This is one Family Guy joke that didn't go over too well.
The show producers—who are known to get a bit sassy with their Emmy mailers—might have gone overboard this year, sending voters a card featuring Peter Griffin saying, "Come on, you bloated, overprivileged Brentwood Jews. Let us into your little club."
But that's not all.
The inside of the mailer card, which included a DVD of four Family Guy episodes, had baby Stewie adding, "It's a secret ballot. You can still tell people you voted for Modern Family."
Unfortunately, not all of the TV producers got a laugh from it.
"Wow," a Brentwood TV producer told The Hollywood Reporter, "if Family Guy was that funny on a regular basis, it might get nominated." Another producer said, "It's so heavy-handed. It's light on funny."
"While I think Family Guy is a genuinely funny show," a different television exec exclaimed, "we all—including this 'Brentwood Jew'—need to think twice about this kind of humor. Stereotyping any particular ethnic group is just not cool and can lead others (with the wrong intentions) to feel a certain license to take shots. Surely Seth [MacFarlane] has better stuff than this."
"The Television Academy does not govern or approve how the various networks, studios, or individuals run their Emmy campaigns," the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences told E! News in a statement. "While we believe all campaigns should be conducted in a respectful manner, it is the sole decision of those submitting as to how they do so."
MacFarlane's rep had no comment.
Family Guy has won five Emmys, but has yet to receive the honor of Outstanding Comedy Series.
Maybe this is their year?