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Family Guy: 10 Burning Questions Answered
1. Let's start with an easy one: Who can and can't understand Stewie?
"Within the family, always Brian and sometimes Chris," Appel says. "But to the rest of the outside world — Peter and Lois and Peter’s friends — it's important that they can't. … Oh, and anyone who’s British, of course!" (Editor's note: This is excluding cutaway scenes.)
1. Let's start with an easy one: Who can and can't understand Stewie? (cont'd.)
"…We just screened a scene today for a future episode where Stewie pulls out a toy cell phone to call Brian, and it just makes a silly sound, and he looks at Lois and says, ‘I want real things.'”
2. I know he's a baby, but what's Stewie's sexual orientation? Is that something you'd ever frankly address?
"Stewie is … well, he is prepubescent, after all," Appel reminds us. "He’s finding his truth, let’s just say that. And we don’t know where that might end up."
3. Labels aside, is Stewie attracted to Brian? What's good with that?
"They’re platonic friends," Appel confirms. "They’re the odd couple, and there could be some sort of unconscious element, but I think Brian and Stewie have more of a pure friendship. I don’t think it's on the horizon that Brian and Stewie wake up one morning and realize they’ve done something extraordinary."
3. Labels aside, is Stewie attracted to Brian? What's good with that? (cont'd.)
"Yes, they have had children together," Appel acknowledges, "and that was pushing the envelope. But we researched it, and that’s exactly how a dog and a baby would reproduce. [Stewie did it with science.] There would be no sexual intercourse."
4. What inspired you to demote Meg to the family punching bag?
"The reality is that our characters never age," Appel says, "so our burden is that we have to come up with 250 stories that might include a teenage girl. You look for different colors and you try various things, and when it just seems to hit and make you laugh, [you go with it.] Mila Kunis is very funny as the hapless, put-upon outsider in the family. It’s a good presence to have in comedy, the person whose face is perfectly shaped for a pie."
5. Does Lois still give piano lessons?
"Yes!" Appel says, rather enthusiastically. "We’ve only cracked the tip of the iceberg of what Lois really does. While Peter is off doing his crazy adventures, you can be sure that she’s busy giving a piano lesson — or doing something else that you’ll see next season."
6. The show has made a lot of jokes about Bruce Jenner being a woman. Will that stop now that he's openly transitioning?
"I can’t speak for everyone, but I watched that interview and it was not what I expected," Appel says. "I found it very moving, and he struck me as very sincere. I can only speak for myself, but no, I wouldn’t honestly write a joke about Bruce Jenner. … That doesn’t mean that someone else won’t, or isn’t allowed to; everybody has their own barometer."
7. Have we seen the last of Vinny?
"We loved Vinny, and [Tony Sirico] just did such a great job on the show that we’ve had more than one day in the writers' room where we've thought of how we could bring him back," Appel says. "The problem is that we want to be true to the show, and in the Christmas three-parter, we erased the reality that led to Vinny’s existence." Appel isn't ruling out having the Griffins bump into the family that ended up adopting Vinny.
8. Which character has the most spinoff potential?
"It's tricky," Appel explains, "because you don’t want to take such a key character from the mothership that it suffers. For instance, do I think a show with Brian would be great? I think you could build an entirely new show around him, but that’ll never happen because he’s too integral as one of the stars of Family Guy.”
8. Which character has the most spinoff potential? (cont'd.)
“Seth [MacFarlane] always thought Quagmire was too out-there to build an entire show around,” Appel notes.
8. Which character has the most spinoff potential? (cont'd.)
“I don’t know,” Appel concludes, somewhat defeated. “Would you watch The Seamus Show? Maybe he’d just host a variety sketch show, playing himself like a modern-day Ed Sullivan or Carol Burnett.” (Editor’s note: Yes, yes I would.)
9. Do you foresee another Star Wars spoof episode in the future, especially with this new trilogy in the works?
"I assure you, there is no shortage of eager Star Wars fans in the Family Guy writers’ room," Appel says. "I suppose if George Lucas can go back and do more, never say never. But it’s a huge undertaking for a show like this, because it’s a huge amount of additional work, especially in the animation. Also, has that world been mined enough now for the kind of comedy that our show does?"
9. Do you foresee another Star Wars spoof episode in the future, especially with this new trilogy in the works? (cont'd.)
"Maybe the next thing to do is … maybe three Melissa McCarthy movies," Appel says (jokingly?). "Wouldn’t that be unexpected? We’ll spend the next 16 months working on our version of Identity Thief." (Editor's note: Peter Griffin as Melissa McCarthy. Picture it. You're welcome.)
10. What other properties would you consider devoting an entire episode to spoofing?
"It’s hard to find the iconic pop culture piece of entertainment that also seems like it would be open to a funny reimagining," Appel admits. "Star Wars was a great possibility. There are probably a few others out there, like maybe Star Trek, but it’s always a struggle." (Editor's note: The Wizard of Oz came up, and Appel sounded very interested, so don't be surprised to see that happen. Again, you are welcome.)
