After 23 seasons, the FOX show Family Guy has ended one of network TV’s longest-running feuds. The chicken is dead.
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Everyone knows about the iconic Peter vs Ernie the chicken fights. Since season 1, the pair have engaged in brutal fisticuffs that have grown more and more outlandish. It became a unique staple of the series, and the classic moment was recreated in the epic Peter vs Homer fight in the crossover with The Simpsons.
Now, however, Ernie has officially died, leaving Peter the victor in their decades-long feud. But he did not die by Peter’s hand, oh no.
It was Meg who killed him.
Episode 5 of season 23, “The Chicken or the Meg,” saw the often-sidelined Griffin daughter date Nugget, the son of Ernie. At the end of the episode, Ernie forces Meg to either admit hatred for her father or to stop dating Nugget.
Instead, she chose option C: to behead him off-screen. As she walks out with his eviscerated head, his body ran around for a moment before slumping to the ground.
And this time, this cartoon death is canonical.
Family Guy Executive Producers Confirm Ernie’s Death
Executive Producer Alec Sulkin spoke to TVLine to confirm the death of Ernie. Many didn’t believe his death would be the end of the character, considering Family Guy characters ‘die’ all the time.
But this time it’s real.
“I think that the chicken has gone the way of all flesh,” Sulkin said. “Honestly, I feel like we got so many great set pieces out of the giant chicken fighting with Peter that they became hard to top. It’s a lot to ask of our production crew, and we may have just gotten the best out of that character.”
He alluded to the insane fight between Peter and Homer, “It’s hard to know where you take that further.”
With season 23 coming to a close, we’ll have to wait till next year to see a Quahog with officially no Ernie. I wonder if we’ll still get more insane fights, or if that gimmick will die with the Chicken.
Perhaps Nugget will grow up to become Meg’s nemesis…