Seth MacFarlane, our guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast — which was recorded last Sunday in front of an audience at the Newport Beach TV Fest, where MacFarlane was honored with the fest’s Maverick Award — is one of the funniest, smartest and most multi-talented people in Hollywood.
An actor, voice artist, animator, writer, director, producer, singer and songwriter, he has been a power-player in the business for nearly 30 years, dating back to when he became, at just 24, the youngest executive producer in the history of television with Family Guy. And through his Fuzzy Door Productions, MacFarlane has a whole portfolio of shows currently on the air.
Family Guy is in its 24th season, and though he long ago stepped back from day-to-day oversight of the show, he continues to provide the voices of Peter, Stewie and Brian Griffin, among others. Another of the early shows that he created for Fox, with Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman, American Dad, is in its 22nd season. The ’Burbs, of which he’s an executive producer, had a well-received first season this year on Peacock. And Peacock is also the home to Ted, the TV series spinoff of his hit 2012 and 2015 films of the same name, the second season of which dropped just a few months ago. He created the show, wrote several episodes and on every episode has served as an EP, the director and provided the voice and motion capture for the titular teddy bear.
