Ever see the Far Side cartoon about “What dogs hear”? I get the impression it’s sort of similar for the adults and Stewie.
I’m basing this on the fact that Lois will occasionally seem to respond directly to what he says, but only in a sort of vague way… like she understood maybe one or two of the words and the rest was gibberish.
Well while I am inclined to agree that no one DOES understand Stuey, you must remember the song episode where he tells 2 butlers to fight to the death. Obviously THEY understood. Therefore I think that he is understood, but ignored (as if he never said anything important)–says Counterattackii!
I love that show!
Anyway, I think everyone does understand Stewie, but they just seem to pass it off as ‘Kids say the darndest things.’
Despite the fact that he does talk, he does tend to act like a baby. He’s just as mesmirized by the Teletubbies as every baby is.
I think it is analogous to whether Hobbes (of “Calvin and”) is real or just a stuffed animal. Bill Waterson just said that Calvin sees it one way, and everyone else sees it another.
I think the show is hilarious, myself. The hardest I’ve laughed in a while was the commercial snippet during the season premiere: “Diamonds–She’ll Pretty Much Have To”.