Family Guy is an American animated comedy television series created by Seth MacFarlane which centres on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian.
The show uses frequent cutaway gags, often in the form of tangential vignettes which parody American culture.
The show follows the adventures of an endearingly ignorant dad, Peter Griffin (Seth MacFarlane), and his hilariously odd family of middle-class New Englanders in Quahog, Rhode Island.
Lois (Alex Borstein) is Peter's loving wife, a former Miss Teen Rhode Island who rules the roost but is one step away from a nervous breakdown.
Lois (Alex Borstein) is Peter's wife, a stay-at-home mom with no patience for her family's antics. Then there are their kids: 18-year-old Meg (Mila Kunis) is an outcast at school and the Griffin family punching bag; 13-year-old Chris (Seth Green) is a socially awkward teen who doesn't have a clue about the opposite sex; and one-year-old Stewie (MacFarlane) is a diabolically clever baby whose burgeoning sexuality is very much a work in progress.
Rounding out the Griffin household is Brian (MacFarlane), the family dog who is a member of MENSA and a ladies man with a penchant for dry martinis and dumb blondes who is one step away from AA.
Family Guy is a 20th Century Fox Television production. Seth MacFarlane is creator/executive producer. Rich Appel serves as executive producer/showrunner, while Mark Hentemann, Steve Callaghan, Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild are executive producers.
Broadcast Notes
The series premiered in the USA on Fox on 31 January, 1999. Shortly after the third season aired in 2001, Fox cancelled the series. However, favourable DVD sales and high ratings for syndicated reruns convinced the network to renew the show in 2004.
Family Guy premiered in South Africa on Fox Entertainment (which later became FOX) on Friday 4 June 2010, at 20h35. It was moved to FX from Season 8 onwards, with repeats on FOX.
Season 8
Season 8 premiered on FOX with a double bill on Thursday 27 November 2014, at 20h30. Thereafter new episodes broadcast weekly at 20h55, preceded by a repeat of the previous episode at 20h30.
Season 12
Season 12 originally aired in the USA on Fox on Sundays at 21h00, but moved half an hour earlier to 20h30 for the second half of the season.