Family Guy Effect

*NOTE! THIS IS NOT A MEME*
This article is a meme-related phenomenon.

The Family Guy effect is an observed phenomenon that indicates the end of a meme’s natural lifespan. When a popular Internet meme is mentioned on the show Family Guy, popularity of said meme will either have a temporary spike in popularity, or begin to decline. Usually, it is one that has been around for quite a while, but occasionally can be a newer one. Newer memes, in this case, are the kind that do not have the staying power of older or more viral ones.

Due to the pop culture based nature of the show, Family Guy has changed sources for their jokes about once every two to three seasons. When the show debuted, jokes were based mostly on 70’s pop culture, usually topics that were known by both older and younger audiences like Star Wars or Tron. As the series continued, however, the well of material ran dry and the writing staff moved on to later decades, using the 80’s, 90’s, and ultimately 2000’s as their inspiration.

While this worked for a short time, more recent mentions of Internet culture have indicated a near-future decline in the popularity of a meme. In an episode of Family Guy where the family moves to Texas, Chuck Norris facts were used as a substitute for writing original material. At least three times in the episode, one “fact,” that Chuck has a third fist in place of a chin, was mentioned or alluded to (each time with someone being punched by the beard-fist).

Others have been used in a similar way, with Peanut Butter Jelly Time being sung by Brian, and Christian Bale screaming at Peter for putting up Christmas lights. This was mainstream to begin with, however. A Libety Medical commercial even showed up once, with little to no embellishment by the writers, instead relying on the humor of the subject itself to bring the lolz.

However, this is not so much the cause of death as much as an indicator, showing that a meme has matured through its natural life span and is due to jump the shark. It either has been around long enough to leak into mainstream media, or was mainstream to begin with (Christian Bale, Diabeetus). And while popularity doesn’t drop off quickly, it does start to “Peter out.” Hehhehhehheh…