The animated adult series, “Family Guy,” broke the mold for its genre, created a large cult fan base, and made its creator, 33-year-old Seth MacFarlane, famous. MacFarlane will talk about his controversial series for the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. Wed., March 30, in Graham Chapel.
Due to anticipated popularity, seating for the general public will be severely limited. A remote telecast location will be provided.
“Family Guy” has been nominated for an Emmy award and has a strong following, particularly among young adult males. The satirical show, partly inspired by “The Simpsons,” features a dysfunctional family with a toddler bent on world domination and a talking dog, and is infused throughout with all manner of popular culture references.
The show’s controversial humor has unnerved its host network, Fox, which has censored programs more closely since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tightened restrictions on indecency. Fox cancelled “Family Guy” but made the unusual decision to re-air it when the show became even more popular as reruns on the Cartoon Network and now captured on DVD. The show’s DVD compilations of the three series have sold more copies than other DVDs for any television series to date.
“Family Guy” is based on an eleven-minute film MacFarlane made as a student at Rhode Island School of Design. Fox purchased the film and hired its newly graduated creator to transform it into a sitcom. At 24, he was the youngest television executive producer in the industry’s history. In addition to writing for the show, MacFarlane does the voices for several of its characters.
In addition to his work on “Family Guy,” MacFarlane is producing a second animated sitcom, “American Dad,” which Fox will begin airing on a regular basis in May. He also has worked on such popular Cartoon Network shows as “Johnny Bravo,” “Cow and Chicken,” and “Dexter’s Laboratory,” and has appeared on “Crank Yankers” and “Gilmore Girls.”
Graham Chapel is located just north of Mallinckrodt Student Center (6445 Forsyth Blvd.) on the Washington University campus. All Assembly Series lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, check the Web page at http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu or call (314) 935-4620.