Many spectators were doubtful of Family Guy‘s potential to become a highly successful animated series, but with its present sky-high ratings, the show has finally earned its sweet revenge.
It wasn’t an easy journey for the Griffins since Family Guy has already been cancelled not once but twice in its entire eight-year run. The series, which launched in 1999, first went off the air in 2000 and then again in 2002. But strong DVD sales and large viewership of reruns on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim convinced FOX to resume the show in 2005 and make it part of its Sunday night animation block. This marked the first time a cancelled show got resurrected based on DVD sales.
“When the show was cancelled and then found an audience on DVD and in reruns . . . that was the moment when we experienced that satisfaction,” show runner David Goodman said. “The show was off the air and off of Fox, yet the audience was still finding it.”
At present, the show popularized by the Griffin family is stronger than ever now that it’s in syndication, surpassing the popularity of its FOX stable mate, The Simpsons, which is considered by many as today’s pedestal when it comes cartoon standards. Family Guy‘s ratings are currently up 19 percent and have exceeded The Simpsons by over 1 million viewers each week.
“The advantage of Family Guy [in syndication] is that it’s got dual appeal – it can play to adults in late night and to kids in access/early fringe,” industry analyst Marc Berman of Mediaweek said. “I don’t think people expected it to be this highly rated. It’s going to be like The Simpsons…it will last forever.”
Now that the show has already achieved stellar ratings and record-setting DVD sales, the cast and crew of Family Guy are hoping that its viewers will remain loyal to its loony family, consisting of crude couch-potato dad Peter, his wife Lois, moody teen daughter Meg, dim-witted son Chris, evil-genius baby Stewie, and their talking dog Brian.
“Now, it’s just the thrill of people watching that’s satisfying,” Goodman said. “We’re past the ‘sweet revenge’ stage . . . but we’re certainly enjoying the moment.”
-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: New York Post
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
