1. Chris' voice is based on Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.
2. Peter and Brian stemmed from MacFarlane's 1997 Cartoon Network short Larry & Steve.
After working on Johnny Bravo, MacFarlane created the two characters that would inspire his entire franchise. You can see the whole short here.
3. Family Guy was the first animated program (since The Flintstones) to be nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys.
4. The guy who always calls Peter a "big fat phony" is credited as Holden Caulfield, after the main character of Catcher in the Rye.
5. The Family Guy theme song pays tribute to All in The Family's.
MacFarlane revealed in commentary that he loved the sitcom and wanted to pay homage to the series.