Family Guy will finally address Stewie's sexuality in new episode
The episode will 'delve into all sorts of things you would think would come up in a therapy session with a boy like Stewie'
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Stewie’s ambiguous sexual orientation has been the focus of many a Family Guy joke, though the matter will finally be directly tackled in a new episode.
The youngest Griffin is set to attend therapy, guided by the calming voice of Ian McKellen, with executive producer Rich Appel explaining to TVLine that the episode will “delve into all sorts of things you would think would come up in a therapy session with a boy like Stewie”, including the “question of sexuality”.
The character’s expressed an interest in male and female characters over the course of Family Guy‘s 300 episodes; in 2009, creator Seth MacFarlane told Playboy that (via New York Daily News), before the show’s cancellation in 2002, he’d written a coming-out episode for Stewie.
“It had to do with the harassment he took from other kids at school,” MacFarlane said. “He ends up going back in time to prevent a passage in Leviticus from being written: ‘Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is an abomination.’”
“But we decided it’s better to keep it vague, which makes more sense because he’s a 1-year-old. Ultimately, Stewie will be gay or a very unhappy repressed heterosexual. It also explains why he’s so hellbent on killing [his mother, Lois] and taking over the world: He has a lot of aggression, which comes from confusion and uncertainty about his orientation.”
Appel added: “It’s a wonderful episode, and Seth’s performance is spectacular.” The episode, which Appel says will be shown with limited commercial interruptions, airs next month. Family Guy returns Sunday 11 March on Fox, 9/8c.
Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for all the latest on Film, TV, Music, and more.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments