“Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane spent 2 1/2 years negotiating with 20th Century Fox TV for a new contract. MacFarlane’s “Family Guy” was previously canceled twice before recently becoming Fox’s highest rated sitcom (and a $1 billion a year franchise with red-hot DVD and merchandise sales). Apparently, it was worth the wait.
MacFarlane’s new overall deal will make him the highest-paid writer-producer working in television. Having seen his work, I find this hard to comprehend. The deal, which could be worth more than $100 million (yeah, really), covers his work on “Family Guy” and his other two animated series for 20th Century Fox TV and Fox – “American Dad!” and the upcoming “Family Guy” spinoff “The Cleveland Show” (you gotta be kidding me) – as well as his series development, which includes a multicamera comedy with “Family Guy” writer Gary Janetti. It also encompasses new media projects related to MacFarlane’s TV series as well as DVD and merchandising revenue from them.
The deal is retroactive, as MacFarlane’s previous pact with 20th TV expired more than a year ago. It is expected that MacFarlane’s deal will easily eclipse the $60 million five-year feature/TV pact J.J. Abrams (“Lost”) inked with Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. TV in 2006.
It’s starting to sound like Abrams got hosed. Have you seen “Lost” lately? Have you seen “Family Guy” lately? This business is screwy.
Still, you have to hand it to MacFarlane. He’s managed to do quite well for himself in a difficult industry. He’s been with Fox his whole network life. He started out ten years ago, fresh out of college, by pitching his idea to Fox for an animated comedy based on characters from his thesis and his sequel to it. The network and 20th Century Fox TV gave him $50,000 to make a presentation and MacFarlane spent 6 months writing, drawing, and animating in his home to create “Family Guy.” The network picked it up and MacFarlane became the youngest executive producer/showrunner ever at the age of 24. He had his first multimillion-dollar long term deal before his show even premiered.
Looks like he’s going to be around for a while.
This is just flat out insane!!!
It’s apples and something that’s not apples to compare Family Guy and Lost when comparing MacFarlane and Abrams. Carlton Cuse has been running Lost for the majority of its run, now. J.J. is off making movies.
Whether you like MacFarlane (I do) or not, he’s making FOX a lot of money at this point. They need to worry about keeping his energies focused on making them money on TV and online, as opposed to making too much content for others through his MRC/Google deal.
R.A. Porters last blog post..Anti-social networking
Yeah, I don’t really question Fox’s decision to pay him enough to keep him on board. It’s a numbers game and they obviously feel like he’s worth it. That’s just good business.
I’m deeply saddened by the fact that MacFarlane’s work makes so much more money than other people’s work, though, since I don’t really consider it all that good. Just my opinion, I guess. I used to think Family Guy was amusing but the constant and pointless attacks on religion just got to be too much. He really seems to have a chip on his shoulder about Christianity.
He worth to get what he deserved. I believe he had put big effort for this.
MacFarlane and entertainers like him are shaping our culture by opening us mentally to the politically correct mental blocks previously impressed on us by western lifestyle.
Anyone remeber the politically correct era of the 1980’s/90’s ?
Wether you like these shows or not, they are expanding our culture as fast as computer gaming. (For better or for worse…)
Political correctness is stupid. But so is insulting people for no other reason than for cheap laughs. That’s not breaking down barriers – that’s whoring yourself out.
Some of MacFarlane’s stuff is genuinely funny, but some of it is genuinely insulting and without merit. I mean, he literally puts little swipes in at people or religion that aren’t funny and just come across as petty and mean. I don’t see the point.