MacFarlane conceived Family Guy after developing two animated films, The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve. MacFarlane redesigned the films' protagonist Larry and his dog Steve, and renamed them Peter and Brian. Shortly after the third season of Family Guy aired in 2001, Fox canceled the series. However, favorable DVD sales and high ratings for syndicated reruns convinced the network to renew the show in 2004. The series takes place in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island, based on MacFarlane's upbringing and education.
Family Guy has been nominated for eleven Primetime Emmy Awards and eleven Annie Awards, and has won three of each. It has garnered three Golden Reel Award nominations, winning once. In 2009, it was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first time an animated series was nominated for the award since The Flintstones in 1961. Family Guy has also received negative criticism, including three lawsuits, and unfavorable comparisons for its unfortunate similarities to the animated series The Simpsons.
Many tie-in media have been released, including Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, a straight-to-DVD special released in 2005; Family Guy: Live in Vegas, a soundtrack-DVD combo released in 2005, featuring music from the show as well as original music created by MacFarlane and Walter Murphy; a video game and pinball machine, released in 2006 and 2007, respectively; and, since 2005, six books published by HarperCollins based on the Family Guy universe. In 2008, MacFarlane confirmed that the cast was interested in producing a feature film and that he was working on a story for film adaptation. A spin-off series, The Cleveland Show, premiered on September 27, 2009 as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox. The eighth season of Family Guy also premiered on September 27, 2009.
