Family Guy: The Thread!!! (merged)

[Beast]

Looks like we may get something in addition or instead of the direct to video movie, as there is talk that Fox is going to revive the show. With a fourth season. Appearently the ratings for CN's reruns and the strong sales for the DVD's, has perked their intrest. Yay!

According to USA Today, Fox Television is considering resurrecting the FAMILY GUY animated TV series thanks to its impressive DVD sales and strong syndication ratings. The paper reports that "as many as 35 new episodes could return in January 2005," and Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow was quoted as saying that an executive decision would be made shortly.

This isn't the first we've heard of a return for FAMILY GUY. Last September the creator of the show, Seth McFarlane, told us exclusively that a direct-to-DVD movie was in the planning stages with Fox. "Timeframe, you're probably looking at a year, a year-and-a-half down the line. It will take a while to make. If we could do it within a year it would be very exciting," McFarlane said at the time. Could it be plans have changed and the movie is out the window in favor of nearly three dozen new episodes?

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[James Boba Fettfield]

Good, good! Now King of the Hill can have a good cartoon to accompany it on Fox, instead of the very, very bad Simpsons.

[Beast]

Agreed, JBF. Simpsons stopped being funny so long ago. I can't believe they cancel quality shows like Family Guy and Futurama, but they let that damn Simpsons show continue to drag on.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[Jedi_Master_Guyute]

Ah, c'mon, guys, as much as i loathe the last few seasons of Simpsons, it DOES have its high points. I think JBFF and i chatted about our feelings towards Simpsons and agreed that the show needs to fade gracefully into the sunset.

anyway, allow me to expand on that article from USA Today (nothing too major, just some tidbits):

"Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow said a decision is expected soon and called the series a late-blooming phenomenon that may have aired before its time.

A DVD set of the show's first 28 episodes released in April has sold nearly 1 million copies, making it this year's top-selling TV show and the No. 4 television title ever, according to Video Store magazine. A second collection, of 22 episodes, has sold 520,000 copies. And the series is Cartoon Network's most popular among adults.

Family Guy premiered with a big audience — 22 million viewers — and some controversy after Fox's 1999 Super Bowl telecast. In the pilot episode, Stewie, a talking toddler with a clipped British accent, was openly contemptuous of his loutish dad and bent on killing his sweet-natured mother in a quest for world domination.

Creator Seth MacFarlane, then 24, wrote scripts, drew characters, provided voices and infused the show with rapid-fire sight gags, a nod to The Simpsons. But ratings faded, and the show ended with a whimper early last year.

The relatively short network run may have helped DVD sales, Video Store's Judith McCourt says. "It really speaks to something that had a following, was cut off network TV, and people said, 'What did I miss?' "

DVD and cable viewers have "created kind of a groundswell that could lead to better ratings" on Fox, Grushow says, although new episodes could end up going directly to Cartoon Network.

A decision to restart the show suggests a reversal from the old TV business model, in which a network hit predicts a profit windfall in syndication. This time, the promise of DVD and syndication gold could justify a show's return even if low network ratings didn't.

But canceled favorites aren't likely to rise from the grave en masse. Family Guy has one major advantage: With no actors and no sets, it can simply be drawn back into existence. "

[El Chuxter]

Hooray! Family Guy could beat Get A Life's record for the number of times cancelled and resurrected by Fox!

Too bad the Tick DVD didn't get such a high profile release, or we might be hearing about its return, too.

[Exhaust Port]

I think there is more hype over the displeasure with the Simpsons than there really is. The weekly ratings for the show don't show what the vocal miniorty lead you to believe. I still find the Simpsons enjoyable and so do a lot of people. If the show was really suffering as some say then it wouldn't get nearly the ratings that it pulls in. There were still the nay sayers during the "prime seasons" too. "The Simpons stopped being funny seasons ago" has been the chant of those for years yet it goes on and a lot of people still enjoy the show. Reminds me of the pleasure some get from being on the "Prequals Suck" bandwagon. Sure some have some legitament issues but most are just subscribing to what others have said before them without much individual thought.

As for the Family Guy, I think that the premise was a short lived one. Sight gags can't carry a show and definately don't last over time. The Simpons are known to pepper the show with one-off sight gags, most of which can be missed by the casual viewer. "One Size Fits All Lingerie" store front for example.

The Family Guy ran the show around sight gags. "You have a moat?" "Sure, it seems to keep the knight at bay." <shows outside of house with moat and knight on a horse standing on the far side of the water> That's it. It becomes quite tiresome at times. I enjoyed the first season but never cared to see them again when rerun. The joke had run it's course IMO so I stopped watching soon there after as did nearly everyone else. I think a Family Guy movie would be enjoyable too but nothing that I would care to watch over and over. Very similar to the Beavis and Butthead show and movie.

[James Boba Fettfield]

I don't know what everyone else doesn't like about The Simpsons, but my problem is Homer's character. As Guyute and I agreed upon in one of our conversations, he's a jackass anymore. The show is ok to watch, but other than the two laughs I have per episode, it's very bad. Maybe it's because it's been on so long, maybe it's because of the people behind the show, I don't know, but they need to get Homer back to his old self and drop this jerk Homer they created some seasons back.

Maybe the same will happen to Family Guy if and when it comes back. Maybe the show and it's premise will become old and unfunny, but I still laugh at the original episodes no matter how many times I've seen them.

[Beast]

Sorry Exhaust Port, I started disliking the Simpsons long before I ever heard anyone else disliking it. I've tried to watch it, it's just boring to me anymore. It's just the same thing over and over again. Where as Family Guy can be wildly different from Simpsons, cause it doesn't try to be serious. It's really out there, and anything can happen. It's like those earlier seasons of Simpsons, when basically anything could happen. Like Homer becoming an Astronaut. I just don't like watching Simpsons anymore, and I usually just throw in a DVD on Sunday nights now. Since there's nothing worth watching that night.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks

[derek]

if i recall correctly didn't fox move this show around a lot on it's schedule? i hope they put it on right after the simpsons. :happy:

[Beast]

Yes. That's part of what killed it. Fox kept shifting the night and time it was on. So the people that did like it, could never find it. I remeber sometimes, the night it ended up airing, wasn't even the night listed in the TV guide, they moved it so much. And I agree, put it right on after Simpsons. Then I might watch Simpsons again, looking forward to Family Guy after it.

MTFBWY and HH!!

Jar Jar Binks