‘Family Guy’: Evidence mounts for Brian Griffin’s return from the dead in season 12

Before this season of “Family Guy” comes to a close, we are probably going to see Brian Griffin back having adventures with Stewie. While Fox seems to have kept this matter a secret for as long as they possibly could, there is some new information coming out now that comes about as close as close can get in confirming that Seth MacFarlane’s popular family dog will be back in season 12.

The biggest piece of evidence is something that we shared pretty recently, as the synopsis for the December 8 midseason finale teases that Stewie is going to do everything in his power to get the one thing that he wants most back in his life come December 25. Will he get it? It would be a sad Christmas otherwise.

The more definitive evidence of Brian’s long-term status on the show comes via Entertainment Weekly, who claims that Maya Rudolph was actually cast earlier this fall as a runner that Brian will become enamored with. This installment in particular will air next season.

The reason why Fox stayed so quiet about what could be coming next for Brian is simple: They want the ratings. The show has seen more attention cast on it the past week and a half since Brian’s “death” than it has received ever since that first cancellation, and this is without a single new episode airing in that time. This could mean that the ratings for the next two episodes are going to be pretty huge, especially if speculation mounts that Brian could be brought back from the dead. This may have been infuriating and heartbreaking for some (which is ironic, given the tone of the show being what it is), but at the same time, it was brilliant on MacFarlane’s part. Let’s just hope that the return of Brian is as meaningful as when the character was first killed off. It may have been one of the first times that “Family Guy” was actually able to remind itself that family matters more than cheeky references and fart jokes.

Photo: Fox