Season 7 · Episode 5 · First aired 9 November 2008
The Man with Two Brians
Episode 5 of Family Guy season 7 (S07E05), the 115th Family Guy episode overall. Written by John Viener and directed by Dominic Bianchi. First broadcast on 9 November 2008.
Story
After watching Jackass, Peter, Cleveland, Quagmire and Joe film dangerous stunts of their own. Peter tries to jump a lake, hits a tree and lands in the water unable to move. Brian swims out to save him, strains his back and is stranded too until Joe rescues them both. Lois scolds Peter, pointing out that Brian is getting old. Peter buys a second dog and names him New Brian. The newcomer's cheerfulness wins over the family, and Brian, feeling pushed out, leaves home. Stewie finds New Brian's good humour grating and asks Brian to come home, but Brian refuses while the other dog stays. When Stewie lists his complaints, New Brian reveals he has abused Stewie's teddy bear Rupert. Stewie kills him off screen, puts the remains in the bin and forges a suicide note. The family take Brian back while Stewie scrubs Rupert in the shower.
Production and reception
- John Viener wrote the episode and voiced New Brian, and Dominic Bianchi made his directing debut. Wikipedia, The Man with Two Brians
- New Brian was planned as a golden retriever, but his colour was changed so he would stand out against the yellow kitchen. Wikipedia, The Man with Two Brians
- Johnny Knoxville of Jackass voiced himself, and Will Sasso and Camille Guaty also guest starred. Wikipedia, The Man with Two Brians
- The first broadcast reached 8.60 million households and took a 4.3 rating among adults aged 18 to 49, topping Fox's Animation Domination block for the night. Wikipedia, The Man with Two Brians
- Ahsan Haque of IGN rated it 7.5 out of 10 and Robin Pierson of The TV Critic 32 out of 100. The A.V. Club's Genevieve Koski graded it A minus. Wikipedia, The Man with Two Brians
Voices
| Voice | Characters |
|---|---|
| Seth MacFarlane | Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin |
| Alex Borstein | Lois Griffin, Carol Alt |
| Seth Green | Chris Griffin |
| Mila Kunis | Meg Griffin |
| Mike Henry | Cleveland Brown |
| Alexandra Breckenridge | Girl |
| Kirker Butler | Jackass Announcer |
| Camille Guaty | Puerto Rico Girl |
| Mark Hentemann | Bill Cosby, Alligator |
| Johnny Knoxville | Johnny Knoxville |
Principal voice credits as recorded by IMDb, which lists up to ten credits per episode, so recurring characters can be missing here. Guest voices below come from Wikipedia and TVmaze.
Guest voices
- Johnny Knoxville as himself
- Will Sasso as Bernie the Hamster
- Camille Guaty as Puerto Rican Girl
- Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson
- John Viener as New Brian
- Danny Smith as Buzz Killington
- Kirker Butler as Lincoln's Neighbor
Season 7: episode 5 of 16
- E1Love, Blactually
- E2I Dream of Jesus
- E3Road to Germany
- E4Baby Not on Board
- E5The Man with Two BriansYou are here
- E6Tales of a Third Grade Nothing
- E7Ocean's Three and a Half
- E8Family Gay
- E9The Juice Is Loose
- E10Fox-y Lady
- E11Not All Dogs Go to Heaven
- E12420
- E13Stew-Roids
- E14We Love You, Conrad
- E15Three Kings
- E16Peter's Progress
SourceFacts from Wikipedia: Family Guy season 7 and the episode's article (CC BY-SA 4.0). Spotted an error? See corrections.
Provenance
Facts only- Data refreshed
- 6 September 2026
- Verification
- Checked against Wikidata and IMDb: title, date, numbering and credits agree
- Licence
- Facts are not copyrightable. Source text on Wikipedia is CC BY-SA 4.0; Wikidata is CC0; IMDb data is used for verification under its non-commercial terms.
- Note
- The story summary and notes were written for this site from the sources listed, by Claude in Claude Code on 2026-09-08, awaiting editorial review. Facts only; no dialogue is reproduced. Voice credits: Information courtesy of IMDb (https://www.imdb.com). Used with permission. Guest cast data from TVmaze (https://www.tvmaze.com), CC BY-SA.