- 6/21/2025
Hidden treasures in every frame! Join us as we explore the most brilliant Easter eggs and subtle jokes that make Family Guy a masterpiece of animated detail. From background gags that only sharp-eyed viewers catch to recurring visual jokes that reward loyal fans, these tiny moments showcase the incredible attention to detail the creators pour into each episode.
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00:00Will you show us?
00:01I'll show you.
00:02Let's do it.
00:03Good.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:05And today, we're counting down our picks for the top 20 amazing small details in Family Guy.
00:10It's a middle finger to the fans is what it is.
00:13I tell you, Fox should be in bed.
00:16Number 20.
00:17Meta references in Peter and Homer's fight.
00:20Family Guy always pokes fun at the similarities and differences between them and the OG adult animated family sitcom The Simpsons.
00:27So, when the two shows got together for a crossover episode, fans were excited to see what kind of trouble these two TV families could stir up.
00:34I think I speak for all of us when I say, I am over The Simpsons.
00:39What are you saying?
00:40I'm saying The Simpsons suck.
00:42What, you?
00:44Peter starts a fight by saying he's over The Simpsons, hinting that the show is past its prime, with the bout mirroring those Peter has with the giant chicken.
00:57Hey, that's no fair. I don't got none of them.
01:00We see Homer chuck Emmys at Peter, who is unable to retaliate because he has none.
01:05And Roger from American Dad appears and swiftly leaves, referencing the fact that this show is no longer on Fox.
01:12Yeah, it's really great, isn't it, guys?
01:15We went to summer camp together.
01:22Bye, thanks for having me.
01:24Number 19.
01:25Barry Robinson.
01:26Hey, Steve. Somebody left this on your front porch.
01:30Great. It's the fat one.
01:32That's a doormat, Barry.
01:34Who's Matt Barry?
01:35God, I hate you so much.
01:37Peter and Chris are the victims of many weight-related jokes throughout the show, so it isn't exactly surprising that they end up at a weight-loss camp.
01:44Creators of the show took this opportunity to feature other characters that are perceived to be overweight, including Barry Robinson from American Dad.
01:52I was on a city bus, and the guy next to me was eating a bucket of fried chicken.
01:56Mmm.
01:57Ooh.
01:58Yum.
01:58And the smell was getting to me, you know?
02:00And even though I didn't know the guy, I just dug in and started stuffing that chicken into my mouth.
02:07Oh.
02:07Embarrassing.
02:08I've done that.
02:09They're brief moments in the episode, but it's a great nod to fans of both shows.
02:13Both Chris and Barry have a lot of similarities, as they're both often forgotten about by their parents, and neither of them are the sharpest knives in the drawer.
02:22But we sure hope Barry had a better experience at Camp Fresh Start than Chris does.
02:27I saw a forest like this in a book one time, and I know there's a gingerbread house out here somewhere.
02:31Do you think we could find it?
02:33Number 18.
02:34Freshly Painted Greek Statues
02:35This episode makes it clear that the Family Guy crew thinks about even the most minuscule of details.
02:41Peter tells the story of Helen of Troy, who was the most beautiful woman in the world according to Greek mythology.
02:47Helen?
02:48What the, Hades?
02:49What?
02:49She's hot, but not as hot as Medusa.
02:52When we see the scenes from ancient Greece, eagle-eyed fans can notice that the Greek statues are not faded in the way they are today, but instead they're freshly painted.
03:01The story of Helen of Troy takes place during the Trojan War, which, if factual, took place around the 12th century BC, so it only makes sense that the statues wouldn't be faded like they are today.
03:11We have no choice but to tip our hats to the detail-oriented minds behind this episode.
03:16Wow, our people are, like, really smart.
03:19I think Greeks will always be known for their advancements in math, and not as cartoon characters with very hairy arms in a tragically mismanaged economy.
03:27Number 17.
03:28Brian and Jillian's Neckwear
03:30Brian considers Jillian the one who got away.
03:33And even though it may seem like they have nothing in common, a small detail they share proves otherwise.
03:39Hey, maybe my name is on this collar.
03:41Cremate, don't bury.
03:43Okay, that's a downer.
03:44Brian wears a red collar with a gold tag throughout the entirety of the show, and it's very recognizable since it's literally the only thing he wears.
03:52But what viewers might not notice is that Jillian also wears a red necklace with a gold tag, just like Brian.
03:58And then, think about this! Have you ever seen the sun and the moon in the same place at the same time?
04:06Huh? They're the same person!
04:08I know, right?
04:10You're brilliant!
04:11We know they don't end up together, or at least they haven't so far, but this little detail may be the creator's way of showing that they are meant for one another after all.
04:19Number 16.
04:21Lois' Facebook friend requests
04:22Moms are usually the ones adding their daughters on Facebook, and the daughters are the ones who usually don't respond to the friend request.
04:29But when it comes to Lois and Meg, the opposite is true.
04:32Alright, well fine. Okay, I'm not the perfect mother. Who is?
04:36When Lois is trying to get some traction on her Facebook posts, we can see in the corner of the page that she has an unaccepted friend request from her eldest child.
04:45Meg is undoubtedly the punching bag of the family.
04:48When they aren't ripping on everything she says and does, they pretty much ignore her.
04:52But it's literally the least they could do to be her friend on Facebook, and it looks as though they aren't even doing that.
04:58I thought we were friends. The kind of really good friends that communicate with each other poorly through Facebook.
05:04Number 15. Gumbel to Gumbel.
05:07Bryant Gumbel. Greg Gumbel. Brothers. Bike Cops. Gumbel to Gumbel. Beach Justice.
05:14If there's one thing Seth MacFarlane can undoubtedly do well, it's laugh at himself.
05:19This season 2 episode is centered around Peter's favorite show, Gumbel to Gumbel Beach Justice, getting cancelled.
05:25I can't believe this. I feel sick.
05:27There's only one thing to do, Chris. We gotta save Gumbel to Gumbel, and we're gonna do it Griffin to Griffin.
05:32Throughout the episode, Peter goes to great lengths to try and revive the show, and it turns out this may have been a personal mission for Peter's voice actor MacFarlane himself.
05:42Gumbel to Gumbel was the name of the first rejected TV show MacFarlane pitched to Fox.
05:46The series creator decided to show off his failed premise on his successful one,
05:50and it's a great hidden detail that doubles as a jab at the home network for passing on him the first time.
05:56Well, what do you have to say to that? I'm not going to jail, Chris doesn't have to die, and best of all, Gumbel to Gumbel is back on the air.
06:03Number 14. If you can read this, in this cutaway, Peter shows us the one time that he was defeated,
06:09and it turns out that it's during a Tron-like race.
06:12With Peter's affinity for 80s flicks, it's no surprise that he would reference this iconic sci-fi flick,
06:29although it is a bit of a surprise that he ran into his high school friend during the race.
06:34When he takes off, there's an easy-to-miss message written on the wall behind him that reads,
06:38if you can read this, your TV is upside down. The message is obviously written upside down,
06:43and we have no idea why it was thrown into this particular scene.
06:46But we are always here for fun Easter eggs, so we'll go with it.
06:50Hey, is that Stacey Beecham? Where?
06:54Number 13. Robot Chicken.
06:56Look! G.I. Joe Transformers Thundercats He-Man! Yay! Those shows existed!
07:02How's it feel to be on a major network for 30 seconds?
07:04Family Guy likes to make fun of its lack of awards as compared to their counterparts like The Simpsons or Bob's Burgers.
07:10But at least it's on a major network, and it's undoubtedly one of the most well-known adult animation shows on TV.
07:17So whenever there's a reference to the show Robot Chicken, the characters are quick to lampoon it.
07:22Well, everyone except Chris, since he is, in fact, voiced by Seth Green, the co-creator and star of Robot Chicken.
07:28No, no, Chris, you see, Mr. Robot is a critically acclaimed show. Robot Chicken is something kids used to watch in 2006.
07:36It's basically four minutes of nonsense on at one in the morning breaking up personal injury ads.
07:42Chicken.
07:43These jokes are not unlike the references made to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,
07:47which features Lois' voice actor Alex Borstein or Bad Moms starring Mila Kunis, a.k.a. Meg.
07:53Bad Moms 1 and 2 are available on most streaming platforms?
07:56Don't, don't do that, Mila. Not on this show.
07:59All of these inside jokes are for the superfans, and we are here for it.
08:04Number 12. 100-1 Luftballons
08:07This one is for the music fans out there.
08:10Stewie runs into many mishaps with his time machine,
08:12but one of the most disastrous is when Mort accidentally ends up in Nazi Germany.
08:17Brian and Stewie go to rescue him, and they go the extra mile to ensure his safety.
08:21Stewie even transforms himself into a certain dictator,
08:25and meets up with the German scientists who are working on the atomic bomb
08:29and a collection of inflated Luftballons.
08:31So how's the atomic bomb coming?
08:33It's coming, it's coming.
08:35There are some problems.
08:36We're having much better luck developing this impressive collection of 100 Luftballons.
08:41Oh, damn.
08:42They are at 100 when Stewie, Brian, and Mort arrive,
08:45but one pops, leaving them with only 99 Luftballons,
08:49which is also the name of a song by Nina.
08:51Family Guy writers, we see you, and we're impressed.
09:03Number 11. Adam West's Halloween Characters
09:06Adam West played a hilarious version of himself on the show,
09:09as the town of Quahog's simple mayor with a heart of gold.
09:12In our world, he's known as the beloved actor who played Batman in the 1960s.
09:17Batman, how could you have opened a vault to which you didn't even know the combination
09:21in three seconds flat?
09:22With my three seconds flat bat-vault combination and scrambler, Commissioner.
09:27Amazing.
09:27In this Halloween episode,
09:29the team at Family Guy paid homage to him with not one,
09:32but two costumes of his former characters trick-or-treating at his door.
09:35A Cornish game hen for you?
09:37A Cornish game hen for you.
09:39Everybody gets a hen.
09:41Would you like some gravy?
09:43Sure you'd like some gravy.
09:45Obviously Batman,
09:47but the second costume is from West's role in The Fairly Oddparents,
09:51where he supplied the voice talent for another fictionalized version of his real self, Catman.
09:55Timmy, what'll I do all day if I can't fight crime?
09:58I can't lick the spoons clean at the dairy whip.
10:01That would be unsanitary.
10:03This subtle tribute to him is particularly moving in retrospect
10:06since the actor passed in 2017,
10:09and his absence on the show is definitely felt.
10:11Number 10. Buffalo Chris
10:14To get revenge on Chris,
10:16Meg embarrasses him in front of the school
10:17by showing a video of him parodying Buffalo Bill's goodbye horses dance from The Silence of the Lambs.
10:23While the scene is definitely humiliating,
10:25it has a deeper connection to Chris than anyone realizes.
10:28When auditioning for Chris,
10:29his voice actor Seth Green was dared by a friend
10:32to try out his best Buffalo Bill impression for the character.
10:35He could have gone with a stereotypical surfer dude voice for Chris,
10:37but Green was bold enough to try a hilarious impression of a serial killer.
10:42And it worked.
10:43So this parody doubles as a testament to the character's vocal inspiration.
10:47And I said, can I try something really silly?
10:49And I did, and McFarlane liked it.
10:52So I got the job.
10:53Number 9. All in the Family Tribute
10:55Family Guy was recorded on tape before a live audience.
10:59Family Guy has paid multiple tributes to TV producer Norman Lear's sitcoms,
11:03and the most enduring one is the very first thing you see when a Family Guy episode begins.
11:08The opening theme song with Peter and Lois playing the piano,
11:11recalling the good old days,
11:13is actually an homage to the opening for All in the Family,
11:16where we see Archie and Edith Bunker doing the same.
11:22Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane admits to being an admirer of Lear's comedies,
11:26right down to how they handle controversial topics.
11:28So it's flattering to see him pay tribute to his inspiration before almost every show.
11:34Number 8. Red Rum
11:35At the start of the episode Love Thy Trophy,
11:38Stewie is innocently playing with blocks.
11:41But if you look closely, the blocks spell out a not-so-innocent message.
11:45Red Rum
11:46This is an obvious reference to Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining,
11:50where the son, the young psychic character Danny Torrance,
11:53would mutter the phrase Red Rum,
11:55which is actually murder spelled backwards.
11:57Red Rum!
11:59Red Rum!
12:00Red Rum!
12:03What makes this sight gag so perfect is that it's Stewie,
12:08a sociopathic conniving infant out for blood,
12:11who sets up the joke,
12:12and it is too fitting for his character.
12:15It doesn't help that Stewie starts plotting someone's murder during the scene,
12:18making the gag even more hysterical.
12:20Michael Flatley must be turning over in his grave.
12:23Wait a minute, he's not dead.
12:25Yet.
12:26Michael Flatley.
12:28Number 7. DVD Cover
12:29The Griffins are having a family yard sale,
12:32hoping to get rid of the excess junk they've collected over the years.
12:35If you look closely at Brian's table,
12:37you'll see a familiar-looking DVD cover,
12:40the cover for Stewie Griffin The Untold Story.
12:42It's not a movie at all, Brian.
12:44Just three episodes back-to-back.
12:46At first, it seems like subtle product placement,
12:49but the extended DVD version of this scene says otherwise.
12:53Lois berates the film for trying to pass itself off as a movie
12:56when it's really a trio of episodes edited together.
13:00Is this a shameless plug or a hilarious jab at themselves
13:03for their middle finger to the fans?
13:05If the latter, we're not sure if Fox would approve.
13:07It's a middle finger to the fans is what it is.
13:10I tell you, Fox should be in bed.
13:13Number 6. Luke Perry TV Guide
13:15Peter's looking for a story to give to Meg for the school newspaper
13:18when inspiration comes in the form of a TV guide, Luke Perry.
13:22If you're quick enough to catch it, or at least have a pause button,
13:26you might be able to catch the little message under Perry's picture that says,
13:29If you can read this, Family Guy is on the air.
13:31If they die, I'll have nothing to watch on Wednesdays.
13:34Other than the fine programs on Fox.
13:39When it comes to self-aware humor, it can either be more upfront,
13:42or in this case, it can be so subtle that you almost miss it.
13:46And it's not wrong considering how often Family Guy can be found on TV.
13:51Number 5. WWID
13:53While in Mel Gibson's personal suite,
13:55Peter stumbles upon the trailer for a planned sequel for The Passion of the Christ.
13:59Man, you crazy, Jesus! You crazy!
14:02That's what my ex-wife said!
14:03The trailer itself is a pretty goofy parody of high-energy action films,
14:08featuring Jesus teaming up with Chris Tucker,
14:10but it goes by so fast that viewers might miss one hidden visual gag.
14:14When we see Jesus driving his car, if you look closely at the license plate,
14:18it reads WWID, which translates to What Would I Do?
14:22While it's an obvious spin on the morality phrase What Would Jesus Do?
14:26it's still worth a giggle considering whose car it's on,
14:28and with how immoral the whole situation is.
14:31Number 4. Funny Headline, or Letdown?
14:34The Griffins are excited to see their picture in the newspaper,
14:37but if you don't look fast enough, you might miss the gag under the photo.
14:41Near the bottom of the page, there's a headline that reads,
14:44DVDs paused for headline joke.
14:46Millions disappointed.
14:47On the one hand, it could be a cheeky jab at those who paused their DVDs
14:51to catch any blink-and-you'll-miss-it visual gags.
14:53On the other hand, it can also be a little nod to sister series American Dad,
14:57who thrived on newspaper headline jokes for the first few seasons.
15:00Either way, fans may not actually be disappointed by this clever little Easter egg.
15:05Number 3. Holden Caulfield.
15:08Peter's just goofing around, pretending to play the keyboard,
15:10when a random man berates him and pesters him
15:13for being a big, fat phony throughout the rest of the episode.
15:16You're a phony!
15:17Hey, this guy's a great, big phony!
15:20While the character doesn't have an official name,
15:23fans and some staff behind the show have dubbed him Holden Caulfield,
15:26named after the famous protagonist of the J.D. Salinger novel,
15:30The Catcher in the Rye.
15:31A phony lives here!
15:33A big, fat phony!
15:34In the book, Holden is a misguided, cynical teenager
15:37who usually called everyone he hates a phony.
15:40With how often in the show Holden keeps calling Peter out for being one,
15:44it'd be hard not to make the connection for an inside joke.
15:47Hey, everybody! This guy's a great, big phony!
15:50Number 2. Surprise Cantina Patrons.
15:53Move along, move along.
15:55In the original Star Wars film,
15:57the Mos Eisley Cantina was a shady drinking spot for creatures of all sorts,
16:01not all of them friendly.
16:02In the Blue Harvest parody,
16:05the tavern is still packed with miscellaneous creatures,
16:07plus a few surprise customers.
16:10Among the patrons is the formerly evil monkey from Chris's Closet,
16:13Roger from American Dad,
16:15Bender from Futurama,
16:16and Coach John McGurk from Home Movies.
16:19We all know Family Guy loves to toy around with references,
16:22but what really sells these cameos is how they seem to blend in perfectly.
16:26None of them has the best reputation,
16:27and they're bizarre-looking enough to call this bar a second home.
16:31Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel,
16:34and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
16:37You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
16:41If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
16:47Number 1. What the hell?
16:49Taking the number 1 spot is the show's most versatile and commonplace catchphrase.
16:53Peter, what the hell's the matter with you?
16:55Believe it or not, in almost every episode,
16:58there is at least one instance of a character saying,
17:01what the hell?
17:02Ready? 1, 2, 3.
17:06What the hell? What the hell?
17:08It could be to express frustration, fear, rage, confusion,
17:12to make light of something, or even as a setup for another running gag.
17:15That hurt? That hurt?
17:17What the hell?
17:18Yeah, it feels so good, does it?
17:19No matter the context or the character, it is bound to show up in some form.
17:24What the hell?
17:26No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
17:29If it's not directly mentioned in an episode,
17:31it could still appear in an alternate rendition.
17:34Ah, what the heck?
17:35It's amazing what you can hide in plain sight through repetition.
17:39Did you notice these easily missable things when you watched the show?
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