Top 10 Family Guy Facts
The creator of Family Guy narrowly missed being killed in the terrorist attacks. He was supposed to be on United Flight 11 which was one of the hijacked planes. MacFarlane says that he was hungover that morning, and that he thought his flight left later than it did as a result he accidentally missed his flight. I think that's the first and probably last time in human history that a hangover and missed flight saved someone's life. It was one of the craziest coincidences in history that he missed a hijacked flight that would have killed him if he made it.
You might be wondering how a separate network saved a Fox show, but Family Guy was canceled in 2002 after only 3 seasons. It was originally aired alongside The Simpsons in its opening season giving it strong ratings. Then they moved it to Thursday nights where the show was competing with Friends and Survivor. It almost got canned after 2 seasons but they managed to give it a 3rd season. After that; however, the show was canceled and that was the end of the Griffin family until Cartoon Network acquired the rights to the show and aired seasons 1-3 on Adult Swim during the hiatus from 2002-2005. This allowed a fanbase for the show to rapidly grow and DVD sales skyrocketed as a result which prompted Fox to pick the show up again. It's been going strong ever since.
Lois Patrice Griffin is one of the main characters of the American animated television series Family Guy. When MacFarlane made the original Pilot episode "Death had a Shadow" there were some differences between the final version. Most notably, Meg's wardrobe was white and blue instead of pink, and Lois had blonde hair instead of the red hair and turquoise shirt we're used to seeing in the show today. This also explains why Chris is the only member of the Griffin family who has blonde hair in the actual show.
This is one that even Super Fans might not realize, but it's a subtle running gag that once you notice it then it makes you think. It's not anything crazy like a Peter Chicken Fight or Meg being the butt of every joke it seems like, but it's something funny and I like it.
This one is the best in my opinion. I am a big fan of the show and I didn't know this!
Kind of like "Great Scott!" and "This is heavy" in Back to the Future.
Brian H. Griffin, popularly known without his middle initial as Brian Griffin, is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. It's no secret that MacFarlane plays Brian as well as characters like Peter, Stewie, and Quagmire, but his actual personality is most reflected by Brian as well as his political beliefs and rationale. Which is probably why he's usually seen as the "Voice of Reason". Brian's voice is also just Seth MacFarlane's normal talking voice.
Peter Griffin is the main protagonist and titular character of the American animated sitcom Family Guy. It's hard to believe a guy like Peter Griffin was actually based on a real person. MacFarlane based his voice on a security guard's voice at the college he attended. In interviews, MacFarlane said he loved the man's loud and hilarious Rhode Island accent and it's stuck ever since.
Megan "Meg" Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, voiced initially by Lacey Chabert, thereafter by Mila Kunis. Meg is one of the only characters who's voice actor has changed throughout the series. Meg's original voice actor was Lacey Chabert who voiced Meg for a season. She's notable for playing Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls. Mila Kunis is the much more recognizable voice of Meg who's been the voice of her ever since season 2.
The intro theme for Family Guy with Peter and Lois at the piano is iconic in its own right, but it actually pays homage to a 70's sitcom All in the Family. Family Guy mirrors this other show in a lot of ways, but is very different at the same time.
South Park is an American adult animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. The show is about four boys, who are Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, and their adventures in South Park, Colorado. South Park is a similar animated show that pokes fun at just about everything from its characters to history, pop culture, and current events. However, the creators of these two shows do not get along. The South Park creators have even stated that in multiple interviews.
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as well as the founder of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic. Family Guy has done a Star Wars themed episode from time to time which obviously means they would have to have gotten approval from Lucasfilm first. George Lucas was a huge fan of the show and he was totally cool with the Family Guy cast reenactment of Star Wars, which is a good thing because those episodes were some of the most interesting in the entire series.
