The cast of Fox’s “Family Guy” has just completed a reading of the script for the 100th episode in front of a group of TV critics. That show will air later this year, but you are going to have to wait for the sixth season DVD to hit streets this time next year to hear a lot of what they said.
Profanity is as thick as paparazzi around Britney Spears. And there are a few topics — let’s say, jokes about abortion — that have been toned down from the original script.
The fifth season DVD hit stores Tuesday. The new season of “Family Guy,” which will feature the 100th show later this year, begins Sunday on Fox. It’s a one-hour parody of “Star Wars (left).”
Seth MacFarlane, who was just in Chicago last weekend with the cast to do a live script reading, talks about pushing the limits on the small screen:
Which is funnier: comedy that offends people or comedy that doesn’t?
The thing that I try to do with “Family Guy” is to kind of have this balance between the classic and the edgy. You know, we do a lot of poop jokes, but at the same time, we use a 45-piece orchestra every week with a full string section.
We don’t try to shock for shock’s sake. If something is just shocking and not funny, then we’ll cut it out. And we have these table reads every week in which we have a very good cross section of artists and people from the outside and writers, and, the studio network is there. No one is shy about gasping in horror if we have crossed the line, and so it’s a very good barometer.
Do you feel any pressure each year to change the pop references to attract a younger audience?
We’re not just trying to do ’80s references. We had an episode recently where Peter (voiced by MacFarlane) and Quagmire (also voiced by MacFarlane) are both at an opera, and they’re sitting very far away from each other, and they’re texting each other throughout the whole performance. We do try and make sure that we are kept up-to-date, although there’s still some Bob Hope references that neither of those generations are going to get.
“South Park” is another animated series that pushes the line of good taste. Are you a fan of that show?
Yes, I am a fan of “South Park.” I think that show is very funny, and I think that the movie was hysterical. You know, I remember first seeing that “Santa-vs.-Jesus” thing that they put out, and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as hard in my life.
How different is it reading the script in front of an audience?
It’s always really so different. We just got back from doing a show in Montreal for the comedy festival. You had 2,000 drunk people in their 20s who were just laughing at stage directions.
