy for quite some time.

When Stewie takes over the world, he doesn’t like his Gary Larson portrait

A standout early episode of Family Guy was the two-part Season 6 story, “Stewie Kills Lois” and “Lois Kills Stewie.” David A. Goodman wrote the first half, while Steve Callaghan penned the second (Goodman was a showrunner at the time, and Callaghan would later take on that role for many seasons). The first part features Stewie Griffin apparently succeeding in his long-running threat to kill Lois, but the episode reveals she’s still alive at the end.

After discovering the true nature of her son, Lois attempts to stop him, but Stewie cleverly manipulates world leaders into appointing him President of the World. We then see Stewie posing for his official presidential portrait in the White House. He remarks that he prefers this portrait to one drawn by Gary Larson, and the scene cuts to a cartoonish drawing in Larson’s signature style – Stewie alongside a chicken.

Stewie questions why he’s even talking to a chicken. Meanwhile, Lois infiltrates the White House and attempts to kill Stewie using weapons from their house, but ultimately can’t go through with it. Stewie then tries to kill Lois, but Peter arrives and kills Stewie instead. It’s then revealed the entire sequence was a virtual reality simulation, which Brian jokingly points out is a convenient way to resolve the plot.

Season 20 of Family Guy oddly had two different notable Far Side references in different episodes

The season 20 premiere, “LASIK Instinct,” written by Kirker Butler, begins with Lois accidentally hitting one of Stewie’s classmates with her car. Concerned about her vision, she goes to the eye doctor for a check-up. Instead of a standard eye chart, the doctor asks her to describe the cartoons she’s seeing.

He playfully nicknames her “Far Sighted” because she’s reading a The Far Side comic. But it turns out she actually has poor vision and gets LASIK surgery to correct it. Unfortunately, the surgery fails, and she becomes blind. She adapts to her new life and becomes a successful motivational speaker. Then, surprisingly, her vision returns, but she pretends she’s still blind, leading to a lot of funny situations.

Okay, so after twelve episodes, things got crazy in “Lawyer Guy.” I was totally soaked in my hammock because my new neighbor’s sprinklers went off on me! Annoyed, I saw an ad for this lawyer, Brick Baker, and figured I’d sue. But get this – when we actually got to court, I found out my neighbor was Brick Baker! I was floored and yelled, “You’re my neighbor! You’re the defendant!” Then it just turned into a whole role reversal bit, and I even jokingly asked, “And I’m the courtroom sketch artist?” It was wild.

He quickly sketches a courtroom scene, but it looks more like a cartoon from The Far Side. He even points this out to the audience, saying, “I drew a Far Side.”

Peter ends up representing himself in court, but surprisingly, he wins with help from his friends! However, Brick Baker kidnaps those same friends, and while things aren’t perfectly resolved, everyone mostly makes amends by the end of the episode.

If you know of any fascinating stories from comic book history, please email me at brianc@cbr.com.

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2026-04-24 00:15