Reception
In its original broadcast on April 27, 2008, "The Former Life of Brian" was watched by 8.42 million households according to the Nielsen ratings, the audience measurement systems developed to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States. The episode acquired a 4.3 rating/10 share in the 18–49 demographic,
The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Ahsan Haque of IGN wrote that "not all of the manatee jokes were hits, but the storyline makes up for it". He graded "The Former Life of Brian" 8.3 out of 10. Brad Trechak of TV Squad called the episode "pretty good" and stated that "it had it's ups and downs but it came out ahead overall".
Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club criticized the episode, saying that it "didn't really offer many surprises or laughs", and commenting that Brian is "too much of a straight man to carry an arc with one-time character no one cares about". She graded "The Former Life of Brian" C+. Greg Rock of the Parents Television Council, an organization that has frequently criticized the series, named this episode the "Worst TV Show of the Week".
Read more about this topic: The Former Life Of Brian
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