Seth MacFarlane on Blue Harvest 2

Family Guy did not win the Emmy for best comedy but it was still a big deal that it made it into that category with live-action shows. It’s still a good year for Seth MacFarlane though. The spoof of The Empire Strikes Back, a la Blue Harvest, comes out this year with a Return of the Jedi spoof in the works. Also, The Cleveland Show spins off this year and MacFarlane plays a role in the new series Flash Forward. 

Crave Online: Why do you think Family Guy landed a Comedy nomination at the enemies, when The Simpsons never did? 

Seth MacFarlane: I think the only reason The Simpsons hasn’t done it is because of the climate of television that they were up against when they were a contender, when they chose to submit them. I think if The Simpsons had submitted this year, they would have been nominated instead of us, which is why I think they should submit next year. 

Crave Online: What guest stars are coming up this year? 

Seth MacFarlane: Let’s see, Chevy and Dan, Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, Rush Limbaugh coming up. Who’s in the season premiere? I hate this question. I always think of everyone way after the fact… Elijah Wood. 

Crave Online: What are Chevy and Dan doing? 

Seth MacFarlane: They’re doing a Spies Like Us homage because I loved that movie when I was a kid and I still love it. So Stewie and Brian wind up in Russia with Dan and Chevy. We’ll work on getting Donna Dixon next time. 

Crave Online: How did you decide that bears would be the next talking animals we’d see on The Cleveland Show? 

Seth MacFarlane: When we were talking about the show, we were sitting in my office, and we were trying to figure out, "How do we do…" I think it's always important to do something that takes advantage of the animation medium.  It's something I learned at Hanna-Barbera, and I think it still is a pretty sound way to operate.  But we wanted to do something different so it wasn't yet another, "Hey, here's the one or two bizarre people living in the house as part of the family."  Wanted to do something a little different.  And it really was as simple as a long beat and then Mike [Henry] just saying, "What about a family of bears?" And it just kind of made us all laugh. 

Crave Online: What accent are you doing as Tim the bear? 

Seth MacFarlane: I don't know. I think my father did that voice when I was a kid or something at some point on the way to the dump. Yeah, it's just sort of a nondescript accent.  It's just kind of a silly voice. 

Crave Online: The Cleveland Show opens with the Griffins sending Cleveland off. Could they ever come to visit? 

Seth MacFarlane: So far, early on, I think the guys are trying to keep it kind of separate.  But, you know, Quagmire shows up initially the first season on The Cleveland Show. The whole Brown family shows up on Family Guy an episode, I think in the spring.  It's not taboo to us. It's just if it feels organic to bring one character into another universe, then we will.  As far as Family Guy, our Return of the Jedi episode that's coming up has characters from all three shows together.  So if it feels organic, the theory is that in this alternate parallel cartoon universe that Quahog and Langley and Stoolbend all kind of exist in the same universe.  So it keeps that door open.