Family Guy type TV Show network Fox genre Animated

You might want to dry those eyes and pour a welcome-back martini for Brian, because it looks like our dearly departed dog will be returning shortly to Family Guy.

Yes, the beloved talking canine who met his demise in the Nov. 24 episode will pop back up on the animated Fox comedy in the Dec. 15 installment. (The network declined to comment.) How exactly Brian — who is voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane — will re-emerge from the land of the dead is unknown, but he will continue to play a role on the show. (In an episode slated to run next fall, for example, he becomes enamored with an avid runner, played by Maya Rudolph.)

For those who missed the Nov. 24 episode, Brian was given a proper burial after being run over by a car. Stewie, who had destroyed his time machine, was unable to acquire a titanium capacitor to build another device, preventing him from changing the course of events on that fateful day. And the Griffins kickstarted the moving-on process by getting a new dog, Vinny (voiced by Tony Sirico). “We thought it could be a fun way to shake things up,” executive producer Steve Callaghan said of the decision to off Brian. “As soon as this idea came 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.”

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It has certainly provoked upset fans into action. A petition that urges the powers that be to bring back Brian has already been signed by more than 125,000 people. Many others, of course, smelled a stunt, as it would make little sense to kill off one of the show’s most popular characters. The official logline for the Dec. 15 episode, titled “Christmas Guy,” opens the door for Brian’s return, stating that “Stewie devises a master plan to get the one and only thing he wants for Christmas,” and lists Brian in the cast of characters. What kind of Christmas miracle is coming to Spooner Street? That present will be opened a week from Sunday.