Return of Family Values

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When Family Guy began back in 1998, MacFarlane was an art-school graduate who had worked as an animator at Hanna-Barbera but had never written a prime-time network comedy. His next three years were a crash course in the many ways the TV business can kick your soul in the butt: The network president who had championed the show, Peter Roth, stepped down in '98 just before FG's short, promising initial stint when it aired following The Simpsons. His successor, Doug Herzog, was less supportive, moving the show into a slot opposite Frasier. . .where it was seen by approximately nobody. When Herzog left, the show lingered in precancellation limbo (MacFarlane had started to fire staff) until Berman arrived and saved it — only to swing the ax after season 3. ''I don't think Fox made a mistake,'' says MacFarlane. ''They did what any network would have done with an expensive show that was getting the numbers we were getting.''

In an effort to recoup costs, Twentieth Century Fox Television, FG's production company, tried to sell the reruns, but got no takers. Finally, Fox Home Entertainment made a deal with the Cartoon Network: The cable net could air the 50 shows for free for a month in exchange for promos touting the April 2003 release of the DVD, which was proving to be a hard sell. ''Our retailers had never heard of it,'' says Fox Home Entertainment marketing VP Todd Rowan. ''We had to arm-twist a bit just to get it placed.''

None of the execs realized how many fans were quietly pining to see it again, despite the smattering of ''Save Family Guy!'' petitions littering the Internet. But the Family faithful made its presence known when the DVD hit stores: Rowan says he knew FG was a hit ''about 3 p.m. the day it released. We get hourly reads on [sales], and it was performing way beyond anyone's expectations. We were hoping to make money on a small group of fans, but it exploded.'' Meanwhile, the show was gaining new acolytes on the Cartoon Network, where 517,000 men ages 18 to 34 were tuning in nightly. Adult Swim exec Mike Lazzo was soon pleading with Fox for more new shows, offering to buy them himself: ''I kept saying, 'We welcome the risk, because we don't think it's risky.'''

In November 2003, after MacFarlane had sold American Dad to the Fox network, Twentieth Century Fox told him it was putting FG back into production for Adult Swim and DVD. But the following May, Berman decided to reconcile with the Family and give the Griffins another try on her network first. (Each new episode will now air on the Cartoon Network 11 days later.) ''It seemed to have a bigger awareness than it did even when it was on our air,'' says Berman, now the head of Paramount's movie studio. ''The show had so many fans here that we felt it was worth trying one more time.''

MacFarlane began contacting some very surprised FG alumni. ''Seth called and my reaction was 'F--- you!''' says Alex Borstein (Mad TV), writer and voice of Lois. ''You can't get too excited: You're canceled, you're back, you're canceled, you're back. . .'' Now the writers (half of the 15 are FG veterans) are churning out scripts as if the show had never stopped: Future story lines have Peter stumbling onto a copy of The Passion of the Christ 2, organizing the National Association for the Advancement of Fat People, and discovering that, technically, he is mentally retarded.

Some did feel trepidation in returning to the network that gave them the yanking of their lives. ''It's like every time we go back to see a new Star Wars movie,'' says Seth Green, who voices half-wit son Chris. ''We're like, 'I loved you once, we had a great relationship in the '70s, it fell apart in the '90s, why couldn't you just love us the way you used to?''' Exec producer David Goodman has a more positive take: ''I don't think it's like going back to the battering boyfriend. It's going back to the drunken boyfriend who's now in AA and is all cleaned up and making amends.'' And Fox is apologizing profusely: Not only has its studio commissioned 35 episodes (compared to the usual 22), but the next few months will see a book (Stewie's Guide to World Domination), a CD (Family Guy Live in Vegas), and an 80-minute original DVD movie.

Multimedia blitzes aside, FG still has to prove itself in the ratings. It will air against Desperate Housewives, but as MacFarlane points out, that's a very different audience. (Though he adds with a laugh, ''There may be lots of beer guzzlers watching Desperate Housewives, I don't know.'') A bigger issue is that there's a huge difference between a hit on late-night cable and one in network prime time. Adult Swim brags of FG's 517,000 male viewers ages 18 to 34, but Arrested Development teeters on the brink of cancellation this season with more than 1.2 million. Plus, the Cartoon Network's repeat airings could dilute viewership for Fox, but exec VP of programming Craig Erwich dismisses this possibility: ''Our Sunday night is bigger than anything Cartoon Network has.''

With all of this, MacFarlane maintains a measured confidence in Family Guy's return and American Dad's launch. And his past turbulent experience in network TV has left him calmly realistic. ''If the shows do well, they'll be safe,'' he says. ''And if not, they should be pulled off anyway.'' Easy for him to say: With his shows, being canceled is only the beginning.