Family Guy (TV Series) Back to the Pilot (2011) User Reviews

Family Guy scores a big win with their next in a long series of time-traveling episodes

[athomed · 10/10 · 6 January 2012]

This has been the gem of the 10th season so far. In the episode, Stewie and Brian go back in time to find an old tennis ball of Brian's. Things become more complicated when Brian has the urge to tell the past Brian about 9/11 in an attempt to prevent it.

There are tons of jokes at the expense of the old animation and even one hilarious poke at the actress who used to voice Meg. We have the perfect opportunity in this episode to see how much these characters have evolved, as Stewie and Brian come face to face with their old selves from the pilot.

The 9/11 piece of this episode, which I won't give away, was heavily criticized, despite this episode garnering positive reviews from critics. I didn't lose anyone on that day, but I spent a good chunk of my life afterward in the foreign wars that followed, and look, this is an animated show for adults. They're not looking for anyone's approval.

Give this episode a watch. The jokes are here. A glimpse of the past and the Family Guy we loved so much is here.

This is awesome.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 16 October 2017]

Stewie and Brian travel back to 1999, in order for Brian to retrieve a tennis ball he buried. Stewie warns Brian that doing anything that changes events could have huge consequences on the future. Brian aims to put a terrorist act right, and ends up making the future very bleak.

I'll get the obvious criticism over with first, I can remember how outraged many were with the 9/11 reference, and I can understand the annoyance people felt.

On the plus side, I have to say I think this episode verges on genius, it's incredibly well conceived and imaginative. For the show to be able to reference and poke fun at the pilot is impressive. The show was quite raw back then, the jokes about cutaways and Lacey Chabert's leaving were really funny, rewarding for life long fans. Stewie and Brian stories are always great, this is one of their greatest.

It's brilliant, a classic what if story. 10/10

Harry Potter plot problem

[alexcook-47914 · 9/10 · 5 April 2021]

Brilliant episode. One of the best. Excepy Brian can't become the writer of Harry Potter by telling his 1999 self about it since the first book was published in 1997. But I know.. it's just a cartoon. Lol.

One of the best sequels of all time

[seraj-03422 · 10/10 · 18 July 2020]

This is my favourite episode which happened to be a sequel after its Road to Multiverse. They made another one with another time travel that I think was a good reason why and why it suits. I love the comedy and I like seeing the pilot characters again. The story is good as well

The One Where Briann And Stewie Go Back To The Pilot...

[taylorkingston · 10/10 · 24 February 2015]

I can't stress enough how much I love this episode. It is one of my all-time favorite episodes of Family Guy, ever. Out of tons and tons of great episodes that this show has to offer, this is defiantly one the best. Now, sometimes I'm not a giant fan of Steiwie and Brian centric episodes, but this one just takes the freaking cake. It really does.

In this episode, Stewie and Brian travel back in time to December 31st 1999. Back to the Pilot episode. They see themselves inside the kitchen, looking a lot worse, meaning, not drawn as well and not as high definition quality. They point out that something's wrong with Meg's voice, stating to the obvious fact that Mila Kunis eventually took over the role of Meg, from Lacey Chabert. They also put out an error, made by one of the drawers, where Peter's eye goes over his face, for a second. Another thing they wonder to themselves, is why the family is suddenly quiet after hearing a reference. This is because of the cut-away that happens during that scene. Anyway, they collect what they were there to collect and when they get back to the present, things have been severely altered. Brian couldn't help himself. He had to tell younger him about something that will happen. Want to know what he did? Brian stopped 9/11. Sounds great, which is many ways it is, but it turns out, that in Family Guy Universe, 9/11 was something that changed the world for the better. Stewie and Brian go back to correct their, well, Brian's mistake, and they come back and stuff has still changed. They go back dozens of times, because Brian kept telling himself something, and eventually, there are dozens and dozens of Stewies and Brians all in the same time. Eventually, Stewie and Brian correct it, so nothing ever happened, including that particular pair of the two. So, the current Stewie and Brian never lived through any of it. I know it sounds confusing, and I'm probably not explaining it very well, but that's another reason why you should watch this episode.

Overall, I give this episode a 10 out of 10.

Bug in the counting voices scene :D

[petarda-46041 · 10/10 · 29 March 2018]

There is bug in the script :D haha. When they are counting the votes in the yard, Peter is there in the scene and he has his hand raised, but when they try to explain why there are uneven number of votes, they say it's because one Brian slit his throat :DD

The best Brian and Stewie Episode next to Road to Rupert

[rescpecterfanboywhamen · 3 December 2018]

This Episode is Amazing its my 5th Favouite Episode of my 2nd Favouite Show ever made which of courts is family 2this episode gets every thing right. The comedyis perfect in this episodethere was no bad joke in this episode and it was ever entertaining.

Family Guy does time machine episodes great!

[celiawatsonanime · 8/10 · 10 February 2022]

I love seeing all the Brians and Stewies going back trying to prevent the past from being screwed up.

It's fun seeing them explore the first episode.

My favorite part is when all the characters freeze when a cutaway is supposed to be playing.

"Yeah, alright!...Wow...that wouldn't look very good out of context."

[The-Last-Prydonian · 7/10 · 31 January 2023]

You know with any comedy show, or movie that might attempt to use comedy in relation to 9/11, especially of course in the United States that an episode like Back to the Pilot was going to raise the ire of many. But what many people forget is first and foremost what Family Guy is, satire, and taken out of context a lot were missing the point. The plot with both Brian and Stewie going back in time serves not only to serve to be satirical but to be a fun lampooning of the series' comedic tropes and how it has evolved over the years. From what was in its first season up until now, it does so with some aplomb even if it isn't quite as razor-sharp, and funny as it could have been. Although of course much is heavily reliant on having familiar knowledge of previous episodes or having long memories.

Having the characters leaping back and forth from the present to the past, to the present, and then to the future again, the episode deliciously sends up the science-fiction conventions of time-travel fiction in pop culture. Utilizing some brilliantly crafted CGI in the future-based scene, while further taking self-deprecating digs at the generic characterizations of its mainstay characters.

But regarding the offense as to why people took exception to this episode. I think critics of it ironically seemed to miss the point of it. This is how quickly many people are to get offended or upset over contentious edgy comedy when they don't consider the context of what it's attempting to do. In the scene where Brian and Stewie return to the present where current history has been set back to normal. Both Stewie and Brian give each other a high five, to which Stewie then says; "Wow...that wouldn't look very good out of context." You just know Seth MacFarlane is winking at his audience saying, yeah we know we're going to get a lot of crap for this, but then what else is new.

The problem though is that it does rely a little too much on overindulging in utilizing gags revolving around its past tropes. It becomes a little too repetitive and self-indulgent, and gags don't deliver the level of thick, and fast hilarity that has arisen when compared to superior past episodes. But it's still far from the worst, and at least it wasn't one that involved the now stale and over-used recurring giant Chicken/Peter face-off that grew boring a long, long time ago.

A great throwback

[paytonh-09123 · 1 August 2021]

I loved being able to revisit the pilot and all of the Mets jokes about it. This is definitely one of the best episodes in a while.