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"Family Guy" Creator Signs Record Megadeal

Hollywood Reporter   |   May 5, 2008 06:37 AM

Read More: Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane, The Cleveland Show, Entertainment News
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From wunderkind to TV mogul: After 2 1/2 years of negotiations, "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane has inked a new overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV that would make him the highest-paid writer-producer working in television.

The pact, which could be worth more than $100 million, will keep MacFarlane at 20th TV through 2012. It covers his services on "Guy" and his other two animated series for 20th TV and Fox -- "American Dad!" and the upcoming "Guy" spinoff "The Cleveland Show" -- as well as his series development, which includes a multicamera comedy with "Guy" writer Gary Janetti. It also encompasses new-media projects related to MacFarlane's TV series as well as DVD and merchandising revenue from them. ("Guy" alone has grown into a $1 billion franchise with red-hot DVD and merchandise sales.)

"I get a lot of pleasure out of making shows," MacFarlane said. "It's a bonus to be getting paid well for it, and it's a double bonus to be getting paid exorbitantly for it."

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collapse ChrisR See Profile I'm a Fan of ChrisR

The show is lame, obviously written with a junior high school mentality. How people can use the word "genius" to describe the show highlights the low expectations which people have today, and how sick the general sense of humor is. Thankfully, there are great shows like Lost and...well, just Lost, to balance the drivel on network TV. And thank goodness for PBS (sometimes (haha)).
I've tried to watch it a few times, but then immediately see a bit like where the husband kills the wife in the kitchen, and the baby laughs and laughs...yeah, genius for psychopaths. I wouldn't care if it was only on at 10:30 PM, but it's now on in reruns at 7 PM. This is an "adult" show and should NOT be on before 10 PM.
And how the network can offer this clown so much money is ridiculous. What a high-budget low-brow world.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:59 PM on 05/06/2008
collapse qdog112 See Profile I'm a Fan of qdog112

It had to be more than coincidence that you cited "Lost" as great and "Guy" as lame. perhaps it was divine intervention that guided your hand. For lost is what you are if you think Seth's work is lame.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:45 PM on 05/06/2008
collapse PJX See Profile I'm a Fan of PJX

Seth does great work. As the South Park guys put it, every episode is basically the same. Doesn't matter...great show. American Dad, too.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:44 AM on 05/06/2008
collapse Affraidknot See Profile I'm a Fan of Affraidknot

I didn't care for Family Guy at first, either. But that was before I saw the episode of Peter and a human-size rooster beating the crap out of each other for 5 full minutes. First, chickens are ALWAYS funny. Second, it wasn't explained. Genius. And third, Peter arrives back at the conversation he left, all beat up and in tatters, and just continues like nothing happened, and no one comments on it. That was as rich as any Marx Brothers film. Pure comic gold. Then I saw Peter and a football/cheerleader team do "Shipoopi" and it just KILLED. The number of pop culture references, the quality of the homages to past and present TV, and the fabulous recreation of famous song and dance routines are all really kind of extraordinary. So now I have to beg my friends (I'm not MacFarlane's target audience: I'm 45 and female) to watch it. And when you start reading the credits and realize just how much MacFarlane does on each episode, and again with American Dad, you have to hand it to the guy. He's got the talent to match that deal and he's worth every damn penny. And I probably wouldn't like him in real life. But the man is brilliant.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:47 AM on 05/06/2008
collapse Sardonica See Profile I'm a Fan of Sardonica

You are the perfect demographic for the show - all the references are tailor-made for the 40'ish age group. I'm female too and have been watching the show from the get-go. Stewie had me at "oppressive gynocracy". lol Seth MacFarlane is insanely talented - his voice work is just stellar.

Oh, and there is a back story with the chicken in the early episodes involving an expired coupon.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:16 AM on 05/06/2008
collapse RaraAvis17 See Profile I'm a Fan of RaraAvis17

Nothing is better than adult cartoons. I am over 50 and I enjoy South Park, Family Guy, American Dad, and King of the Hill. The humor on Family Guy though is LOL funny to me.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:23 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse OriginalScreenName See Profile I'm a Fan of OriginalScreenName

I went to a Family Guy live show once. It was hilarious. If anyone ever gets the chance, you have to go.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:27 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse totalliberal See Profile I'm a Fan of totalliberal

I saw an interview with Matt Groening (The Simpson's) where he was asked if it was done live in front of a live audience. He replied, "We tried that once but it was too hard on the animators".

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:36 AM on 05/06/2008
collapse badnfluence See Profile I'm a Fan of badnfluence

I'm really glad Hollywood Reporter and Yahoo News decided to abbreviate "Family Guy" as just "Guy". That saved me a lot of time reading the article. From now on, I think "Grey's Anatomy" should just be "Anatomy", and "LOST" shall be referred to as "ST".

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:43 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse PJX See Profile I'm a Fan of PJX

See "SNL: David Spade as Don Lapre"

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:45 AM on 05/06/2008
collapse GeraldineFerraro See Profile I'm a Fan of GeraldineFerraro

Family Guy sucks.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:19 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse DWI-illegals See Profile I'm a Fan of DWI-illegals

I once thought like that.

Where's my money?

Hey a Dr. Pepper Machine.

it's just a mirage Uh, an RC Cola Machine!

Imagination Land, a place where you fart where you burp and you burp where you fart.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:27 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse unsharpmask See Profile I'm a Fan of unsharpmask

Why is it always a story when someone gets the big bucks? Is any worth $120 million? No, but if revenues from DVDs, prime-time ads, merchandise is worth $1 billion, then you gotta pay the creator his share. If he doesn't pocket it, then News Corp,Rupert Murdoch and his share holders keep it for themselves. Let's stop whining when someone gets his piece of the pie, even if its the size of a Beverly Hills estate.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:15 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse MikeDu See Profile I'm a Fan of MikeDu

Its kind'a ironic that 'megadeal' MacFarlane had his show cancelled on him for two years. I still don't know how he managed to get the series back on the air, must've had incriminating photos of studio heads. I've got to admit Family Guy get more out-loud laughs from me than anything else on TV.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:35 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse Passenger57 See Profile I'm a Fan of Passenger57

From what I read , the show did fairly well,then FOX cancelled it .When they released the first seasons on DVD,they flew off the shelves.FOX said, "Hmmmmm...".
On the first show back,They worked their return into the opening by having Peter rattle off all the crappy shows that FOX kept on over FG that had a) sucked and b)were LONG gone.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:01 AM on 05/06/2008
collapse ErnestineBass See Profile I'm a Fan of ErnestineBass

"Family Guy" is a guilty pleasure.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:08 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse DWI-illegals See Profile I'm a Fan of DWI-illegals

I heard it got pick back up when 20th Century Fox was amazed at the volume of DVD sales. Probably had nothing else and gave it a second try. Lucky for us. I love it.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:08 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin See Profile I'm a Fan of JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin

Family Guy is always uneven. When the jokes work, they're an absolute riot. When they don't, they're abysmal.

Is Seth worth paying 100 million dollars to? Probably not.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:33 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse PJX See Profile I'm a Fan of PJX

He's not getting "paid" $100 million...it's just like Dave Chapelle's $50 million dollar deal...gets a cut of DVD's, etc. which is why it says "may be worth up to".

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:50 AM on 05/06/2008
collapse DWI-illegals See Profile I'm a Fan of DWI-illegals

Criticism of time filler? I'd say that is a fair complaint but every show does it. Comedy is hard so I give it a pass. My bigger gripe about the animated shows like South Park (jumped the shark can't watch any more), Family Guy and Simpson usually go off the storyline a few minutes and the begging doesn't even resemble the ending. It's like they spliced two shows together, which they probably did. Not enough material for one show. Seen this in sitcoms and dramas too but really FG is about all I watch these days. TV sucks.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:14 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin See Profile I'm a Fan of JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin

Your argument that "every show does it" over time filler isn't necessarily true. True, sometimes they pad things out to get to the 30 minute mark (or 20 minutes with commercials), but not everything TV show/film is like this. Many film comedies like Duck Soup and Dr. Strangelove are extremely tight, and don't have any filler. They're consistently funny. It can be done. Monty Python's Flying Circus (a somewhat popular show in the U.K. in the 60's and 70's) rarely had a bad sketch or superfluous moment in it.

And as others have said here, Family Guy does that "beat a joke to death" thing which isn't very funny, just annoying. And no, it's not funny that Seth and the writers want to annoy people. It's not edgy, it's not hip, it's not art, it's just annoying.

Your point about The Simpsons being two spliced shows in spot on, though. Quite often, the first 3 minutes of the Simpsons show is completely different from the remaining 17 minutes.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:15 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse frissons See Profile I'm a Fan of frissons

My gripe with "Family Guy" is when they do a bit over and over again almost as a time filler. (Ex.: Peter scrapes his knee and says "ow" over and over and over again for nearly a minute.) I'm convinced they throw in these time wasters when they put together a show and need to make it longer.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:48 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse Jezdukowski See Profile I'm a Fan of Jezdukowski

Again, I have to disagree - that scraped knee scene had me honestly rolling on the floor, same as the "trying to throw the dead frog out the window" gag on last nights episode. Your point may be correct, but I get the feeling the shows writers are just trying to annoy people.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:18 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse CocteausTwin See Profile I'm a Fan of CocteausTwin

I'd certainly agree with you -- the scrapped knee scene just killed me. One of those ironic comedy bits. An ultimate series of call backs. The frog thing just made me look away, that kind of embarrassed, guilty thing. I am sure the next time I'll just laugh like crazy. The show is genius and Seth deserves every frickin' penny of it. The true creators of art and culture deserve to be richly rewarded.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:32 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse frissons See Profile I'm a Fan of frissons

Baby, if you got a good laugh out of it, then I'm happy for you. Really. But, if the show's writers are "just trying to annoy people", don't you think that's counterproductive? I don't need television to annoy me. For that, I have traffic, the high cost of gasoline and neocons.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:31 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse PopeRatzo See Profile I'm a Fan of PopeRatzo

frissons, Sorry, but I have to agree with Jezdukowski.

The lengthy scene of the scraped knee, as well as the extremely long bit with trying to get the dead frog out the window, were sheer comic genius.

Sometimes, you get a little bored with televisions requirements that everything has to be bang-bang-bang. It takes a little courage and creativity to take your time with a gag, in the best tradition of Jacques Tati or The Pink Panther.

Family Guy is by far the best thing on television today.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:26 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse SamiNJ See Profile I'm a Fan of SamiNJ

I was hysterical with the frog through the window last night... absolutely hysterical. I had to rewind to hear the next bit of dialogue cuz i was still Laughing Outloud when the scene ended. Poor frog. :).
Loved it.
Owwwwwwww,....tsshhhh... Owwwwww..... tsshhhhh... Owwwwwww. ..

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 07:22 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse LeeLoosMultiPass See Profile I'm a Fan of LeeLoosMultiPass

Oh, my effing god, I was laughing like a sonofabitch at that frog scene. Here's what *some* people don't get about Family Guy - McFarlane et al will NEVER just give you the "three-peater." Meaning, most comedy shows and/or cartoon shows have a character do something for three times to get the easy slapstick laugh, and then they move on fast. Family Guy will hammer it into you repeatedly and just when you think it's over, it's not and it goes a few more times.

This isn't "Tom and Jerry" or Roadrunner. This is topical, cultural-referencing schtick in the form of a cartoon comedy. It's adult sick humor and I love it.

Yes, McFarlane sometimes goes too far and I grimmace - such as the Michael J Fox attempt at a Zorro "Z"....some of that will make me go "ooowww, that hurts." But McFarlane knows no sacred oxes - he gores them ALL.

If you don't like it, turn the channel. For the rest of us, thank god Seth got a deal - we can have our black dark humor and silliness for a long time to come.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:17 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse citizenofmars See Profile I'm a Fan of citizenofmars

I prefer "King of the Hill" myself..

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:22 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse OriginalScreenName See Profile I'm a Fan of OriginalScreenName

That's a show I just don't get. I know tons of people that watch it, and I love Family Guy, South Park, and the Simpsons, but I can't get into King of the Hill.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:25 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse frissons See Profile I'm a Fan of frissons

Yep.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:33 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse CocteausTwin See Profile I'm a Fan of CocteausTwin

Now that too is funny. In three letters no less!

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:33 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse Aywaller See Profile I'm a Fan of Aywaller

Um hum.

Nah, really I prefer Family Guy, but I love King of the Hill, too.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:39 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse frissons See Profile I'm a Fan of frissons

(Me, too. But, I couldn't resist! Thanks for playing along!)

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:48 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse Ginzaman See Profile I'm a Fan of Ginzaman

Want something that's actually funny? Go to:
http://blog.myspace.com/globalcomedy

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:51 AM on 05/05/2008
collapse Ginzaman See Profile I'm a Fan of Ginzaman

$100 million? I heard him last night on Dr. Drew's radio show. Not funny at all......

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:50 AM on 05/05/2008
collapse ming099 See Profile I'm a Fan of ming099

....apparently MD (above) has NO sense of humor........FG is one of the funniest, freshest programs on the tube.........campy,tongue in cheek,irrereverent and just plain funny........American Dad is funny but FG is funnier.....

.....high or not....they are a good escape from the Hillary,Barack and "Old Fart" McCain show .....

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:32 AM on 05/05/2008
collapse MutualDisdain See Profile I'm a Fan of MutualDisdain

I prefer my slapstick to be in the form of the Three Stooges and not recycled randomness. The South Park episode which had manatees writing for the show was hilarious.

Where Family Guy might wander into a serious topic and reinforce a political correct message, South Park is dynamic and consistent delivers strong social messages.

I seriously don't know why Family Guy or the Simpsons are on television any more.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:22 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse jvarga See Profile I'm a Fan of jvarga

South Park's message "Lets sort of present both sides of an issue, and then mock both sides and both sides adherents."

This becomes exceedingly amusing when their fans become the same sort of mindless zombies the shows writers periodically mock.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:46 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse WhitePeople4Obama See Profile I'm a Fan of WhitePeople4Obama

Wait... you're lauding South Park for their message? Do you really how often the message of South Park is mistranslated by stupid college dorm frat boys that watch it? It often teaches kids that things like racism, prejudice, and apathy are OK, not that they're bad. I know the intentions are good, but I ultimately think that when it comes down to it, South Park does much more harm than good.

favoriteFavorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:27 PM on 05/05/2008
collapse frissons See Profile