'Family Guy' team talk abortions, variety shows and Emmy odds

Seth MacFarlane isn’t taking any chances with “Family Guy’s” nomination for a comedy series Emmy (the second ever for an animated series), so he threw together “An Evening With Family Guy” last night at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood to woo Emmy voters or, as he put it, “drum up support so we could lose by fewer votes.”

MacFarlane, alongside cast members Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, John Viener and Alec Sulkin, as well as writer Dan Smith, took the stage for a night of song, dance and beer-drinking, and a table reading of one of the series' most controversial episodes, “Partial Terms of Endearment,” the abortion-themed episode that Fox has refused to air.

In introducing the episode, MacFarlane noted, “It’s not as bad as you think."

The episode featured Lois agreeing to carry her infertile friend's child and Peter doing everything he can to stop her, including purchasing a miscarriage kit. However, when the baby's mother and father die in a car crash, Lois starts to seriously consider abortion. By this point, Peter has become antiabortion after he is told the procedure has killed some of the would-have-been greats, such as the fourth Stooge, the guy who would have killed Hitler and Osama bin Laden's America-loving older brother. While nothing in the episode seemed to scream offensive -- well, in relation to the rest of "Family Guy" -- Lois' final decision to have an abortion is probably what pushed the network against the episode.

Between acts, the cast performed “The FCC Song,” Stewie’s infamous cover of “Rocket Man” and the Emmy-nominated “My Drunken Irish Dad” with the “Family Guy” band on hand. After a few beers, MacFarlane and Smith performed an Irish jig through the song, and at one point Smith turned into a human fountain spraying Coors Light onto the side of the stage.

After the table read, the cast was joined by co-executive producers Steve Callaghan, David Goodman and Mark Henteman to spill on everything from upcoming plot twists and guest stars to Stewie’s long-questioned sexual orientation. “We haven’t decided on Stewie’s orientation,” MacFarlane confessed. “We think Stewie hasn’t figured it out yet.”

After the table read, the cast was joined by co-executive producers Steve Callaghan, David Goodman and Mark Henteman to spill on everything from upcoming plot twists and guest stars to Stewie’s long-questioned sexual orientation. “We haven’t decided on Stewie’s orientation,” MacFarlane confessed. “We think Stewie hasn’t figured it out yet.”

However, for upcoming episodes and guest stars, the “Family Guy” team was much less veiled. Upcoming stories include Brian hitting a dog with his car, Chris finally revealing the evil monkey to the family, Meg going to jail, Lois becoming a boxer and an hourlong episode devoted to the board game Clue.

MacFarlane and crew offered the most scoop on this season’s premiere. In the hourlong episode, Brian and Peter travel on a "Sliders"-like journey to parallel universes. MacFarlane also revealed that the crew behind “Robot Chicken” produced a segment for the episode.

As for celebrity guest stars, MacFarlane said Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove will appear on the show, but the creator also mentioned the possibility of a famous '80s TV icon to replace Cleveland. “I think it would be really funny if the fourth guy in the group was Mr. T,” MacFarlane said.

Aside from the show, the creators and cast discussed other related projects, such as a “Family Guy” soundtrack now in the works as well as “Something, Something, Something Dark Side,” the show’s next “Star Wars” spoof coming to DVD on Dec. 22.

After the cast’s rousing musical performances, it’s no surprise a variety show is also in the works. “Family Guy Live” will feature members of the cast and is tentatively scheduled for November.
Throughout the evening, MacFarlane sounded doubtful about the show’s odds to win the comedy Emmy but is already cooking up plans just in case

If the show wins, MacFarlane first said he would accept the award using Tina Fey’s voice before changing his mind to Alan Alda. Either way, it sounds like viewers can expect a great performance if “Family Guy” is called to the podium at the Sept. 20 ceremony.

“Family Guy’s” eighth season begins Sunday, Sept. 27 at 9 p.m., but for those who can’t wait, The Hollywood Reporter has clips from the event.

— Kate Stanhope

Top photo: (From left) Mila Kunis, Alex Borstein and Seth MacFarlane. Credit: Vince Bucci / Fox

Bottom photo: Alex Borstein, left, and Seth MacFarlane. Credit: Vince Bucci / Fox

Comments

[Paul]

Please let it be Mr. T as the 4th guy. Mr. T is a legend and that would be so funny. I can just imagine it now... dream sequence!

I have Mr. T on my GPS and he has me laughing all the time. I got it about 4 months ago from a site called Navtones. It's so funny, you've gotta check it out. If Mr. T does become a character on Family Guy, I'm glad I have his voice already because I'm sure it'll become huge if he was on it.

Have a look and listen. Like I say, I think it's just Navtones.com. Listen to it and then imagine him on family guy. Brilliant, just brilliant. Please let it happen!

[Peter]

Yes to Mr. T. That would be awesome. I have Mr. T as the voice on my GPS and he's really funny on that.

I don't think Mr. T would be down with an episode about abortion though!

[Brad Wellen]

Do you believe FOX was justified in banning the controversial Family Guy abortion episode? You decide at: precioustimeny.com/blog/?p=3677

[bruce j mccuistion]

I love that scene where Stewie beats up brian for owing him money. The shows where Brian fights the chicken is funny too.

[Brad Wellen]

See Family Guy's wacky viral campaign for the Best Comedy award at this year's Emmy's: precioustimeny.com/blog/?p=4219

[Bruce McCuistion]

Mr. T would be ideal but something tells me he would not provide enough diversity to the foursome. There already is a tough guy in the group even if he is in a wheel chair. One character I felt that would fit in nicely as a replacement would have been J.J. from Good Times but then there is a bit of similarity between him and the other guy. So, lets take this a different direction and tell me what you think of this: How about some real smart guy who plays with their heads all the time who uses psycology and trickory to enhance the antics of each of the other three. Like a guy who gets the wheel chair guy into fights iwith other Clam patrons , and talks Peter into doing goofy things that he would be sure would bring Peter humiliation (we all know Peter can't be humiliated) and perhaps he tries to get Quagmire into bed with the wives of men who would surely beat him up and lets just say things always backfire on him and he is the one who ends up in trouble. In the end, the four of them always will be friends hanging out at the Clam. My thought is that this guy would be a black version of Brainy Smurf with this glasses and all. He would end up so pathetic as his antics backfire that the audience would feel sorry for him to the point they would fall in love with him. It would also be nice to see Cleveland appear from time to time.