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Family Guy

A group picture of a cartoon family, with a father, mother, son, daughter, baby and dog.
The Griffin family. Back: Lois, Peter, Meg, Chris, front: Brian, and Stewie
GenreSitcom
Animation
Black comedy
Blue comedy
Created bySeth MacFarlane[1]
Developed by
Voices of
Theme music composerWalter Murphy
Composers
Country of originTemplate:TVUS
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons9
No. of episodes162 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Editors
  • John Walts
  • Rick Mackenzie
  • Mike Elias
Camera setupAnimated rendition of single-camera
Running time20–23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseOriginal series:
  • January 31, 1999 (1999-01-31) – February 14, 2002 (2002-02-14)
Revived series:
May 1, 2005 (2005-05-01) –

Present
Related

Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian. The show is set in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, and bases much of its humor on parodying American pop culture.

The family was conceived by MacFarlane after developing two animated films, The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve. MacFarlane redesigned the films' protagonist Larry and his dog Steve, and renamed them Peter and Brian, respectively. MacFarlane pitched a 15 minute pilot to Fox which aired on December 20, 1998. After the pilot aired the show was given the green light and started production. Shortly after the third season of Family Guy aired in 2001, Fox canceled the series. However, favorable DVD sales and high ratings for syndicated reruns convinced the network to renew the show in 2004.

Family Guy has been nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 11 Annie Awards, and has won three of each. It has garnered three Golden Reel Award nominations, winning once. In 2009, it was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first time an animated series was nominated for the award since The Flintstones in 1961. Family Guy has also received criticism, including unfavorable comparisons for its similarities to The Simpsons.

Many tie-in media have been released, including Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, a straight-to-DVD special released in 2005; Family Guy: Live in Vegas, a soundtrack-DVD combo released in 2005, featuring music from the show as well as original music created by MacFarlane and Walter Murphy; a video game and pinball machine, released in 2006 and 2007, respectively; since 2005, six books published by Harper Adult based on the Family Guy universe; and Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy, a series of parodies of the original Star Wars trilogy released in 2010. In 2008, MacFarlane confirmed that the cast was interested in producing a feature film and that he was working on a story for film adaptation. A spin-off series, The Cleveland Show, premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox. The eighth season of Family Guy premiered on the same night.

Origins

Main article: The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve

MacFarlane initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation under the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[2] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry,[2] which was later submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera, which led to MacFarlane being hired by the company.[3] In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to The Life of Larry entitled Larry and Steve, which featured a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve; the short was broadcast in 1997 as one of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons.[2]

An elder white haired cartoon man with a white shirt and blue jeans next to a brown furred cartoon dog holding a book with a red background
Larry (left) and Steve (right) as they appeared in Larry & Steve (1997), an animated short directed by Seth MacFarlane. Larry and Steve would form the basis for the Family Guy characters of Peter and Brian, respectively.

Executives at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series based on the characters entitled Family Guy.[4] Fox proposed MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short, and gave him a budget of $50,000.[5] Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts.[6] While working on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian.[4][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."[6] After the pilot aired the series was green-lighted. MacFarlane drew inspiration from several sitcoms such as The Simpsons and All in the Family.[8] Premises were drawn from several 1980s Saturday morning cartoons he watched as a child, such as The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang and Rubik, the Amazing Cube.[9]

The Griffin family first appeared on the pilot MacFarlane pitched to Fox, which aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company on December 20, 1998, which featured a fifteen minute plot.[10] Family Guy was originally planned to start out as short movies for the sketch show MADtv, but the plan changed because of the budget as the show did not have a large enough budget to make any kind of animation. MacFarlane noted that he then wanted to pitch it to Fox as he thought it was the place to create a prime-time animation show.[8] Family Guy was also originally pitched to Fox in the same year as King of the Hill, but the show was not bought until years later when King of the Hill became successful.[8] Eventually, on May 15, 1998, Fox ordered 13 episodes of Family Guy to air in midseason.[11]

Production

Executive producers

Show creator Seth MacFarlane has served as an executive producer during the show's entire history, and also functions as a creative consultant. The first executive producers that worked on the show were David Zuckerman,[12] Lolee Aries, David Pritchard, and Mike Wolf.[13] Family Guy has had many executive producers in its history, including Daniel Palladino, Kara Vallow, and Danny Smith. David A. Goodman joined the show as a co-executive producer in season three, and eventually became an executive producer.[14] Alex Borstein, the voice of Lois, has also worked as both an executive and supervising producer, for the fourth and fifth seasons.[15] A more involved position on the show is the show runner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.[16]

Writing

The first team of writers, assembled for the show consisted of Chris Sheridan,[17] Danny Smith, Gary Janetti, Ricky Blitt, Neil Goldman, Garrett Donovan, Matt Weitzman and Mike Barker.[18] The normal writing process of Family Guy generally starts with 14 writers that take turns to write the different scripts, when the scripts are finished it is turned in to the rest of the writers for them to read. These scripts generally include cutaway gags. If there are not enough cutaway sequences, writers are sent to create them each with different versions then they are pitched and what MacFarlane and the rest of the staff writers deem funny is included in the episode. MacFarlane has explained that normally it takes 10-months to produce an episode because the show uses a hand-drawn style. For this reason the show rarely comments on current events.[19] The first writers that came to work for the show had never written for an animation show and most of them had come from live-action sitcoms.[8]

A man with a bald head and a brown sweater, and a man with spiked brown hair and glasses, speaking into a microphone.
Matt Weitzman (left) is a former staff writer and Mike Barker is a former producer and writer of the show. Both would later go on to create American Dad with Seth MacFarlane.

In interviews and on the DVD commentary of season one, MacFarlane explained that he is a fan of 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology "Suspense", which led him to give early episodes ominous titles pertaining to death and murder, like "Death Has a Shadow" and "Mind Over Murder". MacFarlane later explained that the team dropped the naming convention after individual episodes became hard to identify, and the novelty wore off.[20] For the first few months of production, the writers shared one office lent to them by the King of the Hill production crew.[20]

Credited with 14 episodes Steve Callaghan is the most prolific writer on Family Guy staff. Many of the writers that have left the show have gone to create or produce various successful series. Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, would later go co-write thirteen episodes for the NBC sitcom Scrubs during their 8-year run on the show, starting as co-producers on the show and working their way up to executive producers.[21] Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman would later go on to create American Dad along with MacFarlane.[22][23]

During the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, official production of the show halted for most of December 2007 and various periods afterward. Fox continued producing episodes without creator Seth MacFarlane's final approval, which he termed "a colossal dick move" in an interview with Variety. Though MacFarlane refused to work on the show, his contract under Fox required him to contribute to any episodes it would subsequently produce.[24] Production officially resumed after the end of the strike, with regularly airing episodes recommencing on February 17, 2008.[25]

Voice cast

Further information: List of Family Guy cast members, List of Family Guy guest stars, and List of non-English Family Guy voice actors

Seth MacFarlane voices four of the show's main characters: Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin and Glen Quagmire.[26] MacFarlane 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.[9] MacFarlane drew inspiration for the voice of Peter from a security guard he overheard talking while attending the Rhode Island School of Design.[27] Stewie's voice was based on the voice of English actor Rex Harrison,[28] especially his performance in the 1964 musical drama film My Fair Lady.[29] MacFarlane uses his regular speaking voice when playing Brian.[9] MacFarlane also provides the voices for various other recurring and one-time only characters, most prominently those of the Griffins' neighbor Glenn Quagmire, news anchor Tom Tucker, and Lois' father, Carter Pewterschmidt.[30] Alex Borstein voices Lois Griffin, Asian correspondent Tricia Takanawa, Loretta Brown, and Lois' mother Barbara Pewterschmidt.[31] Borstein 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".[32] At the time, Borstein performed in a stage show in Los Angeles, in which she played a redheaded mother whose voice she had based on one of her cousins.[31][32] Seth Green primarily plays Chris Griffin and Neil Goldman.[30][33] Green stated that he did an impression of the "Buffalo Bill" character from the thriller film The Silence of the Lambs during his audition.[34][35] Mila Kunis and Lacey Chabert have both provided the voice of Meg Griffin.[30] Chabert left the series because of time conflicts with her role on Party of Five and schoolwork. Kunis auditioned for the role and then she was called back by MacFarlane, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her.[36] Mike Henry voices both Cleveland Brown and Herbert, as well as some minor recurring characters like Bruce the performance artist and The Greased-up Deaf Guy.[37] Henry met MacFarlane at the Rhode Island School of Design, and kept in touch with him after they graduated.[38] A few years later, MacFarlane contacted him about being part of the show; he agreed and came on as both a writer and voice actor.[38] During the show's first four seasons, he was credited as a guest star, but beginning with season five's "Prick Up Your Ears", he has been credited as a main cast member.[38]

Main cast members
A man with black hair and a black shirt, leaning forward, smiling into a microphone. A woman with black hair, tied back, smiling, and sitting behind a microphone. A man with red hair, smiling slightly and sitting behind a microphone. A woman with long brown hair, smiling into a microphone. A man with closely shaven hair, and slight stubble, looking to the side slightly with his eyes, behind a microphone.
Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Seth Green Mila Kunis Mike Henry
Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, Glenn Quagmire, Tom Tucker, Carter Pewterschmidt, others Lois Griffin, Loretta Brown, Barbara Pewterschmidt, Tricia Takanawa, others Chris Griffin, Neil Goldman, others Meg Griffin Cleveland Brown, Herbert, Greased Up Deaf Guy, Bruce the performance artist, others

Other recurring cast members include: Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson;[39] Adam West as the eponymous Mayor Adam West;[40] Jennifer Tilly as Bonnie Swanson;[41] John G. Brennan as Mort Goldman and Horace the bartender; Carlos Alazraqui as Jonathan Weed;[42][43] Adam Carolla and Norm MacDonald as Death;[44] Lori Alan as Diane Simmons;[45] and Phil LaMarr as Ollie Williams and the judge.[46] Fellow cartoonist Butch Hartman has made guest voice appearances in many episodes as various characters.[47] Also, writer Danny Smith voices various recurring characters such as Ernie the Giant Chicken.[48]

Episodes will quite often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians, and scientists. Many guest voices starred as themselves. Leslie Uggams was the first to appear as herself in the fourth episode of the first season episode "Mind Over Murder".[49] The episode "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" guest starred the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which includes Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn, Wil Wheaton, Marina Sirtis and even Denise Crosby (season 1 as Tasha Yar), playing themselves; this is the episode with the most guest stars of the seventh season.[50][51]

Early history and cancellation

Family Guy officially premiered after Fox's broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31, 1999 with "Death Has a Shadow". The show debuted to 22 million viewers and controversy regarding the show's adult content.[52] The show returned on April 11, 1999 with "I Never Met the Dead Man" to decent ratings in Fox's 8:30 p.m. slot on Sunday, nestled between The Simpsons and The X-Files.[11] At the end of its first season run the show came in at #33 in the Nielsen Ratings with 12.8 million households tuning in.[53] The show launched its second season in a new time slot, Thursday at 9 p.m., on September 23, 1999. Family Guy was pitted against NBC's Frasier, and the series' ratings declined sharply.[11] Fox removed Family Guy from the network's permanent schedule, and began airing episodes irregularly. The show returned on March 7, 2000 instead at 8:30pm on Tuesdays, but is constantly beat in ratings by new breakout hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, coming in at #114 in the Nielsen Ratings with 6.320 million households tuning in.[54] Fox publicly announced that the show had been canceled in 2000, at the end of the second season.[55] However, following a last-minute reprieve, Fox announced on July 24, 2000 intentions to order 13 additional episodes of Family Guy to form a third season.[52]

The show returned November 8, 2001, once again in a tough time slot: Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET. This slot brought it into competition with Survivor and Friends. (This situation was later referenced in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story).[56] During its second and third-season runs, Fox frequently moved the show around different days and time slots with little or no notice and, consequently, the show's ratings suffered.[57] Upon Fox's annual unveiling of its 2002 fall line-up on May 15, 2002, Family Guy was absent.[11] Fox announced that the show had been officially canceled shortly thereafter.[58]

Cult success and revival

Fox attempted to sell the rights for reruns of the show, but it was difficult to find networks that were interested; Cartoon Network eventually bought the rights, "[...] basically for free", according to the president of 20th Century Fox Television Production.[59] Family Guy premiered in reruns on Adult Swim on April 20, 2003, and immediately became the block's top-rated programming, dominating late night viewing in its time period vs. cable and broadcast competition and boosting viewership by 239 percent.[11][60] The complete first and second seasons were released on DVD the same week as the show premiered on Adult Swim, and the show became a cult phenomenon, selling 400,000 copies within one month.[11] Sales of the DVD set reached 2.2 million copies,[61] becoming the best-selling television DVD of 2003[62] and the second highest-selling television DVD ever, behind the first season of Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show.[63] The third season DVD release also sold more than a million copies.[60] The show's popularity in both DVD sales and reruns rekindled Fox's interest in it,[64] and, on May 20, 2004, Fox ordered 35 new episodes of Family Guy, marking the first revival of a television show based on DVD sales.[63][65]

"North by North Quahog" was the first episode to be broadcast after the show's cancellation, and it premiered May 1, 2005. It was written by MacFarlane and directed by Peter Shin.[66] MacFarlane believed the show's three year hiatus was beneficial because animated shows do not normally have hiatuses, and towards the end of their seasons, "... you see a lot more sex jokes and (bodily function) jokes and signs of a fatigued staff that their brains are just fried".[67] With "North by North Quahog", the writing staff tried to keep the show "... exactly as it was" before its cancellation, and did not "... have the desire to make it any slicker" than it already was.[67] The episode was watched by 11.85 million viewers,[68] the show's highest ratings since the airing of the first season episode "Brian: Portrait of a Dog".[69]

Lawsuits

In March 2007, comedian Carol Burnett filed a $6 million lawsuit against 20th Century Fox, claiming that it was a trademark infringement for her charwoman cleaning character to be portrayed on the show without her permission, and that Fox violated her publicity rights.[70][71][72] On June 4, 2007, United States District Judge Dean Pregerson rejected the lawsuit, stating that the parody was protected under the First Amendment, citing Hustler Magazine v. Falwell as a precedent.[73]

On October 3, 2007, Bourne Co. Music Publishers filed a lawsuit accusing the show of infringing its copyright on the song "When You Wish upon a Star", through a parody song entitled "I Need a Jew" appearing in the episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein". Bourne Co., the sole United States copyright owner of the song, alleged the parody pairs a "thinly veiled" copy of their music with antisemitic lyrics. Named in the suit were Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Fox Broadcasting Co., Cartoon Network, MacFarlane, and Murphy; the suit sought to stop the program's distribution and unspecified damages.[74] Bourne argued that "I Need a Jew" uses the copyrighted melody of "When You Wish Upon a Star" without commenting on that song, and that it was therefore not a First Amendment-protected parody per the ruling in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.[75][76] On March 16, 2009, United States District Judge Deborah Batts held that Family Guy did not infringe on Bourne's copyright when it transformed the song for comical use in an episode.[77]

In December 2007, Family Guy was again accused of copyright infringement when actor Art Metrano filed a lawsuit regarding a scene in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, in which Jesus performs Metrano's signature "magic" act involving absurd "faux" magical hand gestures while humming the distinctive tune "Fine and Dandy".[78] 20th Century Fox, MacFarlane, Callaghan, and Borstein were all named in the suit.[79] In July 2009, a federal district court judge rejected Fox's Motion to Dismiss, saying that the first three fair use factors involved - "purpose and character of the use", "nature of the infringed work", and "amount and substantiality of the taking" - counted in Metrano's favor, while the fourth - "economic impact" - had to await more fact-finding. In denying the dismissal, the court held that the reference in the scene made light of Jesus and his followers — not Metrano or his act.[80][81]

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Family Guy

The show revolves around the adventures of the family of Peter Griffin, a bumbling blue-collar worker. Peter is an Irish American Catholic with a prominent Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts accent.[82] He is married to Lois, a stay-at-home mother and piano teacher, who has a distinct New England accent from being a member of the Pewterschmidt family of wealthy socialites.[83] Peter and Lois have three children: Meg, their teenage daughter, who is awkward and does not fit in at school, and is constantly ridiculed and ignored by family; Chris, their teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent and, in many respects, a younger version of his father; and Stewie, their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who has adult mannerisms, and speaks fluently with stereotypical archvillain phrases.[84] Living with the family is Brian, the family dog, who is highly anthropomorphized, drinks martinis and engages in human conversation, though he is still considered a pet in many respects.[85]

Many recurring characters appear alongside the Griffin family. These include the family's neighbors: sex-crazed airline-pilot bachelor Glenn Quagmire, Cleveland Brown and his wife Loretta Brown, paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson, his wife Bonnie and their baby daughter Susie (it should be noted that Bonnie is pregnant with Susie from the show's beginning until the 7th episode of the 7th season); paranoid Jewish pharmacist Mort Goldman, his wife Muriel and their geeky and annoying son Neil; and elderly ephebophile Herbert. TV news anchors Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons, Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa, and Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams also make frequent appearances. Quahog mayor, Mayor Adam West, is in various episodes.

Setting

The primary setting of Family Guy is Quahog, Rhode Island (pronounced /ˈkoʊhɒɡ/). MacFarlane resided in Providence during his time as a student at Rhode Island School of Design, and the show, as a consequence, contains distinct Rhode Island landmarks similar to real-world locations.[86][87] MacFarlane often borrows the names of Rhode Island locations and icons such as Pawtucket and Buddy Cianci for use in the show. MacFarlane, in an interview with local WNAC Fox 64 News, stated that the town is modeled after Cranston, Rhode Island.[88]

Hallmarks

"Road to" episodes

Further information: [[:Road to... (Family Guy)]]

The "Road to" episodes are a series of hallmark, travel episodes.[89][90][91] They are a parody of the seven Road to... comedy films, starring actors Bing Crosby and Bob Hope and actress Dorothy Lamour, which were released from 1940 until 1962.[90] These episodes usually involve Stewie and Brian in some foreign, supernatural, or science fiction location not familiar to the show's normal location in Quahog, Rhode Island. The first, entitled "Road to Rhode Island", aired on May 30, 2000, as a part of the second season. The episodes are known for featuring elaborate musical numbers, similar to the original films.[92] Episodes contain several trademarks, including a special version of the opening sequence, custom musical cues and musical numbers, and parodies of science fiction and fantasy films.[93]

The original idea for the "Road to" episodes came from MacFarlane as he is a fan of the original films of Crosby, Hope and Lamour. The first episode was directed by Dan Povenmire, who would go on to direct the rest of the "Road to" episodes until the episode "Road to Rupert", as he left the show to create Phineas and Ferb.[94][95] As a result, series regular Greg Colton took over Povenmire's role as director of the "Road to" episodes.[96]

Humor

Family Guy generally uses the filmmaking method of cutaways, which occur in the majority of Family Guy episodes.[97] Emphasis is often placed on gags which make reference to current events and/or modern cultural icons.

Early episodes based much of their comedy on Stewie's "super villain" antics, such as his constant plans for total world domination, his evil experiments, plans and inventions to get rid of things he dislikes; and his constant attempts at matricide. As the series progressed, the writers and MacFarlane, agreeing that his personality and the jokes were starting to feel dated, began writing him with a different personality.[98] Family Guy also often includes self-referential humor. The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting or the situations and occasions where the characters break the fourth wall by addressing the audience. For example in "North by North Quahog", the first episode that aired after the show's revival, included Peter telling the family that they had been canceled because Fox had to make room in their schedule for shows like, Dark Angel, Titus, Undeclared, Action, That '80s Show, Wonderfalls, Fastlane, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Skin, Girls Club, Cracking Up, The Pitts, Firefly, Get Real, Freakylinks, Wanda at Large, Costello, The Lone Gunmen, A Minute with Stan Hooper, Normal, Ohio, Pasadena, Harsh Realm, Keen Eddie, The $treet, The American Embassy, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, The Tick, Luis and Greg the Bunny. Lois asks whether there is any hope, to which Peter replies that if all these shows are canceled they might have a chance; the shows were indeed canceled during Family Guy's hiatus.[99][100][101]
The show uses catchphrases, and most of the primary and secondary characters have them. Notable expressions include Glenn Quagmire's "Giggity giggity goo", Peter's "Freakin' sweet" and Joe Swanson's "Bring it on!".[98] The use of many of these catchphrases declined in later seasons. The episode "Big Man on Hippocampus" mocks catchphrase-based humor: as Peter, who has forgotten everything about his life, is introduced to Meg, he exclaims, "D'oh!", to which Lois replies, "No, Peter, that's not your catchphrase."[102]

Reception, legacy and achievements

Success

Family Guy has received many positive reviews from critics. Catherine Seipp of the National Review Online described it as a "nasty but extremely funny" cartoon.[103] Caryn James of The New York Times, called it a show with an "outrageously satirical family" and "includes plenty of comic possibilities and parodies."[104] The Sydney Morning Herald named Family Guy the "Show of the Week" on April 21, 2009, hailing it a "pop culture-heavy masterpiece".[105] Frazier Moore from The Seattle Times called it an "endless craving for humor about bodily emissions". He also thought it was "breathtakingly smart" and said a "blend of the ingenious with the raw helps account for its much broader appeal". He finished up summarizing it as "rude, crude and deliciously wrong".[106] The series has also attracted many celebrities, including Emily Blunt, who has stated that Family Guy is her favorite series, and has expressed strong interest in becoming a guest star on the show.[107] The New Yorker's Nancy Franklin said that Family Guy is becoming one of the best animated shows there is, commenting on its ribaldry and popularity, even saying that it was better than The Simpsons, in terms of quality.[108] The show has also become a hit on Hulu, becoming the second highest viewed show after Saturday Night Live.[109] IGN called Family Guy a great show, and also commented that it has gotten better since it's revival. They also stated that they cannot imagine another half hour sitcom that provides as much laughs as Family Guy.[110] Empire praised the show and its writers for being able to create real hilarious moments with unlikely matieral. They also commented that one of the reasons they love the show is because nothing is sacred and it can make jokes and gags of almost everything.[111] Robin Pierson of The TV Critic praised the series as "a different kind of animated comedy which clearly sets out to do jokes which other cartoons can't do."[112] Family Guy has also proven popular in the United Kingdom regualrly obtaining between 700,000 and 1 million viewers for re-runs on BBC Three.[113]

Many celebrities have admitted that they are fans of the show. Robert Downey, Jr. telephoned the show production staff and asked if he could produce or assist in an episode creation, as his son is a fan of the show, so the producers came up with the character for Downey.[114] Lauren Conrad met MacFarlane while recording a Laguna Beach clip for the episode "Prick Up Your Ears", (season 5, 2006).[115][116] She has watched Family Guy for years and considers Stewie her favorite character.[115] Commenting on his appearance in the episode "Big Man on Hippocampus", (season 8, 2010), actor Dwayne Johnson stated that he was a "big fan" of Family Guy,[117] having quickly befriended MacFarlane after he had in a minor role in Johnson's 2010 film Tooth Fairy.[117]

Awards

Family Guy and its cast were nominated for thirteen Emmy Awards, with four wins. MacFarlane won the Outstanding Voice-Over Performance award for his performance as Stewie,[118] Murphy and MacFarlane won the Outstanding Music and Lyrics award for the song "You Got a Lot to See" from the episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows",[118] Steven Fonti won the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation award for his storyboard work in the episode "No Chris Left Behind",[119] and Greg Colton won the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation award for his storyboard work in the episode "Road to the Multiverse".[120] The show was nominated for eleven Annies, and won three times, twice in 2006 and once in 2008.[121][122][123] In 2009, it was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, becoming the first animated program to be nominated in this category since The Flintstones in 1961.[124] though The Simpsons were almost nominated in the year 1993, but that changed since Emmy voters were hesitant to pit cartoons against live action programs.[125][126] Family Guy has also been nominated and has won various awards from different award ceremony including the Teen Choice Awards and the People's Choice Awards.[127][128][129] In the 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly, Brian Griffin was selected as the dog for "The Perfect TV Family".[130] Wizard Magazine rated Stewie the 95th greatest villain of all time.[131] British newspaper The Times rated Family Guy as the 45th best American show in 2009.[132] Family Guy ranked in two of IGN's list: It ranked number seven in the "Top 100 Animated Series" and it ranked number six in the "Top 25 Primetime Animated Series of All Time".[110][133] Empire named it the twelfth greatest TV show of all time.[111] Furthermore, viewers of the UK television channel Channel 4 have voted Family Guy at number 5 of one of there polls: 2005's 100 Greatest Cartoons.[134] Brian was awarded the 2009 Stoner of the Year award by High Times due to this episode, marking the first time an animated character received the honor.[135]

Criticism and controversy

See also: Criticism of Family Guy

Family Guy has received a negative treatment from critics[136] and watchdog groups[137] due to its profanity, animated nudity, and violence. The FCC has received multiple petitions requesting that the show be blocked from broadcasting on indecency grounds.[138][139]

Parental advocacy[140] and religious[141] organizations have voiced disapproval over the show's mockery of religious subjects. Similarly, Family Guy has drawn criticism from charities and public figures for its perceived offensiveness when handling sensitive issues, such as HIV/AIDS[142] and Down syndrome.[143] The show has also been derided by critics[57] and other cartoonists[144][145] for the overuse of cut-away gags, pop culture references and similarities to other shows. Several episodes of The Simpsons and South Park have poked fun at Family Guy, highlighting the reliance on interchangeable gags as well as similarities with the former show. However, both MacFarlane and Simpsons creator Matt Groening have said that there is no serious feud between them and the rivalry of their shows is good-natured.[146] Professional cartoonists have criticized the show as well, such as Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi[144] and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.[145]

Other media

Live performances

As promotion for the show, and to, as Newman described, "expand interest in the show beyond its diehard fans",[147] Fox organized four Family Guy Live! performances, which featured cast members reading old episodes aloud. In addition, the cast performed musical numbers from the Family Guy: Live in Vegas comedy album.[147] The stage shows were an extension of a performance by the cast during the 2004 Montreal Comedy Festival.[147] The Family Guy Live! performances, which took place in Los Angeles and New York, sold out and were attended by around 1,200 people each.[148]

In 2007, at the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, MacFarlane performed (as the digitally inserted Stewie and Brian) the ceremony's opening number. He performed a song insulting modern television to the tune of the song performed in the episode PTV. The song insulted TV shows such as Two and a Half Men, Desperate Housewives, and Scrubs, as well as the final scene of The Sopranos.

In 2009 a special televised performance show aired titled Family Guy Presents Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show in which voice actors Alex Borstein and creator Seth MacFarlane performed songs from the show and a parody of Lady Gaga's worldwide hit "Poker Face" in voice of Marlee Matlin who appeared on the stage as a guest during the performance. Some new animated gags also appeared in the show.[149]

Film

On July 22, 2007, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, MacFarlane announced that he may start working on a feature film, although "nothing's official".[150] Then in TV Week on July 18, 2008, MacFarlane confirmed plans to produce a theatrically released Family Guy feature film sometime "within the next year".[151] He came up with an idea for the story, "something that you could not do on the show, which [to him] is the only reason to do a movie". He later went to say he imagines the film to be "an old-style musical with dialogue" similar to The Sound of Music, saying that he would "really be trying to capture, musically, that feel".[152]

Spin-off

Main article: The Cleveland Show

MacFarlane co-created alongside Mike Henry and Richard Appel the Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show, which they began discussing in 2007 and which premiered September 27, 2009.[153][154] Appel and Henry serve as the show's executive producers and showrunners, handling the day-to-day operations, with limited involvement from McFarlane.[155] Henry and Appel conceived the show as "more of a family show, a sweeter show" than Family Guy.[156] The show, which was picked up to air a first season consisting of 22 episodes,[157] was picked up by Fox for a second season, consisting of 13 episodes, bringing the total number to 35 episodes. The announcement was made on May 3, 2009 before the first season even premiered.[158] It was extended to a full second season.[159] Appel signed a new three-year, seven figure deal with Fox to continue serving as showrunner on The Cleveland Show in 2010. Fox chairman Gary Newman commented: "What is special about him is his incredible leadership ability."[160] The show would follow the Family Guy character Cleveland Brown, who is voiced by Henry, as he leaves the town of Quahog and moves with his son to start his own adventure.[153]

Video games

The Family Guy Video Game! is a 2006 action game released by 2K Games and developed by High Voltage Software. The game received very mixed reviews, averaging 50% favorable reviews for the PlayStation 2 version,[161] 51% for the PlayStation Portable version,[162] and 53% for the Xbox version,[163] according to review aggregator Metacritic. The game received praise for its humor,[164] but was criticized for its short playtime[165] and "uninteresting gameplay".[166] On November 2, 2009, IGN journalist Ryan Langley reported the production of a Family Guy-based party game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. He cited the LinkedIn profiles of former HB Studios developer Chris Kolmatycki and Invisible Entertainment co-owner Ron Doucet, which stated that the individuals had worked on the game.[167] MacFarlane recorded exclusive material of Peter's voice and other Family Guy characters for a 2007 pinball machine of the show by Stern Pinball.[168]

Merchandise

Main article: List of Family Guy DVDs

As of 2009, six books have been released about the Family Guy universe, all published by HarperCollins since 2005.[169] The first book based on Family Guy, Family Guy: Stewie's Guide to World Domination (ISBN 978-0-06-077321-2) by Steve Callahan, was released in April 26, 2005. Written in the style of a graphic novel, the plot follows Stewie's plans on ruling the world, despite him only being a child.[170] Other books include Family Guy: It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One (ISBN 978-0-7528-7593-4), which covers the entire events of the episode "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One";[171] and Family Guy and Philosophy: A Cure for the Petarded (ISBN 978-1-4051-6316-3), a collection of 17 essays exploring the connections between the series and historical philosophers.[172]

Family Guy has been commercially successful in the home market.[173] The show was the first to be resurrected because of high DVD sales.[174][175] The first volume, covering the show's first two seasons, sold a total of 1.67 million units, topping TV DVD sales in 2003, while the second volume sold another million unit.[174][176] Both the volume six and seven DVDs debuted fifth in United States DVD sales;[177][178] volume seven was the highest television DVD, selling 171,000 units by June 21, 2009.[178] Family Guy Presents Blue Harvest, the DVD featuring the Star Wars special "Blue Harvest", was released on January 15, 2008, and premiered at the top of United States DVD sales.[179] The DVD was the first Family Guy DVD to include a digital copy for download on the iPod.[179] In 2004, the first series of Family Guy toy figurines was released by Mezco Toyz; each member of the Griffin family had their own toy, with the exception of Stewie, of whom two different figures were made.[180] Over the course of two years, four more series of toy figures have been released, with various forms of Peter.[181] In 2008, the character Peter appeared in advertisements for Subway Restaurants, promoting the restaurant's massive feast sandwich.[182][183]

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Template:Wikipedia-Books Quotations related to Family Guy at Wikiquote Media related to Family Guy at Wikimedia Commons 'Family Guy' returns to US television, loses in ratings to 'Housewives' at Wikinews

Preceded by
3rd Rock from the Sun
1998 		Super Bowl lead-out program
The Simpsons
alongside
Family Guy
1999 		Succeeded by
The Practice
2000
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Family_Guy&oldid=426982734"