- 2 days ago
Turns out being the "smart one" in the Griffin household isn't as impressive as Brian thinks. Join us as we count down our picks for the most satisfying moments where Brian Griffin was served a large — yet entirely deserved — helping of humble pie on Family Guy!
Transcript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the moments where Brian was served a large, yet
00:07entirely deserved, helping of humble pie.
00:09Hi, I'm Professor Comedy.
00:11No!
00:12Boo!
00:14Number 10. Pretending to understand multiverse theory.
00:19Between Stewie and Brian, the former is the brains of the operation.
00:23However, that hasn't stopped the latter from attempting, and failing, to prove his own intelligence.
00:28He tried to do so in Road to the Multiverse, when Stewie asked him if he'd heard of the parallel
00:33universe theory.
00:34Rather than admit he hadn't, he claimed he had, and then deflected the question back.
00:39You ever heard of the multiverse theory, Brian?
00:42Well, of course I have, but I'm wondering if you have.
00:44Stewie wasn't having it, and dryly noted how obvious he was being.
00:49Oh my god, so transparent.
00:50Most would have bowed out there, but not Brian.
00:53He tried saving face by repeating some of Stewie's scientific jargon, which failed when Stewie bluntly reminded him that he
01:00had no clue what he was talking about.
01:02Dimensional planes, right?
01:03Don't do that.
01:04Don't repeat the last two words like you already kinda knew what I was talking about.
01:08You have no idea what I'm talking about.
01:10Brian wisely backed down, allowing the pair to start their adventure shortly afterwards.
01:15Number 9.
01:16Not being able to name any charities.
01:18Brian may just be the final boss of performative activism.
01:23Although he talks a big game, the act falls apart the moment he's questioned.
01:26This was the case in fresh air.
01:29After Carter announced he was leaving his fortune to Chris, the dog used it as an opportunity to make himself
01:34look better.
01:35After smugly telling the millionaire he would donate the money, Carter simply asked him which charity he'd give it to.
01:41Look, Carter, I suppose you're entitled to do what you want, but, you know, I'm just saying if it were
01:46me, I would give all the money to charity.
01:48Oh yeah? Which charity?
01:49Well, there are just so many that do such great work.
01:53When he attempted to weasel out of it, the older man requested that he name a single organization.
01:58Backed into a corner, Brian listed random hot-button issues and was rightfully branded a fraud.
02:04Well, you know, poor green whale guns books?
02:10You are such a fraud.
02:12Although a cutaway revealed his made-up charity was real, it proved how much of a fake ally he was.
02:19Why won't anyone help us?
02:21Number 8. Being legally stupid.
02:24In his defense, we also wouldn't like it if our best friend wrote a book depicting us as stupid.
02:30However, we also wouldn't allow a jury to prove we were.
02:33Brian did so following the publication of Stewie's book, Flunky the Dumb White Dog.
02:38Furious about his portrayal, he sued the baby for defamation.
02:41That's right, I lawyered up, you little b******.
02:44Once Brian took the stand, it was clear it wouldn't go well for him.
02:48His fate was sealed upon showing excitement over classic dog activities simply from hearing the words.
02:54On December 1st, 1951, Treat Williams was born.
02:58Where? Where? Where's the treat?
03:00The verdict was clear.
03:01Brian was a moron.
03:03Not only was he humbled, but had been done in a way that was legally set in stone.
03:08The dog is an idiot. The baby wins.
03:12Although he eventually got his revenge, it came at the cost of immense public embarrassment.
03:19Don't let yourself get humbled.
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03:28Hey! Hey, you're back! Oh, man, I feel like you've been gone forever! Hey, watch me spin around! Whoa! Whoa!
03:36Number 7. You're the Art Garfunkel of the universe.
03:40After Brian and Stewie accidentally end up outside the space-time continuum during an incident with the time machine,
03:47they were stuck until the latter was able to override his equipment and send them home.
03:54We made it!
03:55Later on, he learned that his action was actually the Big Bang creating the universe.
04:00Brian tried saying that he had a hand in its creation as well,
04:03only to get immediately shut down and referred to as Stewie's Art Garfunkel.
04:07So wait, that means that I kind of created the universe too?
04:11Ah, no. No, no, no. You're sort of the Art Garfunkel of the universe.
04:16On the surface, getting compared to one half of folk music's most successful duos sounds like a compliment.
04:22However, when you look at Simon and Garfunkel's creative contributions to their output,
04:26it becomes clear that Stewie essentially accused Brian of writing his coattails.
04:32Hello, darkness, my old friend.
04:37Number 6. Playwrights Mocking a Passing Fancy.
04:40If there's one thing Brian loves, it's to be validated for his writing.
04:45Following the success of his play, A Passing Fancy, it seemed he had achieved that.
04:50Of course, it all went to his head.
04:52The American play was dying.
04:54Have we brought it back to life here?
04:56I can't say that, but it has a pulse.
04:59His superiority crashed and burned once he read Stewie's work, causing him to try to destroy it.
05:04Stewie then hit him with the cold truth that his supposed magnum opus was mediocre.
05:09Your play panders to the lowest common denominator, Brian, and it doesn't even do that well.
05:14Shut up!
05:14Later on, Brian received a double dose of humility while at a party with other famous playwrights.
05:20At first, he talked himself up and even became excited upon hearing they saw a passing fancy.
05:26Any happiness he felt evaporated as they proceeded to laugh in his face and insult his work,
05:31driving home Stewie's earlier point.
05:33I had heard only good things.
05:36It was a piece of s*** on a d***!
05:40Oh my god, I got to hear David Mamet curse in person!
05:44Number 5.
05:45Quagmire calling him out
05:47Stewie may humble Brian, but you can at least tell he still likes him.
05:51Quagmire, however, is a different story.
05:53In Jerome is the New Black, the dog learned that he couldn't join Peter's friend group as their next-door
05:58neighbor despised him.
06:00Quagmire hates me?
06:01Hates you.
06:02Rather than accepting that, Brian made it a point to try and change his mind.
06:06It all culminated in a dinner between the two, where Brian's attempts at conversation were paid dust.
06:11Hey, what if I just drank this whole bottle of ketchup?
06:20He eventually demanded that Quagmire say exactly why he doesn't like him, and he got exactly what he asked for.
06:27All I've done is try to be nice to you and you still don't like me.
06:30How can you not like me?
06:32Okay, I'll tell you.
06:34The pilot proceeded to eviscerate everything about the dog, from his hypocrisy in dating and activism to him constantly disrespecting
06:41Peter and Lois' marriage.
06:42It was intense, humbling, and entirely warranted.
06:46That's the worst of it, Brian.
06:47You're just a big, sad, alcoholic bore.
06:52I'll see you, Brian.
06:54Thanks for the f***ing steak.
06:55Number 4.
06:56Failing the SATs
06:58For a dog who's on more than one occasion mentioned attending Brown University, he certainly dropped the ball when he
07:04had to help Meg with her own college pursuits.
07:07Brian only had one task.
07:09Take the SAT from Meg to ensure she received a good score.
07:12Hey, other teens, how about our youth culture, am I right?
07:16All the new hairs we're getting?
07:18Apparently, she hired the wrong dog for the job.
07:21Later on, she revealed the truth, that he not only hadn't aced it, but that he'd only scored 1,000
07:27out of a possible 2,400 points.
07:29Meg was left disappointed.
07:31Brian could only sit there as Stewie, Chris, and Peter called him dumb.
07:35Don't feel bad, Brian.
07:36It's fun being stupid.
07:37You don't gotta worry about nothing, you don't gotta read books, and you never die.
07:42Peter, that's not correct.
07:43How would you know, stupid?
07:45After that showing, we can't help but wonder how he got admitted to an Ivy League school in the first
07:50place.
07:51Hey, Brian, I started a car in the garage and it's all foggy in there.
07:54Wanna go pretend we're in London?
07:55Oh, totally.
07:57Shrimp on the Barbie, huh?
07:59Number 3.
08:00Dating Lauren Conrad.
08:02Compared to some of his partners, such as Jillian, it's clear to see how Brian could be considered smart.
08:08Wow, Derek, that's pretty good French you speak there.
08:12He also speaks orange.
08:13Mandarin, honey.
08:14Mandolin.
08:15That all changed when he met Lauren Conrad.
08:17He initially believed she would be dumb due to her reality star status, only to be proven wrong when she
08:23revealed she was a genius in every sense of the word.
08:26Plato's Symposium.
08:28Is this yours?
08:29Oh, yeah.
08:29It's pretty worn out.
08:30Yeah, I've read it like a hundred times.
08:32I find Aristophanes' quasi-satirical origin myth regarding the three genders both fantastic and serious.
08:38Yeah, that, uh, that always cracked me up.
08:41It seemed Brian finally found the woman of his dreams.
08:44Instead, it turned into a nightmare.
08:46Between being subjected to infantilizing comments and constant corrections, he got a small taste of what his other girlfriends likely
08:54experienced dating him.
08:55Well, uh, Lauren and I had a great time today at the art museum.
08:58There was a special exhibition of rare Monet paintings and-
09:02Manet, honey.
09:02What?
09:03It was actually the Manet exhibit, not Monet.
09:05But no big deal.
09:06People make that mistake all the time.
09:08Oh, right.
09:08He even flat-out admitted he couldn't be with a woman smarter than him, exposing that both his intellect and
09:15his taste weren't as deep as he claimed.
09:17I'm in love with Jillian.
09:19How could I have been so myopic?
09:22Myopic.
09:23Thank you, Lauren.
09:25Number two.
09:25Peter exposing he doesn't read.
09:28Usually, the Griffin family patriarch makes Brian seem like a genius in comparison.
09:33That dynamic came crashing down for a brief moment in The Most Interesting Man in the World.
09:38It all started with Peter becoming smarter thanks to a string of business trips.
09:42Peter, you seem different.
09:44That's right, Lois.
09:45I live the life of the mind now.
09:47My brain is awash with theorems and profundity and abstractions that I can pontificate upon at length.
09:53As a result, he replaced the family television with a bookshelf.
09:56When Brian gushed that he was happy to see another reader in the house, Peter proceeded to tear him down
10:01bit by bit.
10:02What are you reading right now?
10:03Oh, boy.
10:04Well, I mean, I'm sort of between books right now.
10:07All it took was him simply asking what he was reading for Brian to unravel.
10:11Every non-answer he gave was met with another follow-up question until he was left desperately hoping for an
10:16out.
10:17I'm actually re-reading a lot of stuff.
10:19Yeah, like what?
10:20Just tap out.
10:21Uh, the classics.
10:22It exposed all there was to know about Brian's inflated ego and intellectualism.
10:27What is this, oak?
10:28Oh, I don't even think it's oak.
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10:43Number one.
10:44Bill Maher vs. Brian Griffin.
10:47It doesn't get much more humbling than this.
10:49After Brian released his intentionally awful self-help book, Wish It, Want It, Do It, he achieved the fame he'd
10:55always dreamt of.
10:56Now, what does that mean?
10:57Wish It, Want It, Do It?
10:58Uh, well, it basically just refers to the steps necessary for identifying and achieving your dreams and doing so in
11:06as effective and expeditious a manner as possible.
11:09The success made him a horrible friend to Stewie, whom he viciously insulted and fired.
11:14Only one person could bring him down a peg.
11:17Bill Maher.
11:17Brian scored a position on his panel, where he tried to position himself as an intellectual.
11:22Actually, Dana, if I may, if I may, I have some insight on this.
11:25Uh, Bill, do you mind?
11:26Go, dog.
11:29Almost immediately, Maher and other guests tore into his book, in a desperate attempt to save face.
11:34Brian admitted that he knew it was terrible, which only resulted in Maher saying he lost all respect for him.
11:40I mean, if you're going to take a dump on people, the kind of steaming, stinking, smelly dump that your
11:48kind traffics in, at least stand by your dump.
11:54In just one scene, all the confidence Brian had built up was rightfully torn down.
12:00Outside. Outside now. Outside.
12:04What's your favorite instance of Brian being humble?
12:07Let us know in the comments below.