Season 14 · Episode 9 · First aired 13 December 2015
A Shot in the Dark
Episode 9 of Family Guy season 14 (S14E09), the 258th Family Guy episode overall. Written by Mike Desilets and directed by Brian Iles. First broadcast on 13 December 2015.
Story
Peter puts the family couch out on the lawn so that he, Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe can drink on it. When it is carted off as rubbish, the four form a neighbourhood watch and Peter arms them. Spotting a figure at a window of the Brown house, he shoots and hits Cleveland Jr. The police call it an accident, but Cleveland goes on television to argue that it was a hate crime, the town turns on the Griffins and Peter is arrested to calm the mood. Carter provides a lawyer, who wins an acquittal by blackening Cleveland Jr's name, and Cleveland ends the friendship. Peter then faces the crowd outside the Brown house, admits the shooting and says he should answer for it, and Cleveland forgives him.
Production and reception
- The story took its starting point from the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012. Wikipedia, A Shot in the Dark (Family Guy)
- The episode was made under the working title "Stand Your Brown", punning on Cleveland's surname and on the self-defence law of a similar name. Wikipedia, A Shot in the Dark (Family Guy)
- Two broadcasts were dropped before it aired: one set for 15 November 2015, pulled after the Paris attacks, and one set for 6 December, pulled after the San Bernardino shooting. Wikipedia, A Shot in the Dark (Family Guy)
- The first broadcast drew 3.74 million viewers, placing it third among Fox's programmes that night. Wikipedia, A Shot in the Dark (Family Guy)
- TV Fanatic's Lisa Basic rated the episode two stars out of five. Wikipedia, A Shot in the Dark (Family Guy)
Voices
| Voice | Characters |
|---|---|
| Seth MacFarlane | Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin |
| Alex Borstein | Lois Griffin |
| Seth Green | Chris Griffin |
| Mila Kunis | Meg Griffin |
| Mike Henry | Cleveland Brown |
| John G. Brennan | Mort Goldman |
| Gary Cole | NCIS Fan |
| Cary Elwes | Cyrano de Bergerac |
| Ralph Garman | The Man in the Yellow Hat |
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
- Cary Elwes
- Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson
Season 14: episode 9 of 20
- E1Pilling Them Softly
- E2Papa Has a Rollin' Son
- E3Guy, Robot
- E4Peternormal Activity
- E5Peter, Chris & Brian
- E6Peter's Sister
- E7Hot Pocket-Dial
- E8Brokeback Swanson
- E9A Shot in the DarkYou are here
- E10Candy, Quahog Marshmallow
- E11The Peanut Butter Kid
- E12Scammed Yankees
- E13An App a Day
- E14Underage Peter
- E15A Lot Going on Upstairs
- E16The Heartbreak Dog
- E17Take a Letter
- E18The New Adventures of Old Tom
- E19Run, Chris, Run
- E20Road to India
SourceFacts from Wikipedia: Family Guy season 14 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.