Airing since 1999, Family Guy has ended its run before now, and then later came back in a kind of rebirth to become possibly the most popular show on Television. Everyone was quoting it, wearing Stewie t-shirts, re-watching every episode. But the heat has since died down. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m the only one who still watches it. I’m certainly the only one who still enjoys it and laughs at its jokes.
I know it’s just repeating the same jokes over and over (and those jokes are all farts), and it’s not as sharp or original as it used to be, but it’s still a good show, and it’s impossible to deny its influence on comedy.
This kind of alternative comedy with completely random jokes that don’t serve a story or even have any grounding in anything real, it’s everywhere today and Family Guy brought it into the mainstream. Whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on whether or not you care if there’s any point to what you’re watching.
I expected Family Guy to go the way of The Simpsons. I thought it would just keep going on and on forever and ever, well past its former glory, with no clear ending in sight. But now it’s come to light that the show’s next season – Season 15 – could be its last.
Family Guy’s creator/star/everything else Seth MacFarlane has said on a number of occasions that he wants to end the show and focus on other projects.
Even before ending the show, he’s been doing that anyway. He’s taken time out to direct Ted, its sequel, and A Million Ways to Die in the West. But those are films. Once they’re made, they’re made, and he’s free to go back to voicing Peter, Stewie, Brian, Quagmire, Tom Tucker, Bill Clinton, Jesus, and whoever else.
However, MacFarlane’s about to start work on his new show – not another cartoon about a family of Griffin clones, but a live-action hour-long comedy-drama set in space (does anyone besides me really want to see this, though?) – and that could consume anywhere between one year and ten years of his life, depending on its success.
Given that MacFarlane got the show made by cashing in a favour from Fox for all the revenue he’s generated for them over the years, even if it’s a bomb, they’ll throw him a bone by renewing his passion project for at least a second season.
What MacFarlane wants is to make a Family Guy Film (rumoured to be a musical) and then call it quits.
Fox have given the film the go-ahead – a no-brainer given the boatload it’ll make – so now all that’s left is to work around the show’s schedule and decide if they do actually want to end the show.
Family Guy isn’t a serial show in the way that Breaking Bad is, but there are serial elements. Fans are invested in these characters and their stories. They’ve committed to spending over a hundred hours with them, and because of that, they deserve a definitive series finale. Not a Breaking Bad kind of finale, but the show needs an ending that isn’t just the last episode they made before they stopped making episodes.
Personally, I don’t want Family Guy to end. It’s still funny, the characters are all still the same, and enjoy spending time with them.
But if it is going to end, it needs to end right. This is what’s worrying about ending it so abruptly. The writers don’t have time to think about the ending. They’ve just been writing another season of the show, ending with another season finale, and then simply never coming back. For a show as iconic and legendary and popular as Family Guy, well, we simply can’t have that.
