WithFamily Guyseason 23, episode 17’s Peter plot, the show undid one of its most unexpectedly poignant storylines from 11 years earlier. AlthoughThe Simpsonsis the longest-running scripted primetime American TV show in history,Family Guy’s season 24 renewalmeans Seth MacFarlane’s animated sitcom is rapidly catching up with its famous competitor.
As of July 2025,Family Guyhas aired over 440 episodes. As such, it is hardly a surprise to discover that the zany, anarchic animated sitcom has contradicted itself from time to time. That said, the latest instance ofFamily Guybacktracking on an earlier storyline is particularly galling for longtime viewers.
Family Guy Season 23 Episode 17 Undid Peter’s Responsible Drinking
Season 9 Episode 10 Focused On Peter Learning Moderation
In season 9, episode 10, “Friends of Peter G.,”Family Guysent Brian and Peter to Alcoholics Anonymous due to their shared drinking problem. When Peter dismissed the group and continued drinking, he soon had an encounter with Death. Death showed him how his life would turn out if he kept drinking at this rate.
Peter’s life as an alcoholic was a bleak nightmare, but Death’s vision of his sober life revealed him to be a snooty bore.Peter voted to drink more moderately at the end of “Friends of Peter G.,”in a gag that stuck to the show’s typical irreverent tone but still addressed the human cost of real-life alcoholism.
In episode 17, “Karenheit 451,” Joe, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Peter give up drinking entirely after marrying each other twice in two nights during back-to-back blackout benders.
However,Family Guyseason 23’s plotshave no room for even this minimal nuance. In episode 17, “Karenheit 451,” Joe, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Peter give up drinking entirely after marrying each other twice in two nights during back-to-back blackout benders. The crew instantly become strait-laced do-gooders.
Family Guy Season 23 Episode 17 Highlights The Show’s Shifting Priorities
Family Guy Focuses On Real-Life Issues Less In Recent Seasons
“Friends of Peter G.” took Peter’s problem drinking comparatively seriously, whereas it is nothing but a joke in season 23. In “Karenheit 451,” the question of how much Peter should drink is back to one of all or nothing, and his family is even relieved when he starts drinking again, since this makes him less irritating and chirpy.
Family Guyis available to stream on Hulu.
AlthoughFamily Guy’s self-mocking sense of humormeans, the show has never taken itself too seriously; it is still jarring to see the series double back on a rare plot that had something substantial to say. Where “Friends of Peter G.” argues that even a character as absurd as Peter could learn moderation, “Karenheit 451” gives Peter’s alcoholism no stakes whatsoever.
As such, it is hard not to feel like the season 23 outing is a betrayal of the earlier episode from 2011. The show’s second major story centered on Peter’s drinking problem provesFamily Guyhas thoroughly abandoned any attempts to comment on real-life issues.
