FOX edits "Simpsons" jab at Seth MacFarlane

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/was-simpsons-episode-edited-to-spare-seth-macfarlanes-feelings/

Was �Simpsons� Episode Edited to Spare Seth MacFarlane�s Feelings? By DAVE ITZKOFF

Someone get Chief Wiggum on the case! A special 20th anniversary episode of �The Simpsons� ended with a thank-you message from the show�s producers to viewers, but appeared to omit a joke at the expense of their Fox colleague and sometime-rival Seth MacFarlane.

The episode, which was broadcast on Sunday, ended with an on-screen display that read, �Thanks for 20 wonderful years. The best is yet to come.� But in a version of the show that was sent in advance to critics, the message read slightly differently: as Alessandra Stanley noted in her review of the episode, it said, �Thanks for 20 wonderful years. Now stay tuned for three Seth MacFarlane shows.�

Mr. MacFarlane, the producer of the Fox animated series �Family Guy,� �The Cleveland Show� and �American Dad,� has occasionally been the target of jokes on �The Simpsons,� whose writers have skewered him for creating programs similar to theirs. Mr. MacFarlane has often said that �The Simpsons� helped inspire him to create �Family Guy,� and was one of many celebrities who offered testimonials to �The Simpsons� in a documentary that followed the anniversary episode on Sunday night.

A Fox spokeswoman said that the �Simpsons� episode given to reporters and critics was a rough cut and that show elements are often added and taken out before broadcast.

Well, they ARE the future. The Simpsons isn't really even the future, but hanging on to nostaligia and a sense of it just expected to be there.

On Jan 11, 5:07 pm, Taylor wrote:

...and the present. However much "The Simpsons" may have earned its place in broadcast history, Fox network is now more dependent on Seth MacFarlane's programs. Given a choice of which party not to offend, Fox's choice was obvious.

Everett W.

Whoops. What I meant was: "...Is not the future or even the present..."

I'd say quality of freshness has gone down a bit this year for Family Guy, but if you look at home long Fox allows this decrepit Simpsons to linger (pretty safe to say they've been running on fumes for HALF the shows life), Seth could coast for another 4 years or so on FG fumes. But that's not Seth's style (unlike Simpsons). I could see him ending his show when it gets to be REALLY stale! He also put in place safeguards like creating American Dad and The Cleveland Show. American Dad gets better with age and while I don't like The Cleveland Show particularly, McFarlane's smart to try try again.

I think America really needs a wake-up call over the validity of keeping Simpsons going just for nostalgia sake.

On Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:35:45 -0800 (PST), Taylor wrote:

AMEN! I was a huge fan of the show. Up until last season, I had watched every episode, never missed a one. But I've missed a few episodes this season already, have fallen asleep during a couple, and I just don't care anymore. I don't even tape them anymore. I'm hoping it ends sooner rather than later. Nothing worse than dragging a show into being complete garbage just for the sake of filling a time slot. But then, that seems to be Fox's modus operandi.

David wrote in news:[email]:

The manatees did not approve.

On Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:45:51 -0500, David wrote:

I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that three SM shows *weren't* scheduled to appear after that farce of an anniversary special.

How exactly is it considered an insult to MacFarlane to point out that the guy has three shows on the air? If anybody was being insulted, it was FOX, for not having the imagination to put anything else in those slots.

In article , Seapig wrote:

I think it was supposed to be sarcastic; reading between the lines, there's an implied "three *lame* Seth MacFarlane shows".

On Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:40:28 -0500, Barry Margolin wrote:

I think the joke is how easy it is to clone his shows.

On Jan 11, 11:19 pm, David wrote:

People seem to have forgotten that Family Guy was canceled for almost 3 years. If it had not been revived via DVD sales and the demands of fans, McFarlane would be considered a failure. There'd be no American Dad or Cleveland Show

That isn't true; Seth was asked to create a second show (American Dad) to _replace_ Family Guy when Family Guy was canceled.

Which is more evidence of Seth's Faustian Pact. Since when does a network say, "Hey, your show failed and we're canceling it! Please make another show for us." But FOX did just that.

Then Family Guy got renewed and he ended up with two shows.

"Seapig" wrote:

I agree that the insult is to FOX, not to Seth McFarlane, if there was any insult at all. Personally, I think the comment was edited out simple because it served as a heads up for people to change the channel because nothing good would be airing on FOX the rest of the night..

David wrote:

I wouldn't be surprised if they change it back for the repeat. (If they would have shown that in the first airing, it might have confused people into thinking that the documentary was not going to air.)

-- Don

On Jan 11, 9:03 pm, Don Del Grande wrote:

That's probably a fair enough assessment. The show WASN'T followed by three MacFarlane shows last night. Also, if anything, the remark was more a dig at Fox than MacFarlane, as the former is the one that's programming three MacFarlane shows back to back.

Mike

Don Del Grande wrote:

Actually, I forgot they're repeating the episode on Wednesday night...

Also, since "Sons of Tucson" is supposed to take American Dad's time slot on Fox's schedule by the time this episode would be repeated on a Sunday, the "three Seth MacFarlane shows" tag still wouldn't make much sense.

-- Don

It was probably edited because it was not accurate.