TV Review: Kieran Culkin Raises Hell in Family Guy's "Happy Hell-o-ween"

Stewie and Brian die on their way to a Halloween masquerade ball, take over the underworld from the Oscar-winning Devil, and find a special layer of hell for people who share their Disney Bundle password.

Kieran Culkin is the Devil. Not literally; it’s just who he plays in the third Family Guy Halloween streaming special, “Happy Hell-o-ween,” now streaming on Hulu and Disney+. This half-hour holiday special features the Oscar winner (A Real Pain) putting Stewie and Brian through their paces when they accidentally die and go to hell on Halloween. They’re out of Quahog and into the fire.

(Disney)

While on their way to the Block Island Halloween Masquerade Ball, Stewie (Seth MacFarlane) and Brian (also MacFarlane) get run over by reality TV socialites and find themselves in the Devil’s waiting room. As the Devil tours them through their customized versions of eternal suffering, the Griffin baby and dog decide they can do better, overthrowing Satan and finding out that ruling hell isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

A mostly Stewie- and Brian-centric episode, “Happy Hell-o-ween” sets itself apart from the previous two Halloween specials by detouring from the show’s typical A/B plot structure and focusing on one main story. Aside from the cold open, the rest of the Griffins are largely forgotten in this special, save for a hilariously meta moment where Peter appears in hell while Stewie and Brian are introduced to a layer for families who share their Disney Bundle password.

(Disney)

Free from FOX's broadcast schedule, this special also finds some Disney synergy fun with a seemingly real ad for the notoriously bad 1988 ABC TV movie, Lady Mobster, starring Susan Lucci, implying that watching it is its own form of torture (RiffTrax has already lampooned the film). Overall, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Family Guy special where Brian and Stewie end up as hellords. If you love the show in its current form, this special aims to please. If you miss the days when the show’s runtime wasn’t filled with fake “remember when” moments, this episode is a mixed bag.


I give Family Guy: Happy Hell-o-ween 3 out of 5 stars.

Family Guy: Happy Hell-o-ween is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.

Sign up for Disney+ or the Disney Streaming Bundle (Disney+, ESPN+, and ad-supported Hulu) now
Alex Reif
Alex joined the Laughing Place team in 2014 and has been a lifelong Disney fan. His main beats for LP are Disney-branded movies, TV shows, books, music and toys. He recently became a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA).
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