 Early episodes based much of their comedy on Stewie 's " super villain " antics , such as his constant plans for total world domination , his evil experiments , plans and inventions to get rid of things he dislikes , and his constant attempts at matricide . As the series progressed , the writers and MacFarlane agreed that his personality and the jokes were starting to feel dated , so they began writing him with a different personality . Family Guy often includes self @-@ referential humor . The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting , and occasions where the characters break the fourth wall by addressing the audience . For example , in " North by North Quahog " , the first episode that aired after the show 's revival , included Peter telling the family that they had been cancelled because Fox had to make room in their schedule for shows like Dark Angel , Titus , Undeclared , Action , That ' 80s Show , Wonderfalls , Fastlane , Andy Richter Controls the Universe , Skin , Girls Club , Cracking Up , The Pitts , Firefly , Get Real , Freakylinks , Wanda at Large , Costello , The Lone Gunmen , A Minute with Stan Hooper , Normal , Ohio , Pasadena , Harsh Realm , Keen Eddie , The $ treet , The American Embassy , Cedric the Entertainer Presents , The Tick , Luis , and Greg the Bunny . Lois asks whether there is any hope , to which Peter replies that if all these shows are canceled they might have a chance ; the shows were indeed canceled during Family Guy 's hiatus . 
