Seth MacFarlane Reveals Why He Stopped Writing On Family Guy 

This makes a lot of sense. 2000s family guy and 2010s family guy are two completely different shows.

Family guy dvd menu still holds world records for keeping people awake.

Despite being credited as executive producer, he’s not actually working on the show. His name is just there just to be there because it’s still his show no matter what.

Seth’s speaking voice has gone from 100% Brian to about 50% Brian, 30% Quagmire and 20% Stewie

Him saying he hasn’t wrote for Family Guy since 2009-2010 makes so much sense, that’s literally when the show deteriorated in quality in terms of its jokes Edit: Damn I got so much hate from the Family Guy fanboys telling me I’m wrong 😂. Whatever, I’ll stand by my statement, Family Guy fell off hard, but from what I’ve seen it’s gotten somewhat better in the very newest seasons. Still not as good as it used to be though. And no, it’s not nostalgia that makes the earlier seasons better, they just had genuinely better jokes and comedic material

It’s like hearing about how Brian wrote family guy

I love Seth MacFarlane. I think he is a creative and comic genius, and Family Guy has had a great run, but it's no surprise when a show starts to go downhill after it's main creative voice decides to step away, just like The Simpsons, Spongebob and so many others. And Family Guy is no exception to this. It's also the same reason why South Park is still going strong to this day, as it's creators, Trey and Matt have never once stepped away from the writers room.

Family Guy will always be a classic. The old seasons (1-5) are gold, but I really grew up with the next 5-10 and those just hit home every time with me (around when the animation changed to look new). One of those shows that will go down in history, kids my age talked about that show like it was the forbidden fruit when we were growing up.

Well, he's still voicing half of the main characters and plenty of side characters so I wouldn't say he's OUT out of the show.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="211">3:31</a> This is the exact management lesson I've learned from dealing with multiple business environments on both the labor end and the operations end. Things work best when the boss is either there EVERY DAY and is doing the work and helping actually pull everyone along or they are NEVER THERE and let their GM or other managers actually run things according to how they see fit. Having "one hand in it" as he says, just throws everything off and devolves into micromanagement while showing neither trust nor true effort. Smart guy, and it shows he respects his showrunning and writing crew enough to get the job done.

nice of them to invite brian to the podcast and let him talk about his screen play

My mom has had my brothers ringtone to Stewie saying Mom mom mommy momma for the last about 10 years and it's great.

28 in March. Crazy that Family Guy is one of my first memories. Seth really helped curate an entire generation of humor.

Damn, I had no idea he hadn't written on the show for so long.

Its refreshing to hear someone say not everything has to be "art" and that as long as it stays true to itself its okay for something just to be lighthearted entertainment that does its job and he is right more often than not Family Guy is perfect for when you just want something on while eating takeout and you don't want to think too heavily about what to watch, many sitcom shows are like that for me (rick and morty, friends, frasier, father ted) in that sometimes I just don't want to concentrate on what I'm watching and know that its funny but also that its not going to annoy me by throwing a load of woke nonsense and political messages into my face. There is something to be said for appreciating "Kitsch" but I don't define it as trash in its meaning, to me Kitsch is something that brings you comfort in the same way as the old house you grew up in brings you comfort, its the joy of familiarity in a world that seems to be going out of its way to make you feel like you are not a part of it.

I hope if they do a movie he writes for it I miss his style and format so much Felt like an actual show at one point

What I find deeply interesting about Seth's view here is just how humble he is when it comes to passing the torch to a new studio of writers, producers and directors when really deep down we all know that Seth is basically 80% of the entire show just with his voice talents! Loved this man and all his projects since I was a young lad ❤

Definitely an iconic show that many of us grew up on. But unfortunately it lost much of its edge and then they just sorta started making cookie cutter episodes With that said though it’s still good even despite a lot of the horrible and corny jokes in the later seasons Definitely an interesting thing some of the gags and jokes are absolutely timeless and will always be funny The first five seasons are pure gold. And probably the next five are full of iconic moments too. But the first five are the best imo

Perfect interview. It's infuriating how poorly some podcast hosts like can't let their guests finish and don't really listen.

I can't imagine anyone else voicing Brian.

He's never been shy about voicing his opinion that family should have ended, you can tell he's just over family guy at this point, his show has literally become another simpsons, but the sad thing is many viewers agree while the simpsons has gotten good again, family is at its lowest point and it's probably only gonna get worse.

Up until this interview.. I kinda thought I was one of the only people watching Family Guy (and American Dad) reruns to get to sleep every nite. Not because it is boring,... because it is familiar... it's home. Cheers Seth and thank you!

I grew up with family guy 😂 the griffins are practically family to me

Finally someone who admits its luck snd doesn't make up a sob story on how he got to his position. I love the honesty

The original run i liked more because it wasnt as direct and more light hearted. Even in the return the first few seasons were solid. I stopped caring around 2008-09. Todays FG just aint it for me from the little ive seen.

And to think he's also the main voices on American Dad! Stan and Roger... What a talent!

I def appreciate the visual touch Liz adds

kid from RI here. pisses me off he’s so humble he’s an actual straight legend to so many of us

He educated me on movies and tv shows but also put a broadway showtune cancer in my brain.

Family Guy has definitely gotten slightly worse but I still think it's hilarious. Not sure why everyone pretends it's terrible now

Family Guy was always a fantastic show for what it was. I have always preferred American Dad though.

I hope to see more shows from Seth.

Family Guy will always be a classic comfort for me. I’ve fallen off the wagon for about the last 5 years probably, and there’s been some rough seasons here and there, but typically it’s still exactly what it needs to be: a ridiculous, quirky show. Even some of the latter rough seasons have good gems of episodes sprinkled through it. I’m glad he never limited himself though. The Ted movies, and now the series (I still have to put that on), American Dad, A Million Ways To Die In The West, The Orville- I just love Seth’s work. It’s such a mix: it can be intellectually funny, it can be so stupid it’s funny, it can just be plain funny.

Family Guy was basically the office compared to South Park in terms of being offensive, I think people exaggerate just how edgy they were and the amount of pushback they receive. Matt and Trey regularly received death threats from religious groups that's the big leagues 😂

I like Seth. I never took his media super seriously, and I mean that in a good way. I was never a mega Family Guy person, but surely I like Stewie and Brian and the original Ted was great when released. He also had a strong hand in Johnny Bravo writing, which was a fantastic show. At the end of the day he just makes fun and entertaining media.

Family guy is my favorite comedy show. Seasons 1-12 have so much gold.

Seth for an anniversary can you please write the full season your writing was great and I can’t help but go back to old seasons it was just to good I grew up watching Family guy and I just loved waiting for the next episode to come on get a good laugh and make memories with family watching the show helped me through tough times

What an awesome guy! Do they get to discussing The Orville at all?

I miss the love Seth put into Family Guy. The full orchestra, the “road to” episodes….and so much more. Come back Seth!

Impossible to not hear all the characters he’s voiced as he speaks

The ted series was pretty good at least this first season

♥

Amazing interview

I'd love to see him on 'We Might Be Drunk'

Ayyye I’m not the only who loves falling asleep to family guy

Family Guy is one of those shows where it can pretty much say/do anything. It's like having a close friend that knows you well enough to insult you but make it slide. Where if anyone else were to insult you the same way, you wouldn't be having it. Shouldn't be fair, but that's just the way it is. It has established itself as "that show".

Makes perfect sense. First bunch of FG seasons were brilliant. Then he clearly shifted focus on to American Dad and that show was fantastic for many many seasons.

I can close my eyes to this and picture Brian talking

He stopped writing for it about 12 years ago, that explains a lot…..

This guy knows how to construct an interview! Class act

I wish someone would have a really serious talk with him on what his thoughts are on the total tonal shift of the series after season 3. I want to know if any part of him prefers the more wacky, character driven, heartfelt humor of the first 3 seasons.

"it takes alot of ego to leave the show" his response "or trust". Mic drop. This mentality is key to making new relationships and keepimg them TRUST. "Its not about how many times you fall but how many times you get back up" rocky. You can say whatever you want about shows having hit or miss episodes but if those minds keep trying they will get to a better place. You have to trust the process and the people you choose to keep your legacy going.

I don't think Seth is some irreplaceable genuis or anything, but he understood the show. I feel like the show really lost the plot shortly after he stopped writing. None of the characters are unique anymore. They're all the same kind of terrible.

In case anyone was wondering (like myself) who the actress is... she is Elizabeth Gillies. I guess Zach's team didn't see fit to include her name anywhere in the description. I didn't see the whole podcast but I guess she was there talking about singing duets with Seth.

Anyone know that his shoes are called?

Peter Griffin interviews Seth MacFarlane

If family guy ever reaches it's last episode, I hope Seth returns to write for ot one more time, a final episode written by the creator would be a great send off.

The Swedish baker bit is one of my favorites.

The fact that he doesn't even remember the day he decided to stop running Family guy means he has stopped caring about it for while before he even decided to leave as the showrunner does it suck that he no longer writes any episode at all yeah as fan it does suck as quality went down quick and it just kept on dropping and I guess it will never recover until the show goes off the air.

It should be noted the series was canceled around the 3rd season, and would have been dead, were it not for fans mass buying the dvds. Fox was like "oh well, this is actually a money maker. Lets try another season and sell more dvds. And what was great was they never had to pay million dollar and ep salaries to actors.

He can't delegate emotional investment into multiple projects at the same time. It was either Family Guy or Ted and he was able to say "I have to step away from Family Guy to do Ted." and honestly that's a skill that I still have yet to learn.

What a class act x love the guy ❤❤ fr9m Scotland with love.

Great questions that gave Seth space to share.

Cool it’s Jade and Peter and Stewie and Brian and Quagmire in the same room together lol

Seths fingerprints were what made family guy special. Peter and everyone in his family had a distinct characterisation that became ignored by writers after Seth wasnt there to enforce his vision. A good example of what made family guy work well as a satire is that it was a TV show about TV. Peter was a dumbass, but he had an encyclopedic memory of American TV such as when he was on wheel of fortune and managed to guess "Alix Karis In Webster" with no hints whatsoever, or when he was on family feud and guessed "the flute that Pickard played first in hie imagination and then in real life in that one episode of star trek the next generation." The second Seth left, gone were all the obscure 80s TV references about the Honey Mooners or the Brady Bunch, and gone were the unique character traits of each character. Now every episode is a dumb idea like: "LOL peter is millenial!" Its the same thing that happened to the Simpsons with jerkass homer

Seth was a comic genius in family guys prime. Stuff like "taking candy from a baby", or "the meatball in the vacuum" and just random bits like that always make me bust a gut laughing. The new seasons have fallen off, but theres always some memorable moments here and there. 20 years I've been watching this show, and i aint stopping anytime soon haha. It would be cool if seth came back to write though.

Family Guy is a national treasure please don't stop making the episodes

Seasons 3-8 are classic television. Did he really not care at all about letting the show go down hill? I guess he gets payed really well for it.

He has many connections with Dan Schneider. Seth dated Amanda Bynes in 2008 and had many of Dan’s writers worked on Family Guy.

Seth ❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉

There is an episode that came out around this time of stewie revealing his real voice and how he’s always been insecure of his voice so he use a British one, stewie’s real voice sounds like Seth in this interview!

Was he running the show when Conway Twitty happened? That's when I stopped watching.

Well can't he write a few episodes because his writing is missed

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="198">3:18</a> The people in every comment section on every Family Guy video on RU-vid need to hear that.

He will forever be a goat‼️

I think they do a fine job with the episodes that's why he is OK. I still laugh at the callbacks or the things they do like the Peter and Louis mother or the lost boys song in the table tenis match all that stuff it still has that old family guy feeling.

Can Seth come on to JRE already for Christ sake

Thr Peter hits his knee ohhhhhhh aaaahahahah for 2 min straight .....still love

Most random pairing of guests ever!!! 🤣

I remember the original short film on the "What a Cartoon!" show as a kid. It was weird, and peter was a little old man lol. What a cartoon had so many cartoon network pilots.

I didn't know Family Guy had writers. It just seems to just, you know, happen.

loved this❤❤

As I suspected, Liz has voiced on Family Guy, American Dad! and Robot Chicken. Love playing six degrees of separation

Watched a new ish episode recently, just before christmas, where peter gets pressured into trying streaming services and in a very cliche way, once he tries it. Hes obsessed, literally like stan in american dad with the my morning jacket episode. Staunchly against it until he tries it, and then when he tries it. It becomes his personality. One of the jokes is just peter naming off 100 netflix shows back to back without any jokes in between. Felt like youtubers who'd stretch 1 min of content into 10 so they could get ad rev. Modern family guy seems pretty awful

as someone who jus binged all 20 seasons of family guy i really dont think the shoe is even as bad as ppl say there was never a season that hasnt had me dying laughing imo

I hope that he comes back to show run the last season

Damn he's such a humble guy...

I remember going to blockbuster with my dad EVERY weekend to rent the same 1-5 seasons of FG to rewatch and laugh at the same jokes. It was just that good. Culture impact is an understatement. It changed comedy and what an animation tv show could be!

I know why he stopped writing for Family Guy. It's because he thought that converting The Orville from comedy to drama was a good idea.

South Park already explained why in their banned episode

I didn’t even pay attention to who the lady was the whole time. Whole time it was Jade from Victorious lol

My only regret about being a fan of Seth McFarlane is that he didn't take over writing for Movie 43.😢, that movie could have been comedy gold for him.

Show sucks without his writing let's be real

Probably because he was replaced by manitees

So Peter griffin meets jade from Victorious.

From what I've seen he is killing it with Ted rn. So honestly, grats to him. It was really cool to get his thoughts and mindset on how his show took off to him stepping away from it. Great interview.

I’m convinced when South Park crushed family guy and when the Simpsons creators called up Matt and trey personally to thank them for doing that cause they hated the lazy writing, I think that’s when Seth was done with family guy

That makes sense why after 2010 the show kinda goes downhill and becomes massively unfunny

I often put family guy on, on my phone and put it on my pillow to fall asleep to... until it makes me laugh and I wake up😂😂

I'd be interested to see what would happen if he stepped back in for a season or at least a few episodes