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Rarely is there an individual in the entertainment industry who has consistently impressive output. Even rarer is an individual who does not only have consistently impressive output, but extremely inspiring work across a variety of different mediums and platforms. I mentioned in my article about Donald Glover that Glover was one of these rare figures; another, equally as talented individual is Seth Macfarlane, best known as the creator of Family Guy and American Dad.
Seth Macfarlane is special because he managed to succeed through pure ambition and talent. Macfarlane grew up in New England to two schoolteacher parents, and managed to succeed in the vicious California entertainment industry in spite of this meager upbringing. Macfarlane first achieved success with the creation of Family Guy, a television show focusing on the zany lives of a small New England family, in a similar (albeit, far more absurd) vein to his own childhood. On the show, Macfarlane manages to showcase not only his creative comedic talents, but also his amazing voice acting chops; Macfarlane voices three of the characters in the family (Peter, Stewie, and Brian), and manages to give each character a distinct and unique voice, to such an extent that a casual viewer may not even realize that all three characters are voiced by the same person.
Several years after the creation of Family Guy, Macfarlane debuted a second series set in the same universe, entitled American Dad. While on the surface American Dad appears to be simply a mirror-version of Family Guy, digging deeper reveals the stark differences between the two shows, and highlights Macfarlane’s extreme comedic talents. Family Guy‘s comedy is centered almost entirely around cutaway gags; characters on Family Guy will describe an absurd event in response to a situation, and said absurd event will appear on screen, inspiring the comedy. American Dad could be seen as a departure from this form of comedy, in an attempt to silence the critics of Macfarlane who insist that Family Guy‘s reliance on cut-aways proves Macfarlane to be comedically inept. American Dad lacks any cutaway gags, and instead focuses on plot-driven humor and jokes. American Dad allows Macfarlane to again show his vocal chops, as he voices two more main characters, Stan and Roger, and manages to again give them voices that set them apart from the rest of the cast, and even the cast of Family Guy.
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While some people lampoon Macfarlane for his third attempt at television, The Cleveland Show, I don’t believe the show’s commercial failure actually belies anything negative about Macfarlane’s personal creative abilities. The show itself was actually rather funny, and again portrayed the struggles of a modern American family. However, despite its charm, The Cleveland Show did not manage to last past a few seasons.
Macfarlane’s creativity extends far beyond the animation sphere, however. Macfarlane has produced several live action films, including Ted, Ted 2, and A Million Ways to Die in the West, all of which I personally found to be a blast. Macfarlane is also an accomplished baritone singer in the vein of Frank Sinatra; he has been nominated for four Grammy awards, and performed at Carnegie Hall. Macfarlane was also invited to host the 85th Academy Awards, and served as executive producer of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.
Macfarlane’s comedic charm, and his ambition and willingness to consistently put out such wonderful, high-quality work sets him apart from others in the industry. Macfarlane recently released a new live-action television series, entitled The Orville, and I’m looking forward to watching it in the future. Seth Macfarlane is a wonderful force of entertainment, and I sincerely hope he keeps putting out quality content for many years to come.
Works Cited
“family-guy-628×353.jpg.” TBS.com, TBS, n.d., http://www.tbs.com/shows/family-guy.
“Seth-Macfarlane-Creator-of-Family-Guy.jpg.” Addicted 2 Success, Addicted2Success.com, 2013, https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/8-reasons-why-seth-macfarlane-is-so-successful/.