Seth MacFarlane revisits the making of Family Guy in exclusive book foreword

The following is the foreword written by Seth MacFarlane to Inside Family Guy: An Illustrated History by Frazier Moore, which charts the making and development of the show in never-before-seen art and infographics. The book publishes May 14 and is available for pre-order. Read on below for the foreword and exclusive photos.

If you’re holding this book, I assume you’re in line at the airport gift shop and just realized you forgot to buy something for your nephew with the Adderall thing. Well, luckily for you, Fox figured, “In this digital world, what’s better than a heavy, cumbersome coffee-table book that also destroys our quickly vanishing forests?”

It’s hard to believe Family Guy has been on the air for 20 years. And that’s because it technically hasn’t. The show was cancelled multiple times by different people, all of whom have long since been fired. The last cancellation occurred in 2001, which historians agree was the worst thing to happen that year. Fortunately, Family Guy was revived in response to massive sales of DVDs, which, I assume, stands for “Dick Van Dyke.”

When the show first aired in 1999, Bill Clinton was president, Roseanne had to express her racist thoughts to one person at a time and the quickest way to become a millionaire was to burn your balls with McDonald’s coffee. Yes, a lot has changed since then. But one thing that hasn’t changed are the jokes. We put the same ones in every week.

Few shows are lucky enough to last so long that their writers die of natural causes. As of this printing, Family Guy has aired more than 300 episodes and shows few signs of slowing down, having received a variety of awards printed on surfboards and a handful of positive reviews. Uhp, I’m now being forced to mention the Family Guy mobile game, Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff. Relive the fun of the show with hilarious in-app purchases. It’s “freakin’ sweet. (TM)”

In all seriousness, I am truly grateful to everyone who has made this show possible. What started as the student project of a bespectacled RISD geek grew and flourished thanks to the tireless work and enormous contributions of a hugely talented collection of writers, producers, artists, cast and crew. But most of all, I’d like to thank the devoted fans, who literally brought Family Guy back from the dead and allowed us to continue working on this show we all love.