Family Guy
From The TV IV
| Family Guy | |
 | |
| Premiere | January 31, 1999 |
| Finale | |
| Airs | On hiatus |
| Creator | Seth MacFarlane |
| Network | FOX |
| Style | 30-minute animated comedy |
| Company | Fuzzy Door Productions
Film Roman (season 1) Fox Television Animation (season 2—) 20th Century Fox Television |
| Episodes | 216 + 2 specials (through season 11) |
| Seasons | 11 |
| Status | Renewed through season 12 (2013–2014) |
| Origin | USA |
Family Guy is the brain child of Seth MacFarlane, a former writer for Cartoon Network original "Cartoon Cartoons" like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken. The series debuted in 1999 and helped revitalize FOX's animation line-up along with Futurama, which premiered two months later. Family Guy was met with disgust and critical appeal, not to mention a huge cult following.
Family Guy, like Futurama, was also plagued by the fickle minds of FOX executives. The show suffered from constant timeslot changes and was cancelled no less than three times due to its racy and politically incorrect nature. The controversy of the show often made executives nervous and went as far as censoring the DVD collections that were released following the show's demise.
Family Guy lacks an overall plotline or any sign of continuity (this has been compared to being like The Simpsons; however, The Simpsons does make an attempt to maintain continuity). The series centers around a family from Quahog, Rhode Island. Peter, Lois, Chris, Meg, Stewie and Brian represent the most dysfunctional a family can be, often getting into crazy events while still coping with something that resembles a life we can all relate to.
Although the series was cancelled in 2002, it was rescued from limbo by Adult Swim. The explosive ratings that the reruns received coupled with record breaking DVD sales caused FOX to pick the show up again for a new season in 2005, a first in the television industry. In 2009, Family Guy received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first animated series since The Flintstones in 1961 to do so.
Contents |
Cast
| Actor | Character | Duration | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Cast | |||||||||||
| Seth MacFarlane | Peter Griffin | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Stewart "Stewie" Griffin | |||||||||||
| Brian Griffin | |||||||||||
| Glen Quagmire | |||||||||||
| Tom Tucker | |||||||||||
| Carter Pewterschmidt | |||||||||||
| Kevin Swanson | |||||||||||
| Alex Borstein | Lois Griffin | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Loretta Brown | |||||||||||
| Tricia Takanawa | |||||||||||
| Barbara Pewterschmidt | |||||||||||
| Lacey Chabert | Megan "Meg" Griffin | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| Mila Kunis | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| Seth Green | Christopher "Chris" Griffin | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Neil Goldman | |||||||||||
| Mike Henry | Cleveland Brown | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Cleveland Brown, Jr. | |||||||||||
| Herbert John | |||||||||||
| Season numbers in red indicate a recurring or guest role in that season. | |||||||||||
| Supporting/Recurring Cast | |||||||||||
| Phil LaMarr | Ollie Williams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Patrick Warburton | Joseph "Joe" Swanson | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Lori Alan | Diane Simmons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
| Rachael MacFarlane | Additional Voices | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Wally Wingert | Additional Voices | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | |||
| Fred Tatasciore | Additional Voices | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | |||
| Jennifer Tilly | Bonnie Swanson | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Johnny Brennan | Mort Goldman | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Danny Smith | Additional Voices | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Adam West | Mayor Adam West | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Nicole Sullivan | Muriel Goldman | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Chris Cox | Additional Voices | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| Gary Cole | Additional Voices | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Ralph Garman | Additional Voices | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||
| Mark Hentemann | Additional Voices | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Alex Breckenridge | Additional Voices | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||
| Chris Sheridan | Additional Voices | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||
| Alec Sulkin | Additional Voices | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||
| John Viener | Additional Voices | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||
| Steve Callaghan | Additional Voices | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||||||
Seasons
| Season | Premiere | Finale | # |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOX | |||
| Season One | January 31, 1999 | May 16, 1999 | 7 |
| Season Two | September 23, 1999 | August 1, 2000 | 21 |
| Season Three | July 11, 2001 | February 14, 2002 | 22 |
| Season Four | May 1, 2005 | May 21, 2006 | 30 |
| Season Five | September 10, 2006 | May 20, 2007 | 18 |
| Season Six | September 23, 2007 | May 4, 2008 | 13 + 1 |
| Season Seven | September 28, 2008 | May 17, 2009 | 16 |
| Season Eight | September 27, 2009 | May 23, 2010 | 23 + 1 |
| Season Nine | September 26, 2010 | May 22, 2011 | 21 |
| Season Ten | September 25, 2011 | May 20, 2012 | 23 |
| Season Eleven | September 30, 2012 | May 19, 2013 | 22 + 1 |
| Season Twelve | Fall 2013 | — | — |
In-Depth
- At a Glance: Additional information about the series
- Characters: A listing of recurring characters from the series
DVD and Blu-ray Releases
DVD
| Title | Release Date | # | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode Collections - Sequential | |||
| Volume 1 | April 15, 2003 | 4 | purchase |
| Volume 2 | September 9, 2003 | 3 | purchase |
| Volume 3 | November 29, 2005 | 3 | purchase |
| Volume 4 | November 14, 2006 | 3 | purchase |
| Volume 5 | September 18, 2007 | 3 | purchase |
| Volume 6 | October 26, 2008 | 3 | purchase |
| Volume 7 | June 16, 2009 | 3 | purchase |
| Volume 8 | June 15, 2010 | 3 | purchase |
| Multi-Release Collections | |||
| Freakin' Party Pack Volumes 1-5 & Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story | October 30, 2007 | 17 | purchase |
| Freakin' Sweet Party Pack Volumes 1-6, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story & Blue Harvest | October 21, 2008 | 22 | purchase |
| The Total World Domination Collection Volumes 1-6, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story & Blue Harvest | October 21, 2008 | 22 | purchase |
| Two Pack Blue Harvest & Something, Something, Something Dark Side | December 22, 2009 | 2 | purchase |
| 'Best Of' Collections | |||
| Freakin' Sweet Collection | December 14, 2004 | 1 | purchase |
| Individual Episodes | |||
| Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story | September 27, 2005 | 1 | purchase |
| Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest | January 15, 2008 | 1 | purchase |
| Family Guy Presents: Blue Harvest: Special Edition | January 15, 2008 | 1 | purchase |
| A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas Only available at TWEC stores | September 26, 2008 | 1 | |
| Family Guy Presents: Stewie Kills Lois and Lois Kills Stewie | May 19, 2009 (TWEC stores) June 16, 2009 (Canada) | 1 | purchase |
| Something, Something, Something Dark Side | December 22, 2009 | 1 | purchase |
| Partial Terms of Endearment | September 28, 2010 | 2 | purchase |
| It's a Trap! | December 21, 2010 | 1 | |
Blu-ray
| Title | Release Date | # | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Episodes | |||
| Something, Something, Something Dark Side | December 22, 2009 | 1 | purchase |
| It's a Trap! | December 21, 2010 | 1 | |
External Sites
- Official website for Family Guy
- Family Guy Episodes, TV Listings, News, Photos and More at TVGuide.com
- Family Guy at the Internet Movie Database
- Family Guy Fan Club at Fanpop
