Fox is continuing with the promos for this summer’s Family Guy reruns, and here they are for Sunday, July 12, for “We Love You Conrad.”

As always, these spots are “sponsored” by Tasty Juice.

Season 7 of Family Guy is officially over, and it’s time for the retrospective/review posts. First, let’s take a look at the list of episodes we got this season:

Love Blactually
I Dream of Jesus
Road to Germany
Baby Not on Board
The Man With Two Brians
Tales of a Third Grade Nothing
Oceans Three and a Half
Family Gay
The Juice is Loose
FOXy Lady
Not All Dogs Go to Heaven
Stew-roids
We Love You, Conrad
Three Kings
Peter’s Progress

Lots of new stuff this season, lots of pushing the envelope, and a fair amount of exploring the show’s characters. For the casual watcher who perhaps had not watched Family Guy before, this season might have pulled them in.

Or not.

Family Guy Season 7 was, frankly, a big disappointment. After the prolonged writers’ strike of Season 6, I think we were all expecting something…well, better than what we got. Unexplained delays between new episodes that went on for weeks is not okay. Using a Conway Twitty video - the ENTIRE video - to fill up space in an episode (and that’s all it did) is not okay. Stupid stereotyping jokes that we’ve already seen in previous seasons is NOT OKAY.

Here’s the thing. We all understand by now that Seth MacFarlane is basically a genius on wheels. He’s a funny guy with lots of creative talent - Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, and American Dad are the proof of that talent. However, this season felt like an afterthought. With everything that Seth is doing, is it possible that Family Guy has gotten the VERY short end of the stick? Has Seth given over this show to lesser writers in order to manage his burgeoning empire? Say it’s not so!

I haven’t given up on Family Guy - far from it. I look forward to Season 8 this fall, as well as the premiere of The Cleveland Show. I want to believe that this was just an off season and the next one will be better written and more appealing to true Family Guy fans. I think we ALL want that, right? Right.

Seth…are you listening?

According to MSN, the new Family Guy episode for March 8, 2009 will be “Family Gay”. Here is a synopsis:

Peter is injected with the gay gene as part of a scientific experiment to determine whether or not homosexuality is a learned trait or something that people are born with. He ends up in a gay relationship and winds up in a straight camp. Meanwhile Jasper and Ricardo get a divorce.

Now, if this sounds familiar, it is - Seth MacFarlane already did a story that was similar to this in Family Guy Season 2 titled “I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar”:

After being sued for sexual harassment, Peter is forced to attend sensitivity training seminar. After failing miserably Peter is then sent to an all women’s retreat. Upon returning Peter has a new personality and a new outlook upon life. Both of which are exactly like that of a woman’s.

So is Seth et al getting lazy and recycling their storylines? Sure sounds like it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but so far, I haven’t been that impressed with Season 7. How about you - do you think that Seth and the other FG writers are getting burnt out, perhaps? They do have a lot on their plate: American Dad, the Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, the new The Cleveland Show, constant contributions to Robot Chicken….it would be easy to get overwhelmed. Let’s hear what you think:

image courtesy Fox Home Entertainment

Fancast, a great source for online media, has put together a fun special looking at the best of animation, and Family Guy, Simpsons, and King of the Hill have all made the cut.

Here’s a best of Family Guy clips video:

Best of Simpsons prank calls:

And the best of King of the Hill:

Here’s what we’re going to see this Sunday, February 1:

Simpsons: (new episode!) “Dangerous Curves”: When the Simpson family takes a road trip to a cabin in the woods, a series of flashbacks depict Homer and Marge’s blissful courtship and their early married years. They recall their first encounter with Flanders and Maude twenty years prior at the very same cabins, where Flanders insisted the unmarried Homer and Marge stay in separates rooms. Later, they recall when they each met distracting members of the opposite sex who nearly wooed Homer and Marge away from each other. Bart and Lisa also reflect on happier times from their early childhood. Despite the obstacles and the passing of time, Homer and Marge attempt to see the forest for the trees in the “Dangerous Curves” episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Feb. 1 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

American Dad: “Office Spaceman”: (this is a rerun)Roger begins to release photos of himself to the local media for extra cash, prompting the CIA to initiate an Alien Task Force. Through a twist of fate, Roger ends up in charge of the task force in disguise, creating tension at home as he is now Stan’s boss. Meanwhile Francine comes to grips with being left-handed and Roger frames Stan as an alien in attempt to keep his identity a secret on the “Office Spaceman” episode of AMERICAN DAD airing Sunday, Feb. 1 (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Here’s a clip from “Office Spaceman”:

Family Guy: “Baby Not On Board” (rerun): When Peter wins a year of unlimited gas, Brian suggests the family use the funds to take a road trip to the Grand Canyon. The Griffins pack up the car and hit the road, but leave some very precious cargo home alone. When the family finally realizes someone got left behind, it’s a hilariously mad dash back to Quahog in the “Baby Not On Board” episode of FAMILY GUY airing Sunday, Feb. 1 (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Here’s the entire episode of “Baby Not On Board”:

And yes, another American Dad: “Spring Break-Up” (rerun): The Smith’s marriage is fizzling, leaving Stan feeling unappreciated as Francine visits her parents over spring break. Yet the family is unaware of Roger’s own plans to become the “King of Spring Break,” as he invites college coeds to come party at their revamped home. While Steve tries to lose his virginity to the luscious Carmen Selectra, Stan’s tastes lead him to Jessica, his new Spring Break buddy. Stan must now decide whether the booze cruise with Jessica is better than married life in the “Spring Break-Up” episode of AMERICAN DAD airing Sunday, Feb. 1 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Here’s a clip from “Spring Break-Up”:

In a VERY short interview with TMZ, Seth MacFarlane said that he’s not worried about getting back at South Park writers for making fun of the show, since that would be “too much work”. He did have a correction to the show, saying that Family Guy is written by sperm whales, not by manatees.

You can read more about the whole Family Guy vs. South Park thing here - and watch the videos!

Canmag has a great (short) interview up with Seth MacFarlane in which he talks about new storylines for Family Guy, American Dad, and the (hopefully coming soon) Empire Strikes Back parody. One new storyline I was especially intrigued by was the idea of Peter and Brian in a room for a full episode with NO cutaways. Seriously. Also, Seth gave us a sneak peek into a scene from ESB:

“The scene where he cuts open the Ton-ton. The scene where Darth Vader has set up that nice dinner table and the scene at the very end where Joe Flaherty shows up, and he says, ‘I’ve got something for you.’ He pulls out the letter, and Marty McFly opens it up, and he goes, ‘Oh my God, it’s from the Doc in 1885.’”

Well, that could’ve been a bit clearer, but I think I know what he’s talking about. Now if we could only get him to talk about why there’s no new FG episodes for two months, huh?

Since King of the Hill was announced as cancelled this week, after 13 seasons (!), rumors are floating around that ABC might be quietly clearing a spot for it. This news doesn’t really surprise me, and I hope that someone does pick it up - it’s a quality show, and deserves better treatment than what Fox is giving it by just shoving it off the lineup.

Image courtesy Fox All Rights Reserved

In a new interview with the Boston Globe, Seth MacFarlane chats about what he does with $100 million, his new house, and how the writers at FG are doing. Here’s a snippet from the interview:

So, how does $100 million change your life?

MacFarlane: Nothing I can do can really live up to that amount of money on a daily basis, so my view of it … (is that) I gave them all of my 20s, which are irretrievable. (I put my) heart and soul into that show, and, in turn, they give me $100 million. I think that’s fair. One of those is replaceable, the other isn’t.

You can read the rest here, it’s definitely worth a read!

So what did you think of Baby Not On Board? If you didn’t get a chance to watch it, here’s the whole thing:

Baby Not On Board - Best Moments

- Stewie knocking out Cleveland and Quagmire and chaining them in the basement
- Cleveland mentioning his spinoff at the end (very subtle, Seth MacFarlane!)
- the Ghost references (anyone else HATE that movie?!?!?)
- Sean Connery in the spa, that was hilarious

So what did you think?