Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane Reveals How Long It Really Takes to Make Each Episode

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After more than 25 years and 24 seasons, Family Guy remains a hugely popular animated show on Fox. Creator Seth MacFarlane recently explained the surprisingly lengthy process of making each episode. Despite a previous cancellation, the show is now such a staple of Fox’s animation lineup that it’s hard to picture the network without it. Interestingly, even after all these years, the behind-the-scenes production hasn’t changed much since the beginning.

Unlike many modern animated shows, each episode of Family Guy takes a long time to make – around ten months to a year. Seth MacFarlane explained on the Pardon My Take podcast that this is because the animation is still largely hand-drawn, even when done digitally, and requires work from several different production studios.

Why Does Family Guy Take So Long to Make New Episodes?

Seth MacFarlane explained that creating an episode of Family Guy takes a long time because of the many small details involved. Unlike live-action shows like his series Ted, where capturing an actor’s performance is relatively straightforward, animation requires careful attention to nuance. As MacFarlane put it, animators need to consider the emotional tone of each scene – is a character pleading or being dismissive? – and then create unique timing and details for each version.

MacFarlane explained that each version of an animated scene needs a detailed timing breakdown called an exposure sheet. This sheet tells the animators exactly how many frames each action should last – whether it’s 48 frames or just 12. While he only touched on one small part of the production process, it confirms what longtime fans already know: this is a typical schedule for how primetime animated shows were traditionally made, involving overseas work and constant communication throughout.

What’s Next for Family Guy?

Family Guy is currently airing its 24th season on Fox, every Sunday. The show has been renewed for four more seasons, and doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon. Creator Seth MacFarlane was recently honored by Nielsen for the huge number of hours fans have spent streaming his work worldwide, suggesting the series will continue for a long time.

Considering the number of episodes each season, it might be surprising how long it takes to create just one. However, the team works on several episodes simultaneously, each at a different stage of production. This efficient process has been successfully used for the show for over twenty years, and it’s clearly still effective since they haven’t needed to change it much.

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HT – Pardon My Take

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2026-03-10 19:11