Comic-Con 2010: Seth McFarlane Happy Hour

For a long span of time on Saturday at San Diego’s Comic-Con, the world seemed to be dedicated to Seth McFarlane. For three hours back-to-back the comic mastermind behind the shows Family Guy, American Dad, and… (um) The Cleveland Show, was front and center to showcase his comedic genius.

First up, Family Guy.

The Family Guy Panel kind of rocked. It started out with a clip of the newest installment of the not-yet-released Star Wars episode titled simply “It’s a Trap.” The clip was pretty funny and I enjoyed it far more than the first Star Wars episode (which was the only one I saw, since I didn’t like it.) When asked by a fan of the possibility of making prequels to the Star Wars Family Guy franchise, McFarlane answered with an absolute no. What with producing weekly episodes, it’s far too much to try to add onto that such a massive endeavor as another movie. “The last Star Wars almost killed us,” McFarlane says of this endeavor. So fans will just have to be content with the “It’s a Trap” Blue Ray/DVD once it hits stores December 21st. Although Star Wars is out, McFarland is open to the idea of an Indiana Jones Family Guy project.

During the panel, star Seth Green had a personal dilemma. His brother, Sam, was denied access and was being held at Security. Seth, in turn, used the microphone as a P.A. system to try to get the guards to let him in. This started off a rousing chorus of “Free Sam,” that echoed in the audience. Patrick Warburton was questioned about the possibility of Julia Louis Dreyfus guest starring as an old girlfriend of character Joe Swanson. Although this hadn’t been mentioned before, Warburton thought it was a spectacular idea.

So what’s next on the upcoming season of Family Guy? Stewie tries to kill Santa, Brian sells out, and Meg takes out her pent up anger on the family. Lois does a porn, Peter becomes brother-in-law to Adam West, and in the 1 hour season premiere, “And Then There Were None,” a lot of the main characters die. But before you get too distressed, this panel ended on a happy note when Seth McFarlane performed live Down Syndrome Girl with the accompanying clip. THIS WAS SO AWESOME!!!

Part two of McFarlane Hour: The Cleveland Show.

The Cleveland Show panel featured a live reading of an upcoming episode in which Cleveland and his family travel to Comic-Con. Even though there weren’t any visual images to accompany this reading, I still have a vivid impression of this reading as if it were an episode. I put this down to the stage directions, as well as to the voice actors whose performances were on point with what you’d expect in an episode. And as a preview, let’s just say that Donna has a secret she doesn’t want to get out.

There will be a host of new characters in this upcoming season; also the Cleveland Show will have a live episode. How exactly that will work I don’t know but I am intrigued. Rollo will become a rap superstar with a performance featuring T-Pain, Carl Briner and WILL I. AM.

And if you’ve ever wondered why they changed Cleveland Jr. they answer this question too. Previously Cleveland Jr. was voiced by Mike Henry (who also voices for Cleveland,) but with the spin-off of The Cleveland show there was a need for a full-time actor with a different range: enter Kevin Michael Richardson. Why they changed Cleveland Jr. from a lively, young boy to a sluggish adolescent remains a mystery.

Watch the special 1 hour-long episode of Family Guy on Sunday, September 26 at 9 pm (EST) on FOX.

Watch the season premiere of The Cleveland Show on Sunday, September 26, at 8:30 pm (EST) on FOX.

For more coverage of Comic-Con 2010, click here.

Image courtesy of Steve Granitz © Wire Image (wireimage.com); Keshaunta Moton and Poptimal.com

Comic Con 2010: Sanaa Latham was interviewed by Poptimal.com (Fox's The Clevland Show) Comic Con 2010: Sanaa Latham was interviewed by Poptimal.com (Fox's The Clevland Show)	Comic Con 2010: Sanaa Latham Interview (Fox's The Cleveland Show) Comic Con 2010: Sanaa Latham Interview (Fox's The Cleveland Show)	Comic Con 2010: Alex Borstein (Fox's Family Guy & The Clevland Show) Comic Con 2010: Alex Borstein (Fox's Family Guy & The Clevland Show)
Comic Con 2010: Seth McFarlane chucking it up with us at Poptimal.com (Fox's Family Guy & The Cleveland Show) Comic Con 2010: Seth McFarlane chucking it up with us at Poptimal.com (Fox's Family Guy & The Cleveland Show)	Comic Con 2010: Kevin Michael Richards in The Clevland Show Press Room Comic Con 2010: Kevin Michael Richards in The Clevland Show Press Room	Comic Con 2010: Seth and Kevin at Fox's The Cleveland Show Panel Comic Con 2010: Seth and Kevin at Fox's The Cleveland Show Panel