Time to Pay Up...
In 1999, FOX debuted a new animated comedy. It was some of the most topical and tasteless humor ever put on TV. Plus, it featured a character never-before-seen on any show: a toddler who talked like an adult (in a British accent, no less) and whose two main goals in life were to take over the world and to kill his mother.
The show was called “Family Guy.”
As disturbing as it could be, the show was funny and I watched it whenever I could. The problem was that you never knew where to find it because FOX kept shuffling it all over the schedule—clearly uneasy about its content. The network jerked the show around until 2002, when it finally pulled the plug.
Then something extraordinary happened. “Family Guy” was released on DVD and became the best-selling TV DVD title of all time (It has since been passed.). Then, the show started getting great ratings as part of the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network. FOX was forced to take notice.
And in 2005, in an unheard of move, FOX actually brought “Guy” back. In a steady timeslot with genuine promotion, the show has flourished—even against “Desperate Housewives.” FOX’s turnaround on the show was made even bigger when it picked up “Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane’s “American Dad.” MacFarlane also has a live-action comedy in the works for later this season.
So, after years of treating MacFarlane’s work with no respect, FOX has now come to rely on him quite heavily.
And now, it’s time to pay up.
MacFarlane and Twentieth Century Fox TV are now in contract negotiations and production on the next season of “Guy” has been postponed until a deal is reached. “Variety” reports that the talks are “courteous” and a new deal is expected in the coming weeks.
Personally, I hope MacFarlane takes the studio for everything he can as the handling of “Family Guy” was one of the biggest blunders in the network’s history. The show was everything FOX stood for—edgy, hip and unconventional—but the network was too embarrassed to keep it on the air. Funny how they didn’t feel the same way about “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?” or “Who’s My Daddy?”
There comes a time when everyone must pay for their mistakes and this is FOX’s time to pay for this one.
