Brian I'm Sorry

About

Brian I'm Sorry, also known as I’m Sorry, No, I’m Sorry, is an object labeling meme depicting animated character Brian Griffin from the TV show Family Guy recreating the classic scene in Old Yeller, except the dog kills his owner instead. The format is typically used to show how someone or something gets an unexpected jump on them when the tables suddenly turn. Various objects are placed over the two characters and/or their guns.

Origin

The original clip that the meme is pulled from is seen during season 15, episode four (called “Inside Family Guy”), released on October 23rd, 2016, specifically the scene where Brian is retelling the story of Old Yeller in which he plays Yeller. During the scene (featured below), Brian’s owner can be seen holding a shotgun, mimicking the classic scene in Old Yeller where his owner is forced to shoot the dog after it contracted rabies from a wolf while defending his family. As the owner says, “I’m sorry,” and prepares to shoot Brian, he suddenly rolls out of the way, drawing a sidearm saying, “No, I’m sorry,” and proceeds to kill him instead.

Spread

The first time the scene appears online as a meme format comes from a post by Redditor^[1] 0jack_robinson0 on February 23rd, 2020, posted to the r/MemeEconomy sub. Posted under the title, “Invest in this new family guy format,” the blank template received 57 upvotes and 44 comments.

The format was then picked up by other Redditors on the site who began spreading it to additional subreddits. Later that day after the template was uploaded, Redditor^[2] zDark_Knight21 posted their take on the meme (seen below) to r/dankmemes on February 23rd, 2020, receiving over 34,000 upvotes, 144 comments and a couple of Reddit awards.

Redditor^[3] Crimson_Viper N posted another variant on February 25th, 2020, to the r/MemeTemplatesOfficial sub asking for the blank template. The post, which includes a crosspost from r/Animemes made by Redditor^[4] DetectiveBaby_Legs (seen below), received over 7,200 upvotes and 45 comments.

On March 6th, 2020, Redditor^[5] 7cmStrangler posted a meme referencing Japanese censorship laws to the r/Animemes sub (shown below), which garnered over 20,000 upvotes, 163 comments and a single Reddit award.

Twitter users also began using the meme format in March 2020. One such example was tweeted by Twitter^[6] user hoodieIamar on March 4th, 2020, as a reply to an ESPN insider discussing the NFL. This meme (seen below) received 135 likes and three retweets.

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References