If you thought Family Guy permanently killed off Brian, the Griffin family's quick-witted dog, you were wrong.
In a holiday miracle, the show brought Brian back from the dead in this weekend's "Christmas Guy" episode thanks to wunderkind Stewie Griffin. Despite a broken time machine, Stewie manages to travel back and prevent Brian's demise.
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The anthropomorphized dog, a series regular since the animated show premiered in 1999, died when a car ran him over two episodes ago on Nov. 24. Saddened and angry fans demanded the show's writers to reverse the death in a #BringBrianBack social media rallying cry and in a Change.org petition that has accumulated more than 128,000 signatures.
The backlash didn't affect this season's plot twist as Sunday's episode was recorded before the online furor started, but Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane was aware of fans' reactions. He addressed the concerns and Brian's comeback Sunday on Twitter:
I mean, you didn't really think we'd kill off Brian, did you? Jesus, we'd have to be fucking high.
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) December 16, 2013
Oh and hey... thanks for caring so much about the canine Griffin. He is overcome with gratitude.
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) December 16, 2013
In the original death sequence in November, a vehicle turns a corner near the Griffin residence and speeds into Brian, who later dies in a hospital. His family — Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris and Stewie — cries as the blood-soaked canine takes his final breath, and then swiftly adopts a new dog named Vinny to cope with the loss.
Time travel wizardry, however, has rendered that fatality null and void, as Stewie saves his BFF in this scene from Family Guy's latest episode:

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Image: Fox Broadcasting Network