The 2009 Get "Family Guy" an Emmy Award Campaign continues in full force this week, with creator Seth MacFarlane granting a wide-ranging interview to Playboy that’s sure to generate some buzz.
First, the news.
Fox may have opted against airing an abortion-themed "Family Guy," but MacFarlane says the show will soon feature a musical parody called "Down Syndrome Girl."
"Stewie sings it to Chris when Chris is getting ready for his date with a girl who has Down syndrome," MacFarlane explained. "It’s a bouncy Broadway number."
The writer says joke is that the character with Down syndrome "is also a bitch. Chris is dominated by this incredibly pushy, controlling girl with Down syndrome. I actually (Down syndrome advocates will) appreciate it. It’s funny and not disrespectful."
MacFarlane reveals to Playboy that he’s booked conservative wingnut Rush Limbaugh to appear on an upcoming episode of "Family Guy."
"In 2007, he came on to do our ‘Star Wars’ episode and was, amazingly, a very pleasant guy," MacFarlane said. " It’s going to surprise our audience. It seems like exactly the kind of thing we shouldn’t be doing, and that’s the reason to do it."
Just for balance, liberal wingnut Bill Maher has also agreed to lend his voice to the show.
MacFarlane also confirms that Stewie Griffin is, indeed, a gay baby. A coming out episode was written, but shelved.
"We decided it’s better to keep it vague, which makes more sense because he’s a one-year-old," he said. "Ultimately Stewie will either be gay or be a very unhappy repressed heterosexual."
Other nuggets from the Playboy chat:
–MacFarlane, a card-carrying liberal, says he’s OK with the fact that profits from his show might go toward the salaries of Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. Though, "I guess if some of it could go toward hiring a dermatologist for O’Reilly and a dietician for Hannity, I’d feel a little better about it," he said.
–Fox refused to let "Family Guy" take a swipe at "The Simpsons" a few years ago.
"In season six we did a joke at the expense of ‘The Simpsons,’ a kind of Hitchcockian thing we thought was hilarious: Quagmire tackles Marge, they sleep together and then go back to the Simpsons’ house; Homer walks in, and you hear gunshots," MacFarlane said. "The network thought we were saying, ‘Yeah, f–k them. Kill The Simpsons, which wasn’t the intent of the joke.
"We’d already had the screening, and it got a huge laugh. It was no meaner than any shot they’ve taken at us. Fox said no. I kind of blew my stack. Fox said, ‘We want to stop this feud.’ I said, ‘There’s no feud. And even if there were, this is the first shot we’ve taken at them. You never batted an eyelash when they took shots at us.’ I said, ‘Just know that if you cut the gag it will affect our relationship.’ And they cut it."
–MacFarlane admits to smoking dope with his parents four years ago. "My mom was passed out with her face on a potted plant. It was not the first time for either of them," he said.
The scribe has cut back his drug usage, however, during the past three years.
"I had a terrible experience," he said. "I was working at my house with another ‘Family Guy’ writer, and we were smoking pot all afternoon. He left, and I called Pink Dot, the grocery delivery service, and ordered some Chips Ahoy! cookies.
