thePULSEThe howl behind ‘Family Guy’
A chat with ‘Family Guy’ creator/animator Seth MacFarlane
March 2004
Editor’s Note: An official announcement about a fourth season of the hit TV show “Family Guy” is imminent. Two-time Emmy-winner and Connecticut native Seth MacFarlane has produced a pilot for another animated series, “American Dad” and says that a “Family Guy” CD will likely hit stores in the summer of 2004. Rob Newton, as big of a “Family Guy” fan as he is, says that he did not ask MacFarlane to talk like Stewie once during the entire hour they spoke. The entire 1999-2002 run of “Family Guy” is available in two sets from Fox Home Video.
Native New Englander Seth MacFarlane, creator of the soon-to-be-resurrected animated cult hit, “Family Guy”.
How did a 24-year-old from northwestern Connecticut develop such a delightfully demented world view?
I guess it was a combination of my family and doing stand-up in college [at the Rhode Island School of Design]. I worked in animation at Hanna-Barbera on a show called “Johnny Bravo” for 2 1/2 years before “Family Guy” and I really learned most of what I know about the industry method of animation. That’s where I really got into writing, as I was primarily an animator up until then. By the time I wrote the “Family Guy” script, I was still a little green, but could do it without embarrassing myself.
To what do you attribute the impending resurrection of “Family Guy”?
It’s the tenacity of the fans. The DVD market has really changed the landscape as far as TV is concerned. The show was not the biggest ratings getter on Fox, but sold 1.5 million DVDs. The DVD business has really changed everything in the last 3-4 years.
Did you ever get a satisfying reason for why the show was cancelled in the first place?
There was never a clear answer. I heard everything from trouble keeping advertisers due to the show’s edginess to the numbers not being good enough. Ultimately, though, I don’t think anyone could survive against “Friends”.
Peter, the lummox father of the Griffins of “Family Guy”, in a scene from one of the funniest episodes, “Wasted Talent”.
take it you’re still friendly enough with Fox to take the show back on the air there if they ask you to?
I have a great relationship with Fox. When they cancelled the show [for the second time], they made it clear that they wanted something else from me. Really, they are great people to work with, and on a creative level, I can’t imagine any other network airing it.
Would taking a fourth season first-run to a cable network be a good thing or a bad thing?
It would be a good thing, because it would not affect the production budget. Ideally, it would be nice to stay on Fox, though Cartoon Network has done an enormous amount for the public awareness of the show, and it has an audience there already. We could produce the show at Fox and air it anywhere.
What’s your dream budget for an episode, and how much did you actually get?
We easily spend around $1M an episode. My dream budget would be about $1.4M-1.5M, and most of that would be music clearances. “Wasted Talent” (the riotous “Willy Wonka” episode) was most expensive, due to all the TV themes we used. My line producer, Ken Dennis, said, “Don’t ask me where I got the money for this.”
Brian, the hard-drinking family dog from the animated cult hit, “Family Guy”.
Where does Peter’s voice come from? Stewie’s? Brian’s?
Peter [voiced by Macfarlane] is partly based on a hundred fat, loud-mouthed New Englanders I knew growing up, but he’s more of a regional impression, as I knew a lot of Peters. Rex Harrison was a template for [the Macfarlane-voiced] Stewie [check out the episode “One If By Clam, Two If By Sea” for a great take on My Fair Lady]. Aspects of [hard-drinking family dog] Brian are similar to my own personality, and I don’t change the voice much. In some ways, he’s the easiest to do, and in some ways, he’s the hardest. As a voice actor, it’s much easier to hide behind a funny voice than to express emotion through a character like Brian. Sometimes, he’s most challenging of all, because he has to be more real.
I take it that you did not deal with the typical “I haven’t done anything with my life” crisis as you were approaching 30…
I just turned 30, and in some ways, it’s a different type of reaction. I spent the vast majority of my 20’s pent up in a writers’ room. I really don’t have photos of that time in my life, just the 50 episodes of “Family Guy”. It’s what I love to do, though, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
