History Creator / SethMacFarlane

* AuthorTract: As an atheist, atheism is a common theme in his work. Steven Smith from American Dad, Brian Griffin from Family Guy, and Cleveland Junior from The Cleveland Show are all atheists and have episodes questioning God. The level of hostility towards religion varies from [[GodBeforeDogma the church having too much influence over people and scientific progression]] and [[BeliefMakesYouStupid the believers being portrayed as foolishly idealistic and fanatical]].

* AuthorTract: As an atheist, atheism is a common theme in his work.

* AdoredByTheNetwork: Ever since ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' ended after 12 years on the air and ''WesternAnimation/SitDownShutUp'' flopped so badly that it was canceled after four episodes (along with other animated shows that got the shaft after a short run, like ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory''[[note]] Though to be fair, viewer and critic opinion of that show wasn't positive at all.[[/note]] and an animated version of ''WesternAnimation/NapoleonDynamite'' [[WereStillRelevantDammit that came five years too late]]), the Sunday night "Animation Domination" line-up is mostly made up of Seth's cartoons (now down on just ''Family Guy'' following ''The Cleveland Show'''s cancellation and ''American Dad'' moving to Creator/{{TBS}}). Currently, the only cartoons that aren't created by him on the "Animation Domination" line-up are ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers''.
* AllAdultAnimationIsSouthPark: A lot of critics who hate ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' have accused it of being like ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (though this claim is inverted as people are now accusing ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' of copying ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'''s ComedicSociopathy).

* AuthorAvatar: Brian was this for Seth on ''Family Guy'', in the first few seasons (and is, in some way, since both Brian and Seth are single, atheists who drink, liberal when it comes to politics, smoking weed[[note]]Even though Seth quit because pot was making him paranoid[[/note]], and are often seen as smug bastards who deserve nothing but contempt). Peter was also one initially, when he used to reflect everything Seth geeks over (like 1970s and 1980s pop culture and ''Star Wars'').

* BitingTheHandHumor: Both against FOX and against the people who initially helped get ''Family Guy'' revived. He also nipped the hand of the Academy Awards a little.

* OverlyLongGag: One of his favorite gags.

* RealLifeRelative: His sister, [[Creator/RachaelMacFarlane Rachael]], also does voice-acting on his shows (the voice of Hayley on ''American Dad'' and regularly contributes additional voices to the other shows).

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: ''Family Guy'' was subjected to this back in the late 1990s/early 2000s. ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' has been this way as well, especially ever since ''Family Guy'' was UnCancelled (''Family Guy'' even has jokes about ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' being nigh-unknown, such as Peter referring to the show as "...whatever FOX is limping to the barn with," and in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Brian Griffin stares at Stan and scoffs, "Do I know you?"). Amazingly, ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' wasn't subjected to this treatment, despite the fact that most Creator/SethMacFarlane fans don't care much for this show -- however, on April 2013, Fox still cancelled the show due to low ratings and the popularity of ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers''. Though they did get four seasons out of it which is considered by most a full run for an animated show.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Originally, [=MacFarlane=] was hired to do cartoon shorts for the Creator/{{FOX}} sketch show, ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', and later to Music/WeirdAlYankovic's [[Series/TheWeirdAlShow short-lived Saturday morning show]], but backed out in favor of doing his own series. Had either of these situations worked out, he would have to those shows what ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' was to ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow''.

* NotHyperbole: A lot of his off-hand jokes are literally illustrated. It even spilled over into his Oscars hosting gig: In introducing one presenter, he merely said, "Our next presenter needs no introduction." Away he walked; [[JustifiedTrope out walked]] Creator/MerylStreep.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: ''Family Guy'' was subjected to this back in the late 1990s/early 2000s. ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' has been this way as well, especially ever since ''Family Guy'' was UnCancelled (''Family Guy'' even has jokes about ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' being nigh-unknown, such as Peter referring to the show as "...whatever FOX is limping to the barn with," and in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Brian Griffin stares at Stan and scoffs, "Do I know you?"). Amazingly, ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' wasn't subjected to this treatment, despite the fact that most Creator/SethMacFarlane fans don't care much for this show -- however, on April 2013, Fox still cancelled the show due to low ratings and the popularity of ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers''.

Seth Woodbury [=MacFarlane=] (born October 26, 1973 in Kent, Connecticut) is best known as the creator of the animated sitcoms ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', and is the director of the films ''Film/{{Ted}}'', ''Film/{{Ted 2}}'', and ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' (which he also stars in). Seth grew up in New England and went to school for animation at the Rhode Island School of Design. His professor sent a copy of his senior project (''The Life of Larry'') to Creator/HannaBarbera, who gave him his first job out of school.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: One of the main reasons [=MacFarlane=] chose to make ''Family Guy'' a series was the fact that, up until the late 1990s, there was little to no TV shows that took place in the New England states, at least outside of UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}.

* AuthorAvatar: Brian was this for Seth on ''Family Guy'', in the first few seasons (and is, in some way, since both Brian and Seth are single, atheists who drink, are very liberal when it comes to politics, smoking weed[[note]]Even though Seth quit because pot was making him paranoid[[/note]], and are often seen as smug bastards who deserve nothing but contempt). Peter was also one initially, when he used to reflect everything Seth geeks over (like 1970s and 1980s pop culture and ''Star Wars'').

* AuthorTract: Atheism is a common theme in his work due to being an atheist himself.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Amazingly averted; he was supposed to be on one of the hijacked American Airlines flights on 9/11, but due to a hangover and his agent screwing up his flight plan, he missed his flight by ''10 minutes''! Taken further when he then saw news footage of the destruction of the Twin Towers in the airport and he realized [[FridgeHorror just how lucky he was]].

** At least the South Park creators were libertarian agnostics who poked fun at atheism.

Seth Woodbury [=MacFarlane=] (born October 26, 1973) is best known as the creator of the animated sitcoms ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', and is the director of the films ''Film/{{Ted}}'', ''Film/{{Ted 2}}'', and ''Film/AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest'' (which he also stars in). Seth grew up in New England and went to school for animation at the Rhode Island School of Design. His professor sent a copy of his senior project (''The Life of Larry'') to Creator/HannaBarbera, who gave him his first job out of school.

* WriterOnBoard: Some of his works are, or contain, his biases and things taken from his life (which is most evident in Family Guy and The Orville). Literally with ''The Orville'', where he also plays the main character who shares his views.

** Also, originally: ''The Simpsons'' was going to be canceled after 23 years and Seth's revival of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' was going to take its place. This fell through when [=MacFarlane=] decided to put his ''Flintstones'' revival on hold (mostly because of royalty issues, but it does seem suspect that ''The Flintstones'' reboot was canned around the same time ''The Simpsons''' renewal issues were settled) and ''TheSimpsons'' was renewed for two more seasons in exchange for extensive budget cuts for cast and crew members in order to keep the show afloat.

* AdoredByTheNetwork: Ever since ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' ended after 12 years on the air and ''WesternAnimation/SitDownShutUp'' flopped so badly that it was canceled after four episodes (along with other animated shows that got the shaft after a short run, like ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory''[[note]]even though viewer and critic opinion of the show is not-at-all positive[[/note]] and an animated version of ''WesternAnimation/NapoleonDynamite'' [[WereStillRelevantDammit that came five years too late]]), the Sunday night "Animation Domination" line-up is mostly made up of Creator/SethMacFarlane's cartoons (now down on just ''Family Guy'' following ''The Cleveland Show'''s cancellation and ''American Dad'' moving to Creator/{{TBS}}). Currently, the only cartoons that aren't created by Creator/SethMacFarlane on the "Animation Domination" line-up are ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'', the reboot of ''WesternAnimation/GolanTheInsatiable'' (which most likely has been canceled), and ''Bordertown'', which is technically Mark Hentamenn's [[note]]Mark Hentamenn was a writer and producer of ''Family Guy'' in its pre-2002 cancellation days and was the man behind the short-lived MTV animated show ''3 South'', about a Harvard-bound college student who ends up in Barder College, the most corrupt, anti-intellectual college in the country after Harvard reaches its quota of white males[[/note]] creation though [=MacFarlane=] has a co-producer credit on the show (and now ''Bordertown'' has been canceled, leaving ''The Simpsons'' and ''Bob's Burgers'' as the only non-Seth [=MacFarlane=] animated works on the network).

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRj-S8Aklcw See]] for yourself.

* AuthorAppeal: A lot of things that Seth likes make it into his shows (music from the Creator/RatPack era, 70's-80's pop culture, musicals/showtunes, ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', sci-fi, etc), as well as influences from his political and religious (read; anti-religious) views. This carried over to his 2013 stint hosting the Oscars, as his opening monologue/musical number included a cameo by Creator/WilliamShatner as Captain Kirk. This has also showed up in his latest show, ''Series/TheOrville'', which [[{{Homage}} borrows heavily]] from Star Trek.
* AuthorAvatar: Brian was this for Seth on ''Family Guy'', in the first few seasons (and still is, in some way, since both Brian and Seth are single, atheists who drink, are very liberal when it comes to politics, smoking weed[[note]]Even though Seth quit because pot was making him paranoid[[/note]], and are often seen as smug bastards who deserve nothing but contempt). Peter was also one initially, when he used to reflect everything Seth geeks over (like 1970s and 1980s pop culture and ''Star Wars'').

After spending a few years at HB, writing/animating for shows like ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', he made a sequel to ''The Life of Larry''. Titled ''Larry and Steve'', it featured a middle-aged guy, Larry, and his intellectual, anthropomorphic dog, Steve. Think ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' if the show just focused on Peter and Brian and was, for all intents and purposes, a children's cartoon with the occasional ParentalBonus jokes and mild sexual innuendo (read: a typical cartoon from the 1990s, or an in-house program from Creator/CartoonNetwork).

* WriterOnBoard: Some of his works are, or contain, his biases and things taken from his life (which is most evident in Family Guy and The Orville).

* TrollingCreator: Has admitted several times that he's proud of the hate he receives nowadays.

* AuthorAppeal: A lot of things that Seth likes make it into his shows (music from the Creator/RatPack era, 70's-80's pop culture, musicals/showtunes, ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', sci-fi, etc). This carried over to his 2013 stint hosting the Oscars, as his opening monologue/musical number included a cameo by Creator/WilliamShatner as Captain Kirk. This has also showed up in his latest show, ''Series/TheOrville'', which [[{{Homage}} borrows heavily]] from Star Trek.
* AuthorAvatar: Brian was this for Seth on ''Family Guy'', in the first few seasons (and is, in some way, since both Brian and Seth are single, atheists who drink, are very liberal when it comes to politics, smoking weed[[note]]Even though Seth quit because pot was making him paranoid[[/note]], and are often seen as smug bastards who deserve nothing but contempt). Peter was also one initially, when he used to reflect everything Seth geeks over (like 1970s and 1980s pop culture and ''Star Wars'').

%%* DeadpanSnarker

%%** He wrote a novelization for the film ''A Million Ways to Die in the West'' in between breaks shooting the film. He was both the director and the star of the film.
%%*** Can also be interpreted as AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder.

After Cartoon Network aired the short, {{FOX}} contacted Seth about creating a pilot about the characters, which would later become ''Family Guy''. Originally, Seth was hired to do cartoon shorts for their ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''-esque sketch show, ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', but plans fell through for that, so instead, they gave him a budget of $50,000 and 6 months, and the rest is history.

Seth is also a talented voice actor, providing the voices of four main characters on ''Family Guy'' (Peter, Brian, Stewie and Quagmire), three on ''American Dad'' (Stan, Roger, and Greg Corbin, the gay newscaster), two on ''The Cleveland Show'' (Tim the Bear [until season four, when Creator/JessHarnell took over] and Dr. Fist [until season three, when Creator/TomKenny took over for one episode, and Creator/BryanCranston during the fourth season]) and many additional voices. He also voiced several characters in ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', a sketch comedy show created by his ''Family Guy'' castmate Creator/SethGreen. He made a short foray into feature-length film when he voiced Johann Krauss in ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy''. He's also had some bit parts on live-action television, appearing in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', ''The War at Home'' (on the episode "I Wash My Hands of You," where Hillary -- the BrattyTeenageDaughter -- dates a 33-year-old), ''[[FlashForward2009 FlashForward]]''. But he always returns to animation and comedy. He's also a musician, singer and composer, whose work often appears on his shows (particularly ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', which has a lot of memorable musical moments, like ''Shipoopi'' from "Patriot Games," ''A Bag of Weed'' from "Episode 420," ''The Fellas at the Freakin' FCC'' from "PTV," and ''You've Got a Lot to See'' from "Brian Wallows and Peter Swallows").

* AuthorAppeal: A lot of things that Seth likes make it into his shows (music from the Creator/RatPack era, 70's-80's pop culture, musicals/showtunes, ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', sci-fi, etc). This carried over to his 2013 stint hosting the Oscars, as his opening monologue/musical number included a cameo by Creator/WilliamShatner as Captain Kirk. This has also showed up in his latest show, ''Series/TheOrville'', which is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to Star Trek.

* AuthorAppeal: A lot of things that Seth likes make it into his shows (music from the Creator/RatPack era, 70's-80's pop culture, musicals/showtunes, ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', sci-fi, etc). This carried over to his 2013 stint hosting the Oscars, as his opening monologue/musical number included a cameo by Creator/WilliamShatner as Captain Kirk. This has also showed up in his latest show The Orville which is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to Star Trek.
* AuthorAvatar: Brian was this for Seth on ''Family Guy'', in the first few seasons (and is, in some way, since both Brian and Seth are single, atheists who drink, are very liberal when it comes to politics, smoking weed[[note]]Even though Seth quit because pot was making him paranoid[[/note]], and are often seen as smug bastards who deserve nothing but contempt). Peter was also one initially, when he used to reflect everything Seth geeks over (like 1970s and 1980s pop culture and ''Star Wars'').

* AuthorAppeal: A lot of things that Seth likes make it into his shows (music from the Creator/RatPack era, 70's-80's pop culture, musicals/showtunes, ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/StarTrek'', sci-fi, etc). This carried over to his 2013 stint hosting the Oscars, as his opening monologue/musical number included a cameo by Creator/WilliamShatner as Captain Kirk.