Fans of Seth MacFarlane's trinity of animated comedies on Fox know that there is virtually no line of decency or decorum he won't cross for a joke. It doesn't even have to fit within the main narrative -- MacFarlane practically patented the cutaway gag. On the special, "Out of Character with Krista Smith" (Wed., 11 p.m. EST on USA), though, he did talk about at times feeling he'd taken it a bit too far.
One was a JFK Pez dispenser gag, that was certainly controversial at the time. In another case, it was a matter of coming face-to-face with the targets of one of his jokes.
"Adrien Brody got very upset with me one time at a party about a joke that we made about him, and I felt horrible because I actually think he's a tremendously gifted actor," MacFarlane said. His mantra about cracking jokes at other people's expense: "If you're going to take a stab at somebody, even a celebrity, it can't just be mean. It's also gotta be funny."
Later, Smith talked to MacFarlane about the pervasiveness of Twitter and whether or not he thinks it's a good thing. While MacFarlane hadn't made up his mind yet, he did talk about how it might not be good to be so accessible to fans. "I wanna see Grace Kelly in 'High Society,' I don't want to see her stumbling drunk out of Musso & Frank's."
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MONDAY, JANUARY 9: "Pretty Little Liars"
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"Pretty Little Liars" (8 p.m. EST, ABC Family)
After their recent encounter with "A," Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer think they may be closer than ever to figuring out who "A" really is. But when the girls decide to enlist Caleb's hacking skills to help with their quest, Hanna no longer wants a part of the plan. Instead of focusing on figuring out who the "helper" is, Hanna decides to put all of her efforts into throwing a surprise party for Caleb. But will a surprise party at Spencer's lake house be the diversion Hanna is looking for, or just a recipe for disaster? Meanwhile, Aria and Ezra must deal with the aftermath of coming clean.
After their recent encounter with "A," Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer think they may be closer than ever to figuring out who "A" really is. But when the girls decide to enlist Caleb's hacking skills to help with their quest, Hanna no longer wants a part of the plan. Instead of focusing on figuring out who the "helper" is, Hanna decides to put all of her efforts into throwing a surprise party for Caleb. But will a surprise party at Spencer's lake house be the diversion Hanna is looking for, or just a recipe for disaster? Meanwhile, Aria and Ezra must deal with the aftermath of coming clean.
"Pretty Little Liars" (8 p.m. EST, ABC Family)
After their recent encounter with "A," Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer think they may be closer than ever to figuring out who "A" really is. But when the girls decide to enlist Caleb's hacking skills to help with their quest, Hanna no longer wants a part of the plan. Instead of focusing on figuring out who the "helper" is, Hanna decides to put all of her efforts into throwing a surprise party for Caleb. But will a surprise party at Spencer's lake house be the diversion Hanna is looking for, or just a recipe for disaster? Meanwhile, Aria and Ezra must deal with the aftermath of coming clean.
Fans of Seth MacFarlane's trinity of animated comedies on Fox know that there is virtually no line of decency or decorum he won't cross for a joke. It doesn't even have to fit within the main narrativ...
Fans of Seth MacFarlane's trinity of animated comedies on Fox know that there is virtually no line of decency or decorum he won't cross for a joke. It doesn't even have to fit within the main narrativ...
Fans of Seth MacFarlane's trinity of animated comedies on Fox know that there is virtually no line of decency or decorum he won't cross for a joke. It doesn't even have to fit within the main narrativ...
Fans of Seth MacFarlane's trinity of animated comedies on Fox know that there is virtually no line of decency or decorum he won't cross for a joke. It doesn't even have to fit within the main narrativ...
To paraphrase the popular cliche: a busy Mark Wahlberg gathers no moss. In addition to leading the action-thriller "Contraband" (in theaters Friday), Wahlberg has a...
"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane's house was ruthlessly T.P.'d last night by a ragtag group of Charlie Sheen supporters -- and TMZ has obtained photos...
Always willing to put out a contrarian point of view, "Family Guy" on Sunday addressed perhaps the most sensitive subject in modern America: the attacks...
For more than half a century, TV hipsters have had a profound effect on American culture. These characters taught many of us the importance of oddball tastes, wardrobe thrifting and (perhaps more importantly) the ever-lasting power of snark.
Ten years later, is it too soon for television to have some fun with the events of September 11, 2001? I've been wondering about this since the November 20 episode of Fox's often controversial Family Guy.
I'm a comedian who often deals with edgy, politically incorrect and controversial material who thinks that Family Guy's Sarah Palin joke was not only offensive, but irresponsible.
First Posted: 01/12/12 05:36 AM ET Updated: 01/12/12 09:57 AM ET