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Fox has delivered much of network television’s best comedy to our screens over the best three decades, and during that time one of its shows has made us laugh more than most. Back in 1999, a new sitcom arrived to challenge the likes of The Simpsons and King of the Hill for supremacy in the network’s adult animation stakes.
Since then, Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy has had its ups and downs, including multiple cancellations, and a relatively unsuccessful spinoff series. But the show is about to face arguably the biggest challenge in its history, as it reaches the end of an era. From 2027 onwards, Family Guy’s best character will be going his own way for the first time.
While the youngest member of the Griffin family will still be a major part of the original series, he’ll also have his own spinoff. This new show is set to be a much bigger deal than The Cleveland Show ever was, since Stewie is at the heart of so many Family Guy episodes considered to be masterpieces.
Although Stewie’s spinoff sitcom has the potential to be Seth MacFarlane’s best TV show in years, it spells danger for the parent series that spawned it. Indeed, Family Guy season 25 will be the last one in which MacFarlane can reliably claim to have most of his attention focused on the Griffin family as a whole.
Family Guy's New Season Will Be Its Last Before Stewie's Spinoff
Family Guy will be returning to our screens in October 2026, with the Hulu Halloween special that’s become customary for the show to release in recent years. Following another Christmas special entitled “The Peter Clause”, season 25 proper will air on Fox in the first half of 2027. After it ends, attention will turn to the franchise’s upcoming spinoff.
It was confirmed that Fox had ordered two seasons of a new Family Guy series about Stewie’s new preschool back in March 2026. This news came as Seth MacFarlane revealed his live-action fantasy comedy show Ted wouldn’t be getting another season.
Fans might suggest that Stewie’s spinoff simply fills the hole in MacFarlane’s schedule that Ted was already taking up. However, this direct offshoot of Family Guy is a very different proposition, especially when it will be running concurrently with the franchise’s flagship series.
Whereas Family Guy moving towards fewer episodes per season alongside streaming-only specials is simply a sign of the times in TV comedy more generally, the advent of a spinoff starring the show’s most popular character is a wholly unexpected development. It’s bound to shape the animated sitcom’s future in more ways than we can anticipate.
Stewie's New Series Will Have A Bigger Impact On Family Guy Than The Cleveland Show
There will be fans of Family Guy who will point to the show’s previous spinoff, The Cleveland Show, as a model for how Seth MacFarlane will balance different series within the same franchises. Yet, there are fundamental differences between this example and Stewie’s upcoming series.
For one thing, MacFarlane didn’t act in The Cleveland Show, and took a hands-off approach to the entire project after co-writing its pilot episode. Cleveland Brown’s Family Guy return after his spinoff’s cancellation was welcome, but he was never integral to the parent series.
In the case of Stewie, on the other hand, MacFarlane will be voicing the spinoff’s protagonist, and likely contributing far more to writing its scripts, too. Meanwhile, the character will still be playing a central role in Family Guy itself, at the same time. This scenario entails a difficult juggling act, which could impact the quality of both shows.
Seth MacFarlane has always been an exceptional multitasker when it comes to TV animation. Nevertheless, he’s never worked on two series simultaneously with quite so much overlap before. Family Guy fans had better brace themselves for an exciting new era not without its risks.
