Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American television producer, filmmaker, actor, and singer, working primarily in animation and comedy, as well as live-action and other genres. He is the creator of the TV series Family Guy, co-creator of the TV series American Dad!and The Cleveland Show, and writer-director of the films Ted, its sequel Ted 2, and A Million Ways to Die in the West...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionVoice Actor
Date of Birth26 October 1973
CityKent, CT
CountryUnited States of America
I wrote on a show called Johnny Bravo when I was at Hanna-Barbera.
I'm one of the few people in Hollywood who actually had a good childhood.
If a song is funny and absurd, and it sounds great, it's just going to be that much funnier. And there's no better example of that than 'Monty Python.'
If something is shocking without being funny it's hard to justify.
Some of those more out-there jokes were written in the wee hours of the morning. Somehow, they remained funny the next day.
Every woman's innate ability to let anything go.
I always thought it would be funny to have the Parents Television Council write an episode of 'Family Guy' and give them full creative control. Then see how good the episode is. That's something we've actually discussed in the writers' room. We haven't proposed it yet, but if somebody from the PTC reads this, it might be worth discussing.
Obviously I'm a big fan of 'South Park', but it gets tiring at times when there's so much of it.
From a writing standpoint, maybe television is a little more satisfying because it's not all hinging on one thing. You can experiment, week to week, and you can be a little narrower in your scope one week, and then be a little broader the next week. But with film, everything can look the way you want it to look. You can really sculpt the final product. So from a directorial standpoint, film is more satisfying. But, they're both forms of media that I'd like to keep involvement in.
We never really tried to shock for shock's sake on 'Family Guy'. If something was horribly offensive and shocking, we would put it in if it was also hysterically funny.
[With R-rated movie] you're not dealing with the restrictions imposed by the FCC. They're self-imposed. In a way, that does make it harder. You actually have to think about it, as opposed to just taking for granted that you're not going to be able to do this.
There are times when I'm under the weather and the corporate machine tries to put me in the recording booth anyway. It's always up to me to say, 'Guys, listen to me, listen to what I sound like. I'm not myself.'
Everybody in my family had a real sick, twisted sense of humor. Most of the jokes we make in our house, we would just never even dream of making anywhere else. Just sick, horrible stuff. That wasn't anything new to college.
I don't gravitate toward any particular genre. I like to do things that interest me, regardless of genre. I've had a blast doing Cosmos, and I'm said that it's coming to an end. I would like to do something else like that.