Comic-Con 2010: Family Guy & The Cleveland Show: More Reasons To Find Steady Voiceover Work

While members from all four shows on FOX’s Animation Domination Sunday night lineup made appearances at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego last weekend, representatives from two Seth MacFarlane-created series engaged in a simultaneous panel and subsequent press conference on Saturday afternoon to discuss their respective upcoming seasons and projects. Fans of both Family Guy and The Cleveland Show filled Ballroom 20 in the San Diego Convention Center to capacity with eager anticipation, and the talent did not disappoint. As reported on Poptimal earlier this week, Family Guy’s creative team unveiled a nine-minute clip of their latest Star Wars spoof, a parody of Return of the Jedi, called “It’s a Trap,” and the cast of The Cleveland Show engaged in an exclusive live table read of an episode in which Cleveland attends Comic-Con. Perhaps the biggest Cleveland Show revelation, however, is that Sanaa Lathan’s character, Donna, had starred in a 70s blaxploitation film called Hot Cocoa Bang Bang, her participation in which comes back to haunt her in an upcoming Season 2 installment.

In the dizzying post-panel press room, I asked seasoned film and television actress Lathan (Alien vs. Predator, Nip/Tuck) how she would respond to the possibility of making a live action adaptation of Hot Cocoa Bang Bang, starring herself in the title role – after all, the fictional film’s poster art revealed at the panel made the idea seem quite feasible. “It was slammin’!” Lathan agreed with a laugh, saying she’d be more than up for it if the opportunity properly presented itself, but quickly issued a disclaimer many an entertainment news reporter has heard before: “You’ll have to ask the producers about that.”

Kevin Michael Richardson, who voices spontaneously pudgy offspring Cleveland Jr., was excited to participate in a Comic-Con panel, especially to promote his role on a show with characters already familiar to its audience. “The panel for The Cleveland Show and Family Guy was huge,” he exclaimed. “I mean, it was packed. That was nice, it was like a rock concert in there … that juiced us up really nicely.” As the brand new voice for a character who had been known under different physical pretenses on Family Guy prior to the premiere of spin-off The Cleveland Show, Richardson expressed gratitude for being part of a unique array of animated sitcoms with a reliably loyal audience. “It’s been a real jazz for us,” he said, referring to The Cleveland Show’s enviable, albeit fitting, comfy time slot as Family Guy‘s lead-in. “Three prime-time [Fuzzy Door] shows, animated, back to back, on the same night? That’s pretty awesome. And to be part of that, I must tell you, is an honor, especially as a series regular on one of those shows.  So, it’s very cool.”

Both Richardson and Lathan expressed gratitude for the convenience of having a regular voiceover gig that provides a more relaxed environment and an easier opportunity to multi-task than on-set, live action television work does. Lathan appreciates being able to “roll out of bed and show up [at work] in my sweats,” while Richardson joked about the decreased urgency for proper personal hygiene – or so he’s heard. “Some people say they don’t bathe or anything,” he said, quickly adding, “I do, just to put it out there,” he laughed.

Family Guy’s remarkably tolerant matriarch, Lois Griffin, has a voice nearly as recognizable as another famous animated wife light years out of her husband’s league. The former’s trademark nasal delivery is courtesy of Alex Borstein (who also wrote for and co-produced Family Guy until 2008), who had plenty to say about what the “It’s a Trap” Jedi spoof means for the future of Family Guy parodies — particularly regarding another beloved Lucasfilm anthology. When asked if she thinks Family Guy would ever tackle the Indiana Jones films, her response was a near-resounding yes. “He’s just smart. He’s a smart man,” she began, referring to George Lucas himself. “He gets that Seth [MacFarlane] is a true, true fan [of his films] … He gets that it’s an homage and out of respect … I think that we are totally open to doing Indiana Jones.” However, she added, there are tedious stumbling blocks to consider. “It’s also just a question of scheduling and planning, because those [movie spoofs] are longer episodes. They involve DVD releases that go along with it,” she said, continuing, “our [Family Guy] shows take nine months to make, each show, so it’s a year. It’s like birthing a baby, every show… [The thing to] figure out, is there an audience [for Indiana Jones] that’s as rabid as the Family Guy audience was for Star Wars … I think so.”

In addition to managing the logistics of scheduling time for such an ordeal, Borstein also wants to make sure the same care would be given to the next project that was given to the process of faithfully adapting Star Wars with a Family Guy flair. “The neat thing about Star Wars is that the animation directors on our show were able to capture special effects in animation. Somehow, explosions and space flight looks like it’s still a special effect but it’s all animated. I don’t know how they did it,” she said. “When we watch it, we’re just fascinated when we see an explosion. It’s incredible. So I know that would be [crucial]. What is there about Indiana Jones that we could do special, like that? What makes it worth doing, and not just that we’re ripping something off. There should be an extra special layer to it.”

Borstein rounded out her interview on a similar note that both Lathan and Richardson did, singing the praises of the niche she’s created for herself in the entertainment industry, and how fortunate she knows she is to be living her dream. “I always say that I’m like the luckiest woman in baseball,” she joked, adding, “It’s the greatest job on the planet … I learned more about writing and about comedy working on Family Guy than in the five years I worked on MADtv. This was like boot camp, and my comedy muscles were toned beyond belief. It’s a really good training ground. It’s like that Christina Aguilera song, ‘thanks for making me a fighter,’” she laughed. “I feel like I could win any fight now.”

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.

Images courtesy of FOX and imdbpro.

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