143-464: Seth Woodbury MacFarlane ( / m ə k ˈ f ɑːr l ɪ n / ; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series Family Guy (since 1999) and The Orville (2017–2022), and co-creator of the television series American Dad! (since 2005) and The Cleveland Show (2009–2013). He also co-wrote, co-produced, directed, and starred in
286-525: A Laguna Beach clip for the episode " Prick Up Your Ears " (season 5, 2006). She has watched Family Guy for years and considers Stewie her favorite character. 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 . Johnson befriended MacFarlane after he had a minor role in Johnson's 2010 film Tooth Fairy . R&B singer Rihanna has admitted to being
429-416: A CIA officer and was initially portrayed in the series as an old-fashioned conservative bigot but has since grown out of these traits (the show is known for its story arc elements and other distinguishing plot techniques ); Stan's paradoxically moralistic yet simultaneously inappropriate, corrupt wife, Francine ; and their two children, new-age hippie daughter Hayley and nerdy son Steve . Accompanying
572-418: A "very, very simply, crudely animated film—with just enough to get the tone of the show across" to present to the executives, who loved the pilot and immediately ordered the series. In July 1998, they announced the purchase of Family Guy for a January 1999 debut. Family Guy was originally intended to be a series of shorts on MADtv , much in the same way The Simpsons had begun on The Tracey Ullman Show
715-462: A $ 100-million agreement with Fox to keep Family Guy and American Dad! until 2012. It made him the world's highest paid television writer. MacFarlane's success with Family Guy opened doors to other ventures relating to the show. On April 26, 2005, he and composer Walter Murphy created Family Guy: Live in Vegas . The soundtrack features a Broadway show tune theme, and MacFarlane voiced Stewie in
858-471: A Shadow ", " Family Guy Viewer Mail 1 ", and " North by North Quahog ", MacFarlane voices Family Guy ' s main male characters of Peter Griffin , Stewie Griffin , Brian Griffin , and Glenn Quagmire , as well as Tom Tucker, his son Jake Tucker, and other characters. Bolstered by high DVD sales and fan loyalty, Family Guy developed into a $ 1-billion franchise. On May 4, 2008, after approximately 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years of negotiations, MacFarlane reached
1001-513: 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. 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. In December 2007, Family Guy was again accused of copyright infringement when actor Art Metrano filed
1144-528: A campaign to legalize cannabis in Quahog; the Venezuelan government reacted negatively to the episode and banned Family Guy from airing on their local networks, which generally syndicate American programming. Venezuelan justice minister Tareck El Aissami , citing the promotion of the use of cannabis, stated that any cable stations that did not stop airing the series would be fined; the government showed
1287-483: A career in animation, and began by creating flip books after his parents found a book on the subject for him. Four years later, at nine, he began publishing a weekly comic strip, Walter Crouton , for The Kent Good Times Dispatch , the local newspaper; it paid him five dollars per week. MacFarlane said in an October 2011 interview that as a child he was always "weirdly fascinated by the Communion ceremony". He created
1430-476: A clip which featured Brian and Stewie singing the praises of marijuana as a demonstration of how the United States supports cannabis use. In " Extra Large Medium " ( season eight , 2010) a character named Ellen (who has Down syndrome ) states that her mother is the former Governor of Alaska , which strongly implies that her mother is Sarah Palin , the only woman to have served in the office of governor in
1573-460: A collection of three episodes parodying the original Star Wars trilogy . A spin-off series, The Cleveland Show , featuring Cleveland Brown , aired from September 27, 2009, to May 19, 2013. On January 26, 2023, Fox announced that the series had been renewed for seasons 22 and 23, taking the show through the 2024–25 television season. Season 22 premiered on October 1, 2023. Family Guy moved to Wednesday nights beginning March 6, 2024, marking
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#17327908550821716-502: A decade earlier. Negotiations for the show's MADtv connection fell through early on as a result of budgetary concerns. At age 24, MacFarlane was television's youngest executive producer. Family Guy first aired January 31, 1999. MacFarlane's work in animating Family Guy was influenced by Jackie Gleason and Hanna-Barbera along with examples from The Simpsons and All in the Family . In addition to writing three episodes, " Death Has
1859-532: A fan of Family Guy , as has pop singer Britney Spears ; she tries to imitate Stewie's English accent. Spears, who was mocked for her personal problems in the South Park episode " Britney's New Look " in 2008, offered to appear in a cameo to hit back at the similar animated show, but MacFarlane declined, stating that he did not want to start a feud with the series. Family Guy and its cast have been nominated for 27 Emmy Awards , with 8 wins. MacFarlane won
2002-455: A feature film, although "nothing's official". In September 2007, Ricky Blitt gave TV.com an interview confirming that he had already started working on the script. 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". He came up with an idea for the story, "something that you could not do on
2145-563: A fish body; and Jeff Fischer , Hayley's boyfriend turned "whipped" husband, known for his infatuation with Hayley's mom, Francine. Together, the Smiths and their three housemates run what is only at a first glance the typical middle-class American lifestyle, but is anything but. MacFarlane provides the voices of Stan and Roger, basing Roger's voice on Paul Lynde (who played Uncle Arthur in Bewitched ). His sister Rachael MacFarlane provides
2288-690: A frequent critic. It organized a letter-writing campaign to remove it from Fox's lineup, and filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission alleging that some of its episodes contained indecent content. MacFarlane has responded to the PTC's criticism by saying, among other things: "That's like getting hate mail from Hitler . They're literally terrible human beings." Family Guy has been cancelled twice, although strong fan support and DVD sales have caused Fox to reconsider. MacFarlane mentioned how these cancellations affected
2431-734: A great time. A Family Guy video game was released in 2006. Two years later, in August 2007, MacFarlane closed a digital content production deal with AdSense. He takes cast members on the road to voice characters in front of live audiences. Family Guy Live provides fans with the opportunity to hear future scripts. In mid-2007, Chicago fans had the opportunity to hear the then upcoming sixth-season premiere " Blue Harvest ". Shows have played in Montreal , New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. On July 22, 2007, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter , MacFarlane announced that he might start work on
2574-485: 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 ". 20th Century Fox, MacFarlane, Callaghan and Borstein were all named in the suit. In July 2009, a federal district court judge rejected Fox's motion to dismiss, saying that
2717-523: A little too hard to top himself with faux-scandalous gags about race, Jews in Hollywood, and the killing of Abraham Lincoln." Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter praised MacFarlane's performance saying that he did "impressively better than one would have wagered." He also noted that he added "plenty of niceties with a little bit of the Ricky Gervais bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you thing and worked
2860-554: A live-action sitcom called Dads . The series, revolves around Eli, played by Seth Green , and Warner, played by Giovanni Ribisi , two successful guys in their 30s whose world is turned upside down when their dads move in with them. MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild executive-produced the series, with Sulkin and Wild writing. In 2014, MacFarlane executive produced a two-season, 20-episode series called Blunt Talk for Starz . The series followed an English newscaster who moves to Los Angeles with his alcoholic manservant and
3003-401: A lot more sex jokes and bodily function jokes and signs of a fatigued staff that their brains are just fried". With "North by North Quahog", the writing staff tried to keep the show "[...] exactly as it was" before its cancellation, and "None of us had any desire to make it look any slicker". The episode was watched by 11.85 million viewers, the show's highest ratings since the airing of
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#17327908550823146-506: A man named Glen discussing the time he matured at 32 and has him pursuing his only love after she moves in next door. Glen meets her son and both become good friends. The show ran on Fox for six episodes in Spring 2007. In August 2011, Fox ordered a 13-part updated series of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey . MacFarlane co-produced the series with Ann Druyan and Steven Soter . The new series is hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson and began airing on
3289-401: A mysterious woman rides into town, she helps him find his courage. But when her outlaw husband arrives seeking revenge, the farmer must put his newfound courage to the test. The film was met with mixed to negative reviews from critics. On January 27, 2014, MacFarlane announced that he wrote a companion novel based on the film's script, which was released on March 4, 2014. An audio-book version
3432-531: A possible second pitch for the series. Fox offered the young writer a strange deal: They gave him a budget of $ 50,000 (equivalent to $ 95,000 in 2023) to produce a pilot that could lead to a series (most episodes of animated prime-time productions cost at least $ 1 million). Recalling the experience in an interview with The New York Times , MacFarlane said: "I spent about six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot." After six months, MacFarlane returned to Fox with
3575-567: A script is finished it is given to the rest of the writers to read. These scripts generally include cutaway gags . Various gags are pitched to MacFarlane and the rest of the staff, and those deemed the funniest are included in the episode. MacFarlane has explained that it normally takes 10 months to produce an episode because the show uses hand-drawn animation. The show rarely comments on current events for this reason. The show's initial writers had never written for an animated show, and most came from live-action sitcoms. MacFarlane explained that he
3718-402: A second season. The second season premiered on December 30, 2018, and received better reviews. The series was renewed for a third season by Fox, however the series would move over to Hulu . This season is the show's first on Hulu, after airing its previous two seasons on Fox, as well as the first to premiere since The Walt Disney Company's March 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox . The season
3861-553: A series of songs, eight in total, on a playlist entitled, Songs from Home on Spotify . MacFarlane was featured in Meghan Trainor ’s Christmas album, A Very Trainor Christmas and did a cover of " White Christmas ". The single debuted at number 24 on the Adult Contemporary chart issued dated November 14, 2020, the third holiday entry for both, and it later peaked at number 1 on the chart. In 2023, MacFarlane
4004-496: A significant increase in viewership following its availability on various streaming platforms, with a particularly notable rise in popularity on Hulu . In 2018, it ranked among the most-watched TV series on the streaming service Sling TV . In 2020, Hulu announced that Family Guy was one of the top five most-watched non-sports and non-news related live shows on the streaming service. Nielsen Media Research , which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, estimated that
4147-526: A strip with a character kneeling at the altar taking Communion and asking "Can I have fries with that?" The paper printed it and he got an "angry letter" from the local priest; it led to "sort of a little mini-controversy" in the town. MacFarlane received his high school diploma in 1991 from the Kent School. While there, he continued experimenting with animation, and his parents gave him an 8 mm camera. After graduating from high school, MacFarlane attended
4290-423: A third season. The show returned on November 8, 2001, once again in a tough time slot: Thursday nights at 8:00 pm. This slot brought it into competition with Survivor and Friends (a situation that was later referenced in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story ). During its second and third seasons, Fox frequently moved the show around to different days and time slots with little or no notice and, consequently,
4433-722: Is Quahog ( / ˈ k ( w ) oʊ h ɒ ɡ / K(W)OH -hog ), a fictional city in Rhode Island that was founded by Peter's ancestor, Griffin Peterson. MacFarlane resided in Providence during his time as a student at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and the show contains distinct Rhode Island landmarks similar to real-world locations. MacFarlane often borrows the names of Rhode Island locations and icons such as Pawtucket and Buddy Cianci for use in
Seth MacFarlane - Misplaced Pages Continue
4576-430: Is a fan of 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology Suspense , which led him to give early episodes ominous titles like " Death Has a Shadow " and " Mind Over Murder ." MacFarlane said that the team dropped the naming convention after individual episodes became hard to identify, and the novelty wore off. For the first few months of production, the writers shared one office, lent to them by
4719-422: Is becoming one of the best animated shows; she commented on its ribaldry and popularity. The show has become a hit on Hulu ; it is the second-highest viewed show after Saturday Night Live . IGN called Family Guy a great show and commented that it has gotten better since its revival. They stated that they cannot imagine another half-hour sitcom that provides as many laughs as Family Guy . Empire praised
4862-485: Is constantly ridiculed or ignored by the family; Chris , their awkward teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent, unathletic, and in many respects a younger version of his father; and Stewie , their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who is an adult-mannered evil genius and uses stereotypical archvillain phrases. Living with the family is their witty, smoking, martini-swilling , sarcastic, English-speaking anthropomorphic pet dog Brian , although he
5005-604: Is introduced to Meg, he exclaims " D'oh! ", to which Lois replies, "No, Peter, that's not your catchphrase." In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that, like other satirical comedies, Family Guy "is most popular in cities. The show's popularity was more correlated with support for Hillary Clinton than any other show". As of 2008, the franchise has generated $ 1 billion in total revenue, including $ 400 million from TV syndication , $ 400 million from DVD sales, and $ 200 million from merchandise sales. Family Guy experienced
5148-896: Is still considered a pet in many ways. Recurring characters appear alongside the Griffin family. These include the family's neighbors: sex-crazed airline pilot bachelor Glenn Quagmire ; deli owner/mail carrier Cleveland Brown and his wife Loretta (later Donna ); paraplegic police officer Joe Swanson , his wife Bonnie , their son Kevin and their baby daughter Susie ; neurotic Jewish pharmacist Mort Goldman , his wife Muriel , and their geeky and annoying son Neil , and elderly child molester Herbert . TV news anchors Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons , Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa , and Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams also make frequent appearances. Actor James Woods guest stars as himself in multiple episodes, as did Adam West , prior to his death. The primary setting of Family Guy
5291-452: Is the only person to serve as roastmaster for more than one roast. In 2010, he filled this role for the roast of David Hasselhoff . The following year he was roastmaster at the roasts of Donald Trump and Charlie Sheen . On October 1, 2012, it was announced that MacFarlane would host the 85th Academy Awards on February 24, 2013. He also presented the nominees with actress Emma Stone , on January 10, 2013. In addition to hosting, MacFarlane
5434-606: The 85th Academy Awards in 2013 and was nominated for Best Original Song for " Everybody Needs a Best Friend " from Ted . MacFarlane was executive producer of the Neil deGrasse Tyson -hosted Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey , an update of the 1980s Cosmos series hosted by Carl Sagan . He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2020. MacFarlane
5577-553: The Fox Broadcasting Company . The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII , with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. The show centers around the Griffins , a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois , their children, Meg , Chris , and Stewie , and their anthropomorphic pet dog , Brian . Set in the fictional city of Quahog , Rhode Island ,
5720-704: The King of the Hill production crew. Credited with 19 episodes, Steve Callaghan is the most prolific writer on the Family Guy staff. Many of the writers that have left the show have gone on to create or produce other successful series. Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan co-wrote 13 episodes for the NBC sitcom Scrubs during their eight-year run on the show, while also serving as co-producers and working their way up to executive producers. Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman left
5863-706: The Outstanding Voice-Over Performance award for his performance as Stewie; 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 "; Steven Fonti won the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation award for his storyboard work in the episode " No Chris Left Behind "; and Greg Colton won
Seth MacFarlane - Misplaced Pages Continue
6006-453: The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he majored in animation. As a student, he intended to work for Disney , but changed his mind after seeing The Simpsons . During his time at RISD, he performed stand-up comedy. He also starred in many student films, meeting future Family Guy cast member Mike Henry , whose brother Patrick was MacFarlane's classmate. In his senior year, he made his thesis film, The Life of Larry , which became
6149-807: The Webby Award for Film & Video Person of the Year. MacFarlane has performed as a vocalist at the Hollywood Bowl , Carnegie Hall , and the Royal Albert Hall . He has released eight studio albums, in the vein of Frank Sinatra , with influences from jazz orchestrations , and Hollywood musicals beginning with Music Is Better Than Words in 2011. MacFarlane has received five Grammy Award nominations for his work. He has frequently collaborated with artists such as Sara Bareilles , Norah Jones , and Elizabeth Gillies on his albums. He hosted
6292-420: The first season episode " Brian: Portrait of a Dog ". In March 2007, comedian Carol Burnett filed a $ 6 million lawsuit against 20th Century Fox, claiming that her charwoman cartoon character had been portrayed on the show without her permission. She stated it was a trademark infringement and that Fox violated her publicity rights. On June 4, 2007, United States District Judge Dean D. Pregerson rejected
6435-508: The second season . The episodes are known for featuring elaborate musical numbers , similar to the Road films. The 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. The original idea for the "Road to" episodes came from MacFarlane, as he is a fan of the films of Crosby, Hope and Dorothy Lamour . The first episode
6578-703: The tenth season episode " Back to the Pilot " in which Brian and Stewie go back in time to the events of "Death Has a Shadow." Mike Henry voices Herbert , Bruce the Performance Artist , Consuela , the Greased-up Deaf Guy , and until 2021, Cleveland Brown . Henry met MacFarlane at the Rhode Island School of Design and kept in touch with him after they graduated. A few years later, MacFarlane contacted him about being part of
6721-500: The "Show of the Week" on April 21, 2009, hailing it a "pop culture-heavy masterpiece". Frazier Moore from The Seattle Times called it an "endless craving for humor about bodily emissions". He thought it was "breathtakingly smart" and said a "blend of the ingenious with the raw helps account for its much broader appeal". He summarized it as "rude, crude and deliciously wrong". The New Yorker ' s Nancy Franklin said that Family Guy
6864-424: The 100 Greatest Cartoons. Brian was awarded the 2009 Stoner of the Year award by High Times for the episode " 420 ", marking the first time an animated character received the honor. In 2004 and 2007, TV Guide ranked Family Guy number 12 and number 15 in their list of top cult shows ever. Family Guy has garnered six Golden Reel Awards nominations, winning three times. In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy
7007-490: The 95th-greatest villain of all time. British newspaper The Times rated Family Guy the 45th-best American show in 2009. IGN ranked Family Guy number seven in the "Top 100 Animated Series" and number six in the "Top 25 Primetime Animated Series of All Time". Empire named it the twelfth-greatest TV show of all time in 2008. In 2005, viewers of the UK television channel Channel 4 voted Family Guy number 5 on their list of
7150-461: The Amazing Cube . The Griffin family first appeared on the demo that MacFarlane pitched to Fox on May 15, 1998. Family Guy was originally planned to start out as short movies for the sketch show Mad TV , but the plan changed, because MADtv ' s budget was not large enough to support animation production. MacFarlane noted that he then wanted to pitch it to Fox, as he thought that it
7293-822: 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. The show uses catchphrases , and most of the primary and secondary characters have them. Notable expressions include Quagmire's "Giggity giggity goo", Peter's "Freakin' sweet", Cleveland's "Oh, that's nasty", and Joe's "Bring it on!" The use of many of these catchphrases declined in later seasons. The episode " Big Man on Hippocampus " mocks catchphrase-based humor: when Peter, who has forgotten everything about his life,
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#17327908550827436-470: The Giant Chicken . Alexandra Breckenridge also appears as many various characters. Adam West appeared as the eponymous Mayor Adam West , until his death in 2017. Episodes often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians, and scientists. Many guest voices star as themselves. Leslie Uggams was the first to appear as herself, in
7579-458: The Griffin family waving goodbye towards the end. On August 14, 2024, it was announced that Family Guy would begin airing on Comedy Central as part of a licensing deal between Paramount (parent company of Comedy Central) and Disney (which retains some ownership of Fox and also holds streaming rights to the show). This deal would be effective on September 2, 2024. New episodes continue to air on Fox, and reruns continue to air on FX Networks as
7722-468: The Griffins' neighbor Glenn Quagmire , news anchor Tom Tucker , and Lois' father, Carter Pewterschmidt . Alex Borstein voices Peter's wife Lois Griffin , Asian correspondent Tricia Takanawa , Loretta Brown , and Lois' mother, Babs Pewterschmidt . 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
7865-480: The Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation award for his storyboard work in the episode " Road to the Multiverse ". The show was nominated for eleven Annie Awards , and won three times, twice in 2006 and once in 2008. 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. The Simpsons
8008-439: The PTC have both accused the show of portraying religion negatively, and of being racist. Because of the PTC, some advertisers have canceled their contracts after reviewing the content of the episodes, claiming it to be unsuitable. Critics have compared the show's humor and characters with those of The Simpsons . Various episodes of the show have generated controversy. In " 420 " ( season seven , 2009), Brian decides to start
8151-624: The Roger character and set from his birth planet—is in the works and partially written. However, at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022, Weitzman revealed plans for the film were scrapped. MacFarlane has described the initial seasons of American Dad! as being similar to All in the Family , likening title character Stan Smith 's originally bigoted persona to Archie Bunker . MacFarlane has also stated that his inspiration to create American Dad! derived from his and Weitzman's exasperation with George W. Bush 's policies as former United States President. After
8294-488: The Smith family are three additional main characters, two of which belong to non-human species: zany, shocking, blithely cruel and rascally alien Roger, who's full of disguises/alter egos and has few if any limits on his behaviors. He was rescued by Stan from Area 51 ; Klaus , the man-in-a-fish-body pet. Klaus's unenviable situation came about from the brain of an East German Olympic skier being shrunk and transplanted into
8437-478: The United Kingdom, regularly obtaining between 700,000 and 1 million viewers for re-runs on BBC Three . The series has attracted many celebrities. Robert Downey Jr. telephoned the show production staff and asked if he could produce or assist in an episode's creation, as his son is a fan of the show; the producers subsequently created a character for Downey. Lauren Conrad met MacFarlane while recording
8580-488: The Week". In May 2000, the PTC launched a letter-writing campaign to the Fox network in an effort to persuade the network to cancel the show. The PTC has placed the show on their annual lists of "Worst Prime-Time Shows for Family Viewing" in 2000, 2005, and 2006. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has received multiple petitions requesting that the show be blocked from broadcasting on indecency grounds. Tucker and
8723-475: The admissions office at South Kent School . She later worked in the college guidance and admissions offices at the Kent School , a selective college preparatory school , where Ronald was a teacher. As a child, MacFarlane developed an interest in illustration, and at the age of two he began drawing cartoon characters such as Fred Flintstone and Woody Woodpecker . By age five, he knew he wanted to pursue
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#17327908550828866-513: The album. Like his previous four albums, he recorded a majority of the songs at Abbey Road Studios . However, much of the albums post-production work was done at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic . In 2022, he released his seventh studio album, Blue Skies . In November 2023, MacFarlane released a collaborative Christmas album with Gillies titled We Wish You the Merriest . The lead single of
9009-483: The animated short Larry & Steve —a loose precursor of Family Guy —for What a Cartoon! . In 2008, he created the online series Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy . MacFarlane has also made guest appearances as an actor on live action shows including Gilmore Girls , Star Trek: Enterprise , The War at Home , and FlashForward . MacFarlane has won several awards for his work on Family Guy , including five Primetime Emmy Awards . In 2009, he won
9152-413: The atmosphere at Hanna-Barbera as resembling an "old-fashioned Hollywood structure, where you move from one show to another or you jump from a writing job on one show to a storyboard job on another". MacFarlane worked on three television series during his tenure at the studio: Dexter's Laboratory , Cow and Chicken , and Johnny Bravo . Working as both a writer and storyboard artist , MacFarlane spent
9295-537: The baggage of several failed marriages to host a sanctimonious talk show. In 2009, MacFarlane began work on the animated series Bordertown . The series is set in Texas and follows a border patrol agent and a Mexican immigrant, satirizing America's changing cultural landscape. It ran for 13 episodes in the first half of 2016, on Fox. MacFarlane has participated in the Comedy Central Roasts . MacFarlane
9438-564: The channel in March 2014, with repeats airing on the National Geographic Channel on the next night. In addition to serving as one of the executive producers, MacFarlane provided voices for characters during the animated portions of the series. MacFarlane returned to executive produce and provide voices to its sequel series, Cosmos: Possible Worlds , which aired in 2020. In 2013 and 2014, MacFarlane produced one season of
9581-456: The characters. Fox proposed that MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short and gave him a budget of $ 50,000. Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts. While MacFarlane worked on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian. MacFarlane stated that the difference between The Life of Larry and Family Guy was that " Life of Larry
9724-465: The early couple of seasons however, the series discontinued using these elements of political satire and began to serve up its own brand of entertainment and humor. MacFarlane was described as having difficulty understanding the series in its early going; however, he heavily warmed up to the series after its early seasons once he felt the show truly came into its own. His fellow co-creators have sensed this through MacFarlane's greatly increased attention to
9867-696: The early- to late-'50s era of orchestration". The album featured duets with Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles . It was nominated in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical categories at the 54th Grammy Awards . It received a score of 52 out of 100 on Metacritic 's compilation of music critic reviews. In 2014, he released his second studio album and first Christmas album Holiday for Swing . It received mostly positive reviews. In 2015, his third studio album No One Ever Tells You
10010-533: The end of its first season, the show ranked No. 33 in the Nielsen ratings , with 12.8 million households tuning in. The show launched its second season in a new time slot, Thursday at 9 pm, on September 23, 1999. Family Guy was pitted against NBC's Frasier , and the series' ratings declined sharply. Subsequently, Fox removed Family Guy from its schedule and began airing episodes irregularly. The show returned on March 7, 2000, at 8:30 pm on Tuesdays, where it
10153-401: The end of the strike, with regularly airing episodes recommencing on February 17, 2008. According to MacFarlane, in 2009, it cost about $ 2 million to make an episode of Family Guy . During his September 2017 AMA on Reddit , MacFarlane revealed that he had not written for the show since 2010, choosing instead to focus on production and voice acting. On May 12, 2023, it was announced that
10296-556: The episode " He's Bla-ack! ". This is the only animated series created by MacFarlane that does not have him voicing the main character. MacFarlane did, however, play the character Tim the Bear until season 3 episode 10. Jess Harnell voiced Tim from season 3 episode 11 onwards. In 2008, MacFarlane released a series of webisodes known as Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy with its animated shorts sponsored by Burger King and released weekly. In 2016, MacFarlane began producing
10439-561: The episode with the most guest stars of the seventh season. 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 immediately generated controversy regarding its adult content. The show returned on April 11, 1999, with " I Never Met the Dead Man ". Family Guy garnered decent ratings in Fox's 8:30 pm slot on Sunday, scheduled between The Simpsons and The X-Files . At
10582-452: The films Ted (2012) and its sequel Ted 2 (2015), and A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014). MacFarlane is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he studied animation. He was recruited to Hollywood as an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera 's television series Johnny Bravo , Cow and Chicken and Dexter's Laboratory ; during this time, he created
10725-684: 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
10868-416: The first revival of a television show based on DVD sales. " North by North Quahog ", which premiered May 1, 2005, was the first episode to be broadcast after the show's hiatus. It was written by MacFarlane and directed by Peter Shin . 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
11011-460: 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. The case
11154-592: The following year, on May 1, 2005. Since its premiere, Family Guy has received generally positive reviews. In 2009, it was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series , the first time an animated series had been nominated for the award since The Flintstones in 1961. In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy as the ninth-greatest TV cartoon. The series has also garnered considerable amounts of criticism and controversy , ranging from storylines and character stereotypes, to allegations of racism, homophobia, and misogyny. Many tie-in media based on
11297-602: The following year. MacFarlane made his directorial live-action film debut with the release of Ted in 2012. He announced that he was directing it on an episode of Conan that aired on February 10, 2011. Along with directing the film, he also wrote the screenplay, served as producer, and starred as the title character. Ted tells the story of John Bennett ( Mark Wahlberg ) and his talking teddy bear (MacFarlane) who keeps John and his girlfriend Lori Collins ( Mila Kunis ) from moving on with their lives. The film received generally favorable reviews from both critics and audiences, and
11440-399: The fourth episode of the first season, " Mind Over Murder ". The episode " Not All Dogs Go to Heaven " guest starred the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation , including 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
11583-621: The greatest in the series, thanks to the developing relationship between Stewie and Brian and the strong plotlines of the episodes themselves. Family Guy uses the film-making technique of cutaways , which occur in the majority of Family Guy episodes. Emphasis is often placed on gags which make reference to social phenomena 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
11726-477: The inspiration for Family Guy . A professor submitted his film to the animation studio Hanna-Barbera , where he was later hired. He graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. MacFarlane was recruited during the senior film festival by development executive Ellen Cockrill and President Fred Seibert . He went to work at Hanna-Barbera (then Hanna-Barbera Cartoons) based on the writing content of The Life of Larry , rather than on his drawing abilities. He
11869-541: The juxtaposition rather nicely." He stirred up controversy in the form of a musical number titled "We Saw Your Boobs". On October 29, 2014, it was announced that MacFarlane would host the Breakthrough Prize ceremony. The event was held in Silicon Valley and televised on November 15, 2014, on Discovery Channel and Science , and globally on November 22, 2014, on BBC World News . He returned to host
12012-475: The lawsuit, stating that the parody was protected under the First Amendment , citing Hustler Magazine v. Falwell as a precedent. 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 titled "I Need a Jew" appearing in the episode " When You Wish Upon a Weinstein ". Bourne Co.,
12155-492: The lineup of writers: "One of the positive aspects of Family Guy constantly being pulled off [the air] is that we were always having to re staff writers." During its sixth season, episodes of Family Guy and American Dad! were delayed from regular broadcast due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike . MacFarlane participated in the strike to support the writers, and Fox aired three Family Guy episodes without his permission. The strike ended on February 12, 2008, and
12298-797: The most time on Johnny Bravo . He found it easier to develop his own style at Johnny Bravo through the show's process of scriptwriting, which Dexter's Laboratory and Cow and Chicken did not use. As a part of the Johnny Bravo crew, he met actors and voiceover artists such as Adam West and Jack Sheldon of Schoolhouse Rock! fame. These meetings later became significant to the production and success of his Family Guy series. He also did freelance work for Walt Disney Television Animation , writing for Jungle Cubs , and for Nelvana , where he wrote for Ace Ventura: Pet Detective . Through strict observation of writing elements such as story progression, character stakes and plot points, MacFarlane found
12441-457: The ninth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time. One of the initial critics to give the show negative reviews was Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly ; he called it " The Simpsons as conceived by a singularly sophomoric mind that lacks any reference point beyond other TV shows". The Parents Television Council (PTC), a conservative non-profit watchdog , has attacked the series since its premiere and has branded various episodes as "Worst TV Show of
12584-402: The president of 20th Century Fox Television . Family Guy premiered in reruns on Adult Swim on April 20, 2003, and immediately became the block's top-rated program, dominating late-night viewing in its time period versus cable and broadcast competition and boosting viewership by 239%. The complete first and second seasons were released on DVD the same week the show premiered on Adult Swim, and
12727-442: The project. The project was put on hold while MacFarlane worked on Ted 2 . In 2018, Fox announced that a live-action/animated film based on the series is in development. MacFarlane stepped away from the series in 2011 to work on Ted and other projects, and has only been associated with the show as a voice actor since then. Despite its popularity, Family Guy has often been criticized . The Parents Television Council has been
12870-533: The same name was dropped on the day of the announcement. He was featured on Calabria Foti's 2013 single " Let's Fall in Love ". In 2016, he recorded the song " Pure Imagination " as a duet with Barbra Streisand for her album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway . MacFarlane sang numerous show tunes with Ariana Grande on an episode of Carpool Karaoke: The Series in 2017. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, MacFarlane and Elizabeth Gillies collaborated on
13013-511: The sci-fi comedy-drama series The Orville , in which he also stars as Captain Edward "Ed" Mercer . MacFarlane originally wrote The Orville as a spec script , which was given a 13-episode order by Fox in May 2016, making it the first live-action television series created by MacFarlane. The series premiered on September 10, 2017. Despite the first season receiving negative reviews, it was renewed for
13156-437: The series after its early seasons. MacFarlane has also revealed he is an American Dad! fan himself. He has taken note of the positive reaction to the " Roger " character by fans via his Twitter. The show focuses on the Smith family: Stan Smith, the endangering, dog-eat-dog , rash and inconsiderate head of the household. He has an exaggeratedly large chin and masculine manner about him. As the family's breadwinner , he works as
13299-455: The series after the first season because of time conflicts with schoolwork (at the time) and her role on Party of Five . When Kunis auditioned for the role, she was called back by MacFarlane, who instructed her to speak slower. He then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her. Archival recordings of Lacey Chabert's voice that she provided as Meg Griffin are used in
13442-472: The series for a 15-episode 12th season . The purpose of the network relocation was originally to make room for new comedies on FOX, such as Mulaney and another animated series from Seth MacFarlane called Bordertown on Fox's now-defunct " Animation Domination " programming block. While MacFarlane does extensive voice acting work for American Dad! , he has left much of its creative direction up to Matt Weitzman and Mike Barker , feeling it helps give
13585-464: The series its own voice and identity. It was announced on November 4, 2013, that Barker would depart American Dad! after 10 seasons as producer/co- showrunner . American Dad! was first shown after Super Bowl XXXIX , debuting with the episode " Pilot ", which MacFarlane co-wrote. This February 6, 2005, series premiere was somewhat of an early sneak preview as the program did not begin airing regularly until May 1, 2005. Because of atypical scheduling of
13728-414: The series progressed, the writers and MacFarlane agreed that his personality and the jokes were starting to feel dated, so they began writing him with a different personality. Family Guy often includes self-referential humor. The most common form is jokes about the Fox network, and occasions where the characters break the fourth wall by addressing the audience. For example, in " North by North Quahog ",
13871-567: The series resumed airing regularly, beginning with " Back to the Woods ". MacFarlane has a second long-running, successful adult animated series in American Dad! which has been in production since early 2005. To date, it is his only animated series that has never been cancelled, though it did undergo a network relocation from Fox to TBS on October 20, 2014, following its 11th season . TBS announced on July 16, 2013, that they had picked up
14014-520: The series was watched for 910 million minutes from July 29 to August 4, 2024. The following week, it garnered 881 million minutes of viewing time from August 5 to August 11, 2024, making it the sixth most-streamed television show overall. From August 12 to August 18, 2024, Family Guy generated 834 million minutes of viewership, ranking it as the eighth most-streamed television show overall. From August 26 to September 1, 2024, it amassed more than 1 billion minutes of viewing time, securing its position as
14157-410: The series, MacFarlane reprises his role as Ted. Due to its prequel nature, Wahlberg and Kunis do not reprise their roles. MacFarlane co-wrote and starred in his second film, A Million Ways to Die in the West . Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild were also co-writers for the film. The film follows a cowardly sheep farmer (MacFarlane) who loses a gunfight and sees his girlfriend leave him for another man. When
14300-470: The show and its writers for creating really hilarious moments with unlikely material. They commented that one of the reasons they love the show is because nothing is sacred—it makes jokes and gags of almost everything. 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." Family Guy has proven popular in
14443-416: The show and went on to create the long-running and still ongoing adult animated series American Dad! MacFarlane is also a co-creator of American Dad! On November 4, 2013, it was announced that Barker had departed American Dad! during its run as well, after 10 seasons of serving as producer and co-showrunner over the series. During the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike , official production of
14586-408: The show as a co-executive producer in season three and eventually became an executive producer. The first team of writers assembled for the show consisted of Chris Sheridan , Danny Smith, Gary Janetti , Ricky Blitt , Neil Goldman , Garrett Donovan , Matt Weitzman , and Mike Barker . The writing process of Family Guy typically starts with 14 writers that take turns writing the scripts; when
14729-562: The show became a cult phenomenon, selling 400,000 copies within one month. Sales of the DVD set reached 2.2 million copies, becoming the best-selling television DVD of 2003 and the second-highest-selling television DVD ever, behind the first season of Comedy Central 's Chappelle's Show . The third-season DVD release also sold more than a million copies. The show's popularity in DVD sales and reruns rekindled Fox's interest, and, on May 20, 2004, Fox ordered 35 new episodes of Family Guy , marking
14872-493: The show exhibits much of its humor in the form of metafictional cutaway gags that often lampoon American culture . The family was conceived by MacFarlane after he developed 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 seven-minute pilot to Fox in December 1998, and
15015-400: The show halted for most of December 2007 and for various periods afterward. Fox continued producing episodes without 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. Production officially resumed after
15158-476: The show 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 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 ; and Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy (2010),
15301-399: The show was greenlit and began production. Family Guy 's cancellation was announced shortly after the third season had aired in 2002, with one unaired episode eventually premiering on Adult Swim in 2003, finishing the series' original run. Favorable DVD sales and high ratings from syndicated reruns since then convinced Fox to revive the show in 2004; a fourth season began airing
15444-507: The show's first 7 episodes , American Dad! has a controversial season number discrepancy in which many are divided as to how many seasons the program has had. Beyond division between media journalists and fans, there have been conflicting reports as to what season the show is in even between American Dad! creators and the show's official website—both from its original Fox website and now from TBS website. At San Diego Comic-Con in 2013, Barker hinted that an American Dad! movie—centering on
15587-426: The show's first weeknight airings since 2002. The show centers around the adventures and activities of the dysfunctional Griffin family , consisting of father Peter Griffin , a bumbling and clumsy yet well-intentioned blue-collar worker ; his wife Lois , a stay-at-home mother and piano teacher (in early episodes) who is a member of the affluent Pewterschmidt family ; Meg , their often bullied teenage daughter who
15730-402: The show's ratings suffered. Upon Fox's annual unveiling of its 2002 fall line-up on May 15, 2002, Family Guy was absent. Fox announced that the show had been officially canceled shortly thereafter. Fox attempted to sell the rights for reruns of the show, but finding networks that were interested was difficult; Cartoon Network eventually bought the rights "basically for free", according to
15873-458: The show, which [to him] is the only reason to do a movie". He later went on 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". On October 13, 2011, MacFarlane confirmed that a deal for a Family Guy film had been made, and that he would write it with series co-producer Ricky Blitt. On November 30, 2012, he confirmed plans for
16016-405: The show. MacFarlane, in an interview with Providence's Fox affiliate WNAC-TV , stated that the town is modeled after Cranston, Rhode Island . MacFarlane conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design . During college, he created his thesis film titled The Life of Larry , which was submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera . MacFarlane
16159-469: The show; he agreed and came on as a writer and voice actor. 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. On June 26, 2020, after twenty years of voicing the character, Mike Henry announced on Twitter that he was stepping down from voicing Cleveland, stating "persons of color should play characters of color." On September 25, 2020, it
16302-552: The showrunners of Family Guy , including Seth MacFarlane, would temporarily leave the show as a result of the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike . They returned to the show on September 27, 2023, once the strike was declared to be over. Seth MacFarlane voices three of the show's main characters: Peter Griffin , Brian Griffin , and Stewie Griffin . Since MacFarlane had a strong vision for these characters, he chose to voice them himself, believing it would be easier than for someone else to attempt it. MacFarlane drew inspiration for
16445-436: The sole United States copyright owner of the song, alleged the parody pairs a "thinly veiled" copy of its music with antisemitic lyrics. Named in the suit were 20th Century Fox Film Corp. , Fox Broadcasting Co. , Cartoon Network , MacFarlane , and Murphy ; the suit sought to stop the program's distribution and asked for unspecified damages. Bourne argued that "I Need a Jew" uses the copyrighted melody of "When You Wish Upon
16588-417: The state. Sarah Palin, the mother of a child with Down syndrome , criticized the episode in an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor , calling those who made the show "cruel, cold-hearted people". In the United States, the show currently airs on Comedy Central , Freeform , FX , and FXX . The show was syndicated to Adult Swim and TBS from 2003 to 2021, sharing the rights to the first fifteen seasons. It
16731-409: The syndication rights held by local broadcast stations. The show's departure from Adult Swim on September 18, 2021, was commemorated with a remembrance bumper created by the network, which played after the final airing (the episode " Stewie is Enceinte "). The bumper showed animations of several Adult Swim characters bidding farewell to Family Guy , including shots of Peter crying at the beginning and
16874-501: The third most-streamed series overall. Family Guy has received generally positive reviews, particularly for its pop culture references, blue humor, satire, and non-sequitur storytelling. Catherine Seipp of National Review Online described it as a "nasty but extremely funny" cartoon. Caryn James of The New York Times called it a show with an "outrageously satirical family" that "includes plenty of comic possibilities and parodies". The Sydney Morning Herald named Family Guy
17017-496: The track "Stewie's Sexy Party". A fan of Broadway musicals, MacFarlane comments on using musicals as a component of Family Guy : I love the lush orchestration and old-fashioned melody writing ... it just gets you excited, that kind of music", he said. "It's very optimistic. And it's fun. The one thing that's missing for me from popular music today is fun. Guys like [Bing] Crosby, or [Frank] Sinatra , or Dean Martin , or Mel Tormé [...] these are guys who sounded like they were having
17160-427: The voice of Hayley. MacFarlane developed a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show , which focuses on the character of Cleveland Brown and his family. The idea for the show originated from a suggestion by Family Guy writer and voice of Cleveland, Mike Henry. Fox ordered 22 episodes and the series first aired on September 27, 2009. The show, which was picked up to air a first season consisting of 22 episodes,
17303-446: The voice of Peter from a security guard he overheard talking while attending the Rhode Island School of Design. Stewie's voice was based on the voice of English actor Rex Harrison , especially his performance in the 1964 musical drama film My Fair Lady . MacFarlane uses his regular speaking voice when playing Brian. MacFarlane also provides the voices for various other recurring and one-time-only characters, most prominently those of
17446-458: The work for Disney was, from a writing standpoint, very valuable in preparation for his career (particularly on Ace Ventura ). He also created and wrote a short titled Zoomates for Frederator Studios ' Oh Yeah! Cartoons on Nickelodeon . Executives at the Fox Broadcasting Company saw both Larry shorts and negotiations soon began for a prime-time animated series. Although MacFarlane enjoyed working at Hanna-Barbera, he felt his real calling
17589-586: Was "really sight unseen". At the time, Borstein was performing in a stage show in Los Angeles. She played a redheaded mother whose voice she had based on one of her cousins. Seth Green primarily voices Chris Griffin and Neil Goldman . Green stated that he did an impression of the character Buffalo Bill from the thriller film The Silence of the Lambs during his audition. Mila Kunis and Lacey Chabert have both voiced Meg Griffin . Chabert left
17732-488: Was a box office success, opening with the highest weekend gross of all time for an original R-rated comedy. Internationally, the movie is currently the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time, beating The Hangover . A sequel, Ted 2 , was released on June 26, 2015. It was announced in June 2021 that Peacock had given a straight to series order for a prequel series. In addition to serving as executive producer for
17875-559: Was almost nominated in 1993, but voters were hesitant to pit cartoons against live action programs. The show was nominated for a Grammy in 2011. Family Guy has been nominated and has won various other awards, including the Teen Choice Awards and the People's Choice Awards . In the 1,000th issue of Entertainment Weekly , Brian Griffin was selected as the dog for "The Perfect TV Family". Wizard Magazine rated Stewie
18018-509: Was also made available, narrated by Jonathan Frakes . MacFarlane wrote the book on weekends during shooting for the film, partially due to boredom. In 2010, MacFarlane signed a record deal with Universal Republic Records . He released his debut album, Music Is Better Than Words , in 2011. The album is a big band / standards album drawing on his training in and attraction to "the Great American Songbook and particularly
18161-472: Was also nominated in the Academy Award for Best Original Song category for co-writing the theme song " Everybody Needs a Best Friend " for his film Ted with Walter Murphy. Critical response to MacFarlane's performance was mixed. Columnist Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly commented "By calling constant attention to the naughty factor," MacFarlane created "an echo chamber of outrage, working
18304-740: Was announced that Arif Zahir would take over as the voice of Cleveland. Other recurring cast members include Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson , Jennifer Tilly as Bonnie Swanson , John G. Brennan as Mort Goldman and Horace the bartender , Carlos Alazraqui as Jonathan Weed , Adam Carolla and Norm Macdonald as Death , Lori Alan as Diane Simmons , Phil LaMarr as Ollie Williams and Judge Dignified Q. Blackman, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Jerome. Fellow cartoonist Butch Hartman has made guest voice appearances in episodes as various characters. Also, writer Danny Smith voices various recurring characters, such as Ernie
18447-662: Was born and raised in Kent , Connecticut. His parents, Ronald Milton MacFarlane (b. 1946) and Ann Perry (née Sager; 1947–2010), were born in Newburyport , Massachusetts. His younger sister Rachael is also a voice actress. His maternal grandfather, Arthur Sager , competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics in track and field . MacFarlane's parents met in 1970 when they lived and worked in Boston , Massachusetts, and married later that year. They moved to Kent in 1972, where Ann began working in
18590-401: Was co-featured alongside Redman and Statik Selektah on the album track "Self Medication", from Logic 's eighth studio album College Park . MacFarlane was executive producer of a 2020 feature film adapting Clive Barker ’s novel Books of Blood for Hulu, directed by Brannon Braga . Family Guy Family Guy is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for
18733-457: Was constantly beaten in the ratings by ABC 's then-new breakout hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire , coming in at No. 114 in the Nielsen ratings with 6.32 million households tuning in. Fox announced that the show had been canceled in May 2000, at the end of the second season. However, following a last-minute reprieve, on July 24, 2000, Fox ordered 13 additional episodes of Family Guy to form
18876-402: Was directed by Dan Povenmire , who would direct the rest of the "Road to" episodes until the episode " Road to Rupert ", at which point he had left the show to create Phineas and Ferb with Jeff "Swampy" Marsh . Series regular Greg Colton then took over Povenmire's role as director of the "Road to" episodes. The "Road to" episodes are generally considered by critics and fans to be some of
19019-441: Was for prime-time animation, which would allow a much edgier style of humor. He first pitched Family Guy to Fox during his tenure at Hanna-Barbera. A development executive there, who was trying to get back into prime-time business, introduced MacFarlane to Leslie Kolins and Mike Darnell, heads of the alternative comedy department at Fox. After the success of King of the Hill in 1997, MacFarlane called Kolins once more to ask about
19162-407: Was hired by the company. In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to The Life of Larry titled 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 . Executives at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series, titled Family Guy , based on
19305-415: Was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In 2016, he was honored by Barbara Sinatra at the 28th annual Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational. He released his fourth studio album, In Full Swing , in 2017, again featuring songs composed by Joel McNeely . Three singles were released from it: "That Face", " Almost Like Being in Love ", and " Have You Met Miss Jones? " The album
19448-401: Was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals . In 2019, for his fifth studio album Once in a While , MacFarlane worked with composer Andrew Cottee. In 2020, MacFarlane released his sixth studio album, Great Songs from Stage & Screen , with composer Bruce Broughton , who he works with on The Orville , to compose
19591-412: Was one of only a few people hired by the company solely based on writing talent. He worked as an animator and writer for Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoons series. He created a sequel to The Life of Larry entitled Larry & Steve , featuring a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. The short was broadcast as one of Cartoon Network 's World Premiere Toons . He described
19734-508: Was originally scheduled to premiere in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The third season titled as The Orville: New Horizons premiered on June 2, 2022. Due to the pandemic, an episode of third season was scrapped, which MacFarlane subsequently turned into a novel, titled The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil . MacFarlane was the executive producer of a live-action sitcom starring Rob Corddry called The Winner . The plot has
19877-495: 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. Due to strong ratings, Fox picked up the back nine episodes of season 2, making a 22-episode season and bringing the total episode count of the show to 44. The series ended on May 19, 2013, with a total of 4 seasons and 88 episodes. The character of Cleveland and his family returned to Family Guy in
20020-468: Was settled out of court in 2010 with undisclosed terms. The "Road to" episodes are a series of hallmark travel episodes. They are a parody of the seven Road to ... comedy films starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope . These episodes have always involved Stewie and Brian in some foreign, supernatural or science-fiction location, unrelated to the show's normal location in Quahog. The first, titled " Road to Rhode Island ", aired on May 30, 2000, during
20163-523: Was shown primarily in my dorm room and Family Guy was shown after the Super Bowl ." After the pilot aired, the series was given the greenlight . MacFarlane drew inspiration from several sitcoms such as The Simpsons and All in the Family . 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,
20306-443: Was syndicated to various local stations from 2007 to 2024. In April 2019, FX Networks began airing reruns of season 16 on FXX, with season 17 debuting that October, and shared off-network rights to both seasons with sister channel Freeform. After Adult Swim and TBS' rights expired on September 18, 2021, FXX and Freeform began airing the first fifteen seasons. The show also joined FX's lineup that same month. These deals did not affect
20449-573: Was the place to create a prime-time animation show. Family Guy was 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. MacFarlane has served as an executive producer throughout the show's entire history. The first executive producers were David Zuckerman , Lolee Aries , David Pritchard, and Mike Wolf. Family Guy has had many executive producers in its history, including Daniel Palladino , Kara Vallow , and Danny Smith . David A. Goodman joined
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