Back in 2004, after the first SpongBob movie was finished and before I went back to Nickelodeon to work for Paul Tibbitt on season 4 of the Spongebob TV show, I took a job directing animation on Family Guy. It was their first season back after being cancelled at the end of season 3; an exciting time to work there as the show transitioned from the ash-heap of TV history to the ratings powerhouse and cultural phenomenon that it is today. Although I worked there for only one season, it was one of my all time favorite animation jobs. The people were great, it’s mid-city location across from LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits was fun (especially the lunches in Koreatown), but perhaps most importantly, Family Guy’s prime time audience allowed a wealth of creative choices that just weren’t available to shows marketed to kids.
Along those lines, here is a favorite scene from my work on the Family Guy show: Peter, Stewie, Brian and Chris compete in an Ipecac drinking contest to win the last piece of pie in the fridge. I didn’t know what Ipecac was when I started this sequence, but I learned fast. Thanks to Seth MacFarlane & the whole crew for all the laughs!