Written by series creator Seth MacFarlane and directed by Peter Shin, the episode aired as a sneak peek on Fox in the United States on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII.

He is arrested for welfare fraud and must await his family's rescue, as well as various performers who would later serve as frequent recurring and guest voices on the series.

The basis for "Death Has a Shadow", as well as Family Guy as a whole, was MacFarlane's thesis film The Life of Larry, created in 1995 while he was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Peter misses dangerous objects such as a butcher knife, a surge protector, a gasoline can, razor blades, a porcupine, a toaster with forks inside, and plug-in water.

[3] Telling Lois he received a big raise, Peter spends his money on many foolish and extravagant things, such as renting the Statue of David, treating Meg to cosmetic surgery and even going so far as to surround his house with a moat to protect them from the Black Knight.

Stewie, knowing that he is dependent on his parents despite his hatred for them, admits he cannot allow them to go to prison, and whips out his mind control device, using it on the judge and forcing him into letting his father go free and giving him his job back.

[4] MacFarlane initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation under the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

[5] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry,[5] which was later submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera, which led to MacFarlane being hired by the company.

[7] As development continued, the genre gradually shifted to a prime-time series,[7] while the characters of Larry and Steve formed the basis for Peter and Brian, respectively.

Premises were drawn from several 1980s Saturday-morning cartoons MacFarlane had watched as a child, such as The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang and Rubik, the Amazing Cube.

[6] Recalling the experience in an interview with The New York Times, MacFarlane stated, I spent about six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot.Upon completion of the pilot, the series went on the air.

[13] The episode guest-starred Lori Alan as Diane Simmons,[14] Carlos Alazraqui as Mr. Weed,[15] Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown,[13] Billy West, Fred Tatasciore, Joey Slotnick, Phil LaMarr,[16] Wally Wingert, and fellow cartoonist Butch Hartman[17] as various characters.

[11] MacFarlane drew inspiration for the voice of Peter from a security guard he overheard talking while attending the Rhode Island School of Design.

[25] MacFarlane also provides voices for various other recurring and one-time characters, including news anchor Tom Tucker and Lois' father Carter Pewterschmidt.

[28] At the time, Borstein performed in a stage show in Los Angeles, in which she played a redheaded mother whose voice she had based on one of her cousins.

[30] His main inspiration for Chris' voice came from envisioning how "Buffalo Bill" would sound if he were speaking through a public address system at a McDonald's.

[18] During Peter's recount of his job search to Brian, the talent show flashback mirrors the setting from The Sound of Music and refers to the characters of the film, the von Trapp family.

[35] At the end of his review he stated that Family Guy was a different kind of animated comedy which set out to do jokes that other cartoons couldn't do, also mentioning that the show had promised to become really funny.

Tucker also said in his review that he hoped that smart people would use the Family Guy half-hour to turn off the television set and start a debate over the air strikes in Kosovo.

[38] Even before it aired the pilot had received some criticism from the Parents Television Council, a watchdog; the creator of this website L. Brent Bozell III wrote that he initially speculated that Family Guy would be "pushing the envelope".