Comedian Art Metrano sues Family Guy for allegedly stealing his bit
December 6, 2007 by Wendy Boswell
This via TMZ; comedian Art Metrano is suing Family Guy for allegedly stealing one of his bits:
Art Metrano, an actor who frequently appeared on “The Tonight Show” performing simple magic tricks, is suing the FOX show “Family Guy” for stealing his routine in their animated movie, “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story.” In the movie, a future version of Stewie Griffin says that he traveled back in time and that Jesus’ abilities may have been exaggerated. The scene then cuts to Jesus performing, Metrano claims, a “comedy routine identical in music, sound and action to Metrano’s act, ‘The Amazing Metrano.’”
Metrano, who played Captain Mauser in two of the “Police Academy” films, filed a lawsuit in federal court yesterday, claiming copyright infringement, among other things, and is seeking in excess of $2 million.
The man looks like he has a case; if you watch these two videos, you’ll see that pretty much Family Guy copied this particular bit down to the last detail.
First, the Art Metrano clip:
Then the Family Guy clip:
I don’t think you can call that stealing a bit. They were playing off Art’s fame and humor to make a funny moment in the show. Just seeing that segment of the show would be funny, but knowing that they’re imitating Art Metrano makes it that much funnier. This lawsuit severely limits creative freedom, writers are no longer allowed to create allusions to the shared experience of their audience? Part of what makes Family Guy so funny are the references that we all connect with.
Sometimes there’s a fine line between paying homage and theft. Personally, I think they crossed it. A reference is only a reference when something is commonly connected to a person. It’s a risk a lot of shows take … doesn’t mean they intended to harm, but I have to take Art’s back on this one.
I saw Tim Conway do the same magic skit DECADES ago. Who’s stealing from who?!
family guy
It’s a PARODY! Has Art Metrano never seen this show?? Jeez.
The pseudomagic bit IS Art Metrano.
theft or propz? if any signature act or gesture used in satirical context is grounds for a lawsuit, everyone is screwed. i think the first guy who used the middle finger should sue the entire human race.
art, no one cares about you – alive or dead. your life is worth less than a cartoon. your time is almost up… *looks at watch*
What a terrible thing to say about Art Metrano…that his time is up…He gives nothing but joy to the world.
For “someone with a sense of humor,” you certainly are a hateful little jerk.
Most of Family Guy’s bits fall under the wide umbrella of parody and it’s usually made pretty clear. Since they decided not to reference where this bit originated, and it did indeed originate with Art Metrano, it’s theft, pure and simple. Had they added a ten second bit they could have saved a lot of trouble (and made it even funnier) by having someone in the crowd remark that they “saw Art Metrano do that act on the Tonight Show with Johnny Iscariot.”
As for Art Metrano, he’s been working the film and stage circuit for over forty years and he’s funny as hell. And I’m sure he’s made more people laugh than you ever will, “someone.”