INSIDE <i>FAMILY GUY</i>

More than everything you always
wanted to know about Family Guy, in vivid color.

In this illustrated history, which
includes all the sketches, storyboards, and character drawings readers will
expect as well as a foreword from creator Seth MacFarlane, longtime TV writer Moore
also goes deep into oral history, celebrating what he considers the visionary
achievement of MacFarlane but also sharing the spotlight with the wealth of
other contributing talent over the program’s two-decade history. MacFarlane made
history from the start as “the youngest executive producer in TV history” at
the age of 24, with a fertile imagination and a voracious appetite for
entertainment in general and TV in particular, which offset his lack of
experience in sustaining a story or running a series. Back then, remember two
Fox executives, he was “exuberant and goofy-looking, with Coke-bottle glasses
and a Mr. Spock haircut….He wouldn’t have looked out of place at Comic-Con.” Though
the series has long been compared with The Simpsons, which preceded it as an
animated show focused on family dynamics, pushing the envelope with its
subversive tone and spirit, Moore contends that “Family Guy is
no Simpsons knockoff, as a few Simpsons loyalists
insists. In fact, in some ways it’s the mirror opposite,” starting with the
personality differences between the two protagonists. It received critical
raves from the beginning, with the New
York Times calling it “risky, rude, hilarious….Nothing is out of bounds as
this series gleefully undermines family sitcom values.” Yet the show barely
survived into the new century, as it was scheduled against the blockbuster (at
the time) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, where it got clobbered and was cancelled. Or rather, put
on hiatus, soon to resurface as part of the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim
segment, where it reemerged as a cult favorite, enjoyed wider exposure on DVD,
and returned to Fox by popular demand.