Family Guy is an American animated television sitcom, created by Seth MacFarlane, for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family which consists of Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris, Stewie, and their pet dog Brian. The show uses frequent cutaway gags, jokes in the form of tangential vignettes which parody American culture.
Family Guy was conceived by MacFarlane after the show's predecessor Larry shorts was canceled. MacFarlane changed the design of the protagonist Larry and renamed him Peter; he also changed the design of Larry's dog Steve, and developed him into Brian. Shortly after the third season aired, the series was canceled, but soon, because of good DVD sales and high ratings on syndicated reruns, the network renewed the show. The setting for the stories is a partially fictional town in Rhode Island, based on MacFarlane's upbringing and education.
Family Guy has been nominated for eleven Primetime Emmy Awards, of which it won three. The show has also been nominated for eleven Annie Awards, and won three times. It has garnered three Golden Reel Award nominations, winning once. In 2009, it was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first time an animated series was nominated for the award since The Flintstones in 1961. Family Guy has also been challenged with negative criticism, including three notable lawsuits and low reviews for its similarities to the animated series The Simpsons.
The series has also spurred the release of other merchandise. Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story was a straight-to-DVD special released in 2005. Family Guy: Live in Vegas is a soundtrack-DVD combo released in 2005 featuring music from the show as well as original music created by MacFarlane and Walter Murphy. A video game and pinball machine were released to the public in 2006 and 2007, respectively and, since 2005, there have been six books published by HarperCollins based on the Family Guy universe. In 2008, MacFarlane confirmed that the cast were interested in producing a feature film and that he was working on a story. In 2009, a spin-off series The Cleveland Show, created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry, and Rich Appel premiered on Fox. Family Guy is currently in its eighth season, which premiered on September 27, 2009.
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