Among the four back-to-back animated comedy panels on Saturday at Comic-Con, one of the most fan frenzied was definitely the Family Guy panel. Mastermind Seth MacFarlane wasn’t on hand for the panel, but sent a nice but barb-wired video for the fans. Members of the panel moderated by Mike Schneider of TV Guide were Seth Green, Alex Borstein, Patrick Warburton, Mike Henry, and EPs Steve Callahan, Rich Appell, and Danny Smith.
Despite having been on the air for many years now, and going through cancellations and resurrections unseen by any other television show, Family Guy still plans on surprising their audience with laughs and oddities in the upcoming season. The clip reel they showed had some solid laughs in it, and fans at the panel reacted well and lined for a medley of questions. Hit the jump for highlights.
- One member of the Griffin family will get killed off and replaced by a new character. Many could assume it would be the punching bag of the family, Meg, voiced by Mila Kunis, but the cast and producers remained silent on who it would actually be. After a suggestion that it might be Lois, Borstein replied, “It better fucking not be. I just had a second kid.”
- Sadly, Warburton’s parents are not fans of the show, and this remains the one project of his they don’t support. He said his mother has even gone as far as writing in letters against the show.
- Cleveland will be moving back to Spooner Street now that The Cleveland Show has been cancelled. Expect fights between Cleveland’s wife and Lois to begin pretty soon afterward.
- A Grimm fairytales homage is in place for this season. The producers revealed that Lois will play Cinderella, Peter will be Jack to Chris’ Giant in a Jack and the Bean Stalk scenario, and Stewie and Brian will wander through the woods as Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf respectively.
- Chris and Lois’ father, Pewterschmidt, are going to bond in the upcoming season. Pewterschmidt will make Chris the sole heir to his fortune, causing Peter to see dollar signs. Peter then takes Chris to Vermont so he can marry his own son, and thus, be closer to that fortune.
- There is a confirmed The Simpsons crossover episode coming. The episode will more than likely be the season premiere next year, and could possibly be an hour long episode. The producers are looking to have at least one five minute long fight between Peter and Homer a la the frequent Peter/Chicken fights.
- While Borstein and Henry used to write on the show, they agree with Green and Warburton that the actors don’t have too much influence on the actual writing. The producers shared that their performances have influenced the writing over the years.
- A Family Guy movie? Not totally out of the plan. While MacFarlane is very busy at the moment, there is an idea in mind for it. Appell said we should expect it to happen, but a specific time frame isn’t in place yet.
- One fan asked about their experiences with the FCC, especially in regards to their infamous FCC song. The producers said they had never been fined by the FCC, with Appell even saying that MacFarlane had shared that he heard several FCC members really enjoyed the song.
- Guest stars coming to Family Guy this year include Bryan Cranston, Jeff Daniels, Conan O’Brien, Ashton Kutcher, and Liam Neeson.
