Showing Out

This is pretty interesting. When Cleveland Brown left Family Guy for his own show, creator Seth MacFarlane had a tentative replacement in mind that would have rocked the toon’s foundation. According to THR’s Live Feed, MacFarlane wanted to replace him with Mr. T, though the A-Team star wouldn’t participate because he’s a born-again Christian whose morals don’t line up with the show’s edgy humor. “It would be like Mr. T was in the show as Mr. T, and he’s just the fourth guy in the group,” said MacFarlane. “Animation is one of the few remaining television genres where you can really touch on politics. [...] A live-action sitcom can’t really go there.” We’re actually kind of sad this didn’t happen - but clearly, the only fool to pity here is Mr. T.

Back in June 2009 when the world was first introduced to FOX’s The Cleveland Show, Kanye West had already signed on to voice the role of Kenny West on the series before it even aired. Now, thanks to EW, we get a look at the rapper’s character on the show. In the above pic, we get a sneak peek at Kenny West before the episode airs on May 2nd, when Cleveland Brown, Jr. will battle rap against him in an effort to win over a young woman voiced by Taraji P. Henson. “We knew that Kanye was a Family Guy fan,” Cleveland Show co-creator Rich Appel said. “He’s made reference to it on his website and stuff. In the writers’ room, we just thought it would be great to have him as a character on the town. So we came up with the story. He really liked it and said, ‘Sure!’” Kanye additionally recorded some vocals a month ago for future appearances, and while Kanye may not be back in the spotlight as himself, he’s at least taking baby steps here.

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is no stranger to hosting shows on live television, having previously hosted his own Family Guy half-hour special that featured performances and skits from the actor and his co-stars. Now, he’s taking a more serious approach to a hosting gig, with the announcement that MacFarlane has signed on to host the 2010 Writers Guild Awards’ West Coast ceremony on Saturday, February 20, at the Hyatt Regency Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. “I’m honored and humbled to be chosen as host of the WGAW awards. I look forward to catching up with my strike buddies from 2007, and making some new strike buddies for 2011,” said MacFarlane. “Everyone knows his extraordinary voiceover talents, but we’re only beginning to see him as a versatile live performer. He can sing, dance, spin plates…and we’re going to put him to work,” said Writers Guild Awards’ WGAW show executive producer Spike Jones, Jr. Better get that censor button ready.

Sound off: Do you think MacFarlane is serious enough to host a real award show?

Like all good cartoons, Family Guy is the brainchild of nerds, and with nerd territory comes all things Star Wars-related. Creator Seth MacFarlane previously made a parody of Star Wars before, and based off of its success, he’s going at it again, this time focusing on The Empire Strikes Back. In the above trailer for Something Something Something Dark Side, you can get an advance look at the full jawn before it hits DVD on December 22nd, when both Family Guy and Star Wars fans across the world will be able to revel in an entire cartoon episode dedicated to the film. Sounds creepy, right? It is.

If you’re not a dedicated viewer of The Cleveland Show, you have to at least watch this. Last night’s episode focused on Cleveland trying to prevent his step-daughter to give up her virginity at a young age, prompting him to bust in on her and her boyfriend getting busy in the backseat of his car. After he invades their privacy, he asks the boyfriend if he’d help Cleveland Jr. become more of a ladies man, leading to this amazing and hilarious clip. Though the above clip is only a snippet of the whole thing, you pretty much get the gist of it all. Hit the jump to see the full episode.

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Last week didn’t really go so well for Seth MacFarlane and his upcoming Family Guy special. After inking an exclusive deal with Microsoft to have them entirely sponsor their forthcoming Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show, the conglomerate backed out after a few execs were invited to the taping and were horrified by the sense of humor. But now, it looks as though Fox has nothing to worry about. According to THR, Sherlock Holmes has stepped in as the new sponsor for the 30-minute special, allowing the show to air commercial-free in exchange for the special being woven into the show’s content (you can take a peek at what it would have looked like for Microsoft here). The special, which airs on November 8th, will now feature a sneak preview of the film before it hits theaters Christmas Day. Looks like MacFarlane can go back to enjoying that scotch like in the picture above, huh?

The fate of the lesser loved animated series on Fox always makes us nervous. Sure, everybody tunes in for Family Guy during the Sunday lineup, but most people tune out as soon as the American Dad credits start to roll. Lucky for us, then, that Fox has given the series a life extension, with the announcement that the studio has ordered yet another season of the show, which is currently in the beginning of its fifth season. According to the report, renewals for series like these are needed far ahead of time to prevent the interruption of production cycles, considering that it takes forever to animate each and every episode. Nonetheless, we’re happy to know that the fourth chip on the Sunday animation block won’t be knocked off anytime soon. Take that, haters.

We didn’t realize that Microsoft pulling out of the advertising slot for Seth MacFarlane’s upcoming TV special Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show would cause controversy. Yet here comes the news that the PTC, aka the Parents Television Council, has praised Microsoft’s decision to abandon the ad slot for the 30-minute special, which saw the company buying up all the ad space with Seth MacFarlane incorporating the brand into the variety show. PTC’s comments on the decision show that they stay classy: “The Parents Television Council praises Microsoft for waking up to the risk that was posed to its brand by serving as sole sponsor for a Seth MacFarlane special. The content on MacFarlane’s ‘Family Guy,’ ‘American Dad,’ and now the ‘The Cleveland Show’ every week on Fox should be more than enough evidence to make responsible advertisers head for the hills. The presumption that a Seth MacFarlane special would be any less offensive is simply naïve.” Because talking smack like this betters the livelihood of today’s youth.

A few weeks back, we reported on the fact that Family Guy reporter would be airing a 30-minute special dubbed Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show, which was set to feature marketing messages scattered throughout the program for Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system to come in lieu of actual commercials. But now, it looks as though they’ve hit quite the snag. According to Variety, Microsoft has pulled out of advertising for the special after they attended the special taping, reneging on their offer after witnessing the lewd content. “We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of ‘Family Guy,’ but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand,” said a Microsoft spokesperson. “We continue to have a good partnership with Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent.” They’re currently looking for another sponsor to take the spot, which is set to air on Fox on November 8th.

Looks like Springfield is about to get one more citizen. According to the AP, the creators of The Simpsons have created a contest that allows hopefuls to come up with a new character to join the cast, with the winner’s creation appearing in an episode that also stars Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Entrants can log on to the Simpsons website as of today and submit their idea until 11:59 P.M. on October 24th, when producer Al Jean will sort through admissions with creator Matt Groening and settle on a winner. The only guideline that they’ve set is that the character has to be “human,” and the winner of the contest will also be flown to Los Angeles to see that the creation of that character will be in good taste. This is a pretty nice contest to throw, even if Springfield is already a bit too crowded. Get thinking!