Seth MacFarlane Discusses the Future of 'Family Guy' as Show Hits 25 Years

Family Guy hit a major milestone this week, as the beloved animated series premiered 25 years ago on Jan. 31, 1999. And with the show returning for its 23rd season on March 6—much like another classic Fox animated comedy—a quarter of a century later, it seems as though there is no end in sight.

In an interview with The Wrap recorded ahead of the 25th anniversary, series creator Seth MacFarlane reflected on the long-running show, which was renewed for two more seasons in January 2023. The 50-year-old also seemingly confirmed that there are no plans to say goodbye to Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris, Stewie, and Brian anytime soon.

"As far as Family Guy is concerned, yeah, it's still surviving and thriving," MacFarlane said in the pre-recorded interview released on the show's 25th anniversary on Wednesday. "It's strange that we're coming up on 25 years because I've just kind of been going at a dead run since the show premiered, so between then and now it just sort of feels like one really long day to me."

With working on a series for that long, MacFarlane noted that it makes you acutely aware of "the passage of time," and that there are so many episodes that even he can't keep track of them.

"There is now so much of it that there are episodes I don't remember," he explained. "I'll go back and I'll look at a show and I have a vague memory of making it, and it's an odd kind of—you're faced with the reality of the passage of time that, at some point in the past, this episode, this scene, this moment, frame-by-frame, was so important that I had to get it exactly right and now I can't even remember what happens next."

"I mean, there's what, like 400 of these things, it's like who can keep track," MacFarlane continued. "And as far as how it endures—look, would never, ever compare these two shows, because the Honeymooners is the Honeymooners, but I always loved there answer that [Jackie] Gleason gave when he asked about how that show endured with only 39 episodes, and he just said, 'Because they were funny.'"

"And I don't know that our answer would be any different. I think the goal of the show at the end of the day is just to make people laugh, that's really all it's out to do," he said, of the show's continued success. "It delves into social allegory and politics now and then, without question, as a good prime time animated show should, but that's always secondary. It's a room full of comedy writer who just wanna f--king laugh. And it always has been. They want to laugh with each other while they're writing, they want to laugh while they're watching a screening, they want to laugh."

"And that's the mission statement of the show," MacFarlane added. "It doesn't ever really try to position itself with any pomposity as anything more than that, which I think in this instance is probably a good thing."

But it's a small miracle that Family Guy even lasted this long. The series was famously canceled by Fox in 2002 shortly after the third season had aired. But after DVD sales and ratings from syndicated reruns skyrocketed, the network was persuaded to revive the show in 2004, with a fourth season airing the following year on May 1, 2005. And with continued solid ratings, it hasn't looked back since.