PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: PALEYFEST NY 2017: FAMILY GUY {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's PaleyFest New York 2017. This evening celebrates "Family Guy," the long-running, subversive animated series -- peppered with pop cultural non-sequiturs -- about Peter Griffin and his family, most notably their evil genius baby Stewie, and the talking, martini-swilling family dog, Brian.
Host Barry Monush (curator, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and introduces the episode "Foxx in the Men House, which is then screened in its entirety. (For synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM 130780.)
After the screening, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (co-executive producer/writer, "Family Guy") moderates the following panelists: executive producer/showrunner Rich Appel; executive producer/writer/voice actor John Viener; and voice actors Mike Henry (Cleveland Brown), Patrick Warburton (Joe Swanson), Seth Green (Chris Griffin) and Alex Borstein (Lois Griffin). Series creator/executive producer/writer/voice actor Seth MacFarlane, who voices Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, Quagmire and various others, joins the panel later in the evening via Skype.
The panelists touch on such topics as: the series' upcoming 300th episode, written by Chevapravatdumrong, which deals with Brian and Stewie's friendship as well as the accurate ranking of the "Fast and the Furious" movies; an appearance by Ian McKellen as Stewie's therapist; the actors' familiarity with an adult-themed parody version of the show; their favorite moments, including scenes in which MacFarlane "sings with himself"; praise for the animation team and their skill in creating moments that "get funnier as they get longer"; Appel's frequent debates with Standards & Practices about censored content; an upcoming episode featuring three prominent film directors' "interpretations" of the show; Borstein's thoughts on Lois' potential romantic interactions with Joe and Cleveland; Viener's occasional substitution as Joe in Warburton's absences; how the main actors generally voice about five characters per show, including minor and incidental characters; how the nearly year-long production process on each episode allows the writers and actors to consider the appropriateness of given jokes; Warburton's conservative upbringing and his religious parents' displeasure with the bawdy show; why the show is not "immediately topical" like other comedy series, such as "Saturday Night Live"; bizarre fan interactions, including Green's dismay at a fan's tattoo of his messy autograph; and extremely strong fan reactions to Brian's brief "death" in 2013.
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics, among others: whether they believed in the show's longevity, including its two infamous cancellations; the challenges of recording as a group; using anecdotal stories and "anything traumatic or difficult" from the 18 full-time writers' lives in crafting storylines; MacFarlane's idea for Stewie's time-machine story, owing to his "old-soul" personality; ideas for a spin-off in which the much-maligned Meg Griffin (voiced by Mila Kunis) is allowed to enjoy a happy life; the challenges of writing, animating and voicing several episodes concurrently; how they developed the characters' individual voices; MacFarlane's past career in stand-up comedy; the 2014 crossover episode with "The Simpsons"; ideas for future crossovers with "American Dad" and "The Orville," both helmed by MacFarlane; MacFarlane's early days of painstaking hand-drawn animation, compared to today's more advanced technology; the necessity of the show's "morally unsound" characters and why its boundary-pushing use of offensive material seeks to "start conversations"; why the show is not necessarily political and is an "equal-opportunity offender"; and Borstein's occasional work as a writer on the show.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: 2:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: N/A
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 130766
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Barry Monush … Host
- Cherry Chevapravatdumrong … Moderator
- Rich Appel … Panelist
- John Viener … Panelist
- Mike Henry … Panelist
- Patrick Warburton … Panelist
- Seth Green … Panelist
- Alex Borstein … Panelist
- Seth MacFarlane … Panelist
- Mila Kunis
- Ian McKellen