Seth Macfarlane Page 3

Okay, ready for another awards season? The dust has barely settled on 2014’s selfie-centric Oscars, but the Academy are already looking ahead to another winter of speculation by confirming Neil Meron and Craig Zadan are returning as producers for a third ceremony in a row. 

Zadan and Meron will work on The Oscars again 

It’s not as if the pair have gleaned critical acclaim for their last two efforts; Seth Macfarlane’s ceremony was considered to be too focussed on musicals, while DeGeneres’ was criticised for being too boring. Perhaps the producer pair can find some middle ground considering they’re taking on the middle of the decade in 2015. 

Continue reading: Oscar 2015: Neil Meron And Craig Zadan Are Back For A Third Oscars Ceremony

The directorial duo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have become favorites around Hollywood come awards season and now they’ve been called on again to produce the 2015 Oscars ceremony. This will be Zadan and Meron’s third consecutive year running the live broadcast after this year’s ceremony brought in the best ratings in 14 years. Almost 44 million viewers in the United States tuned into the ABC live telecast of Hollywood's biggest night, hosted by comedian, talk show host and potential demigod Ellen Degeneres, 8 percent more than the previous year and the highest number since 2000, according to Nielsen ratings data, via Reuters.

Zadan and Meron's last turn at the Oscars was nothing short of a rousing success.

Whatever Zadan and Meron are doing – so far they have been banking on broad social media appeal – has been working.

Continue reading: #Oscars2015? Zadan And Meron To Produce Academy Awards For Third Consecutive Year

Popular American cartoons Family Guy and American Dad are both set to disappear from British television sets as BBC3 away from televisions and onto the Internet exclusively. What’s more, licensing and rights issues prevent The BBC from offering these shows on the iPlayer.

Stewie isn't delighted with the BBC's decision (still from S12E06)

Basically, you won’t be able to watch Family Guy and American dad late at night any more – on your TV anyway. "We will be speaking to all our suppliers, following last week's announcement," a BBC spokesperson said. "However, at the moment due to rights issues, we are unable to make Family Guy or American Dad available on BBC iPlayer."

Continue reading: 'Family Guy' And 'American Dad' Disappearing As BBC3 Migrates To Online Only

Bill Murray has led the influx of celebrity tributes to the actor and director Harold Ramis, who died aged 69 on Monday. Murray most memorably starred alongside Ramis in the 1984 supernatural comedy Ghostbusters in which they played a team of contract ghost hunters.

Bill Murray Has Added His Voice To The Tributes For Harold Ramis.

Ramis had been suffering for some time with an infection that resulted in complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, though his death has still shaken the Hollywood community and has saddened the talented filmmaker's fans across the globe.

Continue reading: Bill Murray On Harold Ramis: "He Earned His Keep On This Planet"

Seth Macfarlane is replacing Mila Kunis with Amanda Seyfried as the female lead in Ted 2. According to Deadline, Kunis will either appear in a small role in the sequel or not appear at all. Apparently there’s no bad blood between Kunis and Macfarlane. The casting change was just a creative decision and Kunis continues to provide the voice of Meg Griffin on MacFarlane’s longrunning Family Guy.

Kunis [l] is out, to be replaced with Amanda Seyfried [r].

There might be some dramatic twist coming in the Ted sequel, if Kunis’ character Lori Collins is no longer in the picture. At the end of Ted Lori married Mark Wahlberg's John Bennett, so there must be some shakeup in the story – either between the two movies or at the beginning of the second one. The rest of the primary cast – Mark Wahlberg and MacFarlane himself as the voice of the foul-mouthed teddy bear – are, of course, reprising their roles.

Continue reading: Mila Kunis Is Out, Amanda Seyfried Is In For Seth MacFarlane's 'Ted 2'

Grammy Awards Glory: Last Sunday's Grammy Awards proved probably the most spectacular ceremony in living memory. The most enviable of all performance line-ups entertained a near-record 28.5 million viewers, with Madonna, Daft Punk, Beyoncé and Jay Z, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons, Stevie Wonder, Nile Rodgers, Ringo Starr, Sir Paul McCartney, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age and Dave Grohl all showing off their skills.

As for the small matter of the actual awards, Pharrell Williams, Daft Punk and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were the evening's big winners whilst newcomer Lorde picked up two gongs and Jay Z and Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Kacey Musgraves and Black Sabbath were also prominent victors. This, year, perfect pop princess Taylor Swift went home empty-handed, which made for some pretty funny videos.

Continue reading: A Week In News: Grammys Glory, Bad Boy Bieber, Retiring Rockers, And The Wild, Wild West

A man getting his head squished by a giant block of ice. A photographer being burnt alive. A woman dying from surgery for a splinter. All these unfortunate endings make up the new movie - and first trailer - for Seth Macfarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Charlize Theron [L] and Seth MacFarlane [R] in 'A Million Ways to Die in the West'

The Family Guy creator directs, co-writes and stars in the western comedy, playing a farmer who enlists the help of a gunslinger's wife (Charlize Theron) in the hope of winning back his ex-girlfriend.

Continue reading: 'A Million Ways To Die In The West' Red-Band Trailer. Are You Ready For This?

A host of pun-tastic and risqué posters has been released ahead of the release of Seth Macfarlane's new comedy western, A Million Way To Die In The West. Starring Amanda Seyfried, Sarah Silverman, Neil Patrick Harris, Liam Neeson, Charlize Theron, Giovanni Ribisi, and MacFarlane himself, the movie certainly pulls no punches when it comes to rounding up a killer cast.

MacFarlane Plays a Sheep Farmer Who's About To Receive The Courage Shake-Up He Needs When Charlize Theron Rolls Into Town.

As well as directing, co-writing and producing the comedy, Seth also takes on the role of cowardly sheep farmer Albert. After Albert backs out of a gunfight, his fickle girlfriend (Seyfried) leaves him for another man. However, the farmer hadn't counted on a mysterious and beautiful woman (Theron) riding into town, who helps him find his courage.

Continue reading: 'A Million Ways To Die In The West' Is A Whip-Cracking Western Comedy As Immature As 'Ted' [Pictures]

If you haven't already heard, Family Guy's Brian Griffin was killed off but if you're even hotter on the ins and outs of entertainment news, or just live in the US where episodes are shown first, you'll know that Brian has been brought back.

What Was The Real Motivation behind Killing Brian Off?

Indeed, in the blink of an eye - well, less than a month after Brian was shown dying after being hit by a car, the makers of Family Guy have brought the Griffin family's beloved pet dog back into the plot. Though Brian's death was made out to be irreversible seeing as Stewie's time machine was supposed to be destroyed, all is not so.

Continue reading: Why Was Family Guy's Brian Griffin Brought Back From The Dead? [Video]

Seth Macfarlane has opened up about the recent publicity that his cartoon comedy show Family Guy has attracted after deciding to kill off main character, Brian Griffin. The Griffin family's pet dog was shown to die after a car crash, before being quickly replaced by straight-talking tough dog, Vinnie, voiced by The Sopranos' Tony Sirico.

We Were Told That Stewie Had Destroyed His Time Machine So Couldn't Save Brian.

Fans reacted with sorrow and outrage to the cull of the character who is arguably Family Guy's most memorable. A petition was quickly launched demanding that Brian be brought back and fans waited with baited breath to see what the show's next move would be.

Continue reading: Seth MacFarlane Lifts Lid On 'Family Guy' Brian Griffin Plot Ruse [Video]

In one of the most irritating and transparent plotline stunts of all time, Brian Griffin's return to hit comedy cartoon Family Guy isn't exactly the most unpredictable move. Brian, the Griffin family's pet dog, was widely accepted to be one of the show's strongest characters but was killed off in a November episode after he was hit by a car.

Brian Griffin Has Made His Return To 'Family Guy.'

Within the same episode that Brian died on the operating table, the Griffin's headed to a dog's home to pick up another pet. Vinnie, the straight-talking dog voiced by The Sopranos' Tony Sirico, was brought in to replace the loveable black and white mutt, who was voiced by show creator Seth Macfarlane. Fans reacted in their thousands to Brian's untimely and unexpected demise by creating a petition to bring Brian back.

Continue reading: What's The Point In Bringing Brian Griffin Back To Family Guy? [Video]

Family Guy fans looks set to be confused once again after news has surfaced that Brian Griffin, the Family Guy character killed off in a recent episode of Family Guy, could be set to return for good. Brian the dog's death didn't go down particularly well when the episode, 'The Life of Brian,' was aired, with fans quickly creating petitions to have the loveable pooch brought back.

Well, Is He Or Isn't He? 'Family Guy' Messes Fans Around?

It seems that makers of the show have taken heed of the uproarious reaction after Brian was shown getting hit by a car, dying on the operating table, then being buried to by the grief-stricken Griffins. To rub salt in the wound, the family were seen in the same episode going to a dog's home to pick up a new pet, Vinny, voiced by The Sopranos' Tony Sirico.

Continue reading: Brian Returning To Family Guy After Death: Come Again?

Ok so Brian the dog is dead and Family Guy fans are angry, but the aficionadas are holding out hope for the pooch's safe return to action. It's still one of the most popular shows around, but Seth Macfarlane and everyone involved knew that it needed a kick up the backside.

Brian [L] and Stewie [R] in 'Family Guy'

A nice big fat slice of publicity. If Brian's death turns out to be permanent, than fine, the show has been in the news all week and it's generated plenty of interest, but the clues suggest the writers might be looking to keep viewers hooked for a couple of weeks, before the big reveal.

Continue reading: So, Family Guy's Brian Will Be Resurrected On December 15th, Right?

When popular cartoon Family Guy decided to kill off one of the show's core cast - namely loveable family dog Brian Griffin - the producers could not have anticipated the controversy that would be stirred up. Turns out that after nearly 15 years of Family Guy, fans feel like they have some kind of ownership of the show and have put their foot down this time.

R.I.P. Brian Griffin.

In an episode aired over the weekend, beloved pooch and writer Brian (voiced by Seth Macfarlane) was brutally taken from the show after being hit by a car. He died under the family's watch on an operating table when doctors just couldn't save him. However, in typical Family Guy blunt style, no sooner than Brian had died than he'd been replaced with a straight-talking, tough dog Vinny, voiced by The Sopranos Tony Sirico.

Continue reading: Family Guy Fans Launch Petition To Protest Death Of Major Character

Family Guy writer threw their fans a curveball on Sunday, 24 November, night by killing off one of the show's main characters, ending their eleven season run in the hit FOX animation for good. As fans react angrily online, the show's executive producers have since come forward in order to explain the character's axing and ask fans to see this as the start of something new, rather than the end of an era.

No more wacky adventures for these two

[Spoilers] Titled 'Life of Brian,' the latest episode of the current season began with Stewie destroying his time machine after too many near-misses tht could alter the space-time continuum, immediately ending any chance he might have of saving the beloved family dog Brian. Within the first few minutes of the episode, Brian was dead, run over by a car, and by the end of the episode the Griffin family had already adopted a new pet, so there was little chance to grieve. So maybe this is why fans are so aggravated.

Continue reading: 'Family Guy' Producers Explain The Reason Behind The Shock Main Character Death

Erm, Family Guy killed off a major character. They killed off Brian, and he’s not coming back. No really. That’s what happened. The family pet was killed off in a car accident, and the Griffins went to a pound and picked up a new dog, with a mafia-style attitude to boot.

Sad times: these two won't be enjoying any more jokes together

The death of Brian was a huge surprise for fans, who were promised the end of a major character in this Sunday’s episode, but who wouldn’t have expected him to go due to his importance to the last 11 seasons of the show. Alas, the Family Guy team were in the mood for a shock, electing the chatty mutt to meet his maker.

Continue reading: Which Family Guy Character Died? Clue: The Episode's Called 'The Life Of Brian'

Good news fans of repetitive toilet humour, Seth Macfarlane has been given the green light by Fox to produce another animated series for the network. With Fox quietly reducing his output on the network to just his flagship show, Family Guy, a deal has been struck between Fox officials and MacFarlane to bring Bordertown to the network.

As first reported by Deadline, Fox have agreed an initial 13 episodes run for the new animated series, with MacFarlane working with Family Guy producer and Ted director Mark Hentemann as executive producer for the project. Alex Carter (Family Guy) and Dan Vebber (American Dad) will also executive produce the seriers.

The show was originally conceived by Hentemann, and is set in the fictitious Texan town of Bordertown, where the ongoing cultural shifts running through America will be explored in each episode, probably in the least politically correct way possible.

Continue reading: Fox Order All-New Seth MacFarlane Animated Series, 'Bordertown'

Neil Patrick Harris has landed the top awards hosting job in television for the second time. Such is the natural ability of the man, that organizers of the Primetime Emmy Awards have invited him back to helm the show at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on September 22, 2013.

"Four years ago, Neil was an amazing Emmy host and we are excited to have him back," Bruce Rosenblum, the Television Academy chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "Neil is an extremely gifted and inventive performer, and we look forward to seeing what he has in store this year." A hugely popular awards show host, Harris said he "couldn't be more honored and excited" to host the Emmys - the biggest date on the television industry's calendar. The 'How I Met Your Mother' actor is also hosting the Tony Awards for the fourth time this year, which honors the best shows and performances on Broadway. This year's ceremony comes from the Radio City Music Hall in New York next month.

A three-time Emmy Award winner himself, Neil Patrick Harris is currently shooting Seth Macfarlane's new comedy A Million Ways To Die In The West, about a cowardly farmer who seeks the help of a gunslinger's wife to help him win back the woman who left him. It also stars Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson and Charlize Theron and hits theaters on May 30, 2014.

Continue reading: 'Gifted' Neil Patrick Harris Returns To Host 65th Emmy Awards

Seth Macfarlane got a mauling after his performance hosting the Oscars this year, so you’re probably all breathing a sigh of relief that he won’t be back to take the helm at the movie showcase in 2014, the Family Guy creator reiterating what he’d said after the event, in that he wasn’t going to be there.

Taking to Twitter, MacFarlane alerted his followers "Traumatised critics exhale: I'm unable to do the Oscars again.” As the world’s smallest violin presumably played, he added "Tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep." MacFarlane had a rough time of it with the critics, but it would appear that internally he got on well with the Oscars team, as he also commented, "However, I highly recommend the job, as Zadan and Meron are two of the most talented producers in the business."

This isn’t really news at all to be honest, we already knew that MacFarlane wasn’t too keen on coming back for another round of hosting. As The Guardian reports, earlier this year he commented ;"The Oscars is basically the Kob[a]yashi Maru test," in a reference to the unwinnable training scenario depicted in the Star Trek film series. Still, the critical beating must have rankled with MacFarlane who is used to making a success of everything he touches, whether it be TV, music or film. The temptation to prove his doubters wrong must be there, or perhaps he’s simply not bothered. He’s rich enough after all.

Continue reading: And Breathe...Seth MacFarlane Won't Be 2014's Oscars Host

Wow. Fox has really shown its hand for next season, offering four big new shows in the bid to get ahead in the race for ratings. The network has made high profile comedy pickups including the Seth Macfarlane produced Dads and the Andy Samberg starring Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Elsewhere, Fox ordered 13 episodes of of Surviving Jack with Chris Meloni, Enlisted with Geoff Stults and Us and Them starring Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel. But which is likely to become the next Family Guy or New Girl? 

Dads

Continue reading: Fox Orders Seth MacFarlane's 'Dads' And Samberg's 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' [Analysis]

Despite widespread criticism – although primarily directed at the host, Seth Macfarlane – The Oscars 2013 was considered a success by The Academy due to the high ratings, especially in the much coveted demographic of ‘young people’.

And in that light, the decision to bring Caig Zadan and Neil Meron back as producers seems less strange. The ceremony was rich in set pieces; Macfarlane, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe did a number, as did the entire crew of Les Miserables. Turns out, people love all that.

Partners in crime - Zadan [L] and Meron [R] will work on The Oscars again

Continue reading: High Ratings See Craig Zadan And Neil Meron Re-Hired For Oscars 2014

Fox television has pulled an episode of Seth Macfarlane's animated series 'Family Guy' from television and internet sites after several unrelated clips were spliced together to depict a bombing at the Boston Marathon. Creator MacFarlane slammed the mash-up as "abhorrent," after it came just a day after two bombs killed three people and wounded 176 at the finish line of the annual marathon.

A Fox spokeswoman said the network had pulled the recent 'Turban Cowboy' episode of Family Guy from being rebroadcast, and that network officials were working to take down YouTube videos. The clips are taken from an episode in which character Peter Griffin drunkenly drives over runners in order to win the Boston Marathon, though the makers of the video took advantage of an unconnected storyline in which Peter unknowingly becomes friends with an extremist who gives him a cell-phone which detonates a bomb. "The edited Family Guy clip currently circulating is abhorrent. The event was a crime and a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the victims," MacFarlane, who recently hosted the Oscars, wrote on Twitter.

Television networks in the US frequently review material that might be considered sensitive after national tragedies such as the marathon bombings. Similar reviews were conducted following the Newton, Connecticut school shootings and Superstorm Sandy in 2012. In the UK, Film4 has dropped the movie Four Lions from its schedule next week. Chris Morris' comedy is about a group of British Muslims planning a bomb attack at the London marathon.

Continue reading: Fox Pulls 'Family Guy' Episode After Boston Bombings Clip Goes Viral

There will not be a single Oscar handed out in February 2014, and that’s because the ceremony will be held in March. See, the Academy bods are so worried about attention being deflected from the biggest night in Hollywood, that they’ve pandered to the biggest week in… winter sports.

The Winter Olympics will be taking place in Sochi, Russia from February 7-23, and it has become customary for the Academy to step aside while the games are on. It’s only an issue they have to deal with every four years. This way, both events get the ratings, and people don’t have to make that oh-so-difficult decision: bobsleighs or award speeches. We’re shuddering at the thought of such a dilemma. Still, if the calibre of host doesn’t improve from last year's pretty woeful Seth Macfarlane, then watching skinny athletes fall over on the show might just be a more electable option. Credit where credit’s due for the Family Guy creator, 40m people tuned in to watch it, so he did his job. So the date’s cleared up.

Opposite directions - Macfarlane and Timberlake

Continue reading: The Oscars Slalom Into March To Avoid The Winter Olympics

Jamie Lee Curtis has spoken out on her feelings about Seth Macfarlane's controversial performance at the 2013 Oscars ceremony.

The 'Family Guy' creator hasn't exactly been the subject of much praise over the last few weeks after hosting the ceremony, the least appreciated act being performing a crude song about several of the female attendants called 'We Saw Your Boobs'. 'Freaky Friday' star Curtis states that the show 'offended' her and has slammed the number, likening it to a 'public execution', mentioning that it turned the prestigious show into a 'cheesy vaudeville show'. 'The 'boob' song, as it will be known in perpetuity, may go down as the highest-rated Oscar number in history, but at what cost?' She wrote in an article for the Huffington Post. 'When did they turn into a 'roast'? At least at a roast you know what's in store. What if actors and actresses stopped attending the Oscars because it was deemed open session to ridicule and parody them? Would the Academy be so cavalier then?'

She went on to say that she has also gone topless for movies but added that it wasn't something she enjoyed. 'I am sorry that this is what we are talking about and not Argo's lovely win or Jennifer's amazing performance', she said. 'What we will be talking about is Seth's lack of class and a 14-year-old boy's derogatory word for one of the most beautiful, motherly and literally nurturing parts of the female form.'

Seth Macfarlane is "very, very happy" with his Oscars performance, according to producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron who are basking in strong ratings for the 85th Academy Awards, despite the ceremony being among the worst reviewed in years. The Family Guy comedian came in for the majority of criticism, particularly for jokes deemed to be sexist, unfunny and downright offensive, though Zadan and Meron should not escape criticism given a series of bizarre song and dance numbers to open the show, a lethargic tribute to James Bond, and several major names excluded from the In Memoriam segment.

Seth MacFarlane Came Under Fire For His Oscars Hosting

"When you take the job, you know you're in jeopardy of being ripped to shreds," producer Craig Zadan said in an interview with The Times. "No matter what you do with the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences], people take sides. We judged the show by what we wanted to do." Meron added that he was expecting some criticism, "None of us expected to be lauded by the press." The Oscars has an uncomfortable relationship with its hosts over the past couple of years. A kneejerk decision to have James Franco and Anne Hathaway helm the ceremony in 2011 will go down as one of the disaster moments in the Academy's long history, while choosing Oscars veteran Billy Crystal to steady the ship in 2012 proved an equally bad move. Although revered as perhaps the greatest host of all time, Crystal's comedy seemed out of touch with the younger generation - a blackened face in his opening skit sort of set the pace. 

Continue reading: Seth MacFarlane's Oscars: What Went Wrong And Who's To Blame?

They say that all publicity is good publicity, right? Though it has to be said, if Seth Macfarlane happens to be self-googling this morning, he will probably be questioning why they say that and whether it holds any truth at all. After Macfarlane shut the lid on his controversial Oscars hosting stint, the dust is still a long way from settling.

Macfarlane’s management of his hosting role resulted in him offending pretty much every minority group going, particularly women and Jews (and especially Jewish women, we expect). And judging by New York Times’ report on the matter, even the white middle-class males that for the leftover majority managed to be offended on behalf of and out of sympathy for everyone that was already offended. Academy member Lawrence Turman remarked “I think I’m a very liberal guy, but I actually winced.” Jewish groups have labeled the Family Guy creator as “offensive, unfunny and inappropriate,” the Daily Mail report, after his Ted alter-ego told Mark Wahlberg that he had to be Jewish if he wanted to work in Hollywood.

He also took a pop at Adele’s weight, Chris Brown and Rihanna’s relationship and a whole bunch of female Hollywood actresses, including Jennifer Lawrence and Charlize Theron, for daring to take their clothes off in movies. It’s not looking good for Macfarlane, who appears to have offended everyone in sight, if the headlines are to be believed (and the paragraphs after the headlines, containing all the evidence…) but hey, at least the ratings were up, eh, Seth!? That’s the main thing, right? 

Continue reading: Ratings Up But That Won't Save Seth Macfarlane's Oscars Reviews