Death Has a Shadow

"Death Has a Shadow"
Family Guy episode
The Griffin family watches TV together in their first appearance. The top image is from MacFarlane's hand-drawn pilot; the bottom image is from the completed episode.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Directed by	Peter Shin Seth MacFarlane (rough-cut)
Written by	Seth MacFarlane
Production code	1ACX01[1]
Original air date	January 31, 1999 (1999-01-31)
Running time	22 minutes
Guest appearances
Lori Alan as Diane Simmons Carlos Alazraqui as Mr. Weed Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown Phil LaMarr as Judge Butch Hartman as various characters Billy West as Church Father Fred Tatasciore as John Madden Joey Slotnick as Dick Clark/various characters Wally Wingert as Pat Summerall
Episode chronology
← Previous — Next → "I Never Met the Dead Man"
Family Guy season 1
List of episodes

"Death Has a Shadow" is the series premiere and the first episode of the first season of the American animated television series Family Guy. Written by series creator Seth MacFarlane and directed by Peter Shin, the episode aired as a sneak peek on Fox in the United States on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII. In this episode, Peter loses his job after drinking too much at a stag party, causing him to fall asleep at work. He signs up for welfare to keep his wife Lois from finding out but gets much more money than he expected. After spending his money foolishly, Lois finds out and Peter decides to dump it from a blimp at the Super Bowl. He is arrested for welfare fraud and must await his family's rescue, as well as various performers who would later serve as frequent recurring and guest voices on the series.

The episode was the first overall episode to be animated by Film Roman, Inc. and Sunwoo Digital International, through its animation division Grimsaem Animation Co.

The basis for "Death Has a Shadow", as well as Family Guy as a whole, was MacFarlane's thesis film The Life of Larry, created in 1995 while he was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design. A sequel was conceived in 1996 called Larry & Steve, which aired in 1997 as a segment of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons. Both shorts caught the attention of Fox, who contacted MacFarlane in 1998 to develop a series based on the films. A hand-drawn pilot was created by MacFarlane with a budget of $50,000, which led to the series being accepted for production and the pilot being remade and extended into its broadcast form.

Critical responses to the episode were mostly positive. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed by 22 million viewers during its original airing in the United States. In the tenth season episode "Back to the Pilot", which premiered on November 13, 2011, Brian and Stewie go back in time to the events of this episode.^[2]