EXCLUSIVE: Seth MacFarlane and the showrunners for American father And Family man lay down their tools and talents until the Writers Guild of America has a new deal with the studios.
Multiple Emmy winner MacFarlane, American fatherby Brian Boyle and Matt Weitzman and Family man‘s Rich Appel and Alec Sulkin made it clear to 20e Television this week that none of them will be working on the series in question while the WGA goes on strike.
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Putting his feet where his money is, the creator and voiceover star of Family man and co-creator and voice-over star of American father, MacFarlane has been seen on the picket lines since talks with the AMPTP broke down and the guild went on strike on May 2. His performance with fellow WGA members and walking out of the two shows shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, as MacFarlane was a strong supporter for the WGA during the last strike of 2007-2008.
Reps for both WME-repped MacFarlane and 20e TV had no comment today when Deadline reached out about the departure of the ex-Oscar host and showrunners.
However, it appears that the impact of those departures will have little direct effect on Fox’s broadcast Family man or American father.
MacFarlane had long since completed all of his duties on the first, ending the 20 episodes of 21.st season on May 7. As regards American fatherwho started his 20e season in late March, there’s quite a bit of runway to go before the wheels come off. The animated satire has already completed about 3 months worth of scripts, v/o, etc. I hear. Then the studio will have to figure out what steps to take next.
In January, Fox renewed Family man for a 22nd and 23ed season. Back in December 2021, American father was extended for a 20e and 21st season.
Like many showrunners, Boyle, Weitzman, Appel and Sulkin received letters last week individually informing them to show up for their “non-WGA duties.” What such non-guild duties actually are has proved to be an increasingly tense point of contention between the WGA and the studios. The guild’s POV is simply that there is no non-writing element to being a showrunner.
MacFarlane and his Fuzzy Door Productions moved in 2020 from a long-term deal with 20th Century Fox Television to a five-year, $200 million deal with NBCUniversal. profile showrunners and talent have in recent days, sources tell me.
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