March 26, 200422 yr 'Family Guy' may return By Gary Levin, USA TODAY Baby Stewie could be staging a comeback. Family Guy could return with as many as 35 new episodes for January 2005. Fox In a sign of the growing importance of DVD sales to Hollywood, 20th Century Fox is considering a plan to resume production of Family Guy, a sometimes crude animated comedy that the Fox network took off the air more than 18 months ago. As many as 35 new episodes could return in January 2005, marking the first time that a canceled series has been revived based on strong DVD demand and ratings in syndication. 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. 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. A second collection, of 22 episodes, has sold 520,000 copies. And the series is Cartoon Network's most popular among adults. Family Guy premiered with a big audience ? 22 million viewers ? and some controversy after Fox's 1999 Super Bowl telecast. In the pilot episode, Stewie, a talking toddler with a clipped British accent, was openly contemptuous of his loutish dad and bent on killing his sweet-natured mother in a quest for world domination. Creator Seth MacFarlane, then 24, wrote scripts, drew characters, provided voices and infused the show with rapid-fire sight gags, a nod to The Simpsons. But ratings faded, and the show ended with a whimper early last year. The 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?' " DVD and cable viewers have "created kind of a groundswell that could lead to better ratings" on Fox, Grushow says, although new episodes could end up going directly to Cartoon Network. A decision to restart the show suggests a reversal from the old TV business model, in which a network hit predicts a profit windfall in syndication. This time, the promise of DVD and syndication gold could justify a show's return even if low network ratings didn't. But canceled favorites aren't likely to rise from the grave en masse. Family Guy has one major advantage: With no actors and no sets, it can simply be drawn back into existence. Link I can't wait. I really hope they return.
March 26, 200422 yr Author Production has already started, this story broke 2 months ago. lol. I am slow.
March 26, 200422 yr Courtesy Yahoo News- Thu Mar 25th Family Guy, the outrageous Fox cartoon that was canceled two years ago, will resume production next month with 35 new episodes to premiere early next year on Cartoon Network and possibly on Fox. It marks the first time a canceled show has been resurrected based on DVD sales. The first volume, which sold 1.6 million, was last year's top-selling TV DVD; a second volume sold another million copies. And those 50 reruns are the biggest draw on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block of late-night programming, with 1.9 million viewers. All this for a show about a blue-collar Rhode Island family, including loutish dad Peter, evil toddler Stewie and a talking, martini-swilling dog. The comeback surprises Seth MacFarlane, who created Family Guy at 24, won a huge post-Super Bowl launch on Fox in 1999 and then watched the show founder in several time slots. "We kind of gave up lobbying a while ago," MacFarlane says. "For the most part, when a show is dead, it's dead. It's something none of us ever expected." But in Family Guy's late-blooming success, 20th Century Fox Television sees a chance to profit further from DVDs, merchandise, a potential video game and the ultimate pot of gold: syndication to local TV stations, which usually requires at least 85 episodes. "When we saw the way the fan base reacted, it obviously got us thinking there was a very pure audience that would follow it anywhere," says 20th Century Fox's Gary Newman. The news is equally heartening to Cartoon Network. "Getting this deal done has been my obsession for the last six months," general manager Jim Samples says. "It will be one of the things that keeps Adult Swim thriving." If Fox airs the new episodes, it will get them before Cartoon Network.
March 26, 200422 yr I just recently started watching the show on Cartoon Network and on my cousins DVD player because he has the whole set and I love it. Very funny show.
March 26, 200422 yr when family guy gets kick off again: JEEBUS....SAVE ME!!! I doubt it will get cancelled again, just moved from Fox to Cartoon Network.
March 27, 200422 yr Nothing can die with dignity, I highly doubt it can really match it's past greatness plus is everyone returning? I don't know if Green and Kunis are going to be that easy to get.
March 27, 200422 yr Nothing can die with dignity, I highly doubt it can really match it's past greatness plus is everyone returning? I don't know if Green and Kunis are going to be that easy to get. I'm pretty sure they will, from what I've heard anyway.
March 30, 200422 yr What's wrong with more Family Guy? Everyone can use some more Family Guy. exactly ... thank you thank you thank you i cant wait
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