Not the Family Guy Episode You Were Expecting

It can't be, can it?

Like most folks in New England, I completely missed this because I was watching the Pats game at the time and learned of this through Facebook (we're well beyond spoiler alert at this point, no?). In the Family Guy episode on Sunday, Brian Griffin... dies? Given that Seth MacFarlane has hinted at a desire to end Family Guy, could this be an attempt to move in that direction? Or is it a publicity stunt to gather a some more buzz, because mission accomplished. Heck, it could be both. Now please understand-- this is a cartoon that has been quite willing to bend the rules of reality and has temporarily killed off characters before (Lois, most notably). They could easily bring him back in any number of ways, but I wonder if the backlash will actually embolden the writers to stick with the fate. And as a final note, some have suggested Meg should have gone (must it be anyone!?) but why would anyone associated with the show give up any opportunity to see Mila Kunis? Mmm... Mila Kunis.... Oh, check out the tribute to Brian below.