Featured Image Credit: Fox
Topics: Family Guy, TV, TV and Film
Michael Slavin
Over 25 years on from his first appearance, Family Guy has killed off one of the most iconic characters from the show.
Likely noting the success of The Simpsons in killing off a major character, Family Guy has made the big decision to off one of their characters in brutal fashion.
While Marge Simpson’s death was temporary, however, this one is likely to be a bit more permanent.
Whilst fans may be sceptical, especially considering Family Guy famously killed off Brian only to bring him back a few episodes later, one of the TV show’s producers has confirmed that this time it’s for good.
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One of the new seasons’ episodes sees the iconic Giant Chicken killed in absolutely brutal fashion.
Ernie the Giant Chicken has had an ongoing feud with Peter on TV since he first appeared in a 1999 episode of Family Guy.
Ernie and Peter would regularly get into knock-down-drag-out brawls that would end up destroying more or less the entire town.
This would eventually lead to a crossover episode in which Peter gets into more or less the same type of fight with Homer Simpson.
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In both his fight with Peter and his fight with Homer, however, Peter never struck a fatal blow against the massive chicken.
This changed in a recent episode of the show when Meg Griffin found herself in a room with the Giant Chicken.
In the episode The Chicken or the Meg, it saw the Mila Kunis-voiced character beginning a brief romantic tryst with Ernie the Giant Chicken’s son, Nugget.
Though initially welcoming, Ernie eventually offers Meg an ultimatum: stop dating Nugget or cut ties with her father.
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As anyone would, Meg then responds by cutting Ernie’s head off, leaving his headless body to briefly run around in chicken-esque style before falling dead.
Though the moment may be thought to be temporary by fans who are familiar with cartoon shows penchant for killing off characters and bringing them back, particularly Family Guy, a producer really insists that this time is permanent.
Alec Sulkin, an executive producer on the show, spoke to TVLine about the episode when he revealed that Ernie’s death at the hands of Meg is permanent.
Sulkin said that Ernie had ‘gone the way of all flesh’, before adding: “Honestly, I feel like we got so many great set pieces out of the giant chicken fighting with Peter that they became hard to top.
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“It’s a lot to ask of our production crew, and we may have just gotten the best out of that character.”
This was backed up by fellow EP Richard Appel, who suggested the 2014 crossover with The Simpsons was probably the height of what they could manage with the joke.