Are they serious? In a shockingly casual way, FOX’s Family Guy killed off the family dog Brian, and replaced him with a new dog within minutes.

The episode began with Stewie and Brian running to escape from the turmoil of one of their time travel adventures. After a close call with altering the future, Stewie decides to destroy his time machine, (in retrospect, an obvious plot twist to ensure that Stewie can’t go back and save his pal Brian after he dies.)

Brian, who is in the middle of Spooner Street is abruptly hit by a car, and moments later, in a vet’s office, dies.

I’m not going to lie. I’m really disappointed about it, and not thrilled with the new character. I’m really hoping its a stunt and will resolve itself eventually.

A tribute video, then a promo for the episode is below … then read on for the character’s apparent replacement.

After a brief  period of mourning, the Griffins decide to get a new dog, and settle upon Vinnie, voiced by The Sopranos‘ Tony Sirico – aka Paulie Walnuts.

Sadly, viewers who were waiting for Stewie to suddenly find a way to go back in time, or for one of the characters to wake up, or even the hint of a ‘to be continued’ were disappointed.

That said, it wouldn’t be difficult to bring Brian back if they wanted to. He is voiced Seth MacFarlane himself (who also voices Peter Griffin as well as several other characters.) MacFarlane made no mention of the incident on twitter Sunday night.

E! Online posted an interview with executive producer Steve Callaghan. Here are two excerpts:

We can’t believe that Brian is gone! What led you to make this crucial decision for the series?
Steve Callaghan: Well, this was an idea that got pitched in the writers room and it sort of caught fire, and we thought it could be a fun way to shake things up. As soon as this idea came up, we started talking about what the next couple episodes could be and we got very excited about the way this change wil affect the family dynamics and the characters.

Lastly, killing off Brian is a really big shocker. Are you worried about the backlash from longtime Family Guy fans?
I’m not, only because our fans are smart enough and have been loyal to our show for long enough, to know that they can trust us. We always make choices that always work to the greatest benefit of the series.