200 Episodes Later

It's my favorite TV family, the Griffins.

(ALL GASPING)

Victory is mine!

(EXCLAIMING) Go on, get out!

(SCREAMING)

Housekeeping.

Bing bong! Mommy! Mama!

You're a phony.

Meg?

(YELLING)

(GASPS)

(RETCHING)

What do you want, a Cleveland steamer?

All right.

Bringing the good news today?

It's gonna rain!

(LAUGHS) Yes!

No...

(LAUGHING)

(GIGGLING)

Ah, that's right!

♪ Family Guy 11x05 ♪ 200 Episodes Later Original Air Date on November 11, 2012

I think at one point I thought we would get to 200 episodes, and then when we got canceled, I thought, "No, we won't get to 200 episodes."

And then, when we came back, I thought, "Yeah, maybe we'll get to 200 episodes."

And now, it's like, "Oh, crap, 200 episodes."

I'm so proud of you.

Way to go, Dad.

Yeah, you're a smart fella, Dad.

And you're a fart smeller, Meg.

(FARTS)

(SCREAMS)

(LAUGHS)

Wait. We've been on for 200 episodes?

Wow. I'm actually almost...

What I've done is I wanted my weight to equal how many episodes we have.

So I'm almost just about at 200 pounds.

And I plan to continue to rise with the episodes.

So if the show goes 500 episodes, I will not be able to leave my house.

(BEEPING)

I've always found it really funny and I was excited when so many other people did 'cause it meant that was something that we all have in common.

We all find this funny.

This is a show that has never tried to be anything more than something that makes you laugh as often and as loudly as possible within the course of a half hour.

(SCREAMING)

(BLEEPING)

Damn it!

Oh, my God. Peter, are you okay?

No! I am not okay.

Nothing about this is okay.

Inherently, like, in the show's DNA, has the ability to go a lot of different directions.

We could tell conventional family stories that are very character driven.

I say it's four o'clock, away with you.

Stewie! Change it back!

No, forget it. Jolly Farm Revue is on.

It's the latest indoctrinating pabulum for children with not enough to do.

Hey! Shut up.

And also, you could tell buddy comedy.

You could do buddy comedy episodes with Peter and Quagmire and Joe.

Would you rather get a massage from a man or a surgery from a female doctor?

Wow!

An then beyond that, Stewie's got this sort of scientific bent, where it opens the door to tell all kinds of sci-fi stories.

Da Vinci must be my ancestor.

Good Lord!

That's who Bertram's here to kill.

So, that means you're Italian.

Of course, my love for SpaghettiOs and smoking on the toilet.

It all makes sense.

You know, it really helps having all those avenues to pursue.

Creatively, I've always said this is the closest I've ever come to writing Monty Python, where any funny idea that you have you can somehow fit it into an episode of Family Guy.

It doesn't even have to serve the story as long as it's funny enough.

I got something for you here. What is it?

I caught you a bullfrog outside.

Poked some holes in its back so it can breathe.

See, look at this... Oh, boy.

All right, hang on, hang on.

I also feel like this show is unique in that...

Because it's animated we can push boundaries a little bit further.

Some of the things that our characters say, if they were coming out of a live actor or actress, would seem sort of off-putting.

Are you telling me that you have a problem with me being handicapped?

As a matter of fact, Joe, yes, I think it's immoral.

It's a lifestyle choice you're forcing on America.

We handicapped are a proud people.

Yeah, when you're not drinking and gambling on your reservations, which we gave you.

There are things about the show that are maybe gratuitous.

(RETCHING)

But the show doesn't set out to shock for shock's sake.

It also has to be funny.

(ALL SHOUTING ANGRILY)

Hey, what are you guys bellyaching about?

Sir, we are doing all that we can to stop the killing of millions of unborn babies.

If you have a few moments, I'd like you to watch this video presentation.

Yeah, I got a few minutes. My wife's getting an abortion.

The "Partial Terms of Endearment" episode, the thing to me that's most significant about the fact that it couldn't air was that it was really the closest we've ever come to a true modern day All in the Family episode.

It's a women's responsibility to carry it to term.

Well, what if a woman is raped?

Maybe she should have thought of that before she asked me for directions.

Huh? What about incest, Peter?

What's incest?

You know how cousin Lou has that kid whose eyes touch.

So what, you're saying Touch Eyes doesn't deserve to exist?

Well, you don't mind him when you want a needle threaded.

I'm just saying that they should have at least have the option.

How can you say that?

Think of all the love he's given to Uncle Mom and Aunt Dad.

Okay, this argument isn't working.

Peter, what if carrying the baby to term would endanger the mother's life?

I don't know what seven of those words were.

What if you look at the ultrasound and see that the baby is going to be born with no arms and no legs?

You name it Mat.

(HONKS)

Even in our crazy venue, which is Family Guy, we felt we'd brought, you know, a relatively balanced and sort of intelligent discussion of a very, very difficult subject.

That episode was not controversial at all.

It's just like "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," was an episode they felt that it was too controversial.

And it's not at all.

It's, you know... It's one of the nicer episodes actually.

Max, Max, Max, let's not deny our heritages.

You're Jewish, you're good with money.

I'm lrish, I drink and I ban homosexuals from marching in my parade.

This is a story of love and loss, fathers and sons, and the foresight to retain international merchandizing rights.

This is the story of Star Wars.

We had done a number of Star Wars gags on the show and, uh...

They were so frequent that Fox Legal said to us, "If you're gonna keep doing these "we have to get clearance from Lucasfilm because there's just no way we're not going to get sued."

This will keep you warm until I get the shelter built.

You're sure this is okay?

Yeah, you're just cutting into the fat.

And we said, "Ah, well, God, that's the end of it."

You know, "We're not going to be able to do these anymore."

And Lucasfilm surprised us by saying, "Yeah, no, we like this."

What started as a small idea became a one hour parody of Star Wars that Alex Sulkin wrote.

Beep boop beep.

He says there are several creatures approaching from the southeast.

That's not what I said.

I said there ain't a pack of menthols on this planet.

I'm a huge Star Wars fan from way back as a kid, as many of us are.

Okay, so the door's going to open and you guys say, "Freeze," and point your guns at 'em.

Or, you know... Or should it just be me?

Yeah, you know what, I think that'd be better.

Get out, go, go, go. Just me.

Oh, I wasn't ready... Hi!

Those were very fun for me to work on.

Knowing every line of those movies inside and out, it was fun to kind of go through it and make fun of it.

You know, tell the jokes that you'd always think of saying.

Where am I? Jabba's Palace.

Who are you?

Someone who loves you.

Whoa, you are smothering me and I need my space.

Some of my favorite gags from the series come out of some of those episodes.

I love in the first Star Wars episode when they're in the trash compactor and Peter finds an old ratty couch.

Peter: Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop, stop, stop, stop.

What? What? What?

What? No, no, no, twist it.

I am. No, no, no, no.

No, no, no, other way. You're twisting it the wrong way.

Which way? What do you want me to do?

Just look down, all right? Just look at me, look what I'm doing.

Yeah. All right, see the way I'm twisting it?

Yeah. All right, turn it that way from your end.

Okay. Okay, just...

No, no, no, no... What?

All right, hey, just put it down.

Put it down, just drop it. All right.

We were able to use all that great John Williams music.

I mean, they really gave us the tools to do this right, and...

And it was because they trusted us.

They knew that we were fans and that we weren't gonna...

We weren't gonna destroy their property.

(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)

(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

I say, Brian, look, three rows down. What?

Is that Tom Bosley?

What would Tom Bosley be doing on a train in Switzerland?

I'm almost certain.

Tom!

Did he look? I don't know.

Well, if I yell, you have to watch.

Tom Bosley!

No, it's not him. Huh.

The Road shows have been a lot of fun.

We started with "Road to Rhode lsland" in season one.

And, uh, Seth had this idea to do an episode based on those Bob Hope, Bing Crosby Road shows.

Seth, as you probably know, loves Bob Hope.

And, you know, is very familiar with those movies and the music from those movies and...

So, I think that having "Road to..." with Brian and Stewie, they're sort of our Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

Up until that point Stewie had kind of existed in his own world.

He would talk to Rupert and hatch diabolical schemes.

And Brian meanwhile was kind of Peter's sidekick.

And they were kind of separate.

And this was the first time we kind of paired those two, and it just clicked.

Okay, if everything worked properly this should be the exact time and place that Mort was sent to.

Now, we've just got to figure out where we are.

Or when we are.

Oh, that's such a douche time traveler thing to say.

From that point forward we started pairing Stewie and Brian together on stories, 'cause they were so good together.

And it's a perfect example of how you can create a show and then your writing style... Other people coming in, in this case, the writing staff, can find things in your characters that you didn't see initially.

The Brian-Stewie relationship which now seems so obvious was not something that I thought of when I was creating the show.

They're always sort of busting each other's chops and, uh, antagonistic towards each other, but they're also...

I think they've evolved into their best friends.

(STAMMERING) Can I just say before... Can we just like take two...

I love... You're so brave.

I just love how brave you're being right now.

This is like the closest I've ever felt to you.

Okay. Oh, my God, I was thinking the same thing.

We are so us right now.

Do you know that?

MacFarlane: And the Brian-Stewie episode, more than anything, we did to explore whether or not two animated characters with just a single room can sustain a half hour purely on the strength of their characters.

We thought that it might be interesting to try an episode where it was almost like watching a play.

Where it was one location, two people on stage, no cutaways, nothing, just dialogue for 22 minutes.

It was very polarizing.

People either loved it or they hated it.

They thought it was revolutionary, or they thought it was just...

You know, they couldn't get past the Stewie diaper thing.

(ALL GASP)

(GASPS) Look!

(SCREAMS)

He's dead.

Oh, my God.

Nice.

"And Then There Were Fewer" was our first 16x9 episode, when we went from this to this.

And, um, we thought we'd do this big splashy visual episode.

I love that episode because it's the first time we've really told a story that complex.

So James Woods murdered Stephanie and then he murdered himself.

Criss-cross.

The animators did an amazing job.

The artists and the directors and everybody that worked on that.

It looks so great to watch and the score is amazing.

It's just a lush score all the way throughout.

We use anywhere from a 50 to, in some cases, a 90-piece orchestra for every episode of the show.

Even if people don't know that what they're hearing is live music, is a live orchestra, on a subconscious level it classes up the show.

I know that it happens to be one of Seth's favorite episodes to this day.

And I think he really liked approaching it like a movie.

Mr. Peter.

Mr. Joe.

Mr. Bonnie.

(WHISPERS) She doesn't know what "mister" means.

Mr. Mort.

Mr. Muriel.

Mayor West Mister.

Oh, my God, seriously.

(SINGING) ♪ Take me out to place tonight ♪ ♪ To a bathroom stall delight ♪ ♪ Where a girl will help you empty ♪ ♪ Every last electrolyte ♪ ♪ Now everybody gather 'round and listen if you would ♪ ♪ When I tell you every person needs a way of feeling good ♪ ♪ Every kitty needs a ball of string and every dog a stick ♪ ♪ But all you need is a bag of weed to really get a kick ♪ ♪ Me and Jesus ♪ ♪ Come and hug and squeezes ♪ ♪ 'Cause you know that he's a simply Christ-errific dude ♪

We do a lot of musical numbers in Family Guy.

Which is fun for us. Seth is a big music fan.

And he's very skilled at executing them.

♪ Now a woman who'll kiss on a very first date ♪ ♪ Is usually a hussy ♪ ♪ And a woman who'll kiss on the second time out ♪ ♪ Is anything but fussy ♪ ♪ But a woman who'll wait 'till the third time around ♪ ♪ Head in the clouds, feet on the ground ♪ ♪ She's the girl he's glad he's found ♪ ♪ She's his Shipoopi

MacFarlane: Shipoopi was so elaborately choreographed and then the visuals, which Dan Povenmire, the director, spent a ton of time working on, really hit every point in the orchestration.

And the thing that I've always loved about the show is...

When I talk to my son and his friends, you know, they don't know what Shipoopi is.

They might not know, you know, who Gene Kelly was, but they're loving the musical, you know, segments.

And it's like, how did Seth make 10 million teenage boys fans of musicals?

♪ It's a wonderful day for pie ♪ ♪ You can ask all the birds in the sky ♪ ♪ And they'll tell you real sweet, with a musical tweet ♪ ♪ It's a wonderful day for pie ♪

Our season seven premiere was an episode called "Road to the Multiverse."

And there's this great musical number called It's A Wonderful Day for Pie, which is, you know, as devoid of content as it sounds.

It's just about Peter and Lois singing about how much they love pie.

But the animation in that sequence is amazing.

Visually, it was just fantastic to see our characters animated in a Disney style.

I just thought that was so well done.

And it was a lot of fun.

Uh, and we sort of improvised some of the lyrics in the room.

Seth just came out with...

(AS PETER) ♪ It's a wonderful day for pie

And one of us goes...

(AS CLEVELAND) ♪ And it smells so much better than I ♪

It was Cleveland as a skunk and it just came together.

And, uh, that was a great piece. One of my favorites.

♪ I know you just can't wait to stare ♪ ♪ At all that luscious orange hair ♪ ♪ But, boy, before you touch a single curl ♪ ♪ You must impress that ultra-bloomin' ♪ ♪ All-consumin', poorly groomin' ♪ ♪ Down's Syndrome girl

The Down's Syndrome Girl song was fun for me because it was the first time I had written lyrics and a tune.

Which I basically went in and sang for Walter Murphy who then arranged it and actually made it sound good.

It's a lot of fun for us to...

You know, to write a song lyric and have a great composer like Walter Murphy or Ron Jones set it to music.

♪ Each bell would peal with a silvery zeal ♪ ♪ As the holiday feeling was filling us ♪ ♪ But now instead, all we're feeling is dread ♪ ♪ Because Christmastime is killing us ♪

When we did our Christmas episode, I had originally envisioned something like Rudolph that had, like, four or five, six musical numbers in it.

We ended up, like, doing two or three.

And I had written this lyric about how...

I was making a comment on how crazy Christmas has become and what it takes out of us all.

And when the smoke cleared, it was a success.

And we were nominated for an Emmy.

But also, a great unexpected thrill was we were nominated for a Grammy.

♪ You have AIDS ♪ Yes, you have AIDS

♪ Not HIV but full blown AIDS ♪

MacFarlane: I think the first song that the barbershop quartet did was the AIDS song.

And that's a perfect example of another reason for using that orchestra and trying to be so musically legit.

Because it allows you to get away with content that you wouldn't otherwise be able to get away with.

Yeah, talk about making a subject matter a little more palatable.

People love the absurdity of these guys singing such an outrageous lyric, but what Seth appreciates about it is how unbelievably talented these guys are and were in these pieces, musically.

It provides a musical cushion that prevents you from being completely crass, if you're being that crass in the first place.

♪ You'll never have to wear a condom ♪ ♪ When you do it with your wife ♪ ♪ Or anyone else you do it with ♪ ♪ We promise not to tell

I also like the little things that we do here and there, like, Stewie singing little folk songs, Stewie making up his own, you know, little songs, talking about, you know, "Playing the G-chord "and here we go to the D-chord."

♪ Then Brian comes in and I change up the tempo ♪ ♪ Brian comes in and it changes the song ♪ ♪ Looking at me like he thinks I'm a douche bag ♪ ♪ But he's gonna learn pretty fast that he's wrong ♪ ♪ Hey, Brian, why are you bringing me down, man?

♪ Why are you bringing me down?

♪ Don't bring me down!

Music and lyrics by Stewie Griffin.

MacFarlane: It's amazing to me that the show has had the cultural impact that it has.

For a long while, The Simpsons was really the only show that had broken out in this way and I always hoped we would have a prayer of maybe doing that as well.

And I think we've done that.

Ah!

Smith: One of the great things now is that we're syndicated.

So, we're on all the time.

And old people like us now.

I have an Auntie Philly who's 92.

She loves Family Guy and she won't let any of her friends in the room when it's on because old people talk back to the television.

She wants to hear it.

Old Woman: What?

Old Man: Huh?

What? Huh?

What? I forget.

I said it before, but we're so thankful to our fans for bringing the show back from the dead, that I almost feel like we owe it to them to give 110% every day to every episode.

I try to interact with the fans as much as I can.

I don't know if you can see right now, but I'm actually eight months pregnant.

And this is a fan's baby.

You get crazy when you're pregnant.

(LAUGHING)

(SOBBING)

I feel like if you love me from afar then the least I can do is love you back.

And if that means carrying your child, so be it.

I love my fans.

Keep digging, you know?

It feels like there's no more stories to tell and then we dig for a while and something pops up that, "Oh, we haven't done that."

(ROARING)

What's next is, I guess, episode 300.

And I'll have even more gray hair and bigger circles under my eyes.

I'm here for the early bird special.

MacFarlane: A Family Guy movie would be a logical extension.

But, with an animated show, you can do pretty much anything.

There's nothing you can't do.

So what is the reason to make a movie?

Without giving anything away, I think we've hit on the answer to that.

So when that Family Guy movie does come around, sufficeth to say, it will be something that is not do-able on TV.

(FARTS)

Sorry. It's been building up for a while.

I don't have a favorite character at this point.

I'm recoding voices so much.

Hiya, pardner. I'm a cattle rustler.

I rustle cattle.

Oh, that's turning out good.

I'm partial to Brian.

Brian. Brian Steele.

Ooh, good heavens!

He's the only character that I don't leave the booth with a sore throat.

Seems to me you should send less time working for the paper and more time working on that novel you've been working on...

Ah!