WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. This is where 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:04.860 we take, well, a monumental figure, stack up 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:07.400 all the source material we can find, really boil 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:10.880 it down and deliver the most fascinating bits 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.439 straight to you. Yeah. Today, we're looking at 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:17.600 someone who's just a force of nature. His career, 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:19.839 honestly, it feels like a contradiction in terms. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:22.320 It really does. We are deep diving into Seth 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:26.559 MacFarlane, a creative powerhouse who somehow... 00:00:27.789 --> 00:00:30.429 Bridges the gap between, let's say, the absolute 00:00:30.429 --> 00:00:33.689 crassest adult animation out there. Right. Incredibly 00:00:33.689 --> 00:00:35.929 successful animation. And then pivots to recording 00:00:35.929 --> 00:00:38.390 these sophisticated Grammy nominated big band 00:00:38.390 --> 00:00:40.490 albums like straight out of the classic Hollywood 00:00:40.490 --> 00:00:43.369 era. All while being, you know, a really serious 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:46.130 advocate for science, for space exploration. 00:00:46.409 --> 00:00:49.049 It's quite the mix. It truly is a career that. 00:00:49.369 --> 00:00:51.750 Well, it demands this kind of deeper look. When 00:00:51.750 --> 00:00:53.990 you dig into the biographical sources like the 00:00:53.990 --> 00:00:55.869 ones you shared, they don't just paint a picture 00:00:55.869 --> 00:00:58.149 of success. They show an artist who's defined 00:00:58.149 --> 00:01:01.850 by his ability to operate and succeed. in fields 00:01:01.850 --> 00:01:04.709 that seem completely opposite so our mission 00:01:04.709 --> 00:01:08.269 today really is to trace that path how did this 00:01:08.269 --> 00:01:11.049 young animator kind of obsessed with that mid 00:01:11.049 --> 00:01:14.670 -century vibe right how did he become this multi 00:01:14.670 --> 00:01:18.430 -billion dollar franchise guy host the oscars 00:01:18.430 --> 00:01:21.530 get acclaim as a singer and become a patron of 00:01:21.530 --> 00:01:23.849 science yeah that's the journey i mean a quick 00:01:23.849 --> 00:01:26.189 snapshot alone it feels like you're reading the 00:01:26.189 --> 00:01:28.129 resumes of five different people crammed into 00:01:28.129 --> 00:01:30.760 one totally you've got actor animator right writer, 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:34.280 producer, director, comedian and singer. And 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:37.019 the scale is just huge. Family Guy, American 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:41.219 Dad, the Ted movies, the Orville. Yeah. It seems 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:43.040 almost impossible to juggle all that at once. 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:44.980 And what's really fascinating digging into the 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:47.040 background is that the seeds for all this diversity, 00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:50.040 they were planted way back. Decades ago. This 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:51.700 isn't someone who just, you know, picked up a 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:54.079 new hobby late in life. It's built on this really 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:57.620 intense, almost academic interest in very specific 00:01:57.620 --> 00:02:00.079 art forms from early on. OK, so let's start there 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:02.459 at the foundation, because the source is definitely 00:02:02.459 --> 00:02:04.760 paying a clear picture of a very early, very 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:07.480 focused, creative spark. McFarlane got interested 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:10.590 in illustration at what, age two? which is incredible 00:02:10.590 --> 00:02:13.930 yeah two years old and it wasn't just like random 00:02:13.930 --> 00:02:17.229 drawing he was already trying to nail the likenesses 00:02:17.229 --> 00:02:20.590 of characters like fred flintstone woody woodpecker 00:02:20.590 --> 00:02:24.490 icons that's serious focus for a toddler absolutely 00:02:24.490 --> 00:02:27.689 and Clearly more than just a passing phase. By 00:02:27.689 --> 00:02:30.050 the time he was five, he'd already decided he 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:32.969 wanted to do animation for a living. Wow. And 00:02:32.969 --> 00:02:35.129 there's this great family story, and the source 00:02:35.129 --> 00:02:37.949 is his parents apparently scoured two whole towns 00:02:37.949 --> 00:02:40.430 in Connecticut just trying to find him a book 00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:42.669 on how to make flip books. Just so he could practice. 00:02:42.930 --> 00:02:45.490 Yeah, so he could grasp the basic mechanics of 00:02:45.490 --> 00:02:48.210 motion, that kind of parental support for such 00:02:48.210 --> 00:02:51.310 a specific, intense childhood goal. You have 00:02:51.310 --> 00:02:53.370 to think that was pretty significant. You really 00:02:53.370 --> 00:02:57.020 do. Lucas started paying off, like, financially, 00:02:57.180 --> 00:03:00.319 surprisingly early. By nine years old, he had 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.879 a real paid gig. Right, a weekly comic strip. 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:06.060 Through the local paper, the Kent Good Times 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:08.319 Dispatch. It was called Walter Cruden, and he 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:10.180 was earning five bucks a week. Five dollars, 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:12.120 which for a nine -year -old back in the 80s, 00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:13.939 that was probably pretty decent money. Oh, yes, 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:16.400 serious pocket money. And even then, even in 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:18.539 that early work, you could see he was already 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:23.080 kind of honing that mix of satire and provocation. 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:25.379 Controversy. Yeah. He talked about doing this 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:27.500 strip about a communion ceremony. The character's 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:30.039 kneeling at the altar and asks, can I have fries 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:32.620 with that? Oh, boy. The paper actually published 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:35.740 it. And he immediately got this angry letter 00:03:35.740 --> 00:03:38.680 from the local priest, sparked what he called, 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:41.000 you know, a little mini controversy in their 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.620 small town. That is that's a perfect little preview, 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.379 isn't it? Right. Religious satire mixed with 00:03:46.379 --> 00:03:50.219 lowbrow fast food humor. That's basically the 00:03:50.219 --> 00:03:52.319 formula for a billion dollar future. Pretty much 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:54.840 sums it up. So he graduates from Kent School, 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:57.340 where he'd been messing around with an 8mm camera, 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:00.599 and goes straight to RISD Rhode Island School 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:03.259 of Design, majoring in animation. A top school. 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:06.460 And initially, the plan was the classic route, 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:08.379 right? Aiming for Disney. That was the goal. 00:04:08.860 --> 00:04:11.580 But then came the big shift. The sources point 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:14.259 to one specific influence that completely changed 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:17.100 his trajectory. The Simpsons. Exactly. Seeing 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:19.100 The Simpsons showed him that primetime animation 00:04:19.100 --> 00:04:21.939 didn't have to be, you know, the sanitized Saturday 00:04:21.939 --> 00:04:25.339 morning stuff or the big epic Disney feature 00:04:25.339 --> 00:04:28.459 film model. Right. It could be edgier, aimed 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:31.319 at adults, character driven. Precisely. And that 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:34.449 became his new target. This whole period kind 00:04:34.449 --> 00:04:37.449 of culminates in his senior thesis film at RISD, 00:04:37.629 --> 00:04:40.970 The Life of Larry. And this is Ground Zero, The 00:04:40.970 --> 00:04:44.370 Life of Larry, middle -aged guy Larry, his smart 00:04:44.370 --> 00:04:48.680 dog Steve. That is the direct, like the absolute 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:52.319 blueprint for Family Guy. 100%. His professor 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:54.620 thought it was so good, they sent it off to Hanna 00:04:54.620 --> 00:04:57.199 -Barbera. And here's a really key detail, something 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:59.139 noted in the sources that kind of set him apart 00:04:59.139 --> 00:05:01.759 early on. When Hanna -Barbera recruited him out 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.240 to Hollywood, they hired him based on the writing 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:06.600 in the life of Larry, not mainly his drawing 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:08.899 skills. Ah, interesting. Yeah, the sources say 00:05:08.899 --> 00:05:10.519 he was actually one of the few people they hired 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:12.699 back then specifically for writing talent. So 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:14.980 he lands at Hanna -Barbera, basically the engine. 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:27.459 Right. He described it as this kind of old -fashioned 00:05:27.459 --> 00:05:30.060 Hollywood structure. You know, constantly shifting 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:32.600 writing on one show, then storyboarding on another. 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:35.839 Fast -paced. And the sources mentioned his time 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:38.220 on Johnny Bravo was particularly important for 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:41.220 his writing development. Why was that? Well... 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:43.480 It seems Johnny Bravo, unlike some of the other 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:45.699 shows he worked on there, used a more formal 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:48.199 script writing process. As opposed to just storyboarding? 00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:51.240 Exactly. Some shows relied really heavily on 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:53.620 the storyboard artist to drive the gags, but 00:05:53.620 --> 00:05:56.180 Johnny Bravo used actual scripts. For someone 00:05:56.180 --> 00:05:58.360 like McFarlane, whose whole style would eventually 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:01.800 depend on rapid -fire dialogue, punchlines, cutaways, 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:04.959 mastering formal scripting was absolutely crucial. 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:07.160 Okay, that makes sense. Because the Family Guy 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:09.439 style, it's so dialogue heavy. Formal scripts 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.939 force you to focus. on plot, on sharp lines. 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:14.980 Whereas storyboard driven shows might lean more 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:17.300 towards visual gags, right? Like Dexter's Lab 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:20.379 has a lot of that. Precisely. He needed to nail 00:06:20.379 --> 00:06:23.170 the art of the written joke. The joke that lands 00:06:23.170 --> 00:06:27.310 quick. And Johnny Bravo gave him that the rigorous 00:06:27.310 --> 00:06:29.709 training. And during that Hanna -Barbera time, 00:06:29.829 --> 00:06:32.850 he also developed the sequel to his thesis film, 00:06:32.889 --> 00:06:36.670 right? Larry and Steve. Yeah. For Cartoon Network's 00:06:36.670 --> 00:06:39.089 world premiere tunes showcase. I think it was 00:06:39.089 --> 00:06:42.519 called What a Cartoon. Back then. And that short 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:45.139 with those, you know, proto Peter and proto Brian 00:06:45.139 --> 00:06:47.680 characters. It really sets up the dynamic we 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:50.019 know so well now. It really lays the groundwork. 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:51.480 Perfect through line. And we should probably 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:53.740 also mention his freelance gigs during that time, 00:06:53.740 --> 00:06:56.339 too, for Disney television animation on Jungle 00:06:56.339 --> 00:06:59.000 Cubs. Right. And for Nelvana on Ace Ventura, 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.379 Pet Detective. He actually credits that kind 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:03.439 of work where he was just focused on observing 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.980 the writing, the story structure, plot points 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:08.220 is really valuable preparation. So he wasn't 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:10.389 just drawing. He was actively dissecting. intersecting 00:07:10.389 --> 00:07:12.550 how stories were built. Exactly. Mastering the 00:07:12.550 --> 00:07:15.430 craft of narrative while simultaneously developing 00:07:15.430 --> 00:07:18.649 his own much edgier comedic voice. It was all 00:07:18.649 --> 00:07:21.110 happening at once. Okay. So the craft is honed. 00:07:21.110 --> 00:07:24.050 The unique voice is there. And McFarlane's got 00:07:24.050 --> 00:07:27.230 this ambition for, as you said, edgier primetime 00:07:27.230 --> 00:07:30.069 animation. So while he's still at Hanna -Barbera, 00:07:30.089 --> 00:07:33.149 he pitches Family Guy to Fox. Which brings us 00:07:33.149 --> 00:07:36.579 to, well, the legendary story. The birth and 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:39.120 battle of Family Guy. Yeah, and that origin story 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.000 is so important because it really explains the 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.939 show's initial kind of scrappy feel. Fox gave 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:47.120 him this, honestly, an almost unbelievably tiny 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:50.399 budget for the pilot, just $50 ,000. $50 ,000? 00:07:50.660 --> 00:07:53.740 I mean, even adjusted for inflation today, what's 00:07:53.740 --> 00:07:56.500 that, like under $100 ,000? It's basically nothing 00:07:56.500 --> 00:07:58.920 for a network pilot. Exactly. It shows Fox was 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:00.879 taking a really minimal risk on this young guy. 00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:03.019 The expectations must have been rock bottom. 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:06.060 McFarlane described making that pilot as, what, 00:08:06.100 --> 00:08:08.660 six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:11.000 like crazy in my kitchen. Yeah. He had to come 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:13.439 back with something very, very simply crudely 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.160 animated, basically relying entirely on the script's 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:18.519 strength to sell it. But it worked. Fox liked 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:20.220 the tone. They ordered the series. And boom, 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:23.899 July 1998, McFarlane becomes TV's youngest executive 00:08:23.899 --> 00:08:27.019 producer. He's just 24. And that cemented his 00:08:27.019 --> 00:08:30.740 multiple roles. Writing, EP, and voicing Peter 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:34.269 Stewie, Brian Quagmire. Plus others like Tom 00:08:34.269 --> 00:08:37.330 Tucker, Jake Tucker. But that initial success, 00:08:37.450 --> 00:08:39.690 it was actually kind of misleading, wasn't it? 00:08:39.750 --> 00:08:41.350 Right. This is where we need to really unpack 00:08:41.350 --> 00:08:44.549 it. Because the Resurrection story is maybe his 00:08:44.549 --> 00:08:47.429 single biggest business win. The show got canceled, 00:08:47.570 --> 00:08:50.769 not once, but twice. Twice. First after season 00:08:50.769 --> 00:08:52.789 two, I think. Then they brought it back for a 00:08:52.789 --> 00:08:54.950 bit, then canceled it again. So on network TV, 00:08:55.070 --> 00:08:57.049 it was technically a failure. Initially, yeah. 00:08:57.580 --> 00:08:59.580 But then something amazing happened in the afterlife, 00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:02.460 basically. Yeah. Home video and cable syndication. 00:09:02.820 --> 00:09:05.759 Adult Swim reruns. Exactly. Cartoon Network's 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:07.679 Adult Swim started airing the reruns, and the 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:10.879 ratings were huge, just enormous. Then the DVD 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:12.799 box sets came out. And people bought them like 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.779 crazy. Unprecedented sales. The sources say by 00:09:15.779 --> 00:09:18.039 2004, the series had sold something like a million 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:20.940 DVDs. It was actually making more money for Fox 00:09:20.940 --> 00:09:23.500 from DDD sales than the original run ever did. 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:25.860 Which just forced their hand. Completely. So 00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:28.080 it wasn't just, you know, fan petitions online 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:32.379 that there was that too. It was hard. Undeniable 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:36.279 data from a totally new revenue stream DVDs that 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:38.340 made the network bring back a show they'd already 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:41.679 killed off twice. That's almost unheard of in 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:43.759 television history. It really is the ultimate 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.059 like counter narrative to conventional network 00:09:46.059 --> 00:09:49.519 wisdom. And that revival, that power shift allowed 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:51.960 him to negotiate that massive hundred million 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:56.080 dollar deal with Fox in 2008. Wow. Yeah. Securing 00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:00.120 family guy and American dad. for years and making 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:02.740 him, at that time, one of the highest paid TV 00:10:02.740 --> 00:10:05.379 writers in the world. He basically made the network 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:07.580 pay him a fortune for a show they tried to get 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:09.460 rid of. Of course, when you're creating satire 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:11.399 on that level, pushing boundaries like that, 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:13.759 you invite friction. The show was constantly 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:16.320 targeted by watchdog groups, especially the Parents 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.360 Television Council, the PTC. Oh yeah, the PTC. 00:10:18.700 --> 00:10:21.240 They were filing complaints with the FCC, organizing 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.700 letter writing campaigns, constantly going after 00:10:23.700 --> 00:10:25.519 the show's content. And McFarlane's response 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:27.840 to them is, well, it's pure McFarlane. isn't 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:30.860 it just blunt no compromise absolutely he famously 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:34.860 called them literally terrible human beings added 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:36.580 something like that's like getting hate mail 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:38.860 from hitler they spend their entire day hating 00:10:38.860 --> 00:10:41.419 people wow okay it really sums up his whole stance 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:45.080 right he sees any attempt to censor comedy to 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:47.799 police it morally as just fundamentally malicious 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:52.220 and frankly dumb okay moving on to the spinoffs 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:55.279 we've got american dad which is still running, 00:10:55.379 --> 00:10:59.080 remarkably, since 2005. It even survived network 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:02.039 moves, Fox to TBS, and now back to Fox, right? 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:03.879 That's right. And the initial spark for American 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:06.519 Dad was definitely political. It came out of 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:08.879 McFarlane's pretty well -documented frustration 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:11.360 with the George W. Bush administration back then. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:13.519 So it started as more direct political satire. 00:11:13.539 --> 00:11:15.480 Stan Smith is a kind of Archie Bunker figure. 00:11:15.580 --> 00:11:17.480 That was the initial idea, yeah. Sort of all 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:19.820 in the family dynamic. But here's where McFarlane 00:11:19.820 --> 00:11:22.539 showed he learned something crucial. Delegation. 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:24.960 He largely stepped back from the day -to -day 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:27.720 creative side of American Dad. He left it to 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:30.419 the co -creators, Matt Weitzman and Mike Barker, 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:32.740 to really shape it, give it its own identity, 00:11:32.940 --> 00:11:35.600 make it distinct from Family Guy's reliance on 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:37.860 cuddleways, for example. But he still voices 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:40.379 Stan Smith and Roger the Alien, the main characters. 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:42.679 Oh, yeah, absolutely. He's still central, but 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.620 he let it breathe and become its own thing, which 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:47.759 is smart. And then there's the Cleveland show, 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:51.159 focusing on Cleveland Brown, ran for, what, 88 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:54.080 episodes? Yep. And notably, that's the only one 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:56.179 of his big animated shows where he didn't voice 00:11:56.179 --> 00:11:58.860 the main character, which is maybe a small sign, 00:11:58.940 --> 00:12:01.080 but shows he's willing to let other talents take 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.899 the lead. But the animation empire, huge as it 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:05.980 is, was really just setting the stage for his 00:12:05.980 --> 00:12:08.539 next big move, a really serious pivot into live 00:12:08.539 --> 00:12:11.860 action. In 2017, he launched The Orville. His 00:12:11.860 --> 00:12:15.100 first major live action series. Sci -fi dramedy. 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:17.480 And he stars in it, too, as Captain Ed Mercer. 00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:19.620 This felt like a huge test of his range, right? 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:23.220 Moving from 2D satire to high concept, ongoing 00:12:23.220 --> 00:12:25.740 storytelling with spaceships and aliens. Definitely. 00:12:25.899 --> 00:12:28.440 And the initial critical reaction, it was pretty 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:29.940 rough. A lot of reviews called it derivative 00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:32.799 or too much like a sketch comedy version of Star 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.100 Trek. But the sources say the reviews got much 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:37.820 better by season two. What changed? What did 00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:40.039 they pinpoint? Well, it seems the show itself 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:42.960 shifted gears. It moved away from trying so hard 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:45.879 to be a parody of classic sci -fi and leaned 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:50.059 much more into serious character drama and thought 00:12:50.059 --> 00:12:52.639 -provoking science fiction plots. More like classic 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.220 Star Trek, actually. Exactly. The kind of social 00:12:55.220 --> 00:12:57.759 commentary Trek was known for. The episodes got 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:00.320 longer, more serialized. They tackled complex 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:03.360 ethical dilemmas. That maturation, that shift 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:05.720 in tone, seemed to win over a lot of the critics 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.299 and showed McFarlane could handle drama and comedy. 00:13:08.330 --> 00:13:11.629 And then came the network move. After Disney 00:13:11.629 --> 00:13:14.549 bought Fox, the Orville jumped to Hulu for season 00:13:14.549 --> 00:13:17.529 three, New Horizons. That feels significant, 00:13:17.629 --> 00:13:20.529 like a move for more creative freedom. It absolutely 00:13:20.529 --> 00:13:22.610 suggests that. Streaming platforms often allow 00:13:22.610 --> 00:13:25.289 for longer episodes, maybe fewer content restrictions. 00:13:25.750 --> 00:13:28.509 It sort of cemented the show's seriousness, putting 00:13:28.509 --> 00:13:31.570 it alongside other big streaming dramas. And 00:13:31.570 --> 00:13:33.429 then there was that weird COVID side effect. 00:13:33.490 --> 00:13:36.220 A scrapped episode turned into a novel. Yeah, 00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:39.720 the Orville. Sympathy for the devil. An episode 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:41.960 planned for season three got shelved due to production 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:44.340 delays, so he adapted it and published it as 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:46.700 a novella. Just shows he's always looking for 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:48.779 an outlet, right? If he can't film it, he'll 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:50.960 write it. Doesn't matter the medium. Beyond the 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.299 shows he stars in, his producer credits show 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:57.490 just... Staggering range. Yeah. He produced the 00:13:57.490 --> 00:13:59.809 Cosmos reboot with Neil deGrasse Tyson. That's 00:13:59.809 --> 00:14:02.750 serious science communication. A huge non -comedy 00:14:02.750 --> 00:14:05.350 achievement. Really shows him using his Hollywood 00:14:05.350 --> 00:14:08.149 clout for something deeply educational, carrying 00:14:08.149 --> 00:14:10.929 on Carl Sagan's legacy. And yeah, some of his 00:14:10.929 --> 00:14:13.929 live action sitcom tries, like The Winner, Dads, 00:14:13.929 --> 00:14:16.450 they didn't last long. True. But he also produced 00:14:16.450 --> 00:14:19.029 Glunt Talk, that star series with Patrick Stewart, 00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:21.710 critically acclaimed, ran for two seasons. Right, 00:14:21.750 --> 00:14:23.909 about the British journalist in L .A. And he 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:26.409 even used animation for direct social commentary 00:14:26.409 --> 00:14:29.429 with Bordertown. Only 13 episodes, but it took 00:14:29.429 --> 00:14:31.909 on immigration, cultural change, through this 00:14:31.909 --> 00:14:34.149 Border Patrol agent, and a Mexican immigrant 00:14:34.149 --> 00:14:37.090 family. He really does use every tool in the 00:14:37.090 --> 00:14:39.269 box to talk about what's happening now. Okay, 00:14:39.350 --> 00:14:42.850 let's shift gears again to the big screen. McFarlane's 00:14:42.850 --> 00:14:46.950 live -action directing debut, TED 2012. He co 00:14:46.950 --> 00:14:49.409 -wrote it, produced it, and voiced the title 00:14:49.409 --> 00:14:52.080 character, that foul -mouthed teddy bear. And 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:54.279 the success wasn't just big. It was kind of historic, 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:56.419 wasn't it? Yeah, Ted had the highest opening 00:14:56.419 --> 00:14:59.639 weekend gross ever for an original R -rated comedy 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:01.559 at the time. And internationally, it did even 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:03.460 better, becoming the highest -grossing original 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:05.980 R -rated comedy worldwide, beating The Hangover. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:08.559 It proved his brand of humor worked globally. 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:11.679 And it spawned a sequel. Ted 2 in 2015 and now 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:13.799 there's that Peacock prequel series coming out. 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.059 The franchise just keeps going. It really does. 00:15:16.179 --> 00:15:18.659 His next film, A Million Ways to Die in the West 00:15:18.659 --> 00:15:21.159 from 2014, the Western comedy he wrote and starred 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:24.000 in, that got a much more mixed reaction. Critics 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:25.919 weren't as kind. Yeah, it didn't hit the same 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:28.379 way. But there's that amazing little detail about 00:15:28.379 --> 00:15:31.399 it. Apparently, he got so restless or bored during 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.019 the filming that he spent his weekends writing 00:15:34.019 --> 00:15:36.460 a novel based on the script. Just because. It's 00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:38.559 just proof, right? The creative engine is always 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:40.179 running. If he's not directing, he's writing. 00:15:40.460 --> 00:15:43.120 And his interest in reviving classic comedy formats 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.860 continues. He's developing a Naked Gun reboot. 00:15:46.179 --> 00:15:48.940 Yeah, with Liam Neeson potentially playing Frank 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:52.120 Trebin Jr. how wild is that it's wild but it 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:55.340 fits his career arc goes from reviving hannah 00:15:55.340 --> 00:15:58.779 barbara tropes to potentially reviving zucker 00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:01.919 abraham's and zucker style parody he loves those 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.039 classic forms okay now for maybe the biggest 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:05.740 disconnect for people the thing that makes you 00:16:05.740 --> 00:16:09.730 go wait that guy The crooner career. Yeah. The 00:16:09.730 --> 00:16:12.110 same man who voices Stewie Griffin, possibly 00:16:12.110 --> 00:16:15.049 the most evil baby in cartoon history, is also 00:16:15.049 --> 00:16:18.190 this acclaimed Grammy -nominated singer of standards. 00:16:18.450 --> 00:16:21.470 It is truly the most unexpected part of his profile, 00:16:21.669 --> 00:16:23.789 but it's also maybe the most deeply traditional. 00:16:24.169 --> 00:16:27.309 His musical passion comes from this really serious 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:30.750 study of, as he puts it, the lush orchestration 00:16:30.750 --> 00:16:33.710 and old -fashioned melody writing of the great 00:16:33.710 --> 00:16:36.549 American songbook. Sinatra, Dean Martin, Mel 00:16:36.549 --> 00:16:39.830 Torme. Those are his guys. He genuinely feels 00:16:39.830 --> 00:16:43.370 that kind of music, that sense of fun, as he 00:16:43.370 --> 00:16:46.110 calls it, is missing from a lot of modern pop. 00:16:46.289 --> 00:16:48.210 And he took it seriously. This wasn't just some 00:16:48.210 --> 00:16:51.690 celebrity vanity project. He got proper, rigorous 00:16:51.690 --> 00:16:54.309 vocal training. From Lee and Sally Sweetland, 00:16:54.389 --> 00:16:56.850 yeah. Coaches who actually worked with legends 00:16:56.850 --> 00:16:59.710 like Streisand and Sinatra himself. Wow. And 00:16:59.710 --> 00:17:01.470 they taught him the old -style way of singing. 00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:03.850 The sources mentioned this fascinating technical 00:17:03.850 --> 00:17:06.190 detail. His coaches apparently drilled him day 00:17:06.190 --> 00:17:08.490 in and day out on the technique of showing his 00:17:08.490 --> 00:17:10.190 teeth while singing. Showing his teeth. Why? 00:17:10.430 --> 00:17:12.269 Apparently, they argued it helped brighten the 00:17:12.269 --> 00:17:14.890 whole performance. That level of detailed technical 00:17:14.890 --> 00:17:17.109 coaching, it just shows how committed he was 00:17:17.109 --> 00:17:19.390 to getting the authenticity right. Just like 00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:21.109 his commitment to animation structure, but in 00:17:21.109 --> 00:17:23.849 a totally different field. And it worked. He 00:17:23.849 --> 00:17:25.910 got a record deal with Universal Republic in 00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:29.059 2010. started releasing albums of traditional 00:17:29.059 --> 00:17:33.359 pop, easy listening, jazz, swing. Nine studio 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.680 albums so far, starting with Music is Better 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:38.579 Than Words in 2011. That one got him his first 00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:40.980 Grammy nomination. And how many nominations total 00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:44.599 now? Five. Five Grammy nominations for best traditional 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:47.779 pop vocal album for albums like No One Ever Tells 00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:50.500 You in full swing. Getting five nominations in 00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:52.339 that specific category, that puts him right up 00:17:52.339 --> 00:17:54.779 there with the top contemporary singers in that 00:17:54.779 --> 00:17:57.480 genre. He's legit. And his commitment to preserving 00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:59.720 this music goes beyond just recording covers. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:02.359 Tell us about this new album, The Lost Sinatra 00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:04.660 Arrangements. That sounds amazing. It's incredible, 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:06.960 right? Lush life. The Lost Sinatra Arrangements 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.480 coming out in 2025. He's basically doing music 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:11.579 archaeology here. How did he find them? So these 00:18:11.579 --> 00:18:13.220 weren't just sitting in some public archive. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:15.740 McFarlane actually discovered these musical charts 00:18:15.740 --> 00:18:18.200 arrangements written for Frank Sinatra by legends 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:21.480 like Nelson Riddle, Billy May, just sitting unperformed 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:24.500 in Sinatra's own private music library. Oh, just 00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:27.000 filed away. Lost to time. Essentially, yeah. 00:18:27.380 --> 00:18:29.759 Charts written, paid for, but never recorded. 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:33.000 McFarlane saw their value, secured the rights, 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.279 and then conducted the album himself with the 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:38.000 John Wilson Orchestra. It's more than just singing 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.440 standards. It's actively rescuing and preserving 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:43.720 pieces of musical history, filling in the gaps. 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:46.349 And he performs live, too, right? At serious 00:18:46.349 --> 00:18:48.769 venues. Absolutely. Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie 00:18:48.769 --> 00:18:52.450 Hall, Royal Albert Hall in London, the BBC proms. 00:18:52.710 --> 00:18:55.529 He performs as a serious vocalist, not just, 00:18:55.529 --> 00:18:58.109 you know, a celebrity guest spot. He's taken 00:18:58.109 --> 00:19:00.450 seriously by that world. That serious artist 00:19:00.450 --> 00:19:04.170 side, it really contrasts with his other big 00:19:04.170 --> 00:19:07.200 side gig, hosting. He was the roastmaster for 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:09.420 Comedy Central a few times. Yeah, David Hasselhoff, 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:11.539 Donald Trump, Charlie Sheen. He's the only person 00:19:11.539 --> 00:19:13.119 who's done it more than once, actually. Shows 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:15.240 he can handle that really brutal, high -energy 00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:17.660 comedy environment. But the biggest hosting gig, 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:19.660 and probably the most controversial, was the 00:19:19.660 --> 00:19:22.859 Oscars in 2013. The 85th Academy Awards. He was 00:19:22.859 --> 00:19:25.339 actually nominated that year, too, for Best Original 00:19:25.339 --> 00:19:27.519 Song from Ted, Everybody Needs a Best Friend. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:30.420 Right, and the hosting itself got, well, mixed 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:32.859 reviews, is putting it mildly. Yeah, it ranged 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:35.559 from people finding it kind of... bland or boring 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:38.160 to outright outrage. The big flashpoint. Everyone 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.660 remembers it. The We Saw Your Boobs song. Oh, 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.579 yeah. That musical number listing actresses who'd 00:19:43.579 --> 00:19:46.140 appeared topless in movies. Critics jumped all 00:19:46.140 --> 00:19:49.000 over it. What was the main criticism? That it 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:51.839 was just cheap shock value. Pretty much. Owen 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:53.799 Gleiberman at Entertainment Weekly called it 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:57.059 an echo chamber of outrage, saying he tried too 00:19:57.059 --> 00:20:00.059 hard with faux scandalous gags about sensitive 00:20:00.059 --> 00:20:02.900 topics, basically arguing he was just importing 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:05.839 the lazy shock humor from Family Guy. But not 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.960 everyone hated it. No, it wasn't universal. Some 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:11.299 other critics thought he did impressively better 00:20:11.299 --> 00:20:13.940 than one would have wagered. They felt he managed 00:20:13.940 --> 00:20:16.599 to balance the sort of required Oscar politeness 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:19.079 with a bit of that Ricky Gervais edge, you know, 00:20:19.099 --> 00:20:22.019 biting the hand that feeds you. So it was divisive. 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:24.180 Yeah. Shows how tough it is to bring that family 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:27.579 guy sensibility to such a mainstream global event 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:30.259 like the Oscars. Exactly. It's a tricky tightrope 00:20:30.259 --> 00:20:32.740 to walk. Okay, let's shift focus completely now. 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:35.339 Away from the entertainment side and look at 00:20:35.339 --> 00:20:38.859 the more serious, often very public side of Seth 00:20:38.859 --> 00:20:42.059 MacFarlane. His activism, his philosophical views, 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:44.880 politically the sources make it clear. He's a 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:47.059 consistent, staunch supporter of the Democratic 00:20:47.059 --> 00:20:49.730 Party. Very consistent, significant donations 00:20:49.730 --> 00:20:51.750 over the years. The source has mentioned over 00:20:51.750 --> 00:20:55.130 $200 ,000 to various Democratic committees and 00:20:55.130 --> 00:20:57.569 causes. And his endorsements track the modern 00:20:57.569 --> 00:21:00.269 party line pretty closely. Obama in 08, Bernie 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:02.990 Sanders in the 16 primary, then Hillary Clinton 00:21:02.990 --> 00:21:05.910 for the general, Joe Biden in 20 and 24, and 00:21:05.910 --> 00:21:07.670 then Kamala Harris after Biden stepped aside. 00:21:07.910 --> 00:21:10.289 He's also vocal about legalizing cannabis. And 00:21:10.289 --> 00:21:12.730 his advocacy for gay rights is really deeply 00:21:12.730 --> 00:21:15.369 woven into his work and public persona. Even 00:21:15.369 --> 00:21:17.640 before the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:20.799 he was speaking out very forcefully, called unequal 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.640 marriage rates infuriating and idiotic. That 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:25.900 outspokenness, that commitment to equality and 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:28.180 critical thinking, led to him being named Harvard 00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:30.980 Humanist of the Year in 2011. Which makes sense. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.059 But beyond specific political issues, he's been 00:21:34.059 --> 00:21:36.480 a really powerful voice for labor within the 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:38.940 entertainment industry. He seems willing to risk 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:41.559 his own lucrative deals to stand with writers 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:44.819 and actors. Like during the 2007 -2008 Writers 00:21:44.819 --> 00:21:47.819 Guild strike. That was a big one. Huge. And he 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:50.900 very publicly sided with the guild, fully participated 00:21:50.900 --> 00:21:53.000 in the strike, even though it created this really 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:57.000 weird, tense situation with Fox. What happened 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:59.859 there? His contract required him to work. Technically, 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.660 yeah. His contract for Family Guy required him 00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:05.319 to contribute. But because he was striking, he 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:07.960 refused. So Fox went ahead and aired three episodes 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:10.339 that were already finished, but without his final 00:22:10.339 --> 00:22:12.799 OK or input. And he called them out publicly 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.690 for it. Oh, yeah. He called it a colossal dick 00:22:15.690 --> 00:22:19.109 move by the network publicly. Wow. That must 00:22:19.109 --> 00:22:20.950 have caused serious friction with the network 00:22:20.950 --> 00:22:23.190 that basically housed his billion dollar franchise. 00:22:23.569 --> 00:22:26.349 Did that damage the relationship long term? Or 00:22:26.349 --> 00:22:28.309 did that huge hundred million dollar deal afterwards 00:22:28.309 --> 00:22:30.609 just prove they couldn't afford to lose him regardless 00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:33.410 of the conflict? It really seems like the latter. 00:22:33.589 --> 00:22:36.009 The fact that the massive deal came not long 00:22:36.009 --> 00:22:38.509 after the strike suggests that, yeah, there was 00:22:38.509 --> 00:22:41.150 definitely tension, but the financial reality 00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:45.579 of Family Guy and American Dad. The sheer amount 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:48.900 of money they generated from DVDs syndication 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:51.019 just made him too valuable. He had the leverage. 00:22:51.140 --> 00:22:53.119 He had the leverage and he used it to support 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.519 the writers, knowing his product was basically 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:57.680 indispensable to Fox at that point. And that 00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.920 support wasn't just a one off. During the big 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:04.339 strikes in 2023, the WGA and SAG -FTRA strikes. 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:06.740 He put his money where his mouth was, donated 00:23:06.740 --> 00:23:08.480 a million dollars to the Entertainment Community 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:11.359 Fund. A million dollars to help industry workers 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.480 who are out of work during the strikes. That's 00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:15.390 a massive. statement of solidarity. It really 00:23:15.390 --> 00:23:17.829 is. Now, moving completely away from Hollywood, 00:23:17.990 --> 00:23:20.190 his work in scientific and artistic preservation, 00:23:20.569 --> 00:23:23.089 this might be his most impactful contribution 00:23:23.089 --> 00:23:26.069 outside of entertainment. And it really speaks 00:23:26.069 --> 00:23:28.210 to his core philosophy. Let's talk about the 00:23:28.210 --> 00:23:30.549 Carl Sagan archive. That's fascinating. It really 00:23:30.549 --> 00:23:33.150 comes back to that self -description, a critical 00:23:33.150 --> 00:23:36.289 thinker. In 2012, he put up the money needed 00:23:36.289 --> 00:23:38.670 to create the Seth Macarline collection of the 00:23:38.670 --> 00:23:41.509 Carl Sagan and Ann Dreen Archive. It's housed 00:23:41.509 --> 00:23:44.029 at the Library of Congress. Preserving Sagan's 00:23:44.029 --> 00:23:46.690 papers, his research. Exactly. All the materials 00:23:46.690 --> 00:23:49.069 from one of the most important science communicators 00:23:49.069 --> 00:23:51.710 of the 20th century. And his reason for doing 00:23:51.710 --> 00:23:54.029 it. He said it was rooted in his belief in how 00:23:54.029 --> 00:23:57.130 crucial space exploration is, regardless of whatever 00:23:57.130 --> 00:23:59.170 trivial stuff is happening in the news cycle. 00:23:59.390 --> 00:24:02.349 He famously quipped he did it, in spite of whatever 00:24:02.349 --> 00:24:06.170 Snooki did last week. Okay, that archive opened 00:24:06.170 --> 00:24:09.069 in 2013, making sure all that scientific history 00:24:09.069 --> 00:24:11.630 is safe. Priceless educational material, preserved, 00:24:11.970 --> 00:24:14.630 and his love for classic art forms, it goes beyond 00:24:14.630 --> 00:24:18.059 music. He's into film preservation, too. In 2024, 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:21.119 he teamed up with Martin Scorsese, of all people. 00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:23.339 Scorsese and McFarland. That's a pairing. Right. 00:24:23.420 --> 00:24:26.039 To fund and showcase the restoration of old animated 00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:28.680 shorts. The project's called Back from the Ink. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.359 Restored animated shorts working with the UCLA 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:33.940 Film and Television Archive. So the guy who created 00:24:33.940 --> 00:24:36.599 Ted is working with Martin Scorsese to save cartoon 00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:39.539 history. It just shows he sees preserving classic 00:24:39.539 --> 00:24:41.980 art, whether it's old Sinatra charts or forgotten 00:24:41.980 --> 00:24:45.380 animation cells, as just as vital as creating 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:48.079 new stuff. To really understand the guy, the 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:50.400 sources also give us some personal and philosophical 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:53.880 context. He identifies as an atheist. Yeah, calls 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:56.420 himself a critical thinker. And he's expressed 00:24:56.420 --> 00:24:59.359 fascination, maybe even bewilderment, that so 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:02.160 many people still believe in, as he put it, the 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:04.880 invisible man living in the sky. That rationalist 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:08.140 viewpoint clearly feeds into it. comedy. But 00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:10.460 the deepest personal context, the one that really 00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:12.839 stops you in your tracks, is the September 11th 00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:15.079 near miss. That's right. He was booked on American 00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:17.900 Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:20.339 World Trade Center. How did he miss it? Two things, 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:22.500 according to the sources. One, he had a hangover 00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:24.759 from partying the night before. And two, his 00:25:24.759 --> 00:25:26.980 travel agent gave him the wrong departure time, 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:30.140 told him 7 .45 a .m. instead of the actual 7 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:32.900 .40 a .m. So we got to the airport, Logan in 00:25:32.900 --> 00:25:34.839 Boston, about 10 minutes late, and the gate was 00:25:34.839 --> 00:25:37.720 already closed. Missed it by minutes. And he's 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:40.019 quoted saying that the horrific event didn't 00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:42.220 affect him as deeply as you might expect, which 00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:44.519 he felt was necessary for his job as a comedy 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:47.880 writer, precisely because he didn't really know 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:50.559 that I was in any danger until after it was over. 00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:53.839 That idea of compartmentalizing, how important 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:57.299 is that specific kind of distance for his brand 00:25:57.299 --> 00:26:00.000 of humor? Oh, it's incredibly important. Think 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.119 about Family Guy. The humor is dark. It's absurd. 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:06.200 It tackles incredibly sensitive topics constantly. 00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:09.579 To do that effectively as a satirist, you almost 00:26:09.579 --> 00:26:12.059 need a certain emotional distance from tragedy. 00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:14.420 Right. If he had been immediately profoundly 00:26:14.420 --> 00:26:17.039 traumatized by realizing how close he came while 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:18.880 it was happening, it might have shut down his 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:20.839 ability to find humor in those dark corners. 00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:23.039 The fact that he processed the narrow escape 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:25.519 after the tragedy was fully known allowed him, 00:26:25.579 --> 00:26:28.059 perhaps, to maintain that... intellectual, and 00:26:28.059 --> 00:26:30.779 emotional remove needed to keep writing boundary 00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:33.039 -pushing satire. That makes a chilling kind of 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:35.099 sense. Okay, finally, just for completeness, 00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:37.480 we should touch on the legal side. Creating content 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:40.400 that pushes boundaries like his does, it inevitably 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.539 leads to lawsuits. Oh yeah. The sources highlight 00:26:43.539 --> 00:26:46.819 three main copyright infringement suits. The 00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:50.059 most famous one was probably over the I Need 00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:53.420 a Jew parody song in Family Guy. Based on When 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:56.000 You Wish Upon a Star. Right. But the court ruled 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:58.319 in his favor on that one, said it was protected 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:00.480 parody, fair use. That was a pretty important 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.180 ruling for satire in general. What were the others? 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:06.400 There was one involving Jesus performing a parody 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:08.960 of comedian art, Metrano's Fine and Dandy Magic 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:12.680 Act. That one got settled out of court. And then 00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:15.119 there was the lawsuit against Ted. Someone claimed 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:17.740 he stole the idea. Yeah, from their concept called 00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:20.480 Charlie the Abusive Teddy Bear. But the plaintiffs 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:22.740 eventually dropped the suit after conceding that 00:27:22.740 --> 00:27:25.779 McFarlane had created Ted independently. So the 00:27:25.779 --> 00:27:28.059 legal fights happened, which you'd almost expect. 00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:31.259 His work has generally held up against those 00:27:31.259 --> 00:27:33.220 challenges. It absolutely has. And actually, 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:35.380 before we wrap up and try to synthesize all this, 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:37.799 there's one last detail from the sources. It's 00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:39.900 wonderfully random and shows his influence goes 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:43.259 way beyond Hollywood or music charts. In 2022, 00:27:43.640 --> 00:27:46.079 scientists described a brand new species of frog 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:49.500 they discovered in Ecuador, a Hilo -Cerdus frog, 00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:52.500 and they named it after him. Get out. What's 00:27:52.500 --> 00:27:58.240 it called? Even the natural world is acknowledging 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:01.140 the guy's incredibly broad, unpredictable reach. 00:28:01.559 --> 00:28:04.559 Hashtag tag outro. So when you really zoom out 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:06.519 and look at the whole picture of Seth MacFarlane, 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:09.480 the thing that keeps coming back is this incredible 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:12.460 split, this dichotomy. Yeah. You have the traditionalist, 00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:16.000 the meticulous artist, the singer studying Sinatra's 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:18.519 coaches, the preservationist saving Sagan's papers 00:28:18.519 --> 00:28:21.000 and old cartoons, the guy who writes a novel 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:23.000 just because he's bored on set. Right. That side. 00:28:23.099 --> 00:28:25.700 And then right alongside him is the boundary 00:28:25.700 --> 00:28:28.880 smashing, often abrasive satirist who built this 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:31.299 multi -billion dollar empire on, let's be honest, 00:28:31.400 --> 00:28:34.740 crude jokes. Hilarious cutaways and that initial 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:37.579 $50 ,000 pilot gamble. And he seems to thrive 00:28:37.579 --> 00:28:39.940 in the tension between those two poles. He uses 00:28:39.940 --> 00:28:42.480 the money engine from his arguably lowest brow 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:45.299 comedy to fund these incredibly highbrow preservation 00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:48.440 focused artistic and scientific projects. It's 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:50.420 like he completely rejects the idea that you 00:28:50.420 --> 00:28:53.180 have to pick a lane creatively. Totally. He refuses 00:28:53.180 --> 00:28:56.180 to fit in just one box. So considering that whole 00:28:56.180 --> 00:28:59.319 constellation of work, you know, his dedication 00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:02.559 to science archives, his role in literally saving 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:04.579 pieces of the great American songbook and that 00:29:04.579 --> 00:29:06.619 50 grand bet that turned into a billion dollar 00:29:06.619 --> 00:29:09.980 cartoon franchise. Here's something provocative 00:29:09.980 --> 00:29:13.400 for you, the listener, to think about. Is Seth 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:16.759 MacFarlane's greatest skill? Maybe. Actually, 00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:20.449 his willingness to invest deeply. financially, 00:29:20.449 --> 00:29:23.750 creatively, personally, in the fields where absolutely 00:29:23.750 --> 00:29:26.150 no one expects him to succeed? That's a great 00:29:26.150 --> 00:29:28.130 question. Whether it's digging up lost music 00:29:28.130 --> 00:29:30.210 charts or funding an astronomer's archive, it 00:29:30.210 --> 00:29:32.849 definitely feels like his appetite for, I don't 00:29:32.849 --> 00:29:35.250 know, risk and preservation is maybe just as 00:29:35.250 --> 00:29:37.029 strong as his talent for making people laugh 00:29:37.029 --> 00:29:40.470 or cringe or both. Or both. Well, thanks for 00:29:40.470 --> 00:29:41.970 joining us for The Deep Dive. See you next time.