Seth MacFarlane

Seth MacFarlane has become mogul, much like Matt Groening (The Simpsons) before him. MacFarlane was born in 1973 in Connecticut. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design, where he created the animated short film The Life of Larry. Executives at Hanna-Barbera (now Cartoon Network) were impressed, and encouraged Seth MacFarlane to go to Los Angeles in 1995 to create and direct a short film for them. After moving to L.A., he worked on a variety of animated shows, including Ace Ventura, Jungle Cubs and Johnny Bravo.

Seth MacFarlane also serves as co-creator/executive producer/voice actor on American Dad. His additional television credits include serving as executive producer on The Winner and guest-starring roles on The War at Home, Gilmore Girls, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken.

The producers of MADtv discovered The Life of Larry and approached him to air it as four short segments. Although that deal fell apart, executives at Fox recognized his talent and gave him a shot to create a primetime animated series of his own. Over the next six months, Seth MacFarlane created, animated, wrote, directed and provided all the main male characters' voices for what became Family Guy. Utilizing all his contacts, friends and resources to produce the seven-minute short, he delivered it in May 1998 and just weeks later it was picked up.

Family Guy premiered on January 31, 1999. Like Futurama, Family Guy orignally 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 Family Guy back onto the Sunday night schedule in 2005.

MacFarlane went on to receive an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his role as Stewie Griffin, and Family Guy has garnered three nominations for Outstanding Animated Series. In 2002, he also received an Emmy for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for Family Guy.