Seth MacFarlane

Emmy Award winner Seth MacFarlane was the creative mind behind the irreverent animated series, "Family Guy" (Fox 1999-2001; 2005- ), which breathed new life into the family sitcom with its deep-cut cultural references and often risky political and social satire. A critical favorite from its debut in 1999, the show was cancelled in 2002 when its cult audience proved inadequate in number to satisfy the Fox network. In a nearly unprecedented move, however, the network revived the series in 2005 due to popular demand, and watched as it bounced back to earn more Emmy Award nominations for its densely packed writing. It also spawned the spin-off, "The Cleveland Show" (Fox, 2009-13). Concurrently, MacFarlane wrote, produced and voiced, as he had on "Family Guy," a significant number of the lead characters on "American Dad" (Fox, 2005-14; TBS, 2014- ), another animated portrait of a dysfunctional family, one whose right-wing head of household afforded MacFarlane the ripe opportunity to take aim at American conservatism. With three original and successful series to his name, as well as frequent voiceover contributions to a number of other series including the lauded "Robot Chicken" (Adult Swim, 2005- ), MacFarlane was widely considered one of the most well-respected figures in animated primetime comedy.