text: family guy family guy is an american adult animated sitcom created by seth macfarlane for the fox broadcasting company . the series centers on the griffins , a family consisting of parents peter and lois ; their children meg , chris , and stewie ; and their anthropomorphic pet dog brian . the show is set in the fictional city of quahog , rhode island , and exhibits much of its humor in the form of cutaway gags that often lampoon american culture . the family was conceived by macfarlane after developing two animated films , the life of larry and larry & steve . macfarlane redesigned the films ' protagonist , larry , and his dog , steve , and renamed them peter and brian , respectively . macfarlane pitched a seven - minute pilot to fox in 1998 , and the show was greenlit and began production . shortly after the third season of family guy had aired in 2002 , fox canceled the series , with one episode left unaired . adult swim burned off the episode in 2003 , finishing the series ' original run . however , favorable dvd sales and high ratings for syndicated reruns on adult swim convinced the network to renew the show in 2004 for a fourth season , which began airing on may 1 , 2005 . family guy has been nominated for 12 primetime emmy awards and 11 annie awards , and has won three of each . in 2009 , it was nominated for an primetime emmy award for outstanding comedy series , the first time an animated series was nominated for the award since the flintstones in 1961 . family guy has also received criticism , including unfavorable comparisons to the simpsons . many tie - in media have been released , including stewie griffin : the untold story , a straight - to - dvd special released in 2005 ; family guy : live in vegas , a soundtrack - dvd combo released in 2005 , featuring music from the show as well as original music created by macfarlane and walter murphy ; a video game and pinball machine , released in 2006 and 2007 , respectively ; since 2005 , six books published by harper adult based on the family guy universe ; and laugh it up , fuzzball : the family guy trilogy ( 2010 ) , a series of parodies of the original star wars trilogy . in 2008 , macfarlane confirmed that the cast was interested in producing a feature film and that he was working on a story for a film adaptation . a spin - off series , the cleveland show , featuring cleveland brown , aired from september 27 , 2009 , to may 19 , 2013 . " the simpsons guy " , a crossover episode with the simpsons , aired on september 28 , 2014 . family guy is a joint production by fuzzy door productions and 20th century fox television and syndicated by 20th television . in 2013 , tv guide ranked family guy the ninth greatest tv cartoon of all time . as of may 15 , 2016 , family guy was renewed for a fifteenth season . premise characters the show revolves around the adventures of the griffin family , consisting of father peter griffin , a bumbling yet well - intentioned blue - collar worker ; lois , a stay - at - home mother and piano teacher who is a member of the wealthy pewterschmidt family ; meg , their awkward teenage daughter who is constantly ridiculed and ignored by the family ; chris , their teenage son , who is overweight , unintelligent and a younger version of his father in many respects ; and stewie , their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who has adult mannerisms and uses stereotypical phrases . living with the family is their witty , smoking , martini - swilling , sarcastic , english - speaking anthropomorphic dog brian , though he is still considered a pet in many respects . recurring characters appear alongside the griffin family . these include the family 's neighbors : sex - crazed airline pilot bachelor quagmire ; african american deli owner cleveland and his wife loretta ( later donna ) ; paraplegic police officer joe , his wife bonnie and their baby daughter susie ; neurotic jewish pharmacist mort , his wife muriel , and their geeky and annoying son neil ; and elderly child molester herbert . tv news anchors tom tucker and diane simmons , asian reporter tricia takanawa , and - weather meteorologist ollie williams also make frequent appearances . actors adam west and james woods guest star as themselves in various episodes . setting the primary setting of family guy is quahog ( / / [ ko - hog or - hog ] ) , a fictional district of providence , rhode island that was founded by peter 's ancestor griffin peterson . macfarlane resided in providence during his time as a student at rhode island school of design , and the show contains distinct rhode island landmarks similar to real - world locations . macfarlane often borrows the names of rhode island locations and icons such as pawtucket and buddy cianci for use in the show . macfarlane , in an interview with a news program on wnac - tv , channel 64 in providence , stated that the town is modeled after cranston , rhode island . development macfarlane initially conceived family guy in 1995 while studying animation at the rhode island school of design ( risd ) . during college , he created his thesis film entitled the life of larry , which was submitted by his professor at risd to hanna - barbera . macfarlane was hired by the company . in 1996 macfarlane created a sequel to the life of larry entitled larry and steve , which featured a middle - aged character named larry and an intellectual dog , steve ; the short was broadcast in 1997 as one of cartoon network 's world premiere toons . executives at fox saw the larry shorts and contracted macfarlane to create a series , entitled family guy , based on the characters . fox proposed macfarlane complete a 15 - minute short , and gave him a budget of $ 50 , 000 . several aspects of family guy were inspired by the larry shorts . while working on the series , the characters of larry and his dog steve slowly evolved into peter and brian . macfarlane stated that the difference between the life of larry and family guy was that " life of larry was shown primarily in my dorm room and family guy was shown after the super bowl . " after the pilot aired , the series was given the green light . macfarlane drew inspiration from several sitcoms such as the simpsons and all in the family . premises were drawn from several 1980s saturday morning cartoons he watched as a child , such as the fonz and the happy days gang and rubik , the amazing cube . the griffin family first appeared on the demo that macfarlane pitched to fox on may 15 , 1998 . family guy was originally planned to start out as short movies for the sketch show madtv , but the plan changed because madtv 's budget was not large enough to support animation production . macfarlane noted that he then wanted to pitch it to fox , as he thought that that was the place to create a prime - time animation show . family guy was originally pitched to fox in the same year as king of the hill , but the show was not bought until years later , when king of the hill became successful . fox ordered 13 episodes of family guy to air in midseason after macfarlane impressed executives with a seven - minute demo . episodes production executive producers macfarlane has served as an executive producer during the show 's entire history , and also functions as a creative consultant . the first executive producers were david zuckerman , aries , david pritchard , and mike wolf . family guy has had many executive producers in its history , including daniel palladino , kara vallow , and danny smith . david a. goodman joined the show as a co - executive producer in season three , and eventually became an executive producer . alex borstein , who voices lois , worked as an executive and supervising producer for the fourth and fifth seasons . a more involved position on the show is the show runner , who acts as head writer and manages the show 's production for an entire season . writing the first team of writers assembled for the show consisted of chris sheridan , danny smith , gary janetti , ricky blitt , neil goldman , garrett donovan , matt weitzman , and mike barker . the writing process of family guy generally starts with 14 writers that take turns writing the scripts ; when a script is finished it is given to the rest of the writers to read . these scripts generally include cutaway gags . various gags are pitched to macfarlane and the rest of the staff , and those deemed funniest are included in the episode . macfarlane has explained that normally it takes 10 months to produce an episode because the show uses hand - drawn animation . the show rarely comments on current events for this reason . the show 's initial writers had never written for an animated show ; and most came from live - action sitcoms . macfarlane explains that he is a fan of 1930s and 1940s radio programs , particularly the radio thriller anthology " suspense " , which led him to give early episodes ominous titles like " death has a shadow " and " mind over murder " . macfarlane explained that the team dropped the naming convention after individual episodes became hard to identify , and the novelty wore off . for the first few months of production , the writers shared one office , lent to them by the king of the hill production crew . credited with 18 episodes , steve callaghan is the most prolific writer on family guy staff . many of the writers that have left the show have gone on to create or produce other successful series . neil goldman and garrett donovan co - wrote 13 episodes for the nbc sitcom scrubs during their eight - year run on the show , while also serving as co - producers and working their way up to executive producers . mike barker and matt weitzman left the show and went on to create the long - running and still ongoing adult animated series american dad ! macfarlane is also a co - creator of american dad ! on november 4 , 2013 , it was announced that barker had departed american dad ! during its run as well , after 10 seasons of serving as producer and co - showrunner over the series . during the 2007 – 2008 writers guild of america strike , official production of the show halted for most of december 2007 and for various periods afterward . fox continued producing episodes without macfarlane 's final approval , which he termed " a colossal dick move " in an interview with variety . though macfarlane refused to work on the show , his contract under fox required him to contribute to any episodes it would subsequently produce . production officially resumed after the end of the strike , with regularly airing episodes recommencing on february 17 , 2008 . according to macfarlane , in 2009 , it costs about $ 2 million to make an episode of family guy . early history and cancellation family guy officially premiered after fox 's broadcast of super bowl xxxiii on january 31 , 1999 , with " death has a shadow " . the show debuted to 22 million viewers , and immediately generated controversy regarding its adult content . the show returned on april 11 , 1999 , with " i never met the dead man " . family guy garnered decent ratings in fox 's 8 : 30 pm slot on sunday , scheduled between the simpsons and the x - files . at the end of its first season , the show ranked at # 33 in the nielsen ratings , with 12 . 8 million households tuning in . the show launched its second season in a new time slot , thursday at 9 pm , on september 23 , 1999 . family guy was pitted against nbc 's frasier , and the series ' ratings declined sharply . subsequently , fox removed family guy from its schedule , and began airing episodes irregularly . the show returned on march 7 , 2000 , at 8 : 30 pm on tuesdays , where it was constantly beaten in the ratings by abc 's then - new breakout hit who wants to be a millionaire , coming in at # 114 in the nielsen ratings with 6 . 32 million households tuning in . fox announced that the show had been canceled in may 2000 , at the end of the second season . however , following a last - minute reprieve , on july 24 , 2000 , fox ordered 13 additional episodes of family guy to form a third season . the show returned november 8 , 2001 , once again in a tough time slot : thursday nights at 8 : 00 pm et ; this slot brought it into competition with survivor and friends ( a situation that was later referenced in stewie griffin : the untold story ) . during its second and third seasons , fox frequently moved the show around to different days and time slots with little or no notice and , consequently , the show 's ratings suffered . upon fox 's annual unveiling of its 2002 fall line - up on may 15 , 2002 , family guy was absent . fox announced that the show had been officially canceled shortly thereafter . cult success and revival fox attempted to sell the rights for reruns of the show , but it was difficult to find networks that were interested ; cartoon network eventually bought the rights , " [ ... ] basically for free " , according to the president of 20th century fox television . family guy premiered in reruns on adult swim on april 20 , 2003 , and immediately became the block 's top - rated program , dominating late - night viewing in its time period versus cable and broadcast competition , and boosting viewership by 239 % . the complete first and second seasons were released on dvd the same week the show premiered on adult swim , and the show became a cult phenomenon , selling 400 , 000 copies within one month . sales of the dvd set reached 2 . 2 million copies , becoming the best - selling television dvd of 2003 and the second - highest - selling television dvd ever , behind the first season of comedy central 's chappelle 's show . the third - season dvd release also sold more than a million copies . the show 's popularity in dvd sales and reruns rekindled fox 's interest , and , on may 20 , 2004 , fox ordered 35 new episodes of family guy , marking the first revival of a television show based on dvd sales . " north by north quahog " , which premiered may 1 , 2005 , was the first episode to be broadcast after the show 's hiatus . it was written by macfarlane and directed by peter shin . macfarlane believed the show 's three - year hiatus was beneficial because animated shows do not normally have hiatuses , and towards the end of their seasons , " ... you see a lot more sex jokes and [ bodily function ] jokes and signs of a fatigued staff that their brains are just fried " . with " north by north quahog " , the writing staff tried to keep the show " [ ... ] exactly as it was " before its cancellation , and " none of us had any desire to make it look any slicker " . the episode was watched by 11 . 85 million viewers , the show 's highest ratings since the airing of the first season episode " brian : portrait of a dog " . lawsuits in march 2007 comedian carol burnett filed a $ 6 million lawsuit against 20th century - fox , claiming that her charwoman cartoon character had been portrayed on the show without her permission . she stated it was a trademark infringement , and that fox violated her publicity rights . on june 4 , 2007 , united states district judge dean d. pregerson rejected the lawsuit , stating that the parody was protected under the first amendment , citing hustler magazine v. falwell as a precedent . on october 3 , 2007 , bourne co . music publishers filed a lawsuit accusing the show of infringing its copyright on the song " when you wish upon a star " , through a parody song entitled " i need a jew " appearing in the episode " when you wish upon a weinstein " . bourne co . , the sole united states copyright owner of the song , alleged the parody pairs a " thinly veiled " copy of its music with antisemitic lyrics . named in the suit were 20th century fox film corp. , fox broadcasting co . , cartoon network , macfarlane and murphy ; the suit sought to stop the program 's distribution and asked for unspecified damages . bourne argued that " i need a jew " uses the copyrighted melody of " when you wish upon a star " without commenting on that song , and that it was therefore not a first amendment - protected parody per the ruling in campbell v. acuff - rose music , inc . on march 16 , 2009 , united states district judge deborah batts held that family guy did not infringe on bourne 's copyright when it transformed the song for comical use in an episode . in december 2007 , family guy was again accused of copyright infringement when actor art metrano filed a lawsuit regarding a scene in stewie griffin : the untold story , in which jesus performs metrano 's signature " magic " act involving absurd " faux " magical hand gestures while humming the distinctive tune " fine and dandy " . 20th century fox , macfarlane , callaghan and borstein were all named in the suit . in july 2009 a federal district court judge rejected fox 's motion to dismiss , saying that the first three fair use factors involved — " purpose and character of the use " , " nature of the infringed work " and " amount and substantiality of the taking " — counted in metrano 's favor , while the fourth — " economic impact " — had to await more fact - finding . in denying the dismissal , the court held that the reference in the scene made light of jesus and his followers — not metrano or his act . the case was settled out of court in 2010 with undisclosed terms . voice cast seth macfarlane voices three of the show 's main characters : peter griffin , brian griffin , and stewie griffin . since macfarlane had a strong vision for these characters , he chose to voice them himself , believing it would be easier than for someone else to attempt it . macfarlane drew inspiration for the voice of peter from a security guard he overheard talking while attending the rhode island school of design . stewie 's voice was based on the voice of english actor rex harrison , especially his performance in the 1964 musical drama film my fair lady . macfarlane uses his regular speaking voice when playing brian . macfarlane also provides the voices for various other recurring and one - time - only characters , most prominently those of the griffins ' neighbor glenn quagmire , news anchor tom tucker , and lois ' father , carter pewterschmidt . alex borstein voices peter 's wife lois griffin , asian correspondent tricia takanawa , loretta brown , and lois ' mother , barbara pewterschmidt . borstein was asked to provide a voice for the pilot while she was working on madtv . she had not met macfarlane or seen any of his artwork , and said it was " really sight unseen " . at the time , borstein was performing in a stage show in los angeles . she played a redheaded mother whose voice she had based on one of her cousins . seth green primarily voices chris griffin and neil goldman . green stated that he did an impression of the character buffalo bill from the thriller film the silence of the lambs during his audition . mila kunis and lacey chabert have both voiced meg griffin . chabert left the series because of time conflicts with schoolwork and her role on party of five . when kunis auditioned for the role , she was called back by macfarlane , who instructed her to speak slower . he then told her to come back another time and enunciate more . once she claimed that she had it under control , macfarlane hired her . mike henry voices cleveland brown , herbert , bruce the performance artist , consuela and the - up deaf guy . henry met macfarlane at the rhode island school of design , and kept in touch with him after they graduated . a few years later , macfarlane contacted him about being part of the show ; he agreed and came on as a writer and voice actor . during the show 's first four seasons , he was credited as a guest star , but beginning with season five 's " prick up your ears " , he has been credited as a main cast member . other recurring cast members include adam west as the eponymous mayor adam west ; jennifer tilly as bonnie swanson ; john g. brennan as mort goldman and horace the bartender ; carlos alazraqui as jonathan weed ; adam carolla and norm macdonald as death ; lori alan as diane simmons ; and phil lamarr as ollie williams and the judge . fellow cartoonist butch hartman has made guest voice appearances in many episodes as various characters . also , writer danny smith voices various recurring characters , such as ernie the giant chicken . alex breckenridge also appears as many various characters . episodes often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions , including actors , athletes , authors , bands , musicians , and scientists . many guest voices star as themselves . leslie uggams was the first to appear as herself , in the fourth episode of the first season , " mind over murder " . the episode " not all dogs go to heaven " guest starred the entire cast of star trek : the next generation , including patrick stewart , jonathan frakes , brent spiner , levar burton , gates mcfadden , michael dorn , wil wheaton , marina sirtis , and even denise crosby ( season 1 as tasha yar ) , playing themselves ; this is the episode with the most guest stars of the seventh season . hallmarks " road to " episodes the " road to " episodes are a series of hallmark travel episodes . they are a parody of the seven road to ... comedy films starring bing crosby and bob hope . these episodes have always involved stewie and brian in some foreign , supernatural or science - fiction location , unrelated to the show 's normal location in quahog . the first , entitled " road to rhode island " , aired on may 30 , 2000 , during the second season . the episodes are known for featuring elaborate musical numbers , similar to the road films . the episodes contain several trademarks , including a special version of the opening sequence , custom musical cues and musical numbers , and parodies of science fiction and fantasy films . the original idea for the " road to " episodes came from macfarlane , as he is a fan of the films of crosby , hope and lamour . the first episode was directed by dan povenmire , who would direct the rest of the " road to " episodes until the episode " road to rupert " , at which point he had left the show to create phineas and ferb . series regular greg colton then took over povenmire 's role as director of the " road to " episodes . the " road to " episodes are generally considered by critics and fans to be some of the greatest in the series , thanks to the developing relationship between stewie and brian , and the strong plotlines of the episodes themselves . humor family guy uses the filmmaking technique of cutaways , which occur in the majority of family guy episodes . emphasis is often placed on gags which make reference to current events and / or modern cultural icons . early episodes based much of their comedy on stewie 's " super villain " antics , such as his constant plans for total world domination , his evil experiments , plans and inventions to get rid of things he dislikes , and his constant attempts at matricide . as the series progressed , the writers and macfarlane agreed that his personality and the jokes were starting to feel dated , so they began writing him with a different personality . family guy often includes self - referential humor . the most common form is jokes about fox broadcasting , and occasions where the characters break the fourth wall by addressing the audience . for example , in " north by north quahog " , the first episode that aired after the show 's revival , included peter telling the family that they had been cancelled because fox had to make room in their schedule for shows like dark angel , titus , undeclared , action , that ' 80s show , , fastlane , andy richter controls the universe , skin , girls club , cracking up , the pitts , firefly , get real , , wanda at large , costello , the lone gunmen , a minute with stan hooper , normal , ohio , pasadena , harsh realm , keen eddie , the $ treet , the american embassy , cedric the entertainer presents , the tick , luis , and greg the bunny . lois asks whether there is any hope , to which peter replies that if all these shows are canceled they might have a chance ; the shows were indeed canceled during family guy 's hiatus . the show uses catchphrases , and most of the primary and secondary characters have them . notable expressions include quagmire 's " giggity goo " , peter 's " freakin ' sweet " , and joe 's " bring it on ! " the use of many of these catchphrases declined in later seasons . the episode " big man on hippocampus " mocks catchphrase - based humor : when peter , who has forgotten everything about his life , is introduced to meg , he exclaims " d 'oh ! " , to which lois replies , " no , peter , that 's not your catchphrase . " reception and legacy ratings critical reception catherine of national review online described it as a " nasty but extremely funny " cartoon . caryn james of the new york times called it a show with an " outrageously satirical family " that " includes plenty of comic possibilities and parodies " . the sydney morning herald named family guy the " show of the week " on april 21 , 2009 , hailing it a " pop culture - heavy masterpiece " . frazier moore from the seattle times called it an " endless craving for humor about bodily emissions " . he thought it was " breathtakingly smart " and said a " blend of the ingenious with the raw helps account for its much broader appeal " . he summarized it as " rude , crude and deliciously wrong " . the new yorker 's nancy franklin said that family guy is becoming one of the best animated shows ; she commented on its ribaldry and popularity . the show has become a hit on hulu ; it is the second - highest viewed show after saturday night live . ign called family guy a great show , and commented that it has gotten better since its revival . they stated that they cannot imagine another half - hour sitcom that provides as many laughs as family guy . empire praised the show and its writers for creating really hilarious moments with unlikely material . they commented that one of the reasons they love the show is because nothing is sacred — it makes jokes and gags of almost everything . robin pierson of the tv critic praised the series as " a different kind of animated comedy which clearly sets out to do jokes which other cartoons can 't do . " family guy has proven popular in the united kingdom , regularly obtaining between 700 , 000 and 1 million viewers for re - runs on bbc three . the series has attracted many celebrities . robert downey , jr. telephoned the show production staff and asked if he could produce or assist in an episode 's creation , as his son is a fan of the show ; the producers subsequently created a character for downey . lauren conrad met macfarlane while recording a laguna beach clip for the episode " prick up your ears " ( season 5 , 2006 ) . she has watched family guy for years and considers stewie her favorite character . commenting on his appearance in the episode " big man on hippocampus " ( season 8 , 2010 ) , actor dwayne johnson stated that he was a " big fan " of family guy . johnson befriended macfarlane after he had a minor role in johnson 's 2010 film tooth fairy . r & b singer rihanna has admitted to being a fan of family guy , as has pop singer britney spears ; she tries to imitate stewie 's english accent . spears , who was mocked for her personal problems in the south park episode " britney 's new look " in 2008 , offered to appear in a cameo to hit back at the similar animated show , but macfarlane declined , stating that he did not want to start a feud with the series . awards family guy and its cast have been nominated for thirteen emmy awards , with five wins . macfarlane won the outstanding voice - over performance award for his performance as stewie ; murphy and macfarlane won the outstanding music and lyrics award for the song " you got a lot to see " from the episode " brian wallows and peter 's swallows " ; steven fonti won the outstanding individual achievement in animation award for his storyboard work in the episode " no chris left behind " ; and greg colton won the outstanding individual achievement in animation award for his storyboard work in the episode " road to the multiverse " . the show was nominated for eleven annie awards , and won three times , twice in 2006 and once in 2008 . in 2009 it was nominated for an emmy for outstanding comedy series , becoming the first animated program to be nominated in this category since the flintstones in 1961 . the simpsons was almost nominated in 1993 , but voters were hesitant to pit cartoons against live action programs . the show was nominated for a grammy in 2011 . family guy has been nominated and has won various other awards , including the teen choice awards and the people 's choice awards . in the 1,000th issue of entertainment weekly , brian griffin was selected as the dog for " the perfect tv family " . wizard magazine rated stewie the 95th - greatest villain of all time . british newspaper the times rated family guy as the 45th - best american show in 2009 . ign ranked family guy at number seven in the " top 100 animated series " and number six in the " top 25 primetime animated series of all time " . empire named it the twelfth - greatest tv show of all time . in 2005 viewers of the uk television channel channel 4 voted family guy at number 5 on their list of the 100 greatest cartoons . brian was awarded the 2009 stoner of the year award by high times for the episode " 420 " , marking the first time an animated character received the honor . in 2007 tv guide ranked family guy number 15 in their list of top cult shows ever . family guy has garnered six golden reel awards nominations , winning three times . in 2013 , tv guide ranked family guy the ninth greatest tv cartoon of all time . criticism and controversy one of the initial critics to give the show negative reviews was ken tucker from entertainment weekly ; he called it " the simpsons as conceived by a singularly sophomoric mind that lacks any reference point beyond other tv shows " . the parents television council ( ptc ) , a conservative , non - profit watchdog , has attacked the series since its premiere and has branded various episodes as " worst tv show of the week " . in may 2000 the ptc launched a letter - writing campaign to the fox network in an effort to persuade the network to cancel the show . the ptc has placed the show on their annual lists of " worst prime - time shows for family viewing " in 2000 , 2005 , and 2006 . the federal communications commission has received multiple petitions requesting that the show be blocked from broadcasting on indecency grounds . tucker and the ptc have both accused the show of portraying religion negatively , and of being racist . because of the ptc , some advertisers have canceled their contracts after reviewing the content of the episodes , claiming it to be unsuitable . critics have compared the show 's humor and characters with those of the simpsons . various episodes of the show have generated controversy . in " 420 " ( season seven , 2009 ) brian decides to start a campaign to legalize cannabis in quahog ; the venezuelan government reacted negatively to the episode and banned family guy from airing on their local networks , which generally syndicate american programming . venezuelan justice minister tareck el , citing the promotion of the use of cannabis , stated that any cable stations that did not stop airing the series would be fined ; the government showed a clip which featured brian and stewie singing the praises of marijuana as a demonstration of how the united states supports cannabis use . in " extra large medium " ( season eight , 2010 ) a character named ellen ( who has down syndrome ) states that her mother is the former governor of alaska , which strongly implies that her mother is sarah palin , the only woman to have served in the office of governor in the state . sarah palin , the mother of a special - needs child , criticized the episode in an appearance on the o 'reilly factor , calling those who made the show " cruel , cold - hearted people . " broadcast family guy premiered in australia on april 9 , 1999 on the seven network , in 2000 on , and on 7mate on september 27 , 2010 . in canada , the series started airing january 31 , 1999 on global and september 1 , 2003 on teletoon . the show aired on global until 2015 . beginning in the 2015 – 16 season , it started to air on city instead . in the past the show was also syndicated on ( now ) and on adult swim from july 4 , 2012 . the show also airs in ireland on 3e , and in new zealand on four . in the united kingdom , family guy premiered in september 1999 , originally on channel 4 and sky one . in january 2005 , fx ( now fox ) began broadcasting the show . from october 2005 , bbc two started screening family guy before switching to bbc three on september 2006 . in march 2015 , it was announced that season 14 of family guy and all of macfarlane 's other cartoons will transfer to itv2 , premiering on february 29 , 2016 , while the bbc would continue to hold the rights until 2017 for older episodes . other media comic books a comic book based on the family guy universe is being produced . published by titan comics , it will be edited by steve white and illustrated by anthony williams and s. l. gallant . the writing and the illustrations will be supervised by the show 's producers . the comics will consist of a main story , a short story , and a gag strip . the first comic book was released on july 27 , 2011 . books family guy : it takes a village idiot , and i married one was written by executive story editor chevapravatdumrong and actress alex borstein . the book was first published on 8 may 2007 . the book is a biographical monologue by lois griffin discussing her memories of growing up and to her attempted run for mayor in the town of quahog . though the book primarily consists of a loose narrative monologue by lois , it is also interspersed with sections from other characters such as peter griffin . the book covers events featured in the family guy episode " it takes a village idiot , and i married one " , with which it shares a title . it was published in the united kingdom in 2007 by orion books . live performances as promotion for the show , and , as newman described , " [ to ] expand interest in the show beyond its diehard fans " , fox organized four family guy live ! performances , which featured cast members reading old episodes aloud . the cast also performed musical numbers from the family guy : live in vegas comedy album . the stage shows were an extension of a performance by the cast during the 2004 montreal comedy festival . the family guy live ! performances , which took place in los angeles and new york , sold out and were attended by around 1 , 200 people each . in 2007 , at the 59th annual primetime emmy awards , macfarlane performed ( as the digitally inserted stewie and brian ) the ceremony 's opening number . he performed a song insulting modern television to the tune of the song " the fellas at the freakin ' " performed in the episode ptv . the song insulted tv shows such as two and a half men , desperate housewives , and scrubs , as well as the final scene of the sopranos . in 2009 , a special televised performance show aired entitled family guy presents seth & alex 's almost live comedy show , in which voice actors alex borstein and macfarlane performed songs from the show , as well as a parody of lady gaga 's song " poker face " in the voice of marlee matlin , who appeared on stage as a guest during the performance . some new animated gags also appeared in the show . film on july 22 , 2007 , in an interview with the hollywood reporter , macfarlane announced that he may start working on a feature film , although " nothing 's official . " in tv week on july 18 , 2008 , macfarlane confirmed plans to produce a theatrically released family guy feature film sometime " within the next year . " he came up with an idea for the story , " something that you could not do on the show , which [ to him ] is the only reason to do a movie . " he later went to say he imagines the film to be " an old - style musical with dialogue " similar to the sound of music , saying that he would " really be trying to capture , musically , that feel . " on october 13 , 2011 , seth macfarlane confirmed that a deal for a family guy film had been made , and that it would be written by himself and series co - producer ricky blitt . on november 30 , 2012 , macfarlane confirmed plans to produce a family guy film . the project was put on hold while macfarlane worked on ted 2 . spin - off macfarlane co - created — alongside mike henry and richard appel — the family guy spin - off the cleveland show , which premiered september 27 , 2009 . they began discussing the project in 2007 . appel and henry served as the show 's executive producers and showrunners , handling the day - to - day operations , with limited involvement from macfarlane . henry and appel conceived the show as " more of a family show , a sweeter show " than family guy . the first season consisted of 22 episodes , and the show was picked up by fox for a second season , which consisted of 13 episodes . the announcement was made on may 3 , 2009 , before the first season began . it was extended to a full second season . appel signed a new three - year , seven - figure deal with fox to continue serving as showrunner on the cleveland show in 2010 . fox chairman gary newman commented : " what is special about him is his incredible leadership ability . " the show follows the family guy character cleveland brown , who is voiced by henry , as he leaves the town of quahog and moves with his son to start his own adventure . fox canceled the cleveland show on may 13 , 2013 , roughly a week before the may 19 conclusion of its fourth season . on july 16 , 2013 , macfarlane confirmed an upcoming twelfth season episode of family guy centering on cleveland 's return to quahog . video games the family guy video game ! is a 2006 action game released by 2k games and developed by high voltage software . the game received mixed reviews , averaging 50 % favorable reviews for the playstation 2 version , 51 % for the playstation portable version , and 53 % for the xbox version , according to review aggregator metacritic . the game received praise for its humor , but was criticized for its short playtime and " uninteresting gameplay " . on november 2 , 2009 , ign journalist ryan langley reported the production of a family guy - based party game for the xbox 360 , playstation 3 , and wii . he cited the linkedin profiles of former hb studios developer chris and invisible entertainment co - owner ron doucet , which stated that the individuals had worked on the game . macfarlane recorded exclusive material of peter 's voice and other family guy characters for a 2007 pinball machine of the show by stern pinball . a game called family guy online was announced . family guy : back to the multiverse , which is centered around the episode " road to the multiverse " , was released on november 20 , 2012 . family guy : the quest for stuff launched on ios and android on april 10 , 2014 . with other animated series an event known as " night of the hurricane " depicts a hurricane hitting the hometowns of macfarlane 's sitcoms family guy , american dad ! and the cleveland show , culminating in a stand - off among the three fathers of each family . it was announced that a special episode of family guy featuring an official crossover with the simpsons would premiere in 2014 . at san diego comic con a 5 - minute preview was shown . the episode is titled the simpsons guy and aired september 28 , 2014 . merchandise as of 2009 , six books have been released about the family guy universe , all published by harpercollins since 2005 . the first , family guy : stewie 's guide to world domination ( isbn 978 - 0 - 06 - - 2 ) by steve callahan , was released in april 26 , 2005 . written in the style of a graphic novel , the plot follows stewie 's plans to rule the world . other books include family guy : it takes a village idiot , and i married one ( isbn 978 - 0 - - - 4 ) , which covers the events of the episode " it takes a village idiot , and i married one " ; and family guy and philosophy : a cure for the petarded ( isbn 978 - 1 - 4051 - - 3 ) , a collection of 17 essays exploring the connections between the series and historical philosophers . a book written from brian 's point of view ( written by andrew goldberg ) was published in 2006 , called brian griffin 's guide to booze , broads and the lost art of being a man . family guy has been commercially successful in the home market . the show was the first to be resurrected because of high dvd sales . the first volume , covering the show 's first two seasons , sold 1 . 67 million units , topping tv dvd sales in 2003 , while the second volume sold another million units . volumes six and seven debuted at fifth place in united states dvd sales ; volume seven was the highest - selling television dvd , selling 171 , 000 units by june 21 , 2009 . family guy presents blue harvest , the dvd featuring the star wars special " blue harvest " , was released on january 15 , 2008 , and premiered at the top of united states dvd sales . the dvd was the first family guy dvd to include a digital copy for download to the ipod . in 2004 , the first series of family guy toy figurines was released by mezco toyz ; each member of the griffin family had their own toy , with the exception of stewie , of whom two different figures were made . over the course of two years , four more series of toy figures were released , with various forms of peter . in 2008 , the character peter appeared in advertisements for subway restaurants , promoting the restaurant 's massive feast sandwich .