Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated sitcom created by American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian and singer Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing two months, a week and a day later, beginning on 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, 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 a year earlier in December 1998 and the show was greenlit and began production. Family Guy's cancellation was announced shortly after the third season had aired 4 years later in 2002, with one unaired episode eventually premiering on Adult Swim a year later in 2003, finishing the series' original run. Favorable DVD sales and high ratings from syndicated reruns since then convinced Fox to revive the show another year later in 2004; a fourth season began airing the following year, on May 1, 2005.
Since its premiere, Family Guy has received generally positive reviews. 4 years later 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 48 years earlier in 1961. 52 years later in 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy as the ninth-greatest TV cartoon. Although highly satirical in nature, the series has also garnered considerable amounts of criticism and controversy, ranging from storylines and character stereotypes, to allegations of racism, homophobia and sexism.
Many tie-in media based on the show have been released, including Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, a straight-to-DVD special released 8 years earlier September 27, 2005; Family Guy: Live in Vegas, a soundtrack-DVD combo released 5 months earlier in April 26, 2005, featuring music from the show as well as music created by MacFarlane and American composer, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer 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), 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 9 years later on October 1, 2023. A month later on November 21, 2023, it was announced that Family Guy would move to Wednesday nights beginning 4 years later in March 6, 2024, marking the first time the show airs on a weeknight since 2002.
