The characters of Peter and Brian are very similar to Larry and Steve from the shorts The Life of Larry and What a Cartoon: Larry & Steve, which feature a moronic man who adopts a talking dog and puts the dog through hell, and were both written and directed by Seth MacFarlane.

Before Seth MacFarlane created the idea of a regular half-hour series, he conceived of the Griffin family appearing as characters in animated shorts to appear on MADtv. Many of the regular voice actors (including Alex Borstein, Phil LaMarr, Debra Wilson and Nicole Sullivan) are Mad TV alumni. Alex Borstein was the first cast on this show and is the only “official” cast member as the voice of Lois Griffin.

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Already voted for the “real” President? Well, go ahead and take advantage of that civic spirit and vote for Stan Smith or Peter Griffin as President of Animation in the new FX special. Here’s more:

As part of the comedy block, Thursday nights from 9pm, FX presents a double of Family Guy and American Dad that are linked by an electoral ‘issue’ - the same issues that American voters will be weighing up before they go to the polls on November 4th. Issues include family values, terrorism and the war on drugs. Viewers will get the chance to pick from:
Whilst FX viewers can’t vote Obama or McCain, they can elect their own cartoon president by visiting http://www.fxuk.com/electionspecial and vote for their favourite episode of American Dad or Family Guy online in a bid to crown Stan Smith or Peter Griffin President of Animation. Viewers are also in with the chance to win a limited edition goody bag filled with prizes such as Family Guy/American Dad DVDs, t-shirts and a Family Guy Freakin Sweet Pack.

You can play here: http://www.fxuk.com/electionspecial. Looks like a lot of fun!

FX 2008 TTCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

It’s been confirmed that the cast of Family Guy will be coming to Carnegie Hall November 24 and 25 for Family Guy Sings. Here’s the official announcement about the show:

“This unique, unpredictable and unforgettable musical experience will feature the superstar cast singing live with a 40-piece orchestra conducted by ‘Family Guy’ composer Walter Murphy,” reads an announcement for the show. The evenings will include “a live reading of two uncensored, classic episodes hand-picked by MacFarlane, as well as bonus material never before seen on Fox. The cast will sing musical numbers from those episodes, along with many other classic songs that have been featured in the television series.”

As a special bonus, the audience will be treated to a sneak preview of the upcoming spin-off series, “The Cleveland Show.” David J. Foster, Jared Geller and Just For Laughs present the show.

- source

Anyone out there planning on going?

FAMILY GUY ™ and © 2008 TTCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

I had the privilege of listening in on a conference call with Al Jean yesterday, who has been the head writer on The Simpsons since 1989. Here’s my notes from the call:

On Plopper, the Spider Pig

- spider pig might be coming back! but he was definitely made for the movie. Plopper might show up in show as a cameo.

On science fiction spoofs
- in March, Homer will get poison to kill rats (they look like Ratatouille), leaves Maggie on a convent porch, turns into a Da Vinci and National Treasure spoof. 3D Homer again? Perhaps.

On going into Season 20
Yes, they do keep track of other shows and how long they’ve gone. (Lassie and Gunsmoke) They just recorded episode 445, so they’re past Ozzie and Harriet and Bonanza. Through season 20 would be over 500 episodes in the can. Show has won 24 emmys.

A Simpsons spinoff?
Spinoffs: yes, there has been talk of it, but the decision would be it would be VERY diffulct to split off and still concentrate on the show. They like the big universe of the show as it exists.

On Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders, they love to write for him because he’s so much fun. Updating show where Simpsons gets foreclosed, Ned buys it from them and rents it to them, Homer takes advanatege of him and Ned gets fed up and evicts, but it ends up very sweet.

On another Simpsons movie
- will there be a followup? Perhaps if there was a good script, but first one took four years. Al’s preference would be after the series itself was all done (and there’s no timeline for that).

On other animated shows
Other cartoons have followed the Simpsons - does Family Guy appeal to the lowest common denominator? How does the Simpsons rise above that? From the beginning, Sam Simon said we would write a show for adults, as smart and as connected with human emotion as possible. It’s the golden age for TV animation right now. We’re outrageous, but we’ve tried from the beginning to intelligently depict family challenges.

Are there “phases” of the show?
Golden Age of the Simpsons? are there phases that the show goes into? not really, we’ve won a ton of awards lately, but there are no eras, we just make it as good as possible.

Upcoming guest stars

Mo meets a woman on the Internet and she’s three feet tall in real life; Simpsons go to Ireland, Homer and Grandpa go to bar and buy it, Kenneth Branagh will be the pub owner.

On the Simpsons ride

Simpsons ride in Orlando and Hollywood exceeded expectations; longest wait time for any ride at Universal,lots of writers worked on those rides.

Will the Simpsons kids ever grow up?

Will the kids ever grow up? Episode as kids as teenagers a few years ago, in terms as the basic template for the show, no.

images courtesy KING OF THE HILL, THE SIMPSONS, FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD ª and © 2008 TTCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Family Guy writers talk about how they worked in VERY close quarters when the show began - they were all in one room! This created a close bond, but also made everyone smell like feet. No women in there, which made for some interesting dynamics. Watch: