<P> He first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15 - minute short on December 20, 1998 . Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself . MacFarlane was asked to pitch a pilot to the Fox Broadcasting Company, based on The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve, two shorts made by MacFarlane featuring a middle - aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve . After the pilot was given the green light, the Griffin family appeared in the episode "Death Has a Shadow". Brian's appearance is a redesign of Steve the dog from MacFarlane's previous show . </P> <P> Brian has been featured in many items of merchandise for Family Guy, and he is considered to be one of the show's biggest merchandising icons . He has also made crossover appearances in the other MacFarlane - produced shows, such as American Dad! and The Cleveland Show . </P> <P> As a character, Brian has been very well received by critics and fans . When Brian was killed off in the season 12 episode "Life of Brian", the events of the episode received substantial attention from the media and elicited strongly negative reactions from fans of the show . Brian subsequently returned two episodes later, in "Christmas Guy", after Stewie travels back in time to save him . </P> <P> Brian is a white - furred anthropomorphic dog . He can talk, generally walks on his hind legs (using his front legs as arms), has opposable thumbs, drives a second - generation Toyota Prius (with the license plate "BRI - DOG"), and often acts more rationally than the other characters in the series . He is the pet dog and close friend of the Griffin family, and, although anthropomorphic animals are not a regular element of the show, Brian's human attributes receive little acknowledgment and no explanation; he is largely treated as a human character . Brian has a particularly close friendship with Stewie, and many of the show's sub-plots center around them . They are occasionally at the center of the plot, for instance in the "Road to ..." episodes . Brian and Stewie have shown affection to each other several times, and in the episode Brian and Stewie, they admitted that they loved each other, not as lovers, but as close friends . </P>

When did brian come back to family guy
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