FOXOh my god, they killed [Spoiler Alert] Brian!
Who knew the death of an animated character—a dog, no less— could shake us to our very core?
After last night's series-altering twist on Family Guy, E! News chatted exclusively with executive producer Steven Callaghan, who explained that the writers decided to kill Brian as a "fun way to shake things up...We got very excited about the way this change will affect the family dynamics and the characters."
Callaghan also believes that although the fans were understandably shocked by Brian's death, "Our fans are smart enough and have been loyal to our show for long enough, to know that they can trust us. We always make choices that always work to the greatest benefit of the series."
Clearly, Family Guy isn't the first show to kill off a main character. And there have certainly been TV deaths that were so game-changing, we weren't quite sure how the series would recover. So how does Family Guy's twist rank among the most shocking TV deaths in recent memory? And what are the chance the show will carry on unscathed?
Check out our look at the 20 Most Shocking TV Deaths in Recent History to see how Family Guy ranks...and let us know in the comments what you think of Brian's demise. Will the show ever be the same? Will you keep watching?