Seth MacFarlane on AllMovie

Animation pioneer Seth MacFarlane followed in the footsteps of Matt Groening, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone, and others by creating (at age 25!) one of the top-tiered animated series on national television. Family Guy, which debuted in 1999, preserved the sitcom-family premise of The Simpsons but upped the irreverence quotient tenfold (defying many who regarded such an accomplishment as impossible), meanwhile tossing in dozens upon dozens of off-the-cuff (and frequently risqué) references to pop culture -- citing everything from Oz to The Wizard of Oz, The $25,000 Pyramid to songs by a-ha, and thus seizing upon instant identification with Gen-X and Gen-Y viewers. Episodes, which began mundanely enough, could immediately segue, without advance notice, into music video-style montages, game-show sequences, multi-character musical production numbers, mock historical sequences, etc. The basic premise revolved around the nutty Griffin clan of Quahog, Rhode Island: obese toy manufacturer dad Peter; neurotic housewife Lois; ne'er-do-well, dim-bulb 13-year-old son Chris; the angst-ridden 16-year-old daughter Meg, and -- what really made the series bizarre and original -- Stewie, a one-year-old infant with a massive head, a genius IQ, and the verbal erudition of Rex Harrison.

Family Guy found a sizeable audience and lasted for many seasons, yet reportedly suffered from a tumultuous history at Fox, where it endured repeat cancellations, numerous rerun episodes, and reemergence on different networks and in different time slots, meanwhile becoming a cult hit on DVD. In the interim, MacFarlane branched out into another animated sitcom, American Dad (2005), which essentially amounted to a reimagined version of the Family Guy (irreverence intact) with a political twist: the patriarch in this cartoon carried a secret identity as a CIA agent; he also boasted a tentacled, acid-mouthed alien for a sidekick with a voice that bore a startling resemblance to that of the late Paul Lynde.