I am a passive viewer of Family Guy. That means the husband watches it and since I’m usually in the same room with him, I get to catch all the shocking and disgusting bits that make him laugh his head off. I will admit the nods to the late 80s that serve as evidence that my husband and I grew up in the same generation as Seth MacFarlane do amuse me. I think the most I’ve giggled at an animated show is when MarFarlane used the intro of Terence Trent D’arby’s “Wishing Well” as submarine sonar pings.
As much as my husband loves this show, it would have made more sense for him to be at the nearly 2hr Seth MacFarlane Animation Block in Ballroom 20 at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. My attendance was purely accidental. I was in Ballroom 20 early to ensure myself a seat for a later panel. (Outlander – squee!) Unfortunately, he was busy with interviews, so I took this one for the team. And thoroughly enjoyed myself.
We learned what was coming up for the Griffins of Family Guy, the Smith’s of American Dad! and we were introduced to Bordertown, a new animated show from MacFarlane’s production company about two families living in the a Southwest desert town on the United States-Mexico border. Nicholas Gonzalez and Missi Pyle joined the cast onstage to represent the new show. As a resident of Arizona, I can see exactly where this show intends to go and under MacFarlane’s tutelage, I don’t expect it to be any less offensive and controversial than his hit shows.
Despite the irreverent humor, one of the surprisingly heartwarming parts of the panel was during the Q&A session when both Seth MacFarlane and Seth Green encourage a budding comic to keep at it. But the truly best part of the panel was watching them recreate a table read as they voiced their characters. Even though they were there in front of me, they stopped being Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green and Mike Henry . All of a sudden they were Peter Griffin/Stewie/Brian, Lois, Chris and Consuela/Mr. Herbert. They were later joined by the cast of American Dad! and again, the best part of the panel was when the actors transformed into their characters simply by using their voices.
