RIP, Brian.

Brian Griffin the dog on "Family Guy," is dead. Stewie has a new dog, Vinny, but I guess the show will never be the same again after last night.

That's pretty crazy if you ask me. I'm no Family Guy fanatic, but I did use to watch it with friends in college. In all truthfulness, Brian was the most sane character on that show despite his lust for Lois and drinking and drug problems.

I wonder why they killed off the character?

This might help Why Did ‘Family Guy’ Kill Off Brian? 4 Reasons Producers Killed Off The Dog On 'Life Of Brian' Episode [VIDEO]

I actually did watch the clip of Brian's death--and aside from a squirrel being unsurprisingly pleased with the outcome-- and a funny line from a headless chicken, it was actually played straight. Brian did not have some freak accident or murder, he rather tragically was run over by a car. For once, all the family members acted like normal people and it was quite touching as Brian told everyone how much he loved them.

However, some people are certain this won't be permanent because there are some future episodes that supposedly have Brian linked plot lines. How can Brian be in them if he's dead?

Hmm. So they killed off a main character because they wanted a fun way to make a change and shake things up. Ooookay. At first I thought the actor who played Brian might be leaving the show because of other opportunities, or a falling out. That makes a lot more since.

Although, I wouldn't be surprised if they do bring back Brian and this was really just a stunt.

Actually the voice actor of Brian is none other than Seth MacFarlane himself, who also voices Stewie, Peter and Quagmire. So if MacFarlane suddenly decided to leave the show, than the whole show would most likely be cancelled.
Although your theory reminded me of the one I used to have as to why Velma, Daphne and Fred weren't in the Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show--I thought the voice actors quit because Scrappy was so annoying.

Oh. I don't watch the show so I didn't know he voiced those characters (Peter was the only one I knew he voiced). OK, so that's why they had no problems killing off Brian. But still, the reasoning is pretty stupid.

Really, Brian is one of the founding characters, retooled from a Cartoon Network debut as Steve in Larry And Steve.

Of course, when a character like Brian has been around in a long runner, he gets pigeonholed as far as characterization, which limits the kinds of comic mechanisms that he can do. I think his forays into alcoholism and substance abuse were efforts to allow him to act out of character with an excuse. But that's a poor crutch, especially for the long term. This Vinny starts out as a blank, with limitless characterization potential, thus can work any kind of comic mechanism, dramatic sting or subplot device. It will take much time until Vinny "cements" into his role, which means that Fox has much confidence in the Family Guy franchise as an ongoing vehicle.

Brian is actually a pretty easy one to notice because MacFarlane's normal speaking voice sounds almost exactly like Brian's.

So…… Brian's back? (Heard this on the radio.)

His "death" lasted a whopping total of like 3 episodes, I think.

So, it came to pass that after the third episode, he was resurrected. Talk about a "Life Of Brian"!

I heard that Stewie went back in time to push Brian out of the way of the car.

Yeah, that's what I read too. Pretty short death if you ask me.

Perhaps Brian was Only Slightly Dead, which tends to happen to animated characters. A long nap and some chicken soup, and death isn't much worse than a head cold.

At least Stewie didn't have any time complications occur from saving Brian from getting hit by a car. Rose Tyler on the other saw all hell break loose when she tried to save her father from getting hit by a car in "Father's Day" , an episode of Doctor Who. (Yes, I am a Whovian, thanks to my boyfriend.)

Not having access to Hulu or FOX; I missed the episode and only saw the different articles linked above. If what has been said about Stewie having gone back in time and pushed Brian out of the way is true; I'm glad. I think the only other bad decision McFarlane ever made with regard to FG, besides killing off Brian, was to have given Cleveland Brown his own show (is that still even airing?)

From what I heard , that show has been canceled.