While Family Guy still has a long way to go to reach the longevity of The Simpsons, the show’s staying power has been incredible, surviving occasional ratings trouble and outright cancellation. Now, it's gearing up for an upcoming 25th season, which includes a Halloween special, and will require a Hulu subscription to see. In that time, the show has had more running gags than it is possible to count. However, it seems one of them may finally have come to an end.
Back in the show’s very first season, fans were introduced to a giant chicken that gave patriarch Peter Griffin an expired coupon. This simple act led to one of Family Guy's funniest bits, a recurring brawl between the two characters that would pop up occasionally, often without warning, for the next quarter-century. However, in an episode last season, the chicken, whose name was Earnie, was killed off. Executive Producer Alec Sulkin tells TV Line that the giant chicken is likely staying dead, too, as he explained:
