Seth MacFarlane’s Brian departed Family Guy, but Tony Sirico replaced him as new dog Vinnie (Picture: Fox/EPA)

Family Guy has stunned fans by killing off Brian Griffin, replacing the family’s pet with a new talking dog voiced by The Sopranos actor Tony Sirico.

The death of a character had been promised by show bosses in Sunday night’s episode, but few expected it to be Brian, who has played a key part in the plots and gags of countless episodes and whose dynamic with baby Stewie has always been one of the stronger elements of the show.

The Seth MacFarlane-voiced dog was run over by a car in ‘Life of Brian’, with Stewie being unable to go back in time and save him after disassembling his time machine.



Blog: Was killing off Brian Griffin an act of sabotage?


Peter Griffin picks up his new dog, Vinnie (Picture: Fox)

Brian was quickly replaced by a new family dog called Vinnie, a ‘pooch with attitude’ who many viewers were quick to spot is voiced by Tony Sirico, the actor that played mafioso Paulie ‘Walnuts’ Gaultieri in HBO’s The Sopranos.

MORE: 5 things Brian Griffin has taught us about life

Family Guy’s executive producer Steve Callaghan explained the decision to send Brian ‘on a trip to Belize’, telling E! Online: ‘This was an idea that got pitched in the writers’ room and it sort of caught fire, and we thought it could be a fun way to shake things up.

‘We started talking about what the next couple episodes could be and we got very excited about the way this change will affect the family dynamics and the characters.’

Killing off characters seems to be popular in cartoons at the moment with The Simpsons planning on doing the same, although given Family Guy’s love of undermining its own plots (and bringing characters back from the dead), we shouldn’t rule out the possibility of a return for Brian just yet.

BLOG: Who should have been killed off instead of Brian Griffin?