 " Death Has a Shadow " is the pilot episode of the animated series Family Guy . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States after Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31 , 1999 . The episode is based on series creator Seth MacFarlane 's original pitch to Fox , The Life of Larry , and is a remake of the original Family Guy pilot . In the episode , Peter loses his job after drinking too much at a stag party and falls asleep at work . He signs up for welfare to keep his wife Lois from finding out , but gets much more money than he expected . Lois finds out and Peter decides to dump it from a blimp at the Super Bowl . He is arrested and must await his family 's rescue . 
