Season 9 · Episode 6 · First aired 21 November 2010
Brian Writes a Bestseller
Episode 6 of Family Guy season 9 (S09E06), the 153rd Family Guy episode overall. Written by Gary Janetti and directed by Joseph Lee. First broadcast on 21 November 2010.
Story
Crates of unsold copies of Brian's novel Faster Than the Speed of Love arrive in the post and he gives up writing, until he notices a self-help title at the top of the New York Times list. Stewie talks him into producing one to prove the form is worthless, and Wish It, Want It, Do It, written in three hours, sells heavily. Brian takes Stewie on as his publicist and turns insufferable, sacking him when Christopher Hitchens drops out of a booking on Real Time with Bill Maher. Maher, Arianna Huffington and Dana Gould pull the book apart on air until Brian admits he wrote it quickly for the money, and Maher drives him off the set. Back home, Brian half apologises and Stewie tells him plainly that he cannot write.
Production and reception
- Steve Callaghan, showrunner and executive producer, announced the episode at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con. Gary Janetti wrote it and Joseph Lee directed. Wikipedia, Brian Writes a Bestseller
- The talk show scene was filmed as live action on the HBO set of Real Time with Bill Maher, with an animated Brian laid over the panel opposite Maher, Dana Gould and Arianna Huffington. Wikipedia, Brian Writes a Bestseller
- Guest voices besides the talk show panel included Ashley Tisdale, Christine Lakin, Katie Sah and Chris Cox. Wikipedia, Brian Writes a Bestseller
- Nielsen recorded 6.59 million viewers and a 3.3 rating among adults aged 18 to 49, down markedly on the previous week. Wikipedia, Brian Writes a Bestseller
- Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club rated the episode B while judging the Bill Maher sequence poorly done. Wikipedia, Brian Writes a Bestseller
Voices
| Voice | Characters |
|---|---|
| Seth MacFarlane | Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin |
| Alex Borstein | Lois Griffin, Penguin Publishing Receptionist, Veterinarian |
| Seth Green | Chris Griffin, Chris Griffin |
| Mila Kunis | Meg Griffin |
| Mike Henry | Paparazzis |
| Alexandra Breckenridge | High School Checker, Female Author, Renée Zellweger |
| Chris Cox | Mailman, Paparazzis |
| Ralph Garman | Paparazzis |
| Dana Gould | Dana Gould |
| Arianna Huffington | Arianna Huffington |
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
- Dana Gould as himself (live-action)
- Arianna Huffington as herself (live-action)
- Christine Lakin as Joyce Kinney
- Bill Maher as himself (live-action), Bill Maher
- Katie Sah as Jan, Receptionist
- Ashley Tisdale as Kelly
- Adam West as Mayor Adam West
- John Viener as Man in Coma
Season 9: episode 6 of 18
- E1And Then There Were Fewer
- E2Excellence in Broadcasting
- E3Welcome Back, Carter
- E4Halloween on Spooner Street
- E5Baby, You Knock Me Out
- E6Brian Writes a BestsellerYou are here
- E7Road to the North Pole
- E8New Kidney in Town
- E9And I'm Joyce Kinney
- E10Friends of Peter G.
- E11German Guy
- E12The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair
- E13Trading Places
- E14Tiegs for Two
- E15Brothers & Sisters
- E16The Big Bang Theory
- E17Foreign Affairs
- E18It's a Trap!
SourceFacts from Wikipedia: Family Guy season 9 and the episode's article (CC BY-SA 4.0). Spotted an error? See corrections.
Provenance
Facts only- Sources
- 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.