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Gloucestershire From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is about the English county. For the Australian shire, see Gloucester Shire. For the pre-1832 constituency, see Gloucestershire (UK Parliament constituency). "County of Gloucester" redirects here. For other uses, see Gloucester County (disambiguation).

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Gloucestershire" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Gloucestershire County

Flag Motto: Prorsum semper ("Ever forward")

Coordinates: 51°50′N 2°10′W Coordinates: 51°50′N 2°10′W Sovereign state United Kingdom Constituent country England Region South West Established Ancient Ceremonial county

Lord Lieutenant Janet Trotter High Sheriff Robert Charles Grantley Berkeley[1] Area 3,150 km2 (1,220 sq mi) • Ranked 16th of 48 Population (mid-2018 est.) 916,202 • Ranked 23rd of 48 Density 291/km2 (750/sq mi) Ethnicity 91.6% White British Non-metropolitan county

County council Gloucestershire County Council Executive Conservative Admin HQ Gloucester Area 2,653 km2 (1,024 sq mi) • Ranked 13th of 26 Population 633,558 • Ranked 19th of 26 Density 239/km2 (620/sq mi) ISO 3166-2 GB-GLS ONS code 23 GSS code E10000013 NUTS UKK13 Website www.gloucestershire.gov.uk Unitary authorities

Councils South Gloucestershire Council

Districts of Gloucestershire Unitary   County council area Districts City of Gloucester Tewkesbury Cheltenham Cotswold Stroud Forest of Dean South Gloucestershire Members of Parliament List of MPs Police Gloucestershire Constabulary Time zone Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) • Summer (DST) British Summer Time (UTC+1) Gloucestershire (/ˈɡlɒstərʃər/ (listen), /-ʃɪər/ (listen); formerly abbreviated as Gloucs. in print but now often as Glos.) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other principal towns include Cheltenham, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Cirencester and Dursley. Gloucestershire borders Herefordshire to the north west, Wiltshire to the south, Bristol and Somerset to the south west, Worcestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the east, Warwickshire to the north east, and the Welsh county of Monmouthshire to the west.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography and environment 3 Economy 4 Education 4.1 Secondary schools 4.2 Higher and further education 5 Towns and cities 5.1 Cities 5.2 Towns 5.3 Green belt 6 Antiquities 7 Places of interest 8 Media 9 In popular culture 10 Animals 11 See also 12 Notes 13 Further reading 14 External links History[edit source] Main article: History of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century, though the areas of Winchcombe and the Forest of Dean were not added until the late 11th century. Gloucestershire originally included Bristol, then a small town. The local rural community moved to the port city (as Bristol was to become), and Bristol's population growth accelerated during the industrial revolution. Bristol became a county in its own right, separate from Gloucestershire and Somerset in 1373. It later became part of the administrative County of Avon from 1974 to 1996. Upon the abolition of Avon in 1996, the region north of Bristol became a unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire and is now part of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. The official former postal county abbreviation was "Glos.", rather than the frequently used but erroneous "Gloucs." or "Glouc". In July 2007, Gloucestershire suffered the worst flooding in recorded British history, with tens of thousands of residents affected. The RAF conducted the largest peacetime domestic operation in its history to rescue over 120 residents from flood affected areas. The damage was estimated at over £2 billion.[2] Geography and environment[edit source] Gloucestershire has three main landscape areas, a large part of the Cotswolds, the Royal Forest of Dean and the Severn Vale. The Cotswolds take up a large portion of the east and south of the county, The Forest of Dean taking up the west, with the Severn and its valley running between these features. The Daffodil Way in the Leadon Valley, on the border of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire surrounding the village of Dymock, is known for its many spring flowers, orchards, and woodland, which attracts many walkers. Economy[edit source] This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Year Regional Gross Value Added[3] Agriculture[4] Industry[5] Services[6] 1995 5,771 196 1,877 3,698 2000 8,163 148 2,677 5,338 2003 10,617 166 2,933 7,517 The following is a chart of Gloucestershire's gross value added total in thousands of British Pounds Sterling from 1997-2009 based upon the Office for National Statistics figures[7] Year GVA (£ million) 1997 7,167 1998 7,630 1999 8,034 2000 8,414 2001 8,947 2002 9,504 2003 10,117 2004 10,525 2005 10,680 2006 11,073 2007 11,563 2008 11,666 2009 11,452 The 2009 estimation of £11,452 million GVA can be compared to the South West regional average of £7,927 million. Education[edit source] Secondary schools[edit source] Further information: List of schools in Gloucestershire Gloucestershire has mainly comprehensive schools with seven selective schools; two are in Stroud (Stroud High School for girls and Marling School for boys), one in Cheltenham (Pate's Grammar) and four in Gloucester (Sir Thomas Rich's for boys and The High School and Ribston Hall for girls and The Crypt which is mixed). There are 42 state secondary schools, not including sixth form colleges, and 12 independent schools, including Cheltenham Ladies' College, Cheltenham College and Dean Close School. All but about two schools in each district have a sixth form, but the Forest of Dean only has two schools with sixth forms. All schools in South Gloucestershire have sixth forms. Higher and further education[edit source]

A campus of the University of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire has two universities, the University of Gloucestershire and the Royal Agricultural University, and four higher and further education colleges, Gloucestershire College, Cirencester College, South Gloucestershire and Stroud College and the Royal Forest of Dean College. Each has campuses at multiple locations throughout the county. The University of the West of England also has three locations in Gloucestershire; an associate faculty (Hartpury College) specialising in animal behaviour and welfare, agricultural and sports-related courses in Hartpury, Gloucestershire; a regional centre at the Gloucester Docks, Alexandra Warehouse, specialising in Adult and Mental Health Nursing; and Frenchay Campus in South Gloucestershire. Towns and cities[edit source] Main article: List of places in Gloucestershire See also: List of settlements in Gloucestershire by population Gloucestershire has one city and 33 towns: Cities[edit source] Gloucester Towns[edit source] The towns in Gloucestershire are: Berkeley Bradley Stoke Cheltenham Chipping Campden Chipping Sodbury Cinderford Cirencester Coleford Dursley Emersons Green Fairford Filton Kingswood Lechlade Lydney Minchinhampton Mitcheldean Moreton-in-Marsh Nailsworth Newent Northleach Painswick Patchway Quedgeley Stonehouse Stow-on-the-Wold Stroud Tetbury Tewkesbury Thornbury Winchcombe Wotton-under-Edge Yate Town in Monmouthshire with suburbs in Gloucestershire: Chepstow Green belt[edit source] Main articles: Avon Green Belt and Gloucester and Cheltenham Green Belt The county has two green belt areas, the first covers the southern area in the South Gloucestershire district, to protect outlying villages and towns between Thornbury and Chipping Sodbury from the urban sprawl of the Bristol conurbation. The second belt lies around Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Bishop's Cleeve, to afford those areas and villages in between a protection from urban sprawl and further convergence. Both belts intersect with the boundaries of the Cotswolds AONB. Antiquities[edit source] There are a variety of religious buildings across the county, notably the cathedral of Gloucester, the abbey church of Tewkesbury (which is over 500 years old and has the tallest Norman tower in England), and the church of Cirencester. Of the abbey of Hailes near Winchcombe, founded by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, in 1246, little more than the foundations are left, but these have been excavated and fragments have been brought to light.

Parish Church of St. Mary, Fairford Most of the old market towns have parish churches. At Deerhurst near Tewkesbury and Bishop's Cleeve near Cheltenham, there are churches of special interest on account of the pre-Norman work they retain. There is also a Perpendicular church in Lechlade, and that at Fairford was built (c. 1500), according to tradition, to contain a series of stained-glass windows which are said to have been brought from the Netherlands. These are, however, adjudged to be of English workmanship. Other notable buildings include Calcot Barn in Calcot, a relic of Kingswood Abbey. Thornbury Castle is a Tudor country house, the pretensions of which evoked the jealousy of Cardinal Wolsey against its builder, Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521. Near Cheltenham is the 15th-century mansion of Southam de la Bere, of timber and stone.[8] Memorials of the de la Bere family appear in the church at Cleeve. The mansion contains a tiled floor from Hailes Abbey. At Great Badminton is the mansion and vast domain of the Beauforts (formerly of the Botelers and others), on the south-eastern boundary of the county. Berkeley Castle at over 800 years old and the ruins of Witcombe Roman Villa at Great Witcombe are also notable heritage features. There are several royal residences in Gloucestershire, including Highgrove House, Gatcombe Park, and (formerly) Nether Lypiatt Manor. An annual "cheese-rolling" event takes place at Cooper's Hill, near Brockworth and the Cotswold Games occurred within the county. Places of interest[edit source] Key

Abbey/Priory/Cathedral

Accessible open space

Amusement/Theme Park

Castle

Country Park

English Heritage

Forestry Commission

Heritage railway

Historic House

Mosques

Museum (free/not free)

National Trust

Theatre

Zoo

Gloucester Cathedral

Aerial photo of Sudeley Castle Places of interest in Gloucestershire include: Badminton House, residence of the Dukes of Beaufort Berkeley Castle, an example of a feudal stronghold. Beverston Castle Chavenage House Cheltenham Town Football Club Clearwell Caves Dean Forest Railway Dyrham Park Edward Jenner's House Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Rugby Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Hailes Abbey Newark Park Owlpen Manor Rodborough and Minchinhampton Commons Snowshill Manor Sudeley Castle, burial place of Queen Catherine Parr, 6th wife and consort of King Henry VIII. Stanway House River Thames Rodmarton Manor Severn Bore Tewkesbury Abbey Tewkesbury Medieval Festival Tyndale Monument Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, Slimbridge Westbury Court Garden Woodchester Mansion Areas of countryside in Gloucestershire include: Forest of Dean Wye Valley Scenic Railway Line: Gloucester to Newport Line

The Simpsons From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is about the television show. For the franchise, see The Simpsons (franchise). For other uses, see The Simpsons (disambiguation). The Simpsons

The Simpson family. From left to right: Bart, Marge, Santa's Little Helper (dog), Maggie, Homer, Lisa, and Snowball II (cat). Genre Animated sitcom Created by Matt Groening Based on The Simpsons shorts by Matt Groening Developed by James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon Voices of Dan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright Yeardley Smith Hank Azaria Harry Shearer (Complete list) Theme music composer Danny Elfman Opening theme "The Simpsons Theme" Composer(s) Richard Gibbs (1989–1990) Alf Clausen (1990–2017) Bleeding Fingers Music (2017–present) Country of origin United States Original language(s) English No. of seasons 31 No. of episodes 672 (list of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) List [show] Running time 21–24 minutes Production company(s) 20th Century Fox Television Gracie Films The Curiosity Company (2015–present, uncredited) [a] Distributor 20th Television Release Original network Fox Picture format 480i (1989–2009) 1080i (HDTV) (2009–present) Audio format Stereo (1989–1991) Dolby Surround 2.0 (1991–2009) Dolby Digital 5.1 (2009–present) Original release December 17, 1989 – present Chronology Preceded by The Simpsons shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show External links Official website The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company.[1][2][3] The series is a satirical depiction of working-class life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture and society, television, and the human condition. The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After three seasons, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became Fox's first series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–90). Since its debut on December 17, 1989, 672 episodes of The Simpsons have been broadcast. It is the longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running American scripted primetime television series, both in terms of seasons and number of episodes. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, and grossed over $527 million. Then on October 30, 2007, a video game was released. Currently, The Simpsons finished airing its thirtieth season, which began airing September 30, 2018.[4][5] The Simpsons was renewed for a thirty-first and thirty-second season on February 6, 2019, the latter of which will contain the 700th episode.[6] The Simpsons is a joint production by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television.[7] The Simpsons received acclaim throughout its first nine[8][9] or ten[10][11] seasons, which are generally considered its "Golden Age". Time named it the 20th century's best television series,[12] and Erik Adams of The A.V. Club named it "television's crowning achievement regardless of format".[13] On January 14, 2000, the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 34 Primetime Emmy Awards, 30 Annie Awards, and a Peabody Award. Homer's exclamatory catchphrase "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English language, while The Simpsons has influenced many other later adult-oriented animated sitcoms. However, it has also been criticized for a perceived decline in quality over the years.

Contents 1 Premise 1.1 Characters 1.2 Continuity and the floating timeline 1.3 Setting 2 Production 2.1 Development 2.2 Executive producers and showrunners 2.3 Writing 2.4 Voice actors 2.5 Animation 3 Themes 4 Hallmarks 4.1 Opening sequence 4.2 Halloween episodes 4.3 Humor 4.3.1 Foreshadowing of actual events 5 Influence and legacy 5.1 Idioms 5.2 Television 6 Reception and achievements 6.1 Early success 6.2 Run length achievements 6.3 Awards and accolades 6.4 Criticism 6.4.1 Controversy 6.4.2 Ban 6.4.3 Declining quality 6.4.4 Apu controversy 7 Other media 7.1 Comic books 7.2 Film 7.3 Music 7.4 The Simpsons Ride 7.5 Video games 8 Syndication 9 Streaming and digital sell-through 10 Merchandise 11 References 11.1 Notes 11.2 Bibliography 12 Further reading 13 External links Premise Characters Main article: List of The Simpsons characters The Simpsons is known for its wide ensemble of main and supporting characters. The main characters are the Simpson family, who live in a fictional "Middle America" town of Springfield.[14] Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge Bouvier, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker and prankster; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, the baby of the family who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.[15] Homer's dad Grampa Simpson lives in the Springfield Retirement Home after Homer forced his dad to sell his house so that his family could buy theirs. Grampa Simpson has had starring roles in several episodes. The family also owns a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball V, renamed Snowball II in "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot".[16] Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes.

The Simpsons sports a vast array of secondary and tertiary characters. The show includes an array of quirky supporting characters, which include Homer's co-workers (also friends) Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson, the school principal Seymour Skinner and teachers Edna Krabappel and Elizabeth Hoover, neighbor Ned Flanders, friends Barney Gumble, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Milhouse Van Houten, and Nelson Muntz, extended relatives Patty and Selma Bouvier, townspeople such as Mayor Quimby, Chief Clancy Wiggum, tycoon Charles Montgomery Burns and his executive assistant Waylon Smithers, and local celebrities Krusty the Clown and news reporter Kent Brockman. The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV.[17] Continuity and the floating timeline Despite the depiction of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays passing, the characters do not age between episodes (either physically or in stated age), and generally appear just as they did when the series began. The series uses a floating timeline in which episodes generally take place in the year the episode is produced even though the characters do not age. Flashbacks and flashforwards do occasionally depict the characters at other points in their lives, with the timeline of these depictions also generally floating relative to the year the episode is produced. For example, in the 1991 episode "I Married Marge", Bart (who is always 10 years old) appears to be born in 1980 or 1981. But in the 1995 episode "And Maggie Makes Three", Maggie (who always appears to be around 1 year old) appears to be born in 1993 or 1994. A canon of the show does exist, although Treehouse of Horror episodes and any fictional story told within the series are typically non-canon. However, continuity is inconsistent and limited in The Simpsons. For example, Krusty the Clown may be able to read in one episode, but may not be able to read in another. Lessons learned by the family in one episode may be forgotten in the next. Some examples of limited continuity include Sideshow Bob's appearances where Bart and Lisa flashback at all the crimes he committed in Springfield or when the characters try to remember things that happened in previous episodes. Setting Main article: Springfield (The Simpsons) The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield in an unknown and impossible-to-determine U.S. state. The show is intentionally evasive in regard to Springfield's location.[18] Springfield's geography, and that of its surroundings, contains coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, tall mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires.[19] Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.[20] The name "Springfield" is a common one in America and appears in at least 29 states.[21] Groening has said that he named it after Springfield, Oregon, and the fictitious Springfield which was the setting of the series Father Knows Best. He "figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do."[22] Production Development Main articles: History of The Simpsons and The Simpsons shorts

James L. Brooks (pictured) asked Matt Groening to create a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show. When producer James L. Brooks was working on the television variety show The Tracey Ullman Show, he decided to include small animated sketches before and after the commercial breaks. Having seen one of cartoonist Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips, Brooks asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts. Groening initially intended to present an animated version of his Life in Hell series.[23] However, Groening later realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life's work. He therefore chose another approach while waiting in the lobby of Brooks's office for the pitch meeting, hurriedly formulating his version of a dysfunctional family that became the Simpsons.[23][24] He named the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name, adopting an anagram of the word "brat".[23] The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[25] Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial shorts.[23] The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo,[26][27] with Wes Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.[28] Colorist Gyorgyi Peluce was the person who decided to make the characters yellow.[28] In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included the Klasky Csupo animation house. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content.[29] Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching.[30] The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989, with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".[31] "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.[32] In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series' success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons[33]—a claim rejected by the courts.[34] Executive producers and showrunners

Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons List of showrunners throughout the series' run: Season 1–2: Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, & Sam Simon Season 3–4: Al Jean & Mike Reiss Season 5–6: David Mirkin Season 7–8: Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein Season 9–12: Mike Scully Season 13–present: Al Jean Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show's entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon, described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as "the unsung hero" of the show,[35] served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and the show's production company Gracie Films and left in 1993.[36] Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993,[36][37] at least until his passing in 2015.[38] A more involved position on the show is the showrunner, who acts as head writer and manages the show's production for an entire season.[28] Writing Main article: List of The Simpsons writers The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky.[39] Newer Simpsons' writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.[40] The main writer of each episode writes the first draft. Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show's vocal performers.[41] Until 2004,[42] George Meyer, who had developed the show since the first season, was active in these sessions. According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits.[41] Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events.[43]

Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992. Back row, left to right: Mike Mendel, Colin A. B. V. Lewis (partial), Jeff Goldstein, Al Jean (partial), Conan O'Brien, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Mike Reiss, Ken Tsumura, George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti (partial), CJ Gibson, and David M. Stern. Front row, left to right: Dee Capelli, Lona Williams, and unknown Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons.[44] One of the best-known former writers is Conan O'Brien, who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night.[45] English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife", becoming the first celebrity to both write and guest star in the same episode.[46] Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of the film Superbad, wrote the episode "Homer the Whopper", with Rogen voicing a character in it.[47] At the end of 2007, the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the other members of the Writers Guild of America, East. The show's writers had joined the guild in 1998.[48] Voice actors Main articles: List of The Simpsons cast members, List of The Simpsons guest stars, and Non-English versions of The Simpsons The Simpsons has six main cast members: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer. Castellaneta voices Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby, Barney Gumble, and other adult, male characters.[49] Julie Kavner voices Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma, as well as several minor characters.[49] Castellaneta and Kavner had been a part of The Tracey Ullman Show cast and were given the parts so that new actors would not be needed.[50] Cartwright voices Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and other children.[49] Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, is the only cast member who regularly voices only one character, although she occasionally plays other episodic characters.[49] The producers decided to hold casting for the roles of Bart and Lisa. Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart, but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high,[51] so she was given the role of Lisa instead.[52] Cartwright was originally brought in to voice Lisa, but upon arriving at the audition, she found that Lisa was simply described as the "middle child" and at the time did not have much personality. Cartwright became more interested in the role of Bart, who was described as "devious, underachieving, school-hating, irreverent, [and] clever".[53] Groening let her try out for the part instead, and upon hearing her read, gave her the job on the spot.[54] Cartwright is the only one of the six main Simpsons cast members who had been professionally trained in voice acting prior to working on the show.[44] Azaria and Shearer do not voice members of the title family, but play a majority of the male townspeople. Azaria, who has been a part of the Simpsons regular voice cast since the second season,[55] voices recurring characters such as Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and Professor Frink. Shearer provides voices for Mr. Burns, Mr. Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy and Dr. Hibbert.[49] Every main cast member has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.[56][57] With one exception, episode credits list only the voice actors, and not the characters they voice. Both Fox and the production crew wanted to keep their identities secret during the early seasons and, therefore, closed most of the recording sessions while refusing to publish photos of the recording artists.[58] However, the network eventually revealed which roles each actor performed in the episode "Old Money", because the producers said the voice actors should receive credit for their work.[59] In 2003, the cast appeared in an episode of Inside the Actors Studio, doing live performances of their characters' voices. The six main actors were paid $30,000 per episode until 1998, when they were involved in a pay dispute with Fox. The company threatened to replace them with new actors, even going as far as preparing for casting of new voices, but series creator Groening supported the actors in their action.[60] The issue was soon resolved and, from 1998 to 2004, they were paid $125,000 per episode. The show's revenue continued to rise through syndication and DVD sales, and in April 2004 the main cast stopped appearing for script readings, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode.[61][62] The strike was resolved a month later[63] and their salaries were increased to something between $250,000[64] and $360,000 per episode.[65] In 2008, production for the twentieth season was put on hold due to new contract negotiations with the voice actors, who wanted a "healthy bump" in salary to an amount close to $500,000 per episode.[65] The negotiations were soon completed, and the actors' salary was raised to $400,000 per episode.[66] Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, the cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.[67] In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters.[49] From 1999 to 2002, Roswell's characters were voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven. Karl Wiedergott has also appeared in minor roles, but does not voice any recurring characters.[68] Wiedergott left the show in 2010, and since then Chris Edgerly has appeared regularly to voice minor characters. Repeat "special guest" cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna, Maurice LaMarche, and Kelsey Grammer.[69] Following Hartman's death in 1998, the characters he voiced (Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz) were retired;[70] Wallace's character of Edna Krabappel was retired as well after her death in 2013. Episodes will quite often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians and scientists. In the earlier seasons, most of the guest stars voiced characters, but eventually more started appearing as themselves. Tony Bennett was the first guest star to appear as himself, appearing briefly in the season two episode "Dancin' Homer".[71] The Simpsons holds the world record for "Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series".[72] The Simpsons has been dubbed into several other languages, including Japanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. It is also one of the few programs dubbed in both standard French and Quebec French.[73] The show has been broadcast in Arabic, but due to Islamic customs, numerous aspects of the show have been changed. For example, Homer drinks soda instead of beer and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs. Because of such changes, the Arabized version of the series met with a negative reaction from the lifelong Simpsons fans in the area.[74] Animation

Animation director David Silverman, who helped define the look of the show[28] Several different U.S. and international studios animate The Simpsons. Throughout the run of the animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo.[26] With the debut of the series, because of an increased workload, Fox subcontracted production to several local and foreign studios.[26] These are AKOM,[75] Anivision,[76] Rough Draft Studios,[77] USAnimation,[78] and Toonzone Entertainment.[79] For the first three seasons, Klasky Csupo animated The Simpsons in the United States. In 1992, the show's production company, Gracie Films, switched domestic production to Film Roman,[80] who continued to animate the show until 2016. In Season 14, production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint.[81] The first episode to experiment with digital coloring was "Radioactive Man" in 1995. Animators used digital ink and paint during production of the season 12 episode "Tennis the Menace", but Gracie Films delayed the regular use of digital ink and paint until two seasons later. The already completed "Tennis the Menace" was broadcast as made.[82] The production staff at the U.S. animation studio, Film Roman, draws storyboards, designs new characters, backgrounds, props and draws character and background layouts, which in turn become animatics to be screened for the writers at Gracie Films for any changes to be made before the work is shipped overseas. The overseas studios then draw the inbetweens, ink and paint, and render the animation to tape before it is shipped back to the United States to be delivered to Fox three to four months later.[83] The series began high-definition production in Season 20; the first episode, "Take My Life, Please", aired February 15, 2009. The move to HDTV included a new opening sequence.[84] Matt Groening called it a complicated change because it affected the timing and composition of animation.[85] Themes Main articles: Media in The Simpsons, Politics in The Simpsons, and Religion in The Simpsons The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situational comedy, or sitcom, as its premise. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town,[14] serving as a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle.[86] However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons' scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom. The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant, the show can comment on the state of the environment.[87] Through Bart and Lisa's days at Springfield Elementary School, the show's writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.[88] Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias.[89] Al Jean acknowledged in an interview that "We [the show] are of liberal bent."[90] The writers often evince an appreciation for liberal ideals, but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum.[91] The show portrays government and large corporations as callous entities that take advantage of the common worker.[90] Thus, the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light. In The Simpsons, politicians are corrupt, ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy are indifferent to churchgoers, and the local police force is incompetent.[92] Religion also figures as a recurring theme.[93] In times of crisis, the family often turns to God, and the show has dealt with most of the major religions.[94] Hallmarks Opening sequence Main article: The Simpsons opening sequence

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The music played during the opening sequence. This piece is also known as The Simpsons Theme. The Simpsons' opening sequence is one of the show's most memorable hallmarks. The standard opening has gone through three iterations (a replacement of some shots at the start of the second season, and a brand new sequence when the show switched to high-definition in 2009).[95] Each has the same basic sequence of events: the camera zooms through cumulus clouds, through the show's title towards the town of Springfield. The camera then follows the members of the family on their way home. Upon entering their house, the Simpsons settle down on their couch to watch television. The original opening was created by David Silverman, and was the first task he did when production began on the show.[96] The series' distinctive theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro style piece. This piece has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career.[97] One of the most distinctive aspects of the opening is that three of its elements change from episode to episode: Bart writes different things on the school chalkboard,[96] Lisa plays different solos on her saxophone (or occasionally a different instrument), and different gags accompany the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch.[98] Halloween episodes Main article: Treehouse of Horror

Bart Simpson introducing a segment of "Treehouse of Horror IV" in the manner of Rod Serling's Night Gallery The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition. "Treehouse of Horror" first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate, self-contained stories in each Halloween episode.[99] These pieces usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting and often parody or pay homage to a famous piece of work in those genres.[100] They always take place outside the normal continuity of the show. Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween, this changed by the 2000s, when new installments have premiered after Halloween due to Fox's current contract with Major League Baseball's World Series,[101] however, since 2011, every Treehouse of Horror episode has aired in October. Humor The show's humor turns on cultural references that cover a wide spectrum of society so that viewers from all generations can enjoy the show. Such references, for example, come from movies, television, music, literature, science, and history.[102] The animators also regularly add jokes or sight gags into the show's background via humorous or incongruous bits of text in signs, newspapers, billboards, and elsewhere. The audience may often not notice the visual jokes in a single viewing. Some are so fleeting that they become apparent only by pausing a video recording of the show or viewing it in slow motion.[103] Kristin Thompson argues that The Simpsons uses a "flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the programme as a television show."[104] One of Bart's early hallmarks was his prank calls to Moe's Tavern owner Moe Szyslak in which Bart calls Moe and asks for a gag name. Moe tries to find that person in the bar, but soon realizes it is a prank call and angrily threatens Bart. These calls were apparently based on a series of prank calls known as the Tube Bar recordings, though Groening has denied any causal connection.[105] Moe was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis "Red" Deutsch, whose often profane responses inspired Moe's violent side.[106] As the series progressed, it became more difficult for the writers to come up with a fake name and to write Moe's angry response, and the pranks were dropped as a regular joke during the fourth season.[107][108] The Simpsons also often includes self-referential humor.[109] The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting.[110] For example, the episode "She Used to Be My Girl" included a scene in which a Fox News Channel van drove down the street while displaying a large "Bush Cheney 2004" banner and playing Queen's "We Are the Champions", in reference to the 2004 U.S. presidential election and claims of conservative bias in Fox News.[111][112] The show uses catchphrases, and most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one each.[113] Notable expressions include Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!", Mr. Burns' "Excellent" and Nelson Muntz's "Ha-ha!" Some of Bart's catchphrases, such as "¡Ay, caramba!", "Don't have a cow, man!" and "Eat my shorts!" appeared on T-shirts in the show's early days.[114] However, Bart rarely used the latter two phrases until after they became popular through the merchandising. The use of many of these catchphrases has declined in recent seasons. The episode "Bart Gets Famous" mocks catchphrase-based humor, as Bart achieves fame on the Krusty the Clown Show solely for saying "I didn't do it."[115] Foreshadowing of actual events The Simpsons has gained notoriety for jokes that eventually became reality. Perhaps the most famous example comes from the episode "Bart to the Future", which mentions billionaire Donald Trump having been President of the United States at one time and leaving the nation broke. The episode first aired in 2000, sixteen years before Trump was elected.[116] Another episode, "When You Dish Upon a Star", lampooned 20th Century Fox as a division of The Walt Disney Company. Nineteen years later, Disney purchased Fox.[117] Other examples of The Simpsons predicting the future include the introduction of the Smartwatch, video chat services, autocorrection technology, and Lady Gaga's acrobatic performance at the Super Bowl LI halftime show.[118] Influence and legacy Idioms A number of neologisms that originated on The Simpsons have entered popular vernacular.[119][120] Mark Liberman, director of the Linguistic Data Consortium, remarked, "The Simpsons has apparently taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as our culture's greatest source of idioms, catchphrases and sundry other textual allusions."[120] The most famous catchphrase is Homer's annoyed grunt: "D'oh!" So ubiquitous is the expression that it is now listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, but without the apostrophe.[121] Dan Castellaneta says he borrowed the phrase from James Finlayson, an actor in many Laurel and Hardy comedies, who pronounced it in a more elongated and whining tone. The staff of The Simpsons told Castellaneta to shorten the noise, and it went on to become the well-known exclamation in the television series.[122] Groundskeeper Willie's description of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" was used by National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg in 2003, after France's opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq. The phrase quickly spread to other journalists.[120][123] "Cromulent" and "embiggen", words used in "Lisa the Iconoclast", have since appeared in the Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon,[124] and scientific journals respectively.[120][125] "Kwyjibo", a fake Scrabble word invented by Bart in "Bart the Genius", was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm.[126] "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords", was used by Kent Brockman in "Deep Space Homer" and has become a snowclone,[127] with variants of the utterance used to express obsequious submission. It has been used in media, such as New Scientist magazine.[128] The dismissive term "Meh", believed to have been popularized by the show,[120][129][130] entered the Collins English Dictionary in 2008.[131] Other words credited as stemming from the show include "yoink" and "craptacular".[120] The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations includes several quotations from the show. As well as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", Homer's lines, "Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is never try", from "Burns' Heir" (season five, 1994) as well as "Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all", from "Eight Misbehavin'" (season 11, 1999), entered the dictionary in August 2007.[132] Many quotes/scenes have become popular internet memes, including Jasper Beardley‘s quote "That's a paddlin’" from The PTA Disbands (season 6, 1995) and Steamed Hams from 22 Short Films About Springfield (season 7, 1996). Television The Simpsons was the first successful animated program in American prime time since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in the 1970s.[133] During most of the 1980s, US pundits considered animated shows as appropriate only for children, and animating a show was too expensive to achieve a quality suitable for prime-time television. The Simpsons changed this perception,[26] initially leading to a short period where networks attempted to recreate prime-time cartoon success with shows like Capitol Critters, Fish Police, and Family Dog, which were expensive and unsuccessful.[134] The Simpsons' use of Korean animation studios for tweening, coloring, and filming made the episodes cheaper. The success of The Simpsons and the lower production cost prompted US television networks to take chances on other adult animated series.[26] This development led US producers to a 1990s boom in new, animated prime-time shows for adults, such as Beavis and Butt-Head, South Park, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Futurama and The Critic.[26] For Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, "The Simpsons created an audience for prime-time animation that had not been there for many, many years ... As far as I'm concerned, they basically re-invented the wheel. They created what is in many ways—you could classify it as—a wholly new medium."[135] The Simpsons has had crossovers with four other shows. In the episode "A Star Is Burns", Marge invites Jay Sherman, the main character of The Critic, to be a judge for a film festival in Springfield. Matt Groening had his name removed from the episode since he had no involvement with The Critic.[136] South Park later paid homage to The Simpsons with the episode "Simpsons Already Did It".[137] In "Simpsorama", the Planet Express crew from Futurama come to Springfield in the present to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future.[138] In the Family Guy episode "The Simpsons Guy", the Griffins visit Springfield and meet the Simpsons.[139] The Simpsons has also influenced live-action shows like Malcolm in the Middle, which featured the use of sight gags and did not use a laugh track unlike most sitcoms.[140][141] Malcolm in the Middle debuted January 9, 2000, in the time slot after The Simpsons. Ricky Gervais called The Simpsons an influence on The Office,[142] and fellow British sitcom Spaced was, according to its director Edgar Wright, "an attempt to do a live-action The Simpsons."[143] In Georgia, the animated television sitcom The Samsonadzes, launched in November 2009, has been noted for its very strong resemblance with The Simpsons, which its creator Shalva Ramishvili has acknowledged.[144][145] Reception and achievements Season No. of episodes Originally aired Viewership Season premiere Season finale Time Slot (ET) Avg. viewers (in millions) Most watched episode Viewers (millions) Episode Title 1 1989–90 13 December 17, 1989 May 13, 1990 Sunday 8:30 pm 27.8 33.5 "Life on the Fast Lane" 2 1990–91 22 October 11, 1990 July 11, 1991 Thursday 8:00 pm 24.4 33.6 "Bart Gets an F" 3 1991–92 24 September 19, 1991 August 27, 1992 21.8 25.5 "Colonel Homer" 4 1992–93 22 September 24, 1992 May 13, 1993 22.4 28.6 "Lisa's First Word" 5 1993–94 22 September 30, 1993 May 19, 1994 18.9 24.0 "Treehouse of Horror IV" 6 1994–95 25 September 4, 1994 May 21, 1995 Sunday 8:00 pm 15.6 22.2 "Treehouse of Horror V" 7 1995–96 25 September 17, 1995 May 19, 1996 15.1 19.7 "Treehouse of Horror VI" 8 1996–97 25 October 27, 1996 May 18, 1997 Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 1–3) Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 4–25) 14.5 20.9 "The Springfield Files" 9 1997–98 25 September 21, 1997 May 17, 1998 Sunday 8:00 pm 16.3 19.8 "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" 10 1998–99 23 August 23, 1998 May 16, 1999 13.5 15.5 "Maximum Homerdrive" 11 1999–2000 22 September 26, 1999 May 21, 2000 8.8 18.4 "The Mansion Family" 12 2000–01 21 November 1, 2000 May 20, 2001 15.5 18.6 "Worst Episode Ever" 13 2001–02 22 November 6, 2001 May 22, 2002 Tuesday 8:30 pm (Episode 1) Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 2–20) Sunday 7:30 pm (Episode 21) Wednesday 8:00 pm (Episode 22) 12.5 14.9 "The Parent Rap" 14 2002–03 22 November 3, 2002 May 18, 2003 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–11, 13–21) Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 12, 22) 14.4 22.1 "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" 15 2003–04 22 November 2, 2003 May 23, 2004 Sunday 8:00 pm 11.0 16.3 "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" 16 2004–05 21 November 7, 2004 May 15, 2005 Sunday 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–7, 9–16, 18, 20) Sunday 10:30 pm (Episode 8) Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 17, 19, 21) 10.2 23.07 "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass" 17 2005–06 22 September 11, 2005 May 21, 2006 Sunday 8:00 pm 9.55 11.63 "Treehouse of Horror XVI" 18 2006–07 22 September 10, 2006 May 20, 2007 9.15 13.90 "The Wife Aquatic" 19 2007–08 20 September 23, 2007 May 18, 2008 8.37 11.7 "Treehouse of Horror XVIII" 20 2008–09 21 September 28, 2008 May 17, 2009 7.1 12.4 "Treehouse of Horror XIX" 21 2009–10 23 September 27, 2009 May 23, 2010 7.1 14.62 "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" 22 2010–11 22 September 26, 2010 May 22, 2011 7.09 12.6 "Moms I'd Like to Forget" 23 2011–12 22 September 25, 2011 May 20, 2012 6.15[146] 11.48 "The D'oh-cial Network" 24 2012–13 22 September 30, 2012 May 19, 2013 5.41[147] 8.97 "Homer Goes to Prep School" 25 2013–14 22 September 29, 2013 May 18, 2014 5.02[148] 12.04 "Steal This Episode" 26 2014–15 22 September 28, 2014 May 17, 2015 5.61[149] 10.62 "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" 27 2015–16 22 September 27, 2015 May 22, 2016 4.0[150] 8.33 "Teenage Mutant Milk-Caused Hurdles" 28 2016–17 22 September 25, 2016 May 21, 2017 4.80[151] 8.19 "Pork and Burns" 29 2017–18 21 October 1, 2017 May 20, 2018 4.07[152] 8.04 "Frink Gets Testy" 30 2018–19 23 September 30, 2018 May 12, 2019 3.10[153] 8.20 "The Girl on the Bus" 31 2019–20 TBA September 29, 2019 TBA TBA TBA TBA Family Guy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Griffin family. From the left: Chris, Peter, Stewie, Lois, Brian, and Meg Genre Animated sitcom[1] Created by Seth MacFarlane Developed by Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman Voices of Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Seth Green Lacey Chabert Mila Kunis Mike Henry Theme music composer Walter Murphy Composer(s) Ron Jones Walter Murphy Country of origin United States Original language(s) English No. of seasons 18 No. of episodes 338 (list of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman (1999–2003) Daniel Palladino (2001–2002) David A. Goodman (2005–2012) Chris Sheridan (2005–2012) Danny Smith (2008 – present) Mark Hentemann (2009–2015) Steve Callaghan (2009 – present) Alec Sulkin (2011 – present) Wellesley Wild (2011–2015) Richard Appel (2012 – present) Producer(s) Shannon Smith Julius Sharpe Kara Vallow Steve Marmel (2011) Sherry Gunther (1999–2003) Editor(s) Mike Elias Camera setup Animated rendition of single-camera Running time 20–23 minutes 45 minutes (select episodes) Production company(s) Fuzzy Door Productions 20th Century Fox Television Distributor 20th Television Release Original network Fox[N 1] Picture format NTSC 480i (seasons 1–8) HDTV 720p (Season 9–) Audio format Dolby Surround 2.0 (broadcast seasons 1–8) Dolby Digital 5.1 (season 9–) Original release January 31, 1999 – present Chronology Preceded by Larry & Steve Related shows The Cleveland Show American Dad! External links Official website Family Guy is an American animated sitcom television series 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 surreal & dark humor[2] in the form of metafictional 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 aired that 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. Since its debut on January 31, 1999, 338 episodes of Family Guy have been broadcast. Its eighteenth season began on September 29, 2019. The show has been universally acclaimed, prompting Family Guy to be nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 11 Annie Awards, and has won three of each. In 2009, it was nominated for a 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.[3] Family Guy is a joint production by Fuzzy Door Productions and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television.[4] In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy the ninth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time.[5] On February 12, 2019, Fox renewed the series for an eighteenth season, which premiered on September 29, 2019 on Animation Domination.[6]

Contents 1 Premise 1.1 Characters 1.2 Setting 2 Development 3 Episodes 4 Production 4.1 Executive producers 4.2 Writing 4.3 Early history and cancellation 4.4 Cult success and revival 4.5 Lawsuits 4.6 Voice cast 5 Hallmarks 5.1 "Road to" episodes 5.2 Humor 6 Reception and legacy 6.1 Ratings 6.2 Critical reception 6.3 Awards 6.4 Criticism and controversy 7 Broadcast 8 Franchise 8.1 Books 8.2 Live performances 8.3 Film 8.4 Spin-off 8.5 Video games 8.6 Merchandise 9 See also 10 References 11 External links Premise Characters Main article: List of Family Guy characters The show revolves around the adventures of the Griffin family, consisting of father Peter Griffin, a bumbling and clumsy yet well-intentioned blue-collar worker; Lois, a pretty stay-at-home mother and piano teacher who is a member of the wealthy Pewterschmidt family; Meg, their often-bullied teenage daughter who is also constantly ridiculed or ignored by the family; Chris, their awkward teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent and, in many respects, is simply a younger version of his father; and Stewie, their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who has adult mannerisms and uses stereotypical archvillain 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 ways.[7] 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, their son Kevin 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 Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams also make frequent appearances. Actor James Woods guest stars as himself in multiple episodes, as did Adam West prior to his death. Setting

The skyline of Providence, as viewed from the northwest looking southeast, from left to right: One Financial Center, 50 Kennedy Plaza, and the Superman Building

The skyline's animated Family Guy counterpart The primary setting of Family Guy is Quahog (/ˈkoʊhɒɡ/ [pron. ko-hog or kwo-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.[8][9] 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.[10] Development MacFarlane initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[11] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry,[11] which was submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera. MacFarlane was hired by the company.[12] 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.[11] Executives at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series, entitled Family Guy, based on the characters.[13] Fox proposed MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short, and gave him a budget of $50,000.[14] Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts.[15] While he worked on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian.[13][16] 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."[15] 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.[17] 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.[18] The Griffin family first appeared on the demo that MacFarlane pitched to Fox on May 15, 1998.[19] 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.[17] 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.[17] Fox ordered 13 episodes of Family Guy to air in midseason after MacFarlane impressed executives with a seven-minute demo.[20] Episodes Main article: List of Family Guy episodes Season Episodes Originally aired Rank Viewers (in millions) First aired Last aired

1 7 January 31, 1999 May 16, 1999 33 12.80[21]

2 21 September 23, 1999 August 1, 2000 114 6.32[22]

3 22 July 11, 2001 November 9, 2003[a] 125 4.50[23]

4 30 May 1, 2005 May 21, 2006 68 7.90[24]

5 18 September 10, 2006 May 20, 2007 71 7.20[25]

6 12 September 23, 2007 May 4, 2008 84 7.94[26]

7 16 September 28, 2008 May 17, 2009 69 7.56[27]

8 21 September 27, 2009 June 20, 2010[b] 53 7.73[28]

9 18 September 26, 2010 May 22, 2011 56 7.66[29]

10 23 September 25, 2011 May 20, 2012 63 7.30[30]

11 22 September 30, 2012 May 19, 2013 62 6.94[31]

12 21 September 29, 2013 May 18, 2014 78 6.11[32]

13 18 September 28, 2014 May 17, 2015 94 5.86[33]

14 20 September 27, 2015 May 22, 2016 111 4.28[34]

15 20 September 25, 2016 May 21, 2017 116 3.93[35]

16 20 October 1, 2017 May 20, 2018 136 3.52[36]

17 20 September 30, 2018 May 12, 2019 131 3.33[37]

18 20 September 29, 2019 TBA TBA TBA

Family Guy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Griffin family. From the left: Chris, Peter, Stewie, Lois, Brian, and Meg Genre Animated sitcom[1] Created by Seth MacFarlane Developed by Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman Voices of Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Seth Green Lacey Chabert Mila Kunis Mike Henry Theme music composer Walter Murphy Composer(s) Ron Jones Walter Murphy Country of origin United States Original language(s) English No. of seasons 18 No. of episodes 338 (list of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman (1999–2003) Daniel Palladino (2001–2002) David A. Goodman (2005–2012) Chris Sheridan (2005–2012) Danny Smith (2008 – present) Mark Hentemann (2009–2015) Steve Callaghan (2009 – present) Alec Sulkin (2011 – present) Wellesley Wild (2011–2015) Richard Appel (2012 – present) Producer(s) Shannon Smith Julius Sharpe Kara Vallow Steve Marmel (2011) Sherry Gunther (1999–2003) Editor(s) Mike Elias Camera setup Animated rendition of single-camera Running time 20–23 minutes 45 minutes (select episodes) Production company(s) Fuzzy Door Productions 20th Century Fox Television Distributor 20th Television Release Original network Fox[N 1] Picture format NTSC 480i (seasons 1–8) HDTV 720p (Season 9–) Audio format Dolby Surround 2.0 (broadcast seasons 1–8) Dolby Digital 5.1 (season 9–) Original release January 31, 1999 – present Chronology Preceded by Larry & Steve Related shows The Cleveland Show American Dad! External links Official website Family Guy is an American animated sitcom television series 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 surreal & dark humor[2] in the form of metafictional 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 aired that 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. Since its debut on January 31, 1999, 338 episodes of Family Guy have been broadcast. Its eighteenth season began on September 29, 2019. The show has been universally acclaimed, prompting Family Guy to be nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 11 Annie Awards, and has won three of each. In 2009, it was nominated for a 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.[3] Family Guy is a joint production by Fuzzy Door Productions and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television.[4] In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy the ninth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time.[5] On February 12, 2019, Fox renewed the series for an eighteenth season, which premiered on September 29, 2019 on Animation Domination.[6]

Contents 1 Premise 1.1 Characters 1.2 Setting 2 Development 3 Episodes 4 Production 4.1 Executive producers 4.2 Writing 4.3 Early history and cancellation 4.4 Cult success and revival 4.5 Lawsuits 4.6 Voice cast 5 Hallmarks 5.1 "Road to" episodes 5.2 Humor 6 Reception and legacy 6.1 Ratings 6.2 Critical reception 6.3 Awards 6.4 Criticism and controversy 7 Broadcast 8 Franchise 8.1 Books 8.2 Live performances 8.3 Film 8.4 Spin-off 8.5 Video games 8.6 Merchandise 9 See also 10 References 11 External links Premise Characters Main article: List of Family Guy characters The show revolves around the adventures of the Griffin family, consisting of father Peter Griffin, a bumbling and clumsy yet well-intentioned blue-collar worker; Lois, a pretty stay-at-home mother and piano teacher who is a member of the wealthy Pewterschmidt family; Meg, their often-bullied teenage daughter who is also constantly ridiculed or ignored by the family; Chris, their awkward teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent and, in many respects, is simply a younger version of his father; and Stewie, their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who has adult mannerisms and uses stereotypical archvillain 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 ways.[7] 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, their son Kevin 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 Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams also make frequent appearances. Actor James Woods guest stars as himself in multiple episodes, as did Adam West prior to his death. Setting

The skyline of Providence, as viewed from the northwest looking southeast, from left to right: One Financial Center, 50 Kennedy Plaza, and the Superman Building

The skyline's animated Family Guy counterpart The primary setting of Family Guy is Quahog (/ˈkoʊhɒɡ/ [pron. ko-hog or kwo-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.[8][9] 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.[10] Development MacFarlane initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[11] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry,[11] which was submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera. MacFarlane was hired by the company.[12] 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.[11] Executives at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series, entitled Family Guy, based on the characters.[13] Fox proposed MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short, and gave him a budget of $50,000.[14] Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts.[15] While he worked on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian.[13][16] 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."[15] 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.[17] 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.[18] The Griffin family first appeared on the demo that MacFarlane pitched to Fox on May 15, 1998.[19] 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.[17] 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.[17] Fox ordered 13 episodes of Family Guy to air in midseason after MacFarlane impressed executives with a seven-minute demo.[20] Episodes Main article: List of Family Guy episodes Season Episodes Originally aired Rank Viewers (in millions) First aired Last aired

1 7 January 31, 1999 May 16, 1999 33 12.80[21]

2 21 September 23, 1999 August 1, 2000 114 6.32[22]

3 22 July 11, 2001 November 9, 2003[a] 125 4.50[23]

4 30 May 1, 2005 May 21, 2006 68 7.90[24]

5 18 September 10, 2006 May 20, 2007 71 7.20[25]

6 12 September 23, 2007 May 4, 2008 84 7.94[26]

7 16 September 28, 2008 May 17, 2009 69 7.56[27]

8 21 September 27, 2009 June 20, 2010[b] 53 7.73[28]

9 18 September 26, 2010 May 22, 2011 56 7.66[29]

10 23 September 25, 2011 May 20, 2012 63 7.30[30]

11 22 September 30, 2012 May 19, 2013 62 6.94[31]

12 21 September 29, 2013 May 18, 2014 78 6.11[32]

13 18 September 28, 2014 May 17, 2015 94 5.86[33]

14 20 September 27, 2015 May 22, 2016 111 4.28[34]

15 20 September 25, 2016 May 21, 2017 116 3.93[35]

16 20 October 1, 2017 May 20, 2018 136 3.52[36]

17 20 September 30, 2018 May 12, 2019 131 3.33[37]

18 20 September 29, 2019 TBA TBA TBAFamily Guy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search Family Guy

The Griffin family. From the left: Chris, Peter, Stewie, Lois, Brian, and Meg Genre Animated sitcom[1] Created by Seth MacFarlane Developed by Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman Voices of Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Seth Green Lacey Chabert Mila Kunis Mike Henry Theme music composer Walter Murphy Composer(s) Ron Jones Walter Murphy Country of origin United States Original language(s) English No. of seasons 18 No. of episodes 338 (list of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman (1999–2003) Daniel Palladino (2001–2002) David A. Goodman (2005–2012) Chris Sheridan (2005–2012) Danny Smith (2008 – present) Mark Hentemann (2009–2015) Steve Callaghan (2009 – present) Alec Sulkin (2011 – present) Wellesley Wild (2011–2015) Richard Appel (2012 – present) Producer(s) Shannon Smith Julius Sharpe Kara Vallow Steve Marmel (2011) Sherry Gunther (1999–2003) Editor(s) Mike Elias Camera setup Animated rendition of single-camera Running time 20–23 minutes 45 minutes (select episodes) Production company(s) Fuzzy Door Productions 20th Century Fox Television Distributor 20th Television Release Original network Fox[N 1] Picture format NTSC 480i (seasons 1–8) HDTV 720p (Season 9–) Audio format Dolby Surround 2.0 (broadcast seasons 1–8) Dolby Digital 5.1 (season 9–) Original release January 31, 1999 – present Chronology Preceded by Larry & Steve Related shows The Cleveland Show American Dad! External links Official website Family Guy is an American animated sitcom television series 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 surreal & dark humor[2] in the form of metafictional 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 aired that 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. Since its debut on January 31, 1999, 338 episodes of Family Guy have been broadcast. Its eighteenth season began on September 29, 2019. The show has been universally acclaimed, prompting Family Guy to be nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 11 Annie Awards, and has won three of each. In 2009, it was nominated for a 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.[3] Family Guy is a joint production by Fuzzy Door Productions and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television.[4] In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy the ninth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time.[5] On February 12, 2019, Fox renewed the series for an eighteenth season, which premiered on September 29, 2019 on Animation Domination.[6]

Contents 1 Premise 1.1 Characters 1.2 Setting 2 Development 3 Episodes 4 Production 4.1 Executive producers 4.2 Writing 4.3 Early history and cancellation 4.4 Cult success and revival 4.5 Lawsuits 4.6 Voice cast 5 Hallmarks 5.1 "Road to" episodes 5.2 Humor 6 Reception and legacy 6.1 Ratings 6.2 Critical reception 6.3 Awards 6.4 Criticism and controversy 7 Broadcast 8 Franchise 8.1 Books 8.2 Live performances 8.3 Film 8.4 Spin-off 8.5 Video games 8.6 Merchandise 9 See also 10 References 11 External links Premise Characters Main article: List of Family Guy characters The show revolves around the adventures of the Griffin family, consisting of father Peter Griffin, a bumbling and clumsy yet well-intentioned blue-collar worker; Lois, a pretty stay-at-home mother and piano teacher who is a member of the wealthy Pewterschmidt family; Meg, their often-bullied teenage daughter who is also constantly ridiculed or ignored by the family; Chris, their awkward teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent and, in many respects, is simply a younger version of his father; and Stewie, their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who has adult mannerisms and uses stereotypical archvillain 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 ways.[7] 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, their son Kevin 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 Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams also make frequent appearances. Actor James Woods guest stars as himself in multiple episodes, as did Adam West prior to his death. Setting

The skyline of Providence, as viewed from the northwest looking southeast, from left to right: One Financial Center, 50 Kennedy Plaza, and the Superman Building

The skyline's animated Family Guy counterpart The primary setting of Family Guy is Quahog (/ˈkoʊhɒɡ/ [pron. ko-hog or kwo-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.[8][9] 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.[10] Development MacFarlane initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[11] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry,[11] which was submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera. MacFarlane was hired by the company.[12] 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.[11] Executives at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series, entitled Family Guy, based on the characters.[13] Fox proposed MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short, and gave him a budget of $50,000.[14] Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts.[15] While he worked on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian.[13][16] 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."[15] 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.[17] 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.[18] The Griffin family first appeared on the demo that MacFarlane pitched to Fox on May 15, 1998.[19] 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.[17] 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.[17] Fox ordered 13 episodes of Family Guy to air in midseason after MacFarlane impressed executives with a seven-minute demo.[20] Episodes Main article: List of Family Guy episodes Season Episodes Originally aired Rank Viewers (in millions) First aired Last aired

1 7 January 31, 1999 May 16, 1999 33 12.80[21]

2 21 September 23, 1999 August 1, 2000 114 6.32[22]

3 22 July 11, 2001 November 9, 2003[a] 125 4.50[23]

4 30 May 1, 2005 May 21, 2006 68 7.90[24]

5 18 September 10, 2006 May 20, 2007 71 7.20[25]

6 12 September 23, 2007 May 4, 2008 84 7.94[26]

7 16 September 28, 2008 May 17, 2009 69 7.56[27]

8 21 September 27, 2009 June 20, 2010[b] 53 7.73[28]

9 18 September 26, 2010 May 22, 2011 56 7.66[29]

10 23 September 25, 2011 May 20, 2012 63 7.30[30]

11 22 September 30, 2012 May 19, 2013 62 6.94[31]

12 21 September 29, 2013 May 18, 2014 78 6.11[32]

13 18 September 28, 2014 May 17, 2015 94 5.86[33]

14 20 September 27, 2015 May 22, 2016 111 4.28[34]

15 20 Family Guy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search Family Guy

The Griffin family. From the left: Chris, Peter, Stewie, Lois, Brian, and Meg Genre Animated sitcom[1] Created by Seth MacFarlane Developed by Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman Voices of Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Seth Green Lacey Chabert Mila Kunis Mike Henry Theme music composer Walter Murphy Composer(s) Ron Jones Walter Murphy Country of origin United States Original language(s) English No. of seasons 18 No. of episodes 338 (list of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman (1999–2003) Daniel Palladino (2001–2002) David A. Goodman (2005–2012) Chris Sheridan (2005–2012) Danny Smith (2008 – present) Mark Hentemann (2009–2015) Steve Callaghan (2009 – present) Alec Sulkin (2011 – present) Wellesley Wild (2011–2015) Richard Appel (2012 – present) Producer(s) Shannon Smith Julius Sharpe Kara Vallow Steve Marmel (2011) Sherry Gunther (1999–2003) Editor(s) Mike Elias Camera setup Animated rendition of single-camera Running time 20–23 minutes 45 minutes (select episodes) Production company(s) Fuzzy Door Productions 20th Century Fox Television Distributor 20th Television Release Original network Fox[N 1] Picture format NTSC 480i (seasons 1–8) HDTV 720p (Season 9–) Audio format Dolby Surround 2.0 (broadcast seasons 1–8) Dolby Digital 5.1 (season 9–) Original release January 31, 1999 – present Chronology Preceded by Larry & Steve Related shows The Cleveland Show American Dad! External links Official website Family Guy is an American animated sitcom television series 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 surreal & dark humor[2] in the form of metafictional 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 aired that 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. Since its debut on January 31, 1999, 338 episodes of Family Guy have been broadcast. Its eighteenth season began on September 29, 2019. The show has been universally acclaimed, prompting Family Guy to be nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 11 Annie Awards, and has won three of each. In 2009, it was nominated for a 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.[3] Family Guy is a joint production by Fuzzy Door Productions and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television.[4] In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy the ninth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time.[5] On February 12, 2019, Fox renewed the series for an eighteenth season, which premiered on September 29, 2019 on Animation Domination.[6]

Contents 1 Premise 1.1 Characters 1.2 Setting 2 Development 3 Episodes 4 Production 4.1 Executive producers 4.2 Writing 4.3 Early history and cancellation 4.4 Cult success and revival 4.5 Lawsuits 4.6 Voice cast 5 Hallmarks 5.1 "Road to" episodes 5.2 Humor 6 Reception and legacy 6.1 Ratings 6.2 Critical reception 6.3 Awards 6.4 Criticism and controversy 7 Broadcast 8 Franchise 8.1 Books 8.2 Live performances 8.3 Film 8.4 Spin-off 8.5 Video games 8.6 Merchandise 9 See also 10 References 11 External links Premise Characters Main article: List of Family Guy characters The show revolves around the adventures of the Griffin family, consisting of father Peter Griffin, a bumbling and clumsy yet well-intentioned blue-collar worker; Lois, a pretty stay-at-home mother and piano teacher who is a member of the wealthy Pewterschmidt family; Meg, their often-bullied teenage daughter who is also constantly ridiculed or ignored by the family; Chris, their awkward teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent and, in many respects, is simply a younger version of his father; and Stewie, their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who has adult mannerisms and uses stereotypical archvillain 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 ways.[7] 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, their son Kevin 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 Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams also make frequent appearances. Actor James Woods guest stars as himself in multiple episodes, as did Adam West prior to his death. Setting

The skyline of Providence, as viewed from the northwest looking southeast, from left to right: One Financial Center, 50 Kennedy Plaza, and the Superman Building

The skyline's animated Family Guy counterpart The primary setting of Family Guy is Quahog (/ˈkoʊhɒɡ/ [pron. ko-hog or kwo-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.[8][9] 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.[10] Development MacFarlane initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[11] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry,[11] which was submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera. MacFarlane was hired by the company.[12] 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.[11] Executives at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series, entitled Family Guy, based on the characters.[13] Fox proposed MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short, and gave him a budget of $50,000.[14] Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts.[15] While he worked on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian.[13][16] 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."[15] 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.[17] 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.[18] The Griffin family first appeared on the demo that MacFarlane pitched to Fox on May 15, 1998.[19] 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.[17] 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.[17] Fox ordered 13 episodes of Family Guy to air in midseason after MacFarlane impressed executives with a seven-minute demo.[20] Episodes Main article: List of Family Guy episodes Season Episodes Originally aired Rank Viewers (in millions) First aired Last aired

1 7 January 31, 1999 May 16, 1999 33 12.80[21]

2 21 September 23, 1999 August 1, 2000 114 6.32[22]

3 22 July 11, 2001 November 9, 2003[a] 125 4.50[23]

4 30 May 1, 2005 May 21, 2006 68 7.90[24]

5 18 September 10, 2006 May 20, 2007 71 7.20[25]

6 12 September 23, 2007 May 4, 2008 84 7.94[26]

7 16 September 28, 2008 May 17, 2009 69 7.56[27]

8 21 September 27, 2009 June 20, 2010[b] 53 7.73[28]

9 18 September 26, 2010 May 22, 2011 56 7.66[29]

10 23 September 25, 2011 May 20, 2012 63 7.30[30]

11 22 September 30, 2012 May 19, 2013 62 6.94[31]

12 21 September 29, 2013 May 18, 2014 78 6.11[32]

13 18 September 28, 2014 May 17, 2015 94 5.86[33]

14 20 September 27, 2015 May 22, 2016 111 4.28[34]

15 20 September 25, 2016 Family Guy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Griffin family. From the left: Chris, Peter, Stewie, Lois, Brian, and Meg Genre Animated sitcom[1] Created by Seth MacFarlane Developed by Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman Voices of Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Seth Green Lacey Chabert Mila Kunis Mike Henry Theme music composer Walter Murphy Composer(s) Ron Jones Walter Murphy Country of origin United States Original language(s) English No. of seasons 18 No. of episodes 338 (list of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Seth MacFarlane David Zuckerman (1999–2003) Daniel Palladino (2001–2002) David A. Goodman (2005–2012) Chris Sheridan (2005–2012) Danny Smith (2008 – present) Mark Hentemann (2009–2015) Steve Callaghan (2009 – present) Alec Sulkin (2011 – present) Wellesley Wild (2011–2015) Richard Appel (2012 – present) Producer(s) Shannon Smith Julius Sharpe Kara Vallow Steve Marmel (2011) Sherry Gunther (1999–2003) Editor(s) Mike Elias Camera setup Animated rendition of single-camera Running time 20–23 minutes 45 minutes (select episodes) Production company(s) Fuzzy Door Productions 20th Century Fox Television Distributor 20th Television Release Original network Fox[N 1] Picture format NTSC 480i (seasons 1–8) HDTV 720p (Season 9–) Audio format Dolby Surround 2.0 (broadcast seasons 1–8) Dolby Digital 5.1 (season 9–) Original release January 31, 1999 – present Chronology Preceded by Larry & Steve Related shows The Cleveland Show American Dad! External links Official website Family Guy is an American animated sitcom television series 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 surreal & dark humor[2] in the form of metafictional 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 aired that 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. Since its debut on January 31, 1999, 338 episodes of Family Guy have been broadcast. Its eighteenth season began on September 29, 2019. The show has been universally acclaimed, prompting Family Guy to be nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 11 Annie Awards, and has won three of each. In 2009, it was nominated for a 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.[3] Family Guy is a joint production by Fuzzy Door Productions and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television.[4] In 2013, TV Guide ranked Family Guy the ninth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time.[5] On February 12, 2019, Fox renewed the series for an eighteenth season, which premiered on September 29, 2019 on Animation Domination.[6]

Contents 1 Premise 1.1 Characters 1.2 Setting 2 Development 3 Episodes 4 Production 4.1 Executive producers 4.2 Writing 4.3 Early history and cancellation 4.4 Cult success and revival 4.5 Lawsuits 4.6 Voice cast 5 Hallmarks 5.1 "Road to" episodes 5.2 Humor 6 Reception and legacy 6.1 Ratings 6.2 Critical reception 6.3 Awards 6.4 Criticism and controversy 7 Broadcast 8 Franchise 8.1 Books 8.2 Live performances 8.3 Film 8.4 Spin-off 8.5 Video games 8.6 Merchandise 9 See also 10 References 11 External links Premise Characters Main article: List of Family Guy characters The show revolves around the adventures of the Griffin family, consisting of father Peter Griffin, a bumbling and clumsy yet well-intentioned blue-collar worker; Lois, a pretty stay-at-home mother and piano teacher who is a member of the wealthy Pewterschmidt family; Meg, their often-bullied teenage daughter who is also constantly ridiculed or ignored by the family; Chris, their awkward teenage son, who is overweight, unintelligent and, in many respects, is simply a younger version of his father; and Stewie, their diabolical infant son of ambiguous sexual orientation who has adult mannerisms and uses stereotypical archvillain 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 ways.[7] 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, their son Kevin 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 Blaccu-Weather meteorologist Ollie Williams also make frequent appearances. Actor James Woods guest stars as himself in multiple episodes, as did Adam West prior to his death. Setting

The skyline of Providence, as viewed from the northwest looking southeast, from left to right: One Financial Center, 50 Kennedy Plaza, and the Superman Building

The skyline's animated Family Guy counterpart The primary setting of Family Guy is Quahog (/ˈkoʊhɒɡ/ [pron. ko-hog or kwo-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.[8][9] 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.[10] Development MacFarlane initially conceived Family Guy in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[11] During college, he created his thesis film entitled The Life of Larry,[11] which was submitted by his professor at RISD to Hanna-Barbera. MacFarlane was hired by the company.[12] 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.[11] Executives at Fox saw the Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series, entitled Family Guy, based on the characters.[13] Fox proposed MacFarlane complete a 15-minute short, and gave him a budget of $50,000.[14] Several aspects of Family Guy were inspired by the Larry shorts.[15] While he worked on the series, the characters of Larry and his dog Steve slowly evolved into Peter and Brian.[13][16] 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."[15] 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.[17] 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.[18] The Griffin family first appeared on the demo that MacFarlane pitched to Fox on May 15, 1998.[19] 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.[17] 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.[17] Fox ordered 13 episodes of Family Guy to air in midseason after MacFarlane impressed executives with a seven-minute demo.[20] Episodes Main article: List of Family Guy episodes Season Episodes Originally aired Rank Viewers (in millions) First aired Last aired

1 7 January 31, 1999 May 16, 1999 33 12.80[21]

Rick Astley Sam Smith Brandon Flynn Ed Sheeran Nico & Vinz Normani Calvin Harris Ariana Grande Adele Olly Murs Shawn Mendes Taylor Swift Ella Eyre Lily Allen Disclosure Charlie Simpson Charlie Puth Lady Gaga Push Baby Amy Winehouse Camila Cabello Halsey Khalid Elton John Tom Jones David Bowie Gary Barlow Cee Lo Green Bono NSYNC New Kids On The Block Will Smith Will Young Kylie Minogue Simon Cowell Mariah Carey