Premiere and Cancellation:
Family Guy premiered on January 31, 1999. Like Futurama, Family Guy originally aired on Fox. After Fox moved the show around timeslots, the show drew low ratings and was canceled in 2002. Later, Adult Swim began airing re-runs. With high ratings on Adult Swim, and brisk sales of the DVDs, Fox brought the show back onto the Sunday night schedule in 2005.
Premise:
Family Guy is an animated comedy on Fox that centers around Peter Griffin, the patriarch of the Griffin family. The show is crass, ignorant and definitely not politically correct, but terribly funny. The show has boundless pop culture references and makes fun of everyone from Luke Perry to KISS.
Characters:
Peter Griffin is a child in a man's body. He drinks with his buddies, insults people habitually, and many times has put himself before his family. Lois is his wife. She's smarter and more mature than Peter, but in recent seasons has proven she can enjoys low brow humor, as well. Meg, Chris and baby Stewie are their children. Brian, their dog, drinks martinis and speaks.
Creators:
Seth MacFarlane created Family Guy. He cut his teeth in animation on Cow and Chicken, Johnny Bravo and Dexter's Laboratory. After Family Guy, he created American Dad. He performs the voices of Peter, Stewie and Brian.
My Two Cents:
I became of fan of Family Guy during the very first episode, "Death Has a Shadow." The set-up was the same as The Simpsons, a family-centered, sitcom-like comedy. But the humor was much more adult-oriented. My mouth dropped open more than once at some of the racier innuendos or spot-on parodies of pop culture moments.
I still enjoy the show, but I'm no longer as shocked or entertained by it. Is it the decreased involvement of Seth MacFarlane, due to his other projects? Or is it just that I've become accustomed to the style of humor and animation?
Regardless, Family Guy is a forerunner of other cartoons who mercilessly skewer our pop culture and present rude jokes on mainstream television.
The DVDs provide a wealth of insight into the writing and animation process. There's plenty for new and die-hard fans to chew on.
