The seventh season of ''
Family Guy'' first aired on the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network from September 28, 2008 to May 17, 2009 before being released as two DVD box sets and syndicated. The
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
follows the dysfunctional
Griffin family (father
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
, mother
Lois, daughter
Meg, son
Chris
Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common.
People with the given name
*Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...
, baby
Stewie and their
anthropomorphic dog
Brian
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world.
It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...
), who reside in the town of Quahog. The show features the voices of series creator
Seth MacFarlane,
Alex Borstein,
Seth Green, and
Mila Kunis
Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...
in the roles of the Griffin family.
The season included hold-over episodes from the
sixth season, which was cut short due to the
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. It received a mixed reception from critics, the more-mixed reviews criticizing the overuse of
cutaways and the more positive praising its story-based episodes.
[ The seventh season contains some of the series' most acclaimed episodes (including "Road to Germany" and "Family Gay") and controversial episodes like "420", which caused the Venezuelan government to ban the show from its networks.][ The seventh season was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series,] making ''Family Guy'' the first animated series to be nominated in this category since ''The Flintstones
''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...
'' in 1961.
The Volume Seven DVD box set was released in Region 1 on June 16, 2009, Region 2 on November 2, 2009 and Region 4 on September 29, 2009. Nine of the sixteen episodes are included in this volume. The remaining seven episodes of the season were released on the Volume Eight DVD box set in Region 1 on June 15, 2010, Region 2 on November 1, 2010 and Region 4 on June 15, 2011.
Production
The season premiered September 28, 2008 with the episode "Love, Blactually" airing on Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...
in the United States. During the sixth season of the show, episodes of ''Family Guy'' and '' American Dad!'' were delayed from regular broadcast due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Series creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane sided with the Writers Guild and participated in the strike until its conclusion. Official production of ''Family Guy'' was halted for most of December 2007 and intermittent periods afterwards. Fox continued producing episodes without MacFarlane's final approval; although he refused to work on the show during the strike, his contract with Fox required him to contribute to any episodes it subsequently produced. Due to this, most sixth-season episodes had to be pushed back to this one; this left the sixth season with only twelve episodes, and the seventh season began with hold-overs from the previous one.
Crew
MacFarlane, Danny Smith, David Goodman and Chris Sheridan were the executive producers for the season. Richard Appel, Steve Callaghan, Mark Hentemann
Mark Henry Hentemann is an American screenwriter, creator and producer for television and film. He is a writer, executive producer and former showrunner of the animated series '' Family Guy'', where he started as a writer in its first season. ...
and Brian Scully were co-executive producers. Other producers included Mike Henry, Patrick Meighan, Tom Devanney
Thomas Devanney is an American writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the animated series '' Family Guy''.
Devanney also wrote briefly for '' The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'', and was a producer on '' Perfect Strangers'' in the 19 ...
, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild
Henry Wellesley Wild (born April 27, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer, and voice actor. He is best known for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series '' Family Guy''. He was a former executive producer and an occas ...
, John L. Jacobs, Kara Vallow
Kara Vallow is an American television animation producer who works with Seth MacFarlane on the four television series produced by Fuzzy Door Productions for Fox, '' Family Guy'', '' American Dad!'' (now moved to TBS), ''The Cleveland Show'', ...
, Kirker Butler
Kirker Butler is an American writer, who has written and produced shows such as '' Family Guy'', ''The Cleveland Show'', '' The Neighbors (2012 TV series)'', ''Galavant'', and '' Life in Pieces''.
Career
Butler joined ''Family Guy'' in 2004, an ...
, Shannon Smith, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Kim Fertman and Brandi Young.[
The writing staff included ]John Viener
Jonathan David Viener (; born July 10, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer.
Early life
Viener was born in New York City, New York.
Career
He is a writer and producer on the television series '' Family Guy'', where he al ...
, Andrew Goldberg, Matt Fleckenstein, Andrew Gormley, Alex Carter, executive producers Chris Sheridan, Danny Smith, co-executive producers Richard Appel, Mark Hentemann, Brian Scully, supervising producers Mike Henry, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild and co-producers Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Patrick Meighan. Each wrote one episode, except for Meighan, Sulkin and Chevapravatdumrong (who wrote two each). There were nine directors for the sixteen episodes of the season, with Cyndi Tang, Greg Colton, Julius Wu, Brian Iles, Jerry Langford and Dominic Bianchi directing two episodes each. Peter Shin
Peter Shin is an American animator, director, and producer who served as supervising director of '' Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story'', the director of '' Big Bug Man'', the director of '' Family Guy'' episodes "Death Has a Shadow" (the series prem ...
and James Purdum were supervising directors for the entire season.[ Walter Murphey composed the season's music tracks, while Stan Jones edited them.][
]
Cast
Season seven had a cast of five main actors. MacFarlane voiced Peter Griffin, a blue-collar worker and the patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
of the Griffin family. The family's evil-genius baby Stewie, their anthropromorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
pet dog Brian
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world.
It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...
, their sexually-active neighbor Glenn Quagmire, Peter's father-in-law Carter Pewterschmidt, local doctor Elmer Hartman and local news anchor Tom Tucker were also voiced by MacFarlane. Other members of the family include Peter's responsible-but-rebellious wife, Lois (voiced by Alex Borstein); their self-loathing teenage daughter, Meg (voiced by Mila Kunis
Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...
) and their goofball teenage son, Chris
Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common.
People with the given name
*Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...
(voiced by Seth Green). Mike Henry voiced the Griffins' neighbor (and Peter's friend) Cleveland Brown.
The season had a number of secondary characters, including Lori Alan
Lori Alan (born July 18, 1966) is an American actress and voice actress. She has played a long-running role as Pearl Krabs on the animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. She also voiced Diane Simmons on ''Family Guy'', the Invisible ...
as Diane Simmons (a local news anchor); Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown (a neighbor and friend of the Griffins); Patrick Warburton
Patrick Warburton (born November 14, 1964) is an American actor.
On television, he has played David Puddy on '' Seinfeld'', the title character on ''The Tick'', Jeb Denton on ''Less Than Perfect'', Jeff Bingham on '' Rules of Engagement'' and L ...
as Joe Swanson (a disabled neighbor) and Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American–Canadian actress and poker player. Known for her distinctive voice and comedic timing, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two MTV Movie Awards and three Sa ...
as Bonnie Swanson (Joe's pregnant wife). Adam West voices an alternative version of himself, Mayor Adam West.[ Other recurring characters include ]Phil LaMarr
Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include J ...
as Ollie Williams, Johnny Brennan as Mort Goldman, Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...
as Angela, Mark Hentemann as Opie, Borstein as Trisha Takanawa and Henry as Bruce. Staff members Danny Smith, Jon Viener and Alec Sulkin voiced several minor characters.[ The season introduced New Brian (voiced by Viener),] a replacement for the older Brian and Susie, the Swansons' newborn daughter.
The season also included guest actors voicing themselves, including Frank Sinatra Jr.
Francis Wayne Sinatra Group note. (; January 10, 1944 – March 16, 2016), professionally known as Frank Sinatra Jr., was an American singer, songwriter, and conductor.
He was the son of singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy ...
, Seth Rogen
Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series '' Freaks and Geeks'', and then got a part o ...
, Lauren Conrad, Johnny Knoxville
Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), best known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, writer, producer, and professional wrestler. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show ...
, Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson, Audrina Patridge
Audrina Cathleen Patridge is an American television personality, model and actress. In 2006, she rose to prominence after being cast in the reality television series '' The Hills'', which chronicled the personal and professional lives of Patridge ...
, Sinbad, Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors ...
, LeVar Burton
Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''R ...
, Gates McFadden
Cheryl Gates McFadden (born March 2, 1949) is an American actress and choreographer. She is usually credited as Cheryl McFadden when working as a choreographer and Gates McFadden for acting work. She is best known for playing Dr. Beverly Crusher ...
, Brent Spiner
Brent Jay Spiner (; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the android Data on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', as well as four subsequent films. In 2019, he reprised the role for ...
, Michael Dorn
Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American actor best known for his role as the Klingon Worf in the '' Star Trek'' franchise. He has appeared more times as a regular cast member than any other ''Star Trek'' actor in the franchise's hist ...
, Jonathan Frakes
Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Commander William Riker in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and subsequent films and series. Frakes als ...
, Wil Wheaton
Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film '' Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' Toy Soldiers'', ...
, Denise Crosby
Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in season one of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and Yar's daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She ...
and Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...
.
Episodes
Reception
The seventh-season premiere was viewed by 9.2 million viewers, a significantly-higher number than those watching the sixth-season finale. In the weeks following "Love Blactually", viewership hovered around 8 million. "Baby Not On Board" was the most-viewed episode of the season, with 9.97 million views and a 5.0 Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
.
Ahsan Haque of IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
graded the seventh season of ''Family Guy'' 8.2 out of a possible 10, saying that it was a "very competent season" for the show. He praised the use of the show's hallmark pop-culture references and the writers' more story-driven episodes. Haque considered "Road to Germany" as the highlight of the season and regarded "The Juice is Loose" and "Baby Not On Board" as the poorest, citing them as examples of what the show could be when the writers "choose not to put in any effort". In 2009, IGN included the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' cast reunion in "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" in its countdown of "Family Guy's Top 10 Star Trek Moments". Later that year, it included the "Raining Bitches" and the "Boom Goes The Dynamite" moments (both from "Love Blactually") in its "Family Guy's Top 10 Cleveland Moments". In 2010, IGN put "Road to Germany" on its list of "Stewie and Brian's Greatest Adventures".
Casey Burchby from DVD Talk gave a mixed review to Volume Seven of ''Family Guy''; he noted that while a lot of the jokes are obvious and not funny in the show's context, there are standout episodes such as "I Dream of Jesus" and "Baby Not On Board". He also praised "Road to Germany", which "combines solid writing with some noteworthy design work". Another writer from DVD Talk, Francis Rizzo III, reviewed Volume Eight and praised "Three Kings" for blending humor with the original films and its story-based narrative. He also pointed out that episodes like "420", "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" and "FOX-y Lady" contained scenes which were like nothing seen on television before.
The Parents Television Council
The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by conservative Christian activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which advocates for what it considers ...
(a frequent critic of ''Family Guy'') branded "Family Gay", "Three Kings" "420", and "Stew-roids" as the "worst show of the week," a title frequently given the series by the group. In response to its group's criticism, executive producer David Goodman claimed that ''Family Guy'' is "absolutely for adults" and he does not allow his own children to watch the show. MacFarlane also responded to the PTC's decrees against the show in an interview with '' The Advocate'': "For an organization that prides itself on Christian values — I mean, I’m an atheist, so what do I know? — they spend their entire day hating people."
Mixed assessments came from Robin Pierson of ''The TV Critic'', giving the season an overall score of 49 out of 100. Pierson said that the show had become "predictable, stale and irritating to watch" and that it had become "just like the TV shows it mocked". He criticized some episodes for "insulting their viewers' intelligence" and for being "badly written", although he praised some of the stories for following a logical progression. Pierson considered "We Love You Conrad" as the best episode of the season (rating it 67 out of 100), and "Baby Not On Board" as the poorest (rating it 12).
The Venezuelan government
Venezuela is a federal presidential republic.
The chief executive is the President of Venezuela who is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. Legislative power is vested in the National Asse ...
reacted negatively to "420", and banned ''Family Guy'' from their local networks (which generally air syndicated American programming).[ Local station ]Televen
Televen is a private Venezuelan national television network headquartered on the Caracas neighborhood of Horizonte. For this reason it is also called 'Canal de Horizonte'. Televen was inaugurated as the ''TELEVEN Corporation'' (''Corporación TE ...
was threatened with fines for broadcasting the show (which were avoided by airing an episode of ''Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bo ...
'' instead), and it aired public-service films as an apology.[ Venezuelan ]Justice Minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
Tareck El Aissami
Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (; ar, طارق زيدان العيسمي مداح; born 12 November 1974) is a Venezuelan politician serving as Minister of Industries and National Production since 14 June 2018, and as Minister of Petroleum sin ...
stated that any cable stations which refuse to stop airing the series would be fined, and he claimed that the program promoted the use of cannabis.
Awards and nominations
The season was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. The last animated program to be nominated was ''The Flintstones
''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...
'' in 1961. Seth MacFarlane was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a Creative Arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in ...
for his role as Peter Griffin in " I Dream of Jesus". MacFarlane was also nominated for an Annie Award for the same episode, but lost to Ahmed Best
Ahmed Best (born August 19, 1973) is an American actor, comedian and musician. He is known for providing motion capture and the voice of the character of Jar Jar Binks in the '' Star Wars'' franchise.
Best likewise collaborated with director G ...
from '' Robot Chicken''. "Road to Germany" was nominated for a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing, but lost to the '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' episode "Lair of Grievous".
Home media
The first nine episodes of the seventh season were released on DVD by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
in the United States and Canada on June 16, 2009, one month after the last episode was broadcast. The "Volume 7" DVD release features bonus material, including deleted scene
A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...
s, animatics
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in t ...
and commentary for each episode. The remaining seven episodes were released on "Volume 8" in the United States.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Family Guy (Season 7)
Family Guy seasons
2008 American television seasons
2009 American television seasons