Original air date: 5/16/1999
Production code: 1ACX-07
To win money for a new air conditioner, Peter urges Brian to compete in a dog show, but quits when he's forced to beg for a treat balanced on his nose as he feels it's demeaning to canines. And things get worse when Brian is put in jail for drinking from a human water fountain because of his species...
"Brian, Portrait Of A Dog" contains example of:
- The Alcoholic: Tom Tucker, who had a few too many Bloody Marys before going on the air.
- A Day in the Limelight: Brian's first spotlight episode in the series.
- Anti-Humor: Peter accuses Meg of this:Meg: It is so hot out there!
Rest of family: How hot is it?
Meg: I don't know. Like, around 98, 99.
Peter: I don't get it. - Anthropomorphic Food: Lois makes cinnamon buns with help from the Pillsbury Doughboy, who she then rolls flat to make more, to his objection.
- Art Shift: When Lois says that Peter and Brian should "go back to the way things used to be", a Cutaway Gag shows Peter and Brian as 1930s-style cartoon characters.
- Bait-and-Switch: A cutaway is about Liza Minnelli taking a blue pill to get ready for a performance. You're made to think it's a drug, but then we see a scared Blue M&M in the corner."Lady, for God's sake, I'm just a hard-shelled chocolate candy! Get help!"
- Both Sides Have a Point: Peter and Brian's argument boils down to this.
- Peter should have been considerate towards Brian's feelings, or at least talked with him beforehand about what they were going to do at the dog show. If Peter did that, Brian might have have even come up with a better alternative to winning the prize air conditioner.
- On Brian's end, he is pretty unappreciative towards Peter most of the time, being outright disrespectful and mean at his worst. After all, Peter is the one who provides for him and their family (something Stewie acknowledges in the first episode), as well as paying a fine because of Brian's carelessness. In the end Peter apologises for demeaning Brian, while Brian discretely shows appreciation towards Peter.
- Cats Are Mean: Peter's replacement for Brian was a cat. However, the cat is constantly nasty and violent. At one point, the cat pulls Peter's eyelids open, leading to:Peter: God, I hate this freaking cat!
- Characterization Marches On: Brian's first spotlight episode revolves around him being talked down to for being a dog. Lois chastises Peter for treating Brian this way and the family learn to treat Brian with dignity. Later episodes slowly make a Running Gag of the family manipulating or mocking Brain's forcive dog-like tendencies and at least once pointing he is semi human and disposable to them, usually with Lois herself being the most condescending and bullying towards him.
- Comedic Sociopathy: The Eight is Enough reunion show features a scene where Tom slaps one of his daughters eight times after she made a snarky remark about how he thinks he can fix every problem by making a sandwich. He's calmed down by being told, "Eight is enough!" The Griffins (minus Stewie) are appalled.
- Dark Secret: Brian views his past as a homeless dog as one. When Peter remarks that he found Brian as a stray, the dog gasps before appallingly stating "You promised to NEVER talk about that."
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The return address on Peter's letter to MacGyver
shows the Griffins' house number to be 725, as opposed to 31 which it was known to be later in the series. - Fantastic Racism: Brian's plights parallel the Civil Rights Movement. He even mentions the Plessy v. Ferguson case in court. Because of this, this episode has been banned in network syndication (but not cable syndication) from airing during the month of February (which is Black History Month).
- Flashback: We see how Peter and Brian met. Brian was homeless and washing windshields. Peter felt bad for him and brought him home.
- Flipping the Bird: When Brian leaves the dog show, Peter acts like it's All Part of the Show and commends him for doing this off-screen. "Yeah, flip me off. Good boy".
- Furry Reminder: Deconstructed—Brian's human-like traits are emphasized in the episode, and all of his canine ones are treated as things he dislikes about himself. At the end of the episode, he indulges in them by licking Peter as a sign of love, then promptly threatens to kill him if he ever mentions it.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: The ending has Brian threatening to kill Peter if he tells anyone that he licked him.
- Hope Spot: Out on the street for a while, Brian finally loses it and begins acting like an out of control dog. Peter arrives and intends to bring him home, just as Brian is taken away by the dog catcher.
- Illogical Safe: In a 1930's cutaway, a safe falls on Brian, but Peter opens it, freeing him and they both shrug it off.
- I "Uh" You, Too: When everyone welcomes Brian home at the end, Stewie merely says, "Dog?" and then bows.
- Jerkass Has a Point: As spiteful as the police officer was, he does kinda have a point about leash laws, even if Brian is sapient and capable of speech.
- Montage: Of Brian studying for his trial.
- Not So Above It All: For all the times Lois gets upset at Peter for his shenanigans, it's revealed that she makes counterfeit money, which is arguably worse than Peter's insurance fraud in the first episode. Hilariously, Peter is likely aware of her crimes, hence bribing the judges later on.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Brian and Peter's relationship gets strained when Brian gets fed up with performing for the dog show. They spend the next couple of scenes sniping at each other.
- Prisons Are Educational Institutions: Brian ends up in the dog pound after biting one rude passerby and is due to be put down. However, when offered the chance of a trial, he spends his free time in the pound preparing himself by reading law books and the history of the African-American civil rights movement, as well as learning to improve his oratorical and argumentative skills.
- Rule of Three: Toward the end of the episode, Meg, Chris, and Lois each make a tearful confession:Chris: I stole ten dollars from Meg's room!
Meg: I stole ten dollars from mom's purse!
Lois: I've been making phony ten-dollar bills for years! - Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Brian is acquitted because Peter bribes the judges with twenty dollars for each one of them. It was even funnier because an earlier confession by Lois implies they were bribed with fake money.
- Self-Plagiarism: The Cutaway Gag of Peter on Jeopardy! ("What is diarrhea?") originated from Seth MacFarlane's short Life of Larry.
- Skewed Priorities: Slightly. As much as Brian's point is understandable, he could have simply swallowed his pride and won the family a new air conditioner, especially since he (being a furry dog) would logically need it the most. Strangely, the heat issue isn't addressed afterwards.
- Small Name, Big Ego: After claiming to not need Peter and storming out, Brian is hit with a painful reality check at how dependent he was to his family, becoming a shadow of his former self. One passerby even indirectly lampshades it.
- Stealing from Thieves: Chris admits to stealing $10 from Meg's room, Meg admits to stealing $10 from her mom's purse, and Lois admits to making counterfeit $10 bills.
- Stop Being Stereotypical: At the height of his frustration with being demeaned as a dog, Brian snaps at some Lady and the Tramp parodies during an alley spaghetti date for being stereotypical. He does apologize afterwards though.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: After days of being mistreated, Brian snaps and says that if everyone calls him a "crazy animal," then he's going to act like a crazy animal. He gets on all fours and starts snapping and biting at people, which is just when the dogcatcher shows up...
