History of Family Guy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Family Guy's first and second seasons were made starting in 1999 after Larry shorts (its predecessor) caught the attention of the Fox Broadcasting Company. Its cancellation was announced, but then a shift in power at Fox and outcry from the fans led to a reversal of that decision and the making of a third season. After that, it was really cancelled. Reruns on Teletoon (and later Adult Swim) drove interest in the show up, and the DVD releases did quite well, selling over 2.2 million in a year and renewing network interest. Family Guy returned to production in 2004, making two more seasons (for a total of five) and a straight to DVD movie, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. A sixth season is in contract negotiations.
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[edit] Uncensored
- Petarded
Just after Peter is told he is retarded, Brian says, "You know Peter, I never said I told you so but... In your fucking face fuckwod." The audio is censored on Television but can be heard on the Season 4 DVD.
- Peter's Got Woods
When Peter walks into the living room, he see's James Woods sitting at the table. After Peter realizes he forgot he was having dinner with him, James Woods angrily says, "You Fucker." This can only be seen on the Season 4 DVD and was completely taken off on television.
- Model Misbehaviour
When Stewie complains about Brian's mug which says "Life's a beach" (beach is very close to the word bitch), he also says it offends the other employees. Brian asks "Who else works here but me?". Stewie replies "Fuck you, that's who!". It can be heard on the Season 4 DVD but is censored when aired.
- You May Now Kiss The...Uh...Guy Who Receives
When Stewie mentions Noah's Ark, they have a vision of it and Noah comes to an Elephant and a Penguin who have had an Elephant-Penguin mixed child. Noah says, "How did this happen?" and the two animals say, "It..just happened." Then Noah says, "You better get rid of it because it's going the fuck overboard. On the television broadcast, you don't hear the F word because there are two different audio versions. It can only be heard on the Season 5 DVD.
[edit] Creation
Family Guy originally aired in the United States on the Fox Broadcasting Company on January 31, 1999, after Super Bowl XXXIII. The episode attracted 22 million viewers. The show premiered as a regular series in April and ran for six additional episodes until the season finale in mid-May. The first season had seven episodes which introduced the show's main characters. The second season began on September 23, 1999, and suffered competition from other shows. After only two episodes of the second season, Family Guy was taken off the network's permanent schedule and shown irregularly thereafter. The show returned March 2000 to finish airing the second season which contained 21 episodes. The third season contained 22 episodes and began its run on July 11, 2001. During its second and third-season runs, Fox frequently moved the show around different days and time slots with little or no notice and consequently, the show's ratings suffered.
When Family Guy was shown in the UK, and when the DVDs were subsequently released there (November 12, 2001), the first seven episodes of the second season were included with the first season, balancing them out with 14 episodes each.
There was a great deal of debate and rumor during the second and third seasons about whether Family Guy would be cancelled or renewed. Fox publicly announced that the show had been cancelled at the end of the second season. In an attempt to convince Fox to renew the show, dismayed fans created websites, signed petitions, and wrote letters; some even sent diapers and baby food to the network for Stewie.
A shift in power at Fox resulted in the ordering of thirteen new episodes forming the basis of the third season. Keenly aware of the uncertainty of the show's future, the writers referenced the uncertainty in several episodes (Specifically The Thin White Line where Fox let them say "f***" for the first time without being hidden by background noise like a bell. It was bleeped, of course.) During the third season, Fox announced that Family Guy was cancelled for good.
[edit] Revival efforts
The show's cancellation in the third season was decried by fans, who renewed efforts to convince Fox to resurrect the show. An online petition was launched, garnering over 10,000 signatures within a few weeks. The petition gained over 100,000 signatures total, but this along with mass e-mailing and letter writing to Fox executives and organized street protests failed to save Family Guy. Later efforts to get other networks, particularly UPN, to buy Family Guy also failed.
[edit] Return to television
In 2003, Family Guy gained its first syndicated run on Canada's Teletoon network, where it quickly gained massive popularity due to frequent airings. Several months later, reruns of the series finally found a permanent home at Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim block, where it continues to play as of 2006. According to a Cartoon Network press release,
| FAMILY GUY ranks #1 in its time period on cable among Adults and Men 18–24, and occasionally beats both The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in head-to-head competition among Men 18–34 and Men 18–24. |
The series found further success on DVD, when it was finally released for the US market (NTSC, Region 1) on April 15, 2003. Divided into two volumes, Family Guy sold 2.2 million DVD units in the first year,<ref>Netherby, Jennifer. "DVD keeps Family alive", Video Business, March 29, 2004.</ref> reportedly surpassing every other TV-based DVD released in 2003, including Sex and the City and Friends compilations. The significant Cartoon Network ratings combined with the unprecedented DVD sales, led to widespread rumors that Fox was in talks to revive the series.
On November 19, 2003, the E! Entertainment Television channel and its website (see below) reported that Fox was negotiating with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane to revive the show with 35 new episodes. In a February 27, 2004 interview with IGN, Seth MacFarlane confirmed that Family Guy would resume production.<ref>Patrizio, Andy (2004-02-27). The Family Guy To Return - Production begins for a 2005 return to TV.. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref> MacFarlane provided even more information in a BBC interview.<ref>Cult Television - Family Guy. BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref>
On March 26, 2004, Fox television officially announced that it had committed to producing at least 22 more episodes of Family Guy for broadcast in early 2005. Adult Swim retained a window to run these episodes, starting on May 1, 2005. Seth MacFarlane was quoted as saying,
| I'm just incredibly excited that we're back in business on Family Guy. Now all those crazy kids who've been hounding me to bring the show back can stop bothering me and move onto more serious matters—like saving Coupling. |
The fourth-season premiere of Family Guy aired on Sunday, May 1, 2005, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Fox, and poked fun at the show's former troubles by showing a 2002 flashback with Peter listing all of the Fox shows that would have to fail (and did) before Family Guy would be able to return. An important reason for the show's current success is the Sunday night time slot along with other Fox animated programs. Reruns of the fourth season began play during Adult Swim on June 9, 2005.
A Family Guy direct-to-DVD movie titled Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, which combined three Family Guy episodes into one coherent story (with added scenes) was released on September 27, 2005.<ref>Grossberg, Josh (2005-06-21). "Family Guy" Flick Hits DVD. E! Online. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref> The 88-minute film is unrated in the US (in the UK it's rated with a 15 certificate) and includes commentary, deleted material, and other bonus features. An edited version of the film was shown as the Season 4 finale on May 21, 2006. The film's plot concerns Stewie finding out what he is like in the future. Originally, the movie was going to be made before the TV episodes, but the film got pushed back when the ideas within the episodes took off. (On the same day of the DVD movie's release, Variety reported that 20th Century Fox greenlit production of 22 additional all new episodes of Family Guy, which began airing on FOX on September 10, 2006.<ref>Adalian, Josef. "Fox forges 'Family' tie: Goodman new 'Guy' at 20th Century", Variety.com, September 27, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref>).
A Family Guy video game was producted under the 2K Games banner, and was developed by High Voltage Software. Playable characters include Peter, Brian and Stewie. The game was released on October 25th, 2006 on the PlayStation Portable, Xbox and PlayStation 2.<ref>"Family Guy" Video Game Announced. Yankidank.com (02-04-2005). Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref><ref>Adams, David (2006-03-06). Family Guy Plays to Consoles This Fall. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref><ref>Family Guy video game preview (part 1). Planet Family Guy (2006-10-10).</ref> According to GameSpot, it will also be available for the GameCube. There are also rumors of a Nintendo DS version.The video game is rated M for Mature.
Production on Season 6 (2007-2008) has been delayed due to contract negotiations with the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane [1]
