Quahog 5 News Dedicated to the Animated Series, Family Guy

Thank you for visiting Quahog 5 News, a web site that was dedicated to one of the funniest animated series. The content below is from the site's archived pages. 

Do you remember where you were when you first learned about Family Guy by either hearing co-workers or friends talking about the show or luckily coming across it on TV while flipping channels? I happened to be staying with my family at a fabulous vacation rental on Maui. We had just returned from a full day of exploring several beaches on the western shore of this tropical Hawaiian island'. We had gone snorkeling in the morning when it was calm and then spent the afternoon wind surfing. We had been told that Maui is the ultimate windsurfing destination with its steady trade winds, clear, warm water, beautiful beaches, and outrageous surf. It didn't disappoint. But we were tired as the evening rolled around and I just wanted to be a couch potato. I was surfing the channels (sorry I couldn't help myself), and came across Family Guy. Pretty soon everyone was sitting around the TV watching show. It was funny, irreverent, and had us laughing with some of its outrageous dialogue. I fell in love with the show.

When I recently I discovered that the domain for quahog5news.com was available I brought it to the attention of the folks at the Web Archive Project who help preserve classic websites for use by educators and media buffs. They were able to obtain funding from TNG/Earthing because the company's CEO, Bob Sakayama, was a huge fan of Family Guy. He provided technical assistance and personnel to get a restored version of the original website back online. So now everyone can enjoy learning about how Family Guy evolved and survived to continue to entertain us all these years

Family Guy. Family Guy revolves around the life of the Griffin household; Peter, the man of the house, is the loving father of three children and husband to Lois. Lois, along with the household dog Brian, are the only members of the family to provide some form of reason to her family. Between Stewie's devilish schemes to sabotage his family members, Chris's apparent lack of any common sense, and their talking dog Brian who amazingly is brighter than them all, Family Guy provides for entertainment on end.       

In early 2002, FOX Network pulled the plug on Family Guy. Fortunately, season DVD sets have been produced with all three seasons for sale. In fact, due to these incredible DVD sales in 2003, Family Guy returned to the FOX network in May of 2005 with the premier of season 4. Furthermore, Family Guy's popularity sparked the creation of the Family Guy movie Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story.

I hope that you will spend some time navigating through my Family Guy dedication. Please use the links at the top of this page to view and navigate the site.

Here you will find the most comprehensive guide to Family Guy's history.

How it Began

Seth MacFarlane originally came up with the idea for Family Guy, titled "Life of Larry" at that time, while studying at the Rhode Island School of Design. Life of Larry (found in our videos section) was based around a middle aged slob (Peter) and his talking dog (Brian), who was named Steve. Cartoon Network quickly hired MacFarlane and allowed him to create a sequel to Life of Larry, dubbed Larry and Steve, which was to air as part of the "What-a-Cartoon!" show. For those unaware, What-A-Cartoon! Was a mid-90's show with its main purpose to showcase cartoons; the Powerpuff Girls is one of the more famous shows that started here. FOX executives saw the shorts, and offered MacFarlane the chance to evolve the show, which later turned into a contract for Family Guy.

The Series Takes off

On January 31st, 1999, immediately following the Super Bowl, FOX aired the episode "Death has a Shadow." The first season was contracted for seven episodes, mainly to introduce the show to the US, and in the event that the new series failed, FOX was not under any hefty obligation.

Season two began on September 23rd, 1999 on FOX.

Containing 22 episodes, season two started many controversies, which many would argue lead to the cancelation of the show. "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" was never actually aired until season two ended; Cartoon Network aired the episode on August 6th 2003, while FOX didn't air it until over a year later. However, the airings did not come without editing; the line "even though they killed our Lord" was changed to "I don't think they killed our Lord." The Family Guy DVD has both the original line and the alternate line, but Cartoon Network was asked to use the alternate. Cartoon Network did air the alternate line, but with closed captioning on, the original is seen. Also, when FOX finally showed the episode, the scene where Lois asks Quagmire for his keys was edited so it wouldn't imply Quagmire pleasuring himself. The episode "Road to Rhode Island" had scenes cut which included Osama Bin Laden passing security gates with guns (which, ironically, was written before the attacks, but was scheduled to air after the 11th). At the end of season two, the show was officially canceled, but not announced.

Why Family Guy was canceled is still a topic of debate.

FOX claims poor ratings along with expensive production costs caused the show to cancel itself, but many can view that as a cover up. Perhaps if FOX didn't move their timeslot, or at least kept their time the same every week, poor ratings would not be a factor. While this controversy is going on, Cartoon Network was playing reruns, and their ratings prove to be excellent; beating Dave Letterman and Jay Leno. Did FOX want the show to be cancelled? Liability issues?

Despite being cancelled, contracts allowed a third season. Unfortunately, Family Guy lost their time slot, so airings of Family Guy were sparatic. Season three started July 11th of 2001, and contained 21 episodes. During this season, FOX announced the show's cancellation.

After the shows cancellation, fans began to speak out against FOX by creating websites and signing petitions. The biggest petition gained over 10,000 signatures in only a few weeks, and ended with almost 140,000. The petition can still be found online here: http://www.petitiononline.com/savefg2/petition.html

+++

Timeline

January 31 1999 - Season one begins with "Death has a Shadow"

July 22 1999 - FOX will not air "A Hero Sits Next Door" (Season 1) due to a joke about JFK.

July 23 1999 - Second season premier date set for September 23rd.

September 23 1999 - Season two begins

October 13 1999 - FOX announces the show's cancellation

December 20 1999 - Family Guy named worst TV show of 99 by Entertainment Weekly

February 1 2000 - Tvindustry.com announces syndication: Tuesdays @ 8:30 on March 7th

April 27 2000 - Rumors spread of Family Guy moving to UPN network

April 29 2000 - FOX confirms the show will not be moving networks

July 11 2000 - E!Online states: "The future's looking much brighter for my favorite diaper-clad cynic, Family Guy's Stewie. After being knocked from one bad time slot to the next (like any new show can beat Frasier or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire), Fox finally seems to be giving Family Guy a decent Tuesday spot. So, no decision has been announced yet, but my sources say the fab comedy will return. But if you want to save Stewie, don't dilly-dally, gabby-ratchets, get off your heinie and send some stinkin' (not literally, please) diapers to Fox through the Save Family Guy Website. Stewie needs you."

July 19 2000 - Rumors of a 3rd season begin to spread

July 20 2000 - "Family Guy" has been nominated for two Emmys for Outstanding Music and Lyrics ("We Only Live to Kiss Your Ass") and Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less). The Emmy Awards will be presented on September 10th and broadcast live on ABC.

July 21 2000 - Reports that Fox has canceled "Family Guy" are simply not true, said the network's new executive, Gail Berman, at the TCA press tour. "I like the show and where the show is going creatively," said Berman, who has ordered an additional 13 episodes of the animated series.

 

July 25 2000 - Family Guy receives Emmy nomination for best animated series

August 29 2000 - Family Guy receives two Emmy nominations

September 4 2000 - Seth MacFarlane wins Emmy for outstanding voiceover performance.

October 2000 - FOX's fall lineup is announced, and Family Guy (season three) is no where to be found. Rumors again begin to spread. It is later confirmed that Family Guy is to be a mid-season backup show, and will return to the air.

January 2001 - Rumors begin to spread that Family Guy will make a return towards the end of January. A person claiming to work for Family Guy made a post at FOX.com's message board reporting the titles of the new episodes, as well as stating that he discussed the series return with Seth, who said the end of January. Validity of this person was up for debate.

February 2001 - Family Guy never made its return at the end of January, and now rumors are spreading that its return will be on June 3rd, 2001, with the episode "Emission Impossible."

March 12 2001 - Family Guy's return is pushed back until the fall. Rumors circulate that FOX is stockpiling episodes incase the writers go on strike. What for, I do not know.

March 20 2001 - Rumor has it that Family Guy will return in April.

April 2001 - Family Guy does not make a return, and more rumors spread that say June 3rd as the premier date.

May 2001 - Family Guy reruns are on the air; Thursdays 8:30 PM on FOX. Canada is showing reruns on Tuesdays, and the UK and New Zealand is seeing reruns as well, including the episodes FOX banned in the US.

January 2002 - Fans begin to protest the show's cancellation. Online petitions are being signed, protests are organized, and letters are being sent to FOX.

April 2002 - DVD release dates are unconfirmed, and many believe the DVD's won't even be released to the public. Also this month, the TV networks are to make their decision for the fall lineup. The fate of Family Guy will be determined if the show is listed for the fall lineup.

May 7 2002 - It is announced that Season 2 DVD will be released in the UK later this year.

May 17 2002 - Family Guy does not make the fall lineup.

July 6 2002 - Family Guy returns to UK (new episodes) on Sunday evenings on Skyone.

July 18 2002 - Family Guy receives Emmy nomination in the category of "Outstanding Music and Lyrics" for the song "You've Got A Lot To See." It is also confirmed that the DVD's will be released to the US sometime around Christmas.

August 17 2002 - Family Guy makes its debut in Germany.

September 2002 - The show is debuted in Russia and Ireland, and is syndicated again in Australia.

September 15 2002 - Family Guy wins Emmy for Outstanding Music and Lyrics.

November 19 2002 - Family Guy DVD will not be available for Christmas in the US.

November 29 2002 - FOX confirms series 2's DVD release for January 27 2003 in the UK.

December 12 2002 - The first Family Guy DVD set will be released in the US on April 15 2003.

December 24 2002 - Family Guy Volume 1 DVD set is available on Amazon.com for preorder.

December 31 2002 - Canadian television network Teletoon begins showing Family guy reruns on Sundays and Mondays at 9pm.

January 2003 - UK fans can now preorder Series 2 DVD from Amazon.co.uk. Also, Series 3 release planned for April 2003 in the UK.  

February 2003 - Cartoon Network has contracted syndication of Family Guy for their Adult Swim segment.

March 2003 - UK release date for Series 3 DVD set for May 12 2003.

April 15 2003 - Family Guy Series 1 DVD released in the US.

April 20 2003 - Family Guy begins on Adult Swim. Later this month, it is announced that the premier on Adult Swim was Cartoon Network's most-watched telecast so far in 2003.

April 2003 - Family Guy Series 1 DVD reaches #2 on Amazon.com's sales rank. Series 2 available for preorder.

June 2003 - With the success of DVD sales and rerun rating numbers, FOX begins to consider contracting another season. Also, a Family Guy movie rumor beings to spread. FOX registers the domain familyguymovie.com.

July 3 2003 - TBS Superstation picks up Family Guy to air reruns. Episodes will be shown weekdays at 2:30 PM.

July 9 2003 - It is announced that the unaired episode of Family Guy, When You Wish Upon a Weinstein, will be shown on Adult Swim.

August 2003 - Season one is planned for its DVD release in Australia on October 22 2003.

September 2003 - Stewie makes an appearance on the MTV awards.

September 7 2003 - MacFarlane speaks about the Family Guy movie in an interview: ""It's all come down to the budget right now. We're hashing it out," McFarlane tells CA. "It would be a direct-to-DVD project.""

September 9 2003 - Family Guy Volume 2 DVD is available for purchase in the US. Volume 2's sales quickly skyrocket.

September 16 2003 - Rumors about American Dad begin to spread.

October 22 2003 - Season 1 is available on DVD in Australia.

November 9 2003 - "When you Wish Upon a Weinstein" airs on Adult Swim.

November 18 2003 - Rumors begin to spread about a Season 4 of Family Guy. 35 new episodes with a premier date of January 2005.

December 2003 - Rumors begin to become a reality when Seth MacFarlane talks about Season 4 and American Dad. Alex Borstein's official site says, "Thanks to all of the fans out there, 'FAMILY GUY' looks like it will be returning to primetime on FOX. Because of your dedication to the show it will breathe again. DVD sales and high numbers on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim helped bring our favorite animated show back from the dead. Let's keep our fingers crossed!"

January 2004 - CNN votes Family Guy DVD's part of their top 10 DVD's in 2003.

January 19 2004 - A new box set entitled "Family Guy Compendium" is set for release in the UK on February 23 2004. The set will feature all 50 episodes from the first three seasons of the show, and two bonus discs containing 14 episode commentaries, 28 deleted scenes, pilot pitch featurette, uncensored material, and series overview and behind the scenes featurette.

January 31 2004 - Family Guy's fifth anniversary.

February 23 2004 - "Family Guy Compendium" is released in the UK.

February 28 2004 - Seth MacFarlane is given the thumbs-up to create new episodes.

March 24 2004 - Cartoon Network announces they will be showing the new episodes of Family Guy when they return. FOX has not confirmed whether they will or not.

April 5 2004 - First staff meeting for the writers of Family Guy.

June 2004 - TBS announces they will show reruns starting Wednesday July 7th. Alex Bornstein's site reports Season 4 is set to air June 2005, however we all know now this is not true.

July 25 2004 - A Family Guy Music CD rumor begins to spread.

July 26 - 29 2004 - Seth MacFarlane's favorite episodes air on Adult Swim.

August 4 2004 - Season 2 DVD released in Australia.

August 18 2004 - One of two four-episode Family Guy marathons air on FOX.

August 19 2004 - FOX launches official American Dad website.

August 25 2004 - The second marathon airs on FOX.

September 30 2004 - FOX releases the names of the first 13 episodes of Season 4.

October 27 2004 - "Family Guy: The Freakin' Sweet Collection DVD" announced. Release date is set for December 14 2004.

December 2004 - First two season DVD sets are released in France.

December 10 2004 - Family Guy returns on FOX for a 1-hour special. FOX decides to finally air "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" during this hour.

December 14 2004 - "Family Guy: The Freakin' Sweet Collection DVD" released in the US.

January 16 2005 - Family Guy re-runs begin on FOX on Sundays at 9:00 PM.

January 17 2005 - FOX announces Family Guy's return date: May 1st 2005 @ 9:00 PM.

February 2005 - IGN reports a Family Guy video game to be released in 2006.

February 6 2005 - American Dad pilot airs on FOX after the Superbowl.

March 2005 - "Family Guy: Stewie's Guide to World Domination" is scheduled for release on Tuesday, April 26. The book will retail for $14.95

March 11 2005 - Family Guy Live! Ticket presale begins.

April 4 2005 - familyguyliveinvegas.com releases a short clip from the DVD that is to be bundled with the CD.

April 15 2005 - Family Guy Live! show in LA.

April 26 2005 - "Family Guy Live In Vegas" CD released. See more information at: http://www.familyguyliveinvegas.com/

April 29 2005 - Family Guy Live! show in New York.

May 1 2005 - FOX airs episode 1 of season 4, entitled "North by North Quahog."

June 9 2005 - FOX orders an additional 22 episodes, putting the total Family Guy episodes to 107.

June 16 2005 - Family Guy nominated for "Choice TV Show: Comedy" and "Choice TV Actor: Comedy - Stewie Griffin" on MTV's Teen Choice Awards.

June 21 2005 - FOX announces direct-to-DVD movie titled "Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" to be relased September 27 2005.

July 2005 - "Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" leaks on the internet two months before the release.

July 15 2005 - Family Guy receives Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour).

July 19 2004 - BBC Two in the UK announces it will show Family Guy late 2005/2006.

July 22 2005 - Family Guy writers take a break for the summer - next new episode Sept. 11th with "Perfect Castaway." Re-runs continue to air.

July 23 2005 - For $14.50 + taxes and service charges, fans were able to see a screening of the Family Guy movie in Canada, as well as a Q&A session/autograph session.

August 3, 2005 - Family Guy: Volume 3 DVD will be released on November 29th.

September 3rd, 2005 - "AIDS Groups are up in arms over the barber shop quartet and AIDS bit done in The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire."

September 4th, 2005 - FOX changes Season 5's premier episode to "Peter's Got Wood" from "The Perfect Castaway."

September 6th, 2005 - FOX again moves "The Perfect Castaway" to later in the season due to the devistation of Hurricane Katrina. Season 5 will begin with "Peter's Got Woods."

September 11th, 2005 - Season 5 begins with "Peter's Got Woods" at 9PM EST on FOX.

September 12th, 2005 - Peter and Stewie appear on the cover of "ESPN The Magazine."

September 19th, 2005 - South Park beats Family Guy in the Emmys.

September 26th, 2005 - The Family Guy Movie, "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" will be released October 24th in the UK.

September 27th, 2005 - The Family Guy Movie, "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" is released in the USA.

October 4, 2005 - FOX orders 22 additional episodes, putting the total to 107.

October 11th, 2005 - Family Guy Volume 3 DVD is available for pre-order on Amazon.com for $25.99.

October 12, 2005 - Family Guy is parodied as The Simpsons on the cover of Mad Magazine.

October 20, 2005 - The Parents Television Council names Family Guy and American Dad two of the worst TV shows for families.

October 24, 2005 - The Family Guy Movie, "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" is released in the UK.

October 28, 2005 - A cellphone action game titled Stewie 2.0 is available in the USA.

November 1, 2005 - Mezco reveals a new set of action figures set for release in 2006.

November 1, 2005 - The first episode guide book is released in the USA.

November 6, 2005 - Family Guy returns to air with the episode PTV.

November 19, 2005 - Family Guy Live in Las Vegas live concert shows at 5:30PM as part of Las Vegas' Comedy Festival.

November 29, 2005 - Family Guy Volume 3 released in the USA.

December 5, 2005 - Seth MacFarlane nominated for "Best voice acting in an animated television production" and "Best directing in an animated television production."

December 6, 2005 - Family Guy podcasts (17 in total) are available.

December, 2005 - Family Guy is featured on the cover of The Relish magazine. A scene from PTV is depicted. 

Quahog5News.com