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Brian Griffin

Brian Griffin is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is one of the main characters of the series and a member of the Griffin family. Created, designed, and voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is an anthropomorphic white labrador retriever who is the best friend of both Peter and Stewie Griffin and comic foil with the ability to speak, sing, drive, and stand on two legs.

Brian first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Griffin family, in the series premiere "Death Has a Shadow" on January 31, 1999. MacFarlane was asked to pitch a pilot to the Fox Broadcasting Company, based on ''The Life of Larry'' and ''Larry & Steve'', two shorts made by MacFarlane featuring a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. These two characters were redesigned and renamed Peter and Brian, but they retained similar voices and personalities.

Brian has been featured in many items of merchandise for ''Family Guy'', and he is considered to be one of the series' biggest merchandising characters. He has also made crossover appearances in other MacFarlane-produced shows, such as ''American Dad!'' and ''The Cleveland Show''.

As a character, Brian was initially very well received by critics, although reception in later years has been mixed. When Brian was killed off in the season 12 episode "Life of Brian", the events of the episode received substantial attention from the media and elicited strongly negative reactions from fans of the series. However, it turned out to be temporary, as he made his return to the series just two episodes later in "Christmas Guy", after Stewie traveled back in time to save him. Provided by Wikipedia