Family
Guy is an animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for
the Fox Broadcasting Company centering on the Griffins, a
dysfunctional family living in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode
Island, and exhibits much of its humor in the form of cutaway gags
that often lampoon popular culture.
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. He is
married to Lois, a stay-at-home mother and piano teacher who, as
member of the Pewterschmidt family of wealthy socialites, has a
distinct New England accent. 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 the family; Chris, their
teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent and a younger version
of his father in many respects; and Stewie, their diabolical infant
son of ambiguous sexual orientation who has adult mannerisms, and
speaks fluently in a Home Counties accent, using stereotypical
archvillain phrases. 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.
Many
recurring characters appear alongside the Griffin family. These
include the family's neighbors: sex-crazed airline-pilot bachelor
Glenn Quagmire, Cleveland Brown, paraplegic police officer Joe
Swanson, his wife Bonnie and their baby daughter Susie (Bonnie is
pregnant with Susie from the show's beginning until the seventh
episode of the seventh season); neurotic 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. Actor
Adam West voices the part of Mayor Adam West (no relation) and is
characterized as an intense, soft-spoken crackpot whose delusions
often come at great expense and sometimes danger to citizens of Quahog.
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 (2010), a series of parodies of the original Star
Wars trilogy. 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.
MacFarlane
initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at
the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). During college, he created
his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry, which was submitted by
his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera. MacFarlane was hired by the
company. 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.
Executives
at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a
series, entitled Family Guy, based on the characters. Fox proposed
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 working 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 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 green light. 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, 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 MADtv, 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 that
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. Fox ordered 13 episodes of Family Guy to air in
midseason after MacFarlane impressed executives with a seven-minute demo.
Untitled
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 the show's adult content. The show returned on April 11,
1999, with "I Never Met the Dead Man". The show garnered
decent ratings in Fox's 8:30 p.m. slot on Sunday, nestled between The
Simpsons and The X-Files. At the end of its first season, the show
was #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 p.m., on September 23, 1999. Family Guy was pitted against NBC's
Frasier, and the series' ratings declined sharply. Fox removed Family
Guy from the network's permanent schedule, and began airing episodes
irregularly. The show returned on March 7, 2000, at 8:30 p.m. on
Tuesdays, but was constantly beaten in the
ratings by the new breakout hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,
coming in at #114 in the Nielsen Ratings. Fox announced that the show
had been canceled in 2000, at the end of the second season. However,
following a last-minute reprieve, Fox announced on July 24, 2000, its
intention to order 13 additional episodes of Family Guy to form a
third season.
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). During its second
and third season runs, Fox frequently moved the show around to
different days and time slots with little or no notice and,
consequently, 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 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. 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 percent. 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. 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 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 cancellation. 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 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 did not "... have the desire to make it any
slicker" than it already was. The episode was watched by 11.85
million viewers.
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 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 the
Griffins' neighbor Glenn Quagmire, news anchor Tom Tucker, and Lois'
father, Carter Pewterschmidt.
Alex Borstein voices Lois
Griffin, Asian correspondent Tricia Takanawa, Cleveland's ex-wife
Loretta Brown, and Lois' mother Barbara 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 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 plays Chris Griffin and Neil Goldman. Mila Kunis and
Lacey Chabert have both provided the voice of Meg Griffin. Chabert
left the series because of time conflicts with schoolwork and her
role on Party of Five.
Mike
Henry voices Cleveland Brown (who has since spun-off with his
moustashed face to his own show) and Herbert, as well as some minor
recurring characters, like Bruce the performance artist and The
Greased-up Deaf Guy. 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 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.
Other
recurring cast members include Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson;
Adam West as the eponymous Mayor Adam West; 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; and Phil LaMarr as Ollie Williams
and the judge. Fellow cartoonist Butch Hartman has made guest voice
appearances in many episodes as various characters. Also, writer
Danny Smith voices various recurring characters, such as Ernie the
Giant Chicken.
Episodes
often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions,
including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians, and
scientists. Many guest voices such as James Woods star as themselves.
Leslie Uggams was the first to appear as herself, in 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,
playing themselves; this is the episode with the most guest stars of
the seventh season.
Family
Guy is an animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for
the Fox Broadcasting Company centering on the Griffins, a
dysfunctional family living in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode
Island, and exhibits much of its humor in the form of cutaway gags
that often lampoon popular culture.
Many
recurring characters appear alongside the Griffin family. These
include the family's neighbors: sex-crazed airline-pilot bachelor
Glenn Quagmire, Cleveland Brown, paraplegic police officer Joe
Swanson, his wife Bonnie and their baby daughter Susie (Bonnie is
pregnant with Susie from the show's beginning until the seventh
episode of the seventh season); neurotic 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. Actor
Adam West voices the part of Mayor Adam West (no relation) and is
characterized as an intense, soft-spoken crackpot whose delusions
often come at great expense and sometimes danger to citizens of Quahog.
MacFarlane
initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at
the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). During college, he created
his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry, which was submitted by
his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera. MacFarlane was hired by the
company. 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.
Executives
at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a
series, entitled Family Guy, based on the characters. Fox proposed
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 working 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 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 green light. 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, the
Amazing Cube.
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 the show's adult content. The show returned on April 11,
1999, with "I Never Met the Dead Man". The show garnered
decent ratings in Fox's 8:30 p.m. slot on Sunday, nestled between The
Simpsons and The X-Files. At the end of its first season, the show
was #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 p.m., on September 23, 1999. Family Guy was pitted against NBC's
Frasier, and the series' ratings declined sharply. Fox removed Family
Guy from the network's permanent schedule, and began airing episodes
irregularly. The show returned on March 7, 2000, at 8:30 p.m. on
Tuesdays, but was constantly beaten in 
the
ratings by the new breakout hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,
coming in at #114 in the Nielsen Ratings. Fox announced that the show
had been canceled in 2000, at the end of the second season. However,
following a last-minute reprieve, Fox announced on July 24, 2000, its
intention to order 13 additional episodes of Family Guy to form a
third season.
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. 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 percent. 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. 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 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 cancellation. 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 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 did not "... have the desire to make it any
slicker" than it already was. The episode was watched by 11.85
million viewers.
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 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 the
Griffins' neighbor Glenn Quagmire, news anchor Tom Tucker, and Lois'
father, Carter Pewterschmidt.
Seth
Green primarily plays Chris Griffin and Neil Goldman. Mila Kunis and
Lacey Chabert have both provided the voice of Meg Griffin. Chabert
left the series because of time conflicts with schoolwork and her
role on Party of Five.
Mike
Henry voices Cleveland Brown (who has since spun-off with his
moustashed face to his own show) and Herbert, as well as some minor
recurring characters, like Bruce the performance artist and The
Greased-up Deaf Guy. 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 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.
Other
recurring cast members include Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson;
Adam West as the eponymous Mayor Adam West; 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; and Phil LaMarr as Ollie Williams
and the judge. Fellow cartoonist Butch Hartman has made guest voice
appearances in many episodes as various characters. Also, writer
Danny Smith voices various recurring characters, such as Ernie the
Giant Chicken.
Episodes
often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions,
including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians, and
scientists. Many guest voices such as James Woods star as themselves.
Leslie Uggams was the first to appear as herself, in 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,
playing themselves; this is the episode with the most guest stars of
the seventh season.
