Despite making a name for himself at Fox with a whole host of shows and even a few movies, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is leaving for greener pastures. After his deal with Fox ended in June, the multihyphenate has now signed a deal with NBCUniversel Content Studios for five years which is reportedly valued at almost $200 million. According to Variety, MacFarlane and his production company Fuzzy Door Productions will “develop television projects for both internal and external networks,” which includes the upcoming NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock.
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While working at Fox MacFarlane first produced the hit animated series Family Guy, which went on to survive two cancellations and is now in the midst of its 18th season on the network. Following the success of that series MacFarlane went on to develop American Dad!, which lasted 11 seasons at the network and continues to premiere new episodes on TBS; The Cleveland Show, which ran for four seasons and 88 episodes; and sci-fi comedy series The Orville, which lasted two seasons on Fox and will move to Hulu for its third season. MacFarlane has been nominated for 23 Emmy Awards (winning five of them) and been inducted into the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame.
It’s likely these shows will still continue despite MacFarlane’s new deal, as Disney TV Studios and ABC Entertainment chairwoman Dana Walden seemed to indicate as much in a statement.
“One of my oldest memories from Fox is of a young Seth MacFarlane hanging out in the halls of the studio,” Walden said. “He entertained all of us with his incredible wit and hilarious observations. He is a brilliant artist and a great friend; and, there is no one we root for more than him. As a fan, I look forward to whatever he creates next, and as his studio partner on ‘Family Guy,’ ‘American Dad’ and ‘The Orville,’ I feel lucky to be continuing an extraordinary partnership.”
MacFarlane’s production company also produced Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey in 2014 along with feature films Ted, Ted 2, and A Million Ways to Die in the West. The 2012 comedy Ted which MacFarlane wrote, directed, and starred in went on to gross almost $550 million worldwide and landed MacFarlane an Academy Award nomination for Best Original song. It’s unclear if MacFarlane will develop any feature film projects for NBCUniversal under the new deal, but his previous success would be something worth considering for the studio.
