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Family Guy season 1

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Family Guy Season 1
Season 1
A cover of a DVD, with a cartoon, animated family gathered together.
DVD box set for Volume one.
No. of episodes7
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseJanuary 31 (1999-01-31) –

May 16, 1999 (1999-05-16)
Season chronology
Next →
Season 2
List of episodes

Family Guy's first season first aired on the Fox network in seven episodes from January 31, 1999 to May 16, 1999 before being released as a DVD box set and in syndication. It premiered with the episode "Death Has a Shadow" and finished with "Brian: Portrait of a Dog". The Family Guy series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stewie and Brian, the family pet, who reside in their hometown of Quahog. The executive producers for the first season were David Zuckerman and series creator Seth MacFarlane.

The season received high praise from critics, who called the season "groundbreaking."[1] Other assessments were that the series was "extremely witty and darkly hilarious," and was "unfortunately" canceled.[2]

Season one contains some of the series' most acclaimed episodes, including "I Never Met the Dead Man" and "Brian: Portrait of a Dog".[1][3]

The Volume One DVD box set was released in Region 1 on April 15, 2003 and Region 2 on November 12, 2001. All seven of the season's episodes are included in the volume. The second season's twenty-one episodes were also included in the volume.

Development

Three buildings, two of the same stature, and one smaller than the others.
A cartoon version of the image above.
The skyline of Providence, as viewed from the northwest looking southeast, and its animated Family Guy counterpart.

Seth MacFarlane conceived the idea for the Family Guy in 1996, while he was studying animation under the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[4] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry.[4][5] His professor at RISD submitted MacFarlane's cartoon to Hanna-Barbera, where he was later hired.[6] In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to The Life of Larry called Larry and Steve, which featured a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve.[5] The short was broadcast as one of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons.[5]

Executives at Fox saw both Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series based on the characters, to be called Family Guy.[7] At 24, MacFarlane was television's youngest executive producer.[8] Fox proposed MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short, giving him a budget of $50,000.[9] Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts.[10] While working on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian.[7] MacFarlane stated that the difference between the first short, The Life of Larry, and Family Guy, was that "Life of Larry was shown primarily in my dorm room and Family Guy was shown after the Super Bowl."[10] MacFarlane also claims to have drawn inspiration from several sitcoms, namely The Simpsons and All in the Family.[11] Several premises were also carried over from several 1980s Saturday morning cartoons he watched as a child, namely The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, and Rubik, the Amazing Cube.[12]

A man with black hair and a black shirt, leans forward slightly to speak into a microphone.
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

MacFarlane stated that the pilot for Family Guy took half a year to create and produce.[6] Recalling the experience in an interview with The New York Times, MacFarlane stated, "I spent about six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot".[13] Upon completion of the pilot, the series went on the air.[14] "Death Has a Shadow" was the first episode of the series to be aired, following the Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999.[15][10]

Production

The main cast for the season included MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green and Lacey Chabert.[16] MacFarlane voices three of the show's main characters, Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin and Stewie Griffin,[17] and chose to voice these characters himself, believing it would be easier to portray the voices he already envisioned than for someone else to attempt it.[12] MacFarlane drew inspiration for the voice of Peter from a security guard he overheard talking while attending the Rhode Island School of Design.[18] Stewie's voice was based on the voice of English actor Rex Harrison,[19] especially his performance in the 1964 musical drama film My Fair Lady.[20] MacFarlane uses his regular speaking voice when playing Brian.[12]

Borstein provides the voice of Lois Griffin,[21] was asked to provide a voice for the pilot while she was working on MADtv. She had not met MacFarlane or seen any of his artwork and said it was "really sight unseen".[22] Green provides the voice of Chris Griffin,[23] and has stated that in auditioning for the part of Chris, he simply did an impression of the Buffalo Bill character from the thriller film The Silence of the Lambs, which he and a friend had come up with just before his audition.[24][25] Chabert provided the voice Meg Griffin for the episode, and the first production season; however, because of a contractual agreement, she was never credited.[26] Chabert left the series due to time constraints with her acting role in Party of Five, as well as schoolwork,[27] and was later replaced by Mila Kunis.[28]

Reception

Aaron Beierle of DVD Talk said "Often brilliant, extremely witty and darkly hilarious, Family Guy was unfortunately canceled after Fox bumped it around six or seven different time slots. Fans of the show should definitely pick up this terrific sets, while those who haven't seen it should consider giving it a look."[2] Ahsan Haque of IGN called the first season of Family Guy "extremely short but groundbreaking".[1] Haque also named the episodes "Brian: Portrait of a Dog" and "I Never Met the Dead Man" as some of the "best in the series".[1][3] In 2009, the site named Stewie's plan to freeze broccoli crops #1 in "Stewie's Top 10 Most Diobolical Evil Plans".[29]

List of episodes

Key
  • In the # column:
    • The first number refers to the order it aired during the entire series.
    • The second number refers to the episode number within its season.

Original pilot

# Total Title Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
code
--"Pilot"Seth MacFarlaneSeth MacFarlaneDecember 20, 1998 (1998-12-20)1ACX79

Season 1 episodes

# Total Title Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
code
11"Death Has a Shadow"Peter ShinSeth MacFarlaneJanuary 31, 1999 (1999-01-31)1ACX01
22"I Never Met the Dead Man"Michael DiMartinoChris SheridanApril 11, 1999 (1999-04-11)1ACX02
33"Chitty Chitty Death Bang"Dominic PolcinoDanny SmithApril 18, 1999 (1999-04-18)1ACX04
44"Mind Over Murder"Roy Allen SmithNeil Goldman & Garrett DonovanApril 25, 1999 (1999-04-25)1ACX03
55"A Hero Sits Next Door"Monte YoungMatt Weitzman & Mike BarkerMay 2, 1999 (1999-05-02)1ACX05
66"The Son Also Draws"Neil AffleckRicky BlittMay 9, 1999 (1999-05-09)1ACX06
77"Brian: Portrait of a Dog"Michael DiMartinoGary JanettiMay 16, 1999 (1999-05-16)1ACX07

TV ratings

Season 1 of Family Guy was shown on FOX

Episode number Episode Air Date Viewers
(in millions)
1 Death Has a Shadow January 31, 1999 (1999-01-31) 22.01[30]
2 I Never Met the Dead Man April 11, 1999 (1999-04-11) --
3 Chitty Chitty Death Bang April 18, 1999 (1999-04-18) --
4 Mind Over Murder April 25, 1999 (1999-04-25) --
5 A Hero Sits Next Door May 2, 1999 (1999-05-02) --
6 The Son Also Draws May 9, 1999 (1999-05-09) --
7 Brian: Portrait of a Dog May 16, 1999 (1999-05-16) --

See also

Template:Wikipedia-Books

References

General
  • Callaghan, Steve (2005). Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1-3. Harper Collins Publishers.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d Haque, Ashan (2008). "Family Guy Flashback: "Brian: Portrait of a Dog" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-09-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Beierle, Aaron (2003-03-21). "Family Guy — Vol. 1". DVDTalk.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  3. ^ a b Haque, Ashan (2008). "Family Guy Flashback: "I Never Met the Dead Man" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-09-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b "Seth MacFarlane - Profile". E! Online. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's who in animated cartoons: an international guide to film & television's award-winning and legendary animators (Illustrated ed.). New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-55783-671-7.
  6. ^ a b "Family Guy Seth MacFarlane to speak at Class Day: Creator and executive producer of 'Family Guy' will headline undergraduate celebration. Harvard Gazette. Retrieved December 21, 2007.
  7. ^ a b Bartlett, James (March 12, 2007). "Seth MacFarlane – he's the "Family Guy"". greatreporter.com. Presswire Limited. Retrieved 2007-12-31.  ... his company, Fuzzy Door Productions ... {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Levin, Gary (2005-02-02). "'Dad' joins 'Guy' for yuks". USA Today. Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2008-05-05). ""Family Guy creator seals megadeal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 31, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ a b c Callaghan, p. 16 Cite error: The named reference "Callaghan, p. 16" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Interview with Seth MacFarlane". IGN. Retrieved December 9, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ^ a b c Cruz, Gilbert (September 26, 2008). "Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane". TIME. Retrieved August 28, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  13. ^ Weinraub, Bernard (2007-07-07). "The Young Guy Of 'Family Guy'; A 30-Year-Old's Cartoon Hit Makes An Unexpected Comeback". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 2. Retrieved January 6, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ "Inside Media at MTR (2006): Family Guy 2". Yahoo! Video. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
  15. ^ "Family Guy:Death Has a Shadow". Film.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  16. ^ "Family Guy Cast and Details". TV Guide. Retrieved August 24, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  17. ^ Graham, Jefferson (January 29, 1999). "Cartoonist MacFarlane funny guy of Fox's 'Family' Subversive voice of series is his". USA Today. p. E7. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Smith, Andy (April 30, 2005). "A Real Family Reunion". Providence Journal TV. Retrieved August 28, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  19. ^ Dean, John (November 1, 2008). "Seth MacFarlane's $2 Billion Family Guy Empire". Fox Business. Retrieved August 24, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  20. ^ Franklin, Nancy (January 16, 2006). "American Idiots". The New Yorker. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  21. ^ Miller, Kirk (November 19, 2008). "Q&A: Alex Borstein". Metromix. Retrieved August 28, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Alex Borstein (Lois) Laughs at the Once-Dead Family Guy's Longevity". TV Guide. November&nbsp13, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  23. ^ Graham, Jefferson (April 9, 1999). "Seth Green fits right in with new Family". USA Today. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  24. ^ "Fans help 'Family Guy' return to Fox". Observer-Reporter. April 29, 2005. p. E5.
  25. ^ Green, Seth (September 27, 2005). Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story: Audio Commentary (DVD). {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Epstein, Daniel Robert. "Interview with Seth MacFarlane, creator of The Family Guy". UGO Networks. Retrieved November 23, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  27. ^ "Sonic the Horndog". Gamespy. Retrieved Octuber 3, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  28. ^ "Inside Media at MTR (2006): Family Guy 7". Yahoo! Video. Retrieved August 24, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  29. ^ Haque, Ashan (2009). "Family Guy: Stewie's Top 10 Most Diabolical Evil Plans". IGN. Retrieved 2009-09-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "Post-Super Bowl Ratings". Retrieved January 8, 2009.