Showing Out

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!

Following yesterday’s announcement that Fox is extending the life of The Cleveland Show to a full two seasons, here comes more news about Fox taking over animated comedies one show at a time. According to Variety, actor Jonah Hill has sold an idea for an animated series that focuses on a 7-year-old that acts like he’s far beyond his years, which becomes an issue when he starts attending public school and is ostracized for his behavior. Hill is expected to do voiceover work on and will co-write the show with Jarrad Paul (Yes Man) and Andrew Mogel, all of whom will produce the show alongside Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope. And while this might seem like animation overload for Fox, all you have to do is watch a single two-hour block of their Sunday Animation Domination block and you’ll understand why they get a free pass on all things animated.

Fox’s new Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show is only on its third episode, and already it’s getting a full second season, a move that’s pretty unprecedented on television. According to THR, the new series has been given a full back nine order for its second season, extending the life of this show for a good year. This comes after execs recently gave the show a full first season order after it managed to pull in a hearty number of viewers, making it the highest-rated new scripted series on television this fall. Not only that, but it’s apparently helped boost ratings for Family Guy, which, in spite of the fact that it’s more watched regardless, it’s helped pull in even more viewers for the Griffin family-led comedy series. Basically, this means that The Cleveland Show isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. And if you haven’t watched an episode of the show yet, watch last week’s episode above and enjoy.

Seth MacFarlane is a pretty talented dude. Beyond creating Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and American Dad (not to mention voicing several of the characters), MacFarlane is a bona fide actor, and if you went to the bathroom during his recent scene in FlashForward, than you missed him flexing his acting skills. Now, it looks as though MacFarlane is ready to step back into the spotlight with the recent announcement that he’ll be joining forces with Alex Borstein - the voice of Lois Griffin - for a variety show dubbed Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show. The show, which is set to air on November 8th at 8:30 P.M. on Fox, will be a solid 30-minute show that features marketing messages scattered throughout the program for Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system, which comes in lieu of actual commercials. No, this isn’t selling out at all.

If you’re like most of American TV watchers, then you were one of the many that tuned in last night to watch Fox’s Sunday Animation Domination. Of course, Family Guy raked in the most viewers (watch last night’s episode above), and while there aren’t any official numbers to go on just yet, it looks as though they beat out ABC’s Desperate Housewives yet again, making this season the first time that the animated show has consistently beaten out the live action show for the top time slot. Sunday night’s big winner goes to the NFL game between Indianapolis and Tennessee on NBC, which nabbed 13.8 million viewers, while CBS’ Amazing Race had the second highest ratings with 10.8 million pairs of eyes locked on the program. Official numbers are on the way, but in the meantime, watch the episode above and bide your time.

You’ve got to hand it to Seth Green. This guy started out as the poseur from Can’t Hardly Wait, managed to hop on the bandwagon as one of the original voices on Family Guy and started not one, but two stop-motion animation series (Robot Chicken and Titan Maximum) on Adult Swim. Now, Green and his two production partners have been asked by FOX to develop an animated series for prime time airing. According to Green, the series is going to have an “aesthetic familiar to viewers of Fox’s popular animated comedies,” digressing from stop-motion animation but keeping that same sense of humor intact. Green, who runs Stoopid Monkey Productions with Matthew Senreich and Tom Root, just had the Family Guy premiere this past Sunday (he voices Chris Griffin), but with this announcement, it looks like he’ll finally be getting his time to shine on a major network.

If you weren’t tuned into FOX’s Animation Domination last night, well, then, you probably have cable and were tuned in to Dexter or something. But for those of us non-cable owners, we set our eyes and ears on the series premiere of The Cleveland Show, Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy spin-off that focuses on Cleveland as he starts a new life outside of Quahog. As it turns out, most TV watchers across America were tuned to the same program, with 9.4 million viewers locked into the program. Family Guy edged it out with 10.2 million viewers, while American Dad and The Simpsons scored 7.1 and 8.2 million viewers, respectively. The real winner was clearly Sunday Night Football, with 14.1 million viewers checking out the Indianapolis at Arizona game. Though all shows probably won’t have the same draw for the rest of the season, these are some strong numbers for their first night out.

Everyone’s got an opinion about something, especially when it comes to television. So for our newest series Everybody’s A Critic, we decided to give entertainers an opportunity to flex their criticism chops by showing them an episode of a new TV show and then putting them in the hot seat to reflect on what they’d just seen. The first participant is R&B singer Avery Storm, best known for lending his vocal talents to tracks like Rick Ross’ “Here I Am” and Notorious B.I.G.’s “Nasty Girl” featuring featuring P. Diddy, Nelly and Jagged Edge. Ahead of the release of his debut album Shotgun Love, we decided to put Avery to the test by having watch the series premiere of The Cleveland Show, a Family Guy spin-off that debuted on FOX last night. In the clip above, Avery shares his thoughts on the episode, whether or not it has the potential to be a hit and pretty much anything that a professional critic would have to say about the show. Watch the full episode of The Cleveland Show in question below, then click to watch Avery share his thoughts on it.

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