Seth MacFarlane Talks 'Beef' With Jon Stewart Over 2008 Writer's Strike On Piers Morgan (VIDEO)

"It was an angry call," is how "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane describes a little known conversation he had with Jon Stewart in 2008 on this week's episode of "Piers Morgan Tonight."

The "beef" as Morgan and MacFarlane describe it in the preview clip below, was instigated by a joke on "Family Guy" about "The Daily Show" returning to air before the Writer's Guild Of America strike back in 2007.

MacFarlane claims Stewart phoned him and said, among other things, "Who the hell made you the moral arbiter of Hollywood?"

MacFarlane, who seemed taken aback that Morgan even had heard of the incident, admits that he thinks Stewart "Was wrong not to shut his show down" during the strike which saw many beloved programs go dark, including "Family Guy." A few of the main issues argued during the strike included compensation for reality TV stars and TV content distributed online.

MacFarlane described the gag directed at Stewart as "Coming from the right place but probably so over the line," a much more measured response than Morgan was hoping for, who robustly asked MacFarlane to "Stand up for your jokes."

MacFarlane, while obviously not pleased with Stewart's call, did call the "Daily Show" host "An important voice in the sphere of rational thought."

In 2008, MacFarlane first detailed the phone call in a Q&A For Time, excerpted below:

"There was a very inside joke on "Family Guy" referring to the fact that he was working before the writers' strike was over. It was admittedly a very direct middle finger of a joke, which I don't discount. But he called and was very angry about it. The call lasted an hour. It was pretty amazing. He's a very good debater, I'll tell you that."

MacFarlane's full interview airs on "Piers Morgan Tonight" this Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

WATCH:

Comments

[Lindsay Gonsalves]

02:03 AM on 10/10/2011

The Jon Stewart snub definitely occurs in the first scene of the episode titled "Long John Peter." The joke implies that Stewart just wasn't getting laughs without his writing team. Honestly, the Family Guy writers were dead on with their insult:

- Peter: The vet charges $90 to keep Brian here. For $60 I could keep him at the Holiday Inn.
- (silence)
- Peter: Am I right.. Who's with me?
- (crickets chirping)
- Mayor West: My apologies, my pet cricket has restless leg syndrome.

[Anonisan]

07:31 AM on 10/07/2011

C'mon Jon , if you dish it out nightly you've got to be able to take it .

[Charlie Atwell]

04:03 AM on 10/07/2011

I think what Seth was really angry about is that he doesn't write his own show, and said strike really caused him a problem in that vein. Stewart on the other hand, being a good writer himself, didn't have that problem.

[samairclean]

09:35 AM on 10/07/2011

Stewart on the other hand, employs 14 writers for his 22 minute program.



http://www.articlesbase.com/answers/how-many-writers-does-jon-stewart-have-154673

[Bodie1]

10:34 PM on 10/06/2011

Just think, we could have spent the rest of our lives never knowing and little caring about this incident.

[joemartin1296]

09:08 PM on 10/06/2011

Jon Stewart has turned his platform into a bully pulpit... a fun house mirror of those he maligns. Yet he is no better. But because of his political beliefs, he is given a free pass and considered a hero.

Sad.

[Pieter Van Dyke]

02:33 PM on 10/07/2011

So true...and backed up by the fact that McFarlane said his publicist told him not to talk about it

[shotgunjohnny]

07:59 PM on 10/13/2011

"free pass"?! life in the land of make believe.

[gourmand]

07:14 PM on 10/06/2011

Gotta say...I think Family Guy has become the laziest show on television, as MacFarlane has focused more on American Dad and the Cleveland Show (shows I also dislike). Over the years I've found him less funny albeit extremely talented. But he was being perfectly rational, everything he said made sense...I really respect him for that. But there was Piers Morgan, acting like the childhood stirrer at recess. "COME ON LET'S ATTACK JON STEWART!!!! I DON'T CARE LET'S DO THIS!!!" Way to go, Piers.

[Pieter Van Dyke]

02:35 PM on 10/07/2011

The fact that he has to egg him on to go after Stewart shows how scared people are of Stewart....But he sure didn't have to egg on Morgan Freeman to call the entire Tea Party Racist

[janetmegeed]

04:22 PM on 10/06/2011

Ha Ha,John Stewart's finally getting it back,I thought it would be Matt Groening but amen,he is a repulsive,liberal coward.If he wasn't a coward he would had beeen horrified at the murder of three gay men in Iran or the little innocent Christian bookseller in Palestine who was kidnapped then murdered.Any comment Jon?

[thecarf]

05:17 PM on 10/06/2011

My first thought is this: Is this translated from another language?

Whoever originally wrote this must have been personally snubbed by Jon Stewart. Or they could be seething in a padded cell.

Needless to say: somewhere in this world, meds have not been taken.

[janetmegeed]

04:45 PM on 10/07/2011

And I was thinking someone--obviously-- not from this world, is taking too many meds,that would explain how you can tolerate Stewart! Why should he use his show as a platform to help people?

[gourmand]

07:41 PM on 10/06/2011

Seth MacFarlane and Matt Groening are both liberals...

[janetmegeed]

04:47 PM on 10/07/2011

Groening is no holds barred and no apologies.

[Snides]

04:06 PM on 10/06/2011

Which of the two will win "The Battle of the Douches"?

[BuckoForce]

02:04 PM on 10/06/2011

Can't stand the Family Guy; the Return of the Jedi remake, was the final insult. It isn't funny to redo something verbatim.

[Styxtap]

03:36 PM on 10/06/2011

give him the benefit of the doubt. He did not want to make it. He was pressured by hungry fans and greedy networks. He only wanted to make the A New Hope one originally. Be careful what you wish for.

[Max Shaw]

01:14 PM on 10/06/2011

Dude loves to hear himself speak.

[Six Gator]

01:51 PM on 10/06/2011

Stewart, McFar, or Morgan?....ALL guilty of that!
I'm sure that a convo lasting 60 minutes had its positive moments too....and McFar is closer to being a Stewart man, than he is to being an anit-Stewart man!....

[Lex10]

12:11 PM on 10/06/2011

Stewart shoulda just took the hit.

[rusty apache]

12:05 PM on 10/06/2011

Seth is one sick and demented individual, who holds NOTHING sacred.
Maybe that's why I love his twisted shows!

[Sol76]

08:19 AM on 10/06/2011

Jon Stewart was probably acting out of frustration, having to carry so much of his show without the writers at that time. Kudos to Seth MacFarlane for keeping it to himself all this time.

[shotgunjohnny]

08:03 PM on 10/13/2011

And to be fair, he kind of sort of crossed a picket line...

[OneHeart]

06:56 AM on 10/06/2011

Jon Stewart has made himself the kingmaker of media elites. He uses his voice to dictate what is wrong with our nation. That said, he's always hiding behind the mask of 'I'm only a comedian'. That to me makes Jon a total sellout. He doesn't take responsibilities for his actions and it really pisses me off when he does that.

For me, I'd rather watch Steven Corbert. As for Jon Stewart, me thinks his head gotten too big for his britches.

[Sepulchre]

09:57 AM on 10/06/2011

Colbert makes fun of conservatives and everyone else constantly and does the 'I"m only a comedian thing". Jon is only a comedian. That would probably be why his show is on Comedy Central. Your kind of new to the political comedy thing aren't you?

[stuoverit]

11:17 AM on 10/06/2011

When has Jon Stewart hidden behind that? He has never claimed to be an "unbiased" journalist. He hosts a comedy show that satirizes the news. If you misunderstood the Daily Show, that's on you.

[shotgunjohnny]

08:04 PM on 10/13/2011

Yeah the rest of us weren't born dumb

[Omar Devone Little]

04:09 AM on 10/06/2011

Seth, on the other hand, makes three cartoons that rip off the Simpsons. He gets by with gag humor that isn't based on the plot and he frequently goes for the easy joke, he's good at making the easy gag joke in fairness to him. South Park completely demolished the show, and Seth said "yeah pretty much" he noted that's a fair criticism and accepted it and moved on. Stewart feels the need to lash out at any and all strong critics of his, Seth...not so much. Seth's also a thousand times more open about his views than Jon Stewart is, despite hosting a news program Stewart clearly has views but yet he'll rarely go on shows with panels to discuss and debate them.

[nsmavrik]

10:05 AM on 10/06/2011

Right, because Jon Stewart never goes on any shows to discuss or debate them. I mean his appearances on:

Crossfire,
Larry King,
Hannity,
Bill O'Riley
Rachel Maddow
Countdown with Keith Olberman
Meet the Press
60 Minutes
Charlie Rose

They don't count, do they?

[stuoverit]

11:18 AM on 10/06/2011

Zing!

[Omar Devone Little]

03:22 PM on 10/06/2011

Crossfire was the only show where there was a pannel and different people interjected their views, otherwise a lot of those are 'interview' type shows or 'debate the host.'