Family Guy‘s impact on pop culture is indelible. With 22 seasons in and still going, the Seth MacFarlane show is among one of the most popular animated shows of all time. However, things weren’t always pretty for the adult-animated series, as after its third season underperformed back in the early 2000s, Fox pulled the plugs off the show completely.
Considering that social media wasn’t a big thing like it is today, the only way left to watch them was through reruns or DVDs. Seth Green, who was devasted by the cancellation, recalled making sure he had every episode on his VHS.
Seth Green Forced Everyone to Watch Family Guy on VHS
While Seth MacFarlane voices the show’s primary characters, including Stewie, Peter, Quagmire, and Brian, Seth Green provides the voice for Chris Griffin. Reflecting on Fox’s decision to not renew the show after season 3 back in 2001, Green recalled being devasted by it.
However, he did make sure to have every episode of the satirical show on VHS, as DVDs and later the show’s reruns on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim were the only way to enjoy it.
But apart from watching it himself, The Robot Chicken star also forced others to watch it alongside him, as he was in utter disbelief that they were no longer doing it. He told the LA Times:
I was devastated. I made sure I had every episode on VHS and I forced other people to watch them. We sat and watched all these episodes, and I was like, man, I got to make this. This actually existed.
Fortunately, this wasn’t the last of Family Guy, as Fox would eventually greenlight the show for a fourth season, as Green wasn’t the lone responsible for boosting its DVD sales.
Fox Revived Family Guy after Its Resurgence on VHS
Back when season 3 first aired, it received a horrible timeslot, Thursdays at 8 P.M, which was opposed to NBC’s hit sitcoms, Friends and Survivor, which aired simultaneously. This eventually led to a sharp decline in the show’s rating, which prompted Fox to pull the plugs off it. But following its reruns, the sitcom began to garner a cult following and became one of the highest-rated shows to air on Adult Swim. Moreover, its DVDs were selling like hotcakes, and when the sales reached a whopping three million, it was enough to convince Fox to get the ball rolling on season 4.
As the story goes, the show returned for a fourth season with a much better time slot, as it aired on Sundays after The Simpsons, and to this day, it’s still going strong. With Family Guy now amassing a huge following and still thriving in the current climate, MacFarlane stressed that he doesn’t expect the show to conclude anytime soon.
Family Guy is available to stream on Disney Plus.
