Seth McFarlane discusses his creation

nimated comedy Family Guy was brought back from its cancellation after network executives saw the impressive DVD sales of previous series that had performed disappointingly in the ratings. The show is now being aired on BBC Two on Saturdays, and a new straight-to-DVD feature-length episode is released today. Here writer, animator and actor Seth McFarlane talks about his creation....

Why did you decide to give Stewie Griffin his own spin-off?

Stewie has always been the sort of break-out character. He’s the character people associate with Family Guy more than any other, which made him the logical choice for a Family Guy movie. His personality lends itself to a more expansive story. The fans love him and I love him because he’s a character with grand designs and the loftiest of ambitions, which is the source of his drive and also the source of his frustration because he’s trapped in this infant’s body. He’s confused in many ways, too, and certainly sexually.

Did making it a straight-to-DVD release mean you could be more outrageous than normal?

Yeah, but we kept ourselves in check for the most part because we didn’t want to change the flavour of the show – we didn’t want to suddenly become South Park. It was nice to be able to use some of the more colourful words we can’t use on TV, but that was really the only change.

Have you ran into trouble with the censors on the TV series?

Not so much from the broadcast censors – they have been our allies and we have a good relationship with them. The problems for us come from the FCC (Federal Complaints Commission) and the way they are scrutinising creative content very closely these days. There’s this constant threat of fines and a lot more government monitoring of television shows.

Where do you draw the line?

There’s an attitude from Washington that we run rampant and if we’re not checked we will cause anarchy, but that’s not true. We do a lot of self-policing. Most of the writers on the staff are married and have kids and a lot of discussions that go on are along the lines of: “Is this too mean? Is this gonna get a gasp?” If we do go too far on a script we’ll have a table-read with the actors, writers and production team, and they’re not shy about not laughing if they think something is offensive and not funny. So there’s a built-in vetting process, and certainly there are things we won’t make fun of. It’s the obvious stuff – if there’s a plane crash we’re not going to make fun of it, at least not right away. As Woody Allen said, comedy is tragedy plus time. With the Titanic, enough time has passed and you can make fun of that. We have the same standards and consciences about that kind of thing as the average person. We’re careful to be edgy and funny but not horrifyingly so.

You must be a big fan of the DVD format, since the success of Family Guy on DVD lead to it getting back on TV…

Yes, and in some ways DVD is more important than television now. I think that’s where the lion’s share of profits are being made these days. The brilliant thing with Family Guy is that instead of just writing letters [when they heard the show was being cancelled] they went out and bought the DVDs, which showed what a huge fan base we have and meant another series was commissioned for TV.

Was there a particular reason why you wanted to make a full-length feature?

Part of it was because we didn’t know how well the show was going to do when it came back on air. Would it get the same mediocre ratings? So doing a straight-to-DVD movie was initially a way for Fox to justify the risk, because at least they knew they’d make money off the DVD. What we didn’t expect was how brilliant the ratings for the new series would be.

Where did the original inspiration for Family Guy come from?

I grew up in New England, which is a region that has a lot of character but also a region that isn’t touched on much in American sitcoms. There are a lot of shows about the Midwest or the South or California, but New England isn’t mined all that much. In terms of doing it as an animated show, the success of The Simpsons really opened doors. It showed that if you were working in animation you didn’t necessarily have to be working in kids’ television anymore.

Are the characters based on real people?

Little pieces here and there. Stewie’s voice is based on Rex Harrison from My Fair Lady. Peter’s personality is based on a lot of different guys I knew growing up and his voice is based on a security guard who worked at a college I attended.

Can the concept go on forever, like The Simpsons?

That’s a good model to follow – that the characters don’t get older. I mean, no one wants to see Stewie Grow Up because then he’d just get bigger and become a mean guy. In the movie we actually flash-forward and see him as an adult, but for the most part we don’t want to age anybody.

Which character do you most identify with?

Probably Brian. He’s an open-minded, liberal thinker, he enjoys his booze, he’s usually over-analytical about things and drives himself crazy, which is pretty much how I am.

And which character would you say is the least like you?

Meg. I wouldn’t want to be like her. She just takes abuse from the whole family and has the roughest life of anyone on the show.

First published: October 28, 2005

Published: 22 Mar 2009