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Television Media Entertainment

Fox Considering a Return of "Family Guy" 694

Posted by Cliff from the don't-make-baby-stewie-cry dept.
wo1verin3 writes: "USA Today is reporting that all is not lost and due to exceptionally strong DVD sales Family Guy may return with as many as 35 new episodes! A DVD set of the show's first 28 episodes, released in April, has sold nearly 1 million copies, making it this year's top-selling TV show and the No. 4 television title ever, according to Video Store magazine."
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Fox Considering a Return of "Family Guy" More

Fox Considering a Return of "Family Guy"

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  • Stewie (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:52PM (#7515040)
    Stewie Lives :)

    • Re:Stewie (Score:5, Funny)

      by Comatose51 ( 687974 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:14PM (#7515321) Homepage
      Victory is ours!

  • Best Move Ever... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by JuJue ( 695478 )
    All I gotta say is...its about damn time

  • Woo Hoo! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dolo666 ( 195584 ) * on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:52PM (#7515044) Journal
    I love the Family Guy! Does that make me sick?
    I feel like I just heard they brought Futurama back.
    Oh now I feel sad now...
    • i like it too.

      but i also like adultswim cartoons :).

      family guy is just so "didn't see that coming", and it does it well too. no rules whatsoever :)

      i'm a big fan of futurama too though...

  • Pick a day, any day... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ericspinder ( 146776 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:52PM (#7515048) Journal
    I love that show, I saw every epoisode on Fox that I could catch, and I watch ever one that I can on adult swim. As I remember it fox keep moving the show from night to night. Sometimes showing it sometimes not, it really didn't make a log of sense. It was one of those shows that you couldn't depend it being on. I am glad that Fox is reconsidering.

    • Re:Pick a day, any day... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Doomstalk ( 629173 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:09PM (#7515267)
      Fox loves to do this. Especially with shows they air around the same time as The Simpsons, which is by far their most popular show. They like to use those slots to show off whatever new series they feel like hawking that week, causing the musical slots effect you're talking about. That and football games that go into overtime generally mean the kiss of death for whatever show is unlucky enough to be there. The sad part is that they kill great shows to promote ones with far less lasting power.

      • FIREFLY! (Score:4, Informative)

        by Grendel Drago ( 41496 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:57PM (#7515738) Homepage
        The sad part is that they kill great shows to promote ones with far less lasting power.

        Indeed. *cough* Firefly *cough*...

        --grendel drago

    • Re:Pick a day, any day... (Score:5, Informative)

      by xalres ( 668363 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @08:15PM (#7515934)
      From what I heard from when Seth Green was on Love Line. It was a huge fan success with a fanatical following but there was one guy way way WAY up the ladder at Fox that just didn't get the show and didn't like it. He made the decision to switch the times around and drop airings from the schedule at random (a surefire way to get a ratings drop if you want a show pulled).

      How do you like that eh? The best show on television with a huge fanbase pulled because of one ass-hat at the top. That's Hollywood for you. But hey, at least we have gems like American Idol and Joe Millionaire (1 and 2) to fill the quality TV gap left by Family Guy. I hope that exec gets slapped and sterilized.

  • The question is (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BizDiz ( 723499 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:52PM (#7515052)
    what kind of "restrictions" are they gonna place on it?

    The show got cancelled more because of controversy than lack of ratings. It's good to see Fox selling out on this due to response (whoddathunkit? Fox?), but I hate for the Family Guy people to sell out too.

    In some ways it was good that it went out on top; Look at the Simpsons now; yech.

    • Re:The question is (Score:2, Interesting)

      by wo1verin3 ( 473094 )
      >> The show got cancelled more because of
      >> controversy than lack of ratings.

      Actually according to the article it was ratings dwindling. I mean if SouthPark can air on TV, Family Guy should have nothing to worry about. This is Fox after all.

      • Re:The question is (Score:5, Insightful)

        by CrowScape ( 659629 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:26PM (#7515448)
        Except South Park is cable, Family Guy is network. There is a massive difference. Cable channels can take far greater risks as they generally cater to niche audiences. So if Comedy Central alienates the "moral majority" with an episode about a gay dog, it doesn't hurt them much because the audience that was offended probably wasn't watching Comedy Central anyway.

        • Re:The question is (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Belgand ( 14099 )
          Well, beyond that they have different FCC limitations. For some insane reason it was ruled that the FCC can effectively censor broadcast television. Cable, however, falls outside of these bounds and thus is free to do pretty much whatever they want as far as I'm aware. I may be wrong, but there's nothing stopping a cable channel from showing hardcore fetish porn aside from sponsor and viewer complaints (guess which they care about more).

    • The ANSWER is... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by StandardCell ( 589682 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:04PM (#7515210)
      (from the USA Today article) "...new episodes could end up going directly to Cartoon Network."

      That would solve the controversy problem since Cartoon Network is a cable channel.

      • Re:The ANSWER is... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by harlows_monkeys ( 106428 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @08:10PM (#7515865) Homepage
        That would solve the controversy problem since Cartoon Network is a cable channel

        They are a cable channel that cuts the Professor on Futurama when he says "sweet zombie Jesus", at a time that is supposed to be only adults watching. I wouldn't look to them for controversial programming.

        • They are a cable channel that cuts the Professor on Futurama when he says "sweet zombie Jesus", at a time that is supposed to be only adults watching. I wouldn't look to them for controversial programming. They also cut out the "although they killed our Lord" from the Wish Upon a Weinstein episode. And the Osama Bin Laden references are cut of adult swim and the dvd.
          • They also cut out the "although they killed our Lord" from the Wish Upon a Weinstein episode. And the Osama Bin Laden references are cut of adult swim and the dvd. The Osama references were cut at the request of the creator. Apparently, he was almost killed on 9/11 and thus had it pulled. I think it's a shame, because that bit was really freaking funny, but it's harder to get pissed at that cut than at a lot I've seen.
  • Glad to know my enjoyment of the DVD sets may have contributed to the show coming back.

  • Hmmmmm (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ziggy_zero ( 462010 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:53PM (#7515059)
    Maybe they could save us all a little time and release them straight to DVD instead of on TV first....If I remember correctly part of the reason they got cancelled was they gave it a shitty timeslot so nobody watched it.

    • Cartoon Network envy (Score:5, Interesting)

      by gad_zuki! ( 70830 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:38PM (#7515565)
      >gave it a shitty timeslot so nobody watched it.

      Which timeslot? I remember being moved at least twice.

      Also, let's toss in Futurama while we're at it.

      All the cartoon network did is take these gems and give them a consistant timeslot and *gasp* did some advertising. Now Rupert Murdoch et al are all scracting their heads at how much money CN is making and why dreck like "King of the Hill" isn't the cash cow it used to be.

      I think you're right, I'd rather just buy the DVD than deal with FoxVision - where the shows you expect to see aren't there! Here, have some football instead.

      Hell, if Cartoon Network had Fox-like money they'd be doing this too and with Futurama.

      (above message from a Tivo owner and I still couldnt record Futurama because of football, for shame Fox)
  • I did. Although it looks a bit odd when projected to 6' across :-)

    Simon.

  • There is a Santy Claus (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Alric ( 58756 ) <slashdot@tenhund[ ]d.org ['fel' in gap]> on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:54PM (#7515079) Homepage Journal
    As a proud owner of both volumes, I can say, "FINALLY!" In my opinion, Family Guy is one of the smartest, most subtle shows ever on Television.

    Maybe the audience over the commercial sponsors for once. That would be awesome.

  • Blah, bring back Futurama (Score:5, Funny)

    by kaltkalt ( 620110 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:55PM (#7515093)
    Futurama was smarter, funnier, and provided lots of could-be "prior art" for future patent lawsuit defenses.
    • Dummy text to get past lamness filter Blaaaa

    • Mod parent up (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Bobulusman ( 467474 )
      Family Guy was ok, but I felt like I needed ADD just to keep up with how much they randomly changed topics.

      Now, Futurama, that was a show to savor. You had such a good mix of comedy and drama. You had story arcs, plot, character development, and most scifi inside-jokes than anyone could catch. Just look at "Jurassic Bark": Dolemite references and an ending that genuinely make me tear up, something that a television show has never make me do before.

  • Wow, back on Fox? (Score:5, Funny)

    by trp642 ( 551059 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:56PM (#7515104) Homepage
    I figured they'd end up on UPN with Buffy and the gang...

    Chris Griffin: Where do you think you go when you die?
    Southern boy: I learned from church that if you're good you go to heaven but if you're bad, you go to a place where the dead believe they're still living and they pray for death but death won't come.
    Chris Griffin: UPN?

  • FOX = morons (Score:5, Insightful)

    by glassesmonkey ( 684291 ) * on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @06:57PM (#7515116) Homepage Journal
    How annoying, first they cancel the show despite the LARGEST viewer response of any cancelled program. Then they leave it cancelled just long enough so it will suck by the time they put it back on the air. And then they claim it was a "late-bloomer". Fact is they realized they fsck'd up when they looked at the DVD sales and some exec wanted an explaination.

    Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow said a decision is expected soon and called the series a late-blooming phenomenon that may have aired before its time.
    • Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow said a decision is expected soon...

      In english, "we really screwed the pooch on this one and are currently kissing seth MacFarland's ass to try to get him to come back to do more episodes. If he says yes, then we'll shove them out the door as soon as possible"

      I wish they would add "market droid" to the google translation service.
  • This is the best news I've seen on Slashdot in a looong time. Now, if we can just bring back Futurama as well.
  • Here in LA Kevin and Bean, the morning guys on KROQ radio pretty much saved the show TWICE. Listeners rallied around the show and good things happened. Unfortunately, they cancelled it anyway. It's good to see it may be coming back.

    My favorite episode is where the dad gets cash for "slavery reparations", and the brother spends the money to make his house look like Pee Wee's Playhouse, complete with Chairy and Globe-y.

  • The baby with the English accent is pure comic genius; the way they combine the mature cynic and infant mentality is utterly amazing. I just don't see anything (even Simpsons or Futurama) that compares with the high points on that show.

    I am particularly fond of the scene where he tells Peter to excuse him so he can go find something to strike him with. Classic.

  • Not Curiosity/Firefly DVD (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ucsckevin ( 176383 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:05PM (#7515227) Homepage
    relatively short network run may have helped DVD sales, Video Store's Judith McCourt says. "It really speaks to something that had a following, was cut off network TV, and people said, 'What did I miss?' "

    I don't think people are saying "hmm, I think I'll check out the family guy." Consumers of the DVD were fans of the show. It sounds like no one wants to admit that fox made a mistake when they cancelled it. Also I wonder if they make the same turn around when they see the strong Firefly DVD sales
    • Firefly sucked compared to what it replaced. Dark Angel was better. WAY better then Firefly. My wife even watched it and she's not the scifi freak I am. Oh how I miss seeing max kick some booty and look hot at the same time (Jessica Alba).

      • DarkAngel OT (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Scrameustache ( 459504 )
        Firefly sucked compared to what it replaced. Dark Angel was better. WAY better then Firefly.

        Man, you gotta be drunk!

        You mean the post apocalyptic show where a giant EMP destroyed all electronics/civilisation and EVERYONE has a pager? Computers all over the place? That show?

        Where "old run down technology" is a brand new SUV with mud smudged on it?

        Where they had "original" characters like freakin' Vincent from that 80's Beauty and the Beast show? He looked exactly like him had the same damn personality
    • I don't think people are saying "hmm, I think I'll check out the family guy." Consumers of the DVD were fans of the show.

      I also suspect (like with Futurama, though to a lesser extent here) that the type of people who would allow a Nielson box in their homes are not the type of people who watch Family Guy. I also suspect that this is why we see so many "millionaire" shows, and Judge this and Jerry that...

      It's a biased system in the first place, in that there is (I suspect) a rather narrow class of people

  • These need to come out on DVD. Now. (Score:3)

    by MsGeek ( 162936 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:08PM (#7515243) Homepage Journal
    • The Twisted Tales of Felix The Cat.
    • MTV's Downtown.
    • MTV Oddities: The Maxx.
    • The entire Beavis and Butt-Head series.
    And most importantly...
    • Daria. [the-wildone.com] Nuff said.

  • Bloody Hell (Score:3, Funny)

    by Jareeedo ( 217038 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:08PM (#7515251) Homepage
    What the DEUCE!? That's bloody marvelous! Family guy is a virtual cornucopia of matriarchal matricide. Does anyone know for certain if Stewie's accent is modeled after a South African or some form of British? I guess I'm not worldly enough to tell ;-)
    • Get the making of Family Guy... it explains it all. I think it is DVD extras or something, (I got it off a torrent).. MacFarlane (Image/Spawn guy) tells all about Stewie and the origin of his affect and temperment.

      • Re:Bloody Hell (Score:3, Informative)

        by freeweed ( 309734 )
        Heh. Dude, Seth MacFarlane is not the creator of Spawn / co-founder of Image Comics.

        That's Todd MacFarlane you're thinking of :)

    • Re:Bloody Hell (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:20PM (#7515377)
      Seth MacFarlane (the creator) said that Stewie was based on Rex Harrison, who was Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady. I can definitely see that.

      ~Scotty B.
    • South Africans have a distinctly different sound, even though they describe themselves as "sounding a bit British" - like canadians and americans. Stewie sounds rather well-bred, and acts the part; the ep with the girl who speaks Cockney is classic for this..."Ugh, she doesn't speak the language so much as murder it."
  • So who's gonna start the online petition first?

    Seriously, Family Guy was the best thing to hit FOX since The Simpsons... I am still curious as to why they cut it in the first place, never actually got a straight answer but I would asume that it was due to it's... strong presentation.

  • well, that's great. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by perrin5 ( 38802 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @07:11PM (#7515283) Homepage
    That sets a precident.

    everybody, go buy the Firefly DVD set as soon as it's out.

  • One can hope :)

  • Favorite stewie quotes (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bigmell ( 129905 ) on Wednesday November 19, 2003 @08:13PM (#7515901)
    My favorite quotes, cant remember them exactly but i'll try...

    Meg: Happy Birthday Stewie! You want some ice cream?

    Stewie: yes, but NO SPRINKLES! For every sprinkle I find, I shall kill you.
    -----------
    Mom: You look as happy as when you were born

    Stewie: But of course, that was my victory day, the fruition of my deeply laid plans to escape from that curse-ed ovarian bastille. (looks at mother who has his mind control device) Return the device woman!

    -----------
    Stewie: Excellent! The weather machine is nearly completed! What do you say to that broccoli? (broccoli just sits there)... STOP MOCKING ME!
    -----------
    Mom: Stewie, why dont you play in the other room.
    Stewie: Why dont you BURN IN HELL!
    -----------
    Stewie: (in diaper) I say, am I to spend the entire day wallowing around in my own feces?
    -----------
    Stewie: (Captured in airport trying to escape by security guard) Damn you! You're one of them arent you? What are they paying you? I'll double it! I'll give you whatever you want! Money! Women! (looks at him precariously) Men?
    -----------
    Stewie: (to Mom) Ohhh blast you and your estrogenical treachery!
    -----------
    Stewie: Well well Mother... We meet again!
    Mom: Stewie I thought I tucked you in an hour ago?
    Stewie: Not tightly enough it would seem! And now you contemptible harpy I shall end your oppressive reign of matriarchal tyranny.
    ------------
    Stewie: (to mom) Damn you vile woman! You've impeded my work since the day I escaped from your wretched womb.

    Im sure there are lots more :)

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