For anyone wondering which of this year's crop of Emmy-nominated series was best equipped to tackle the sensitive and politically charged topic of abortion in a responsible and thoughtful way, the answer came last night in the form of a publicly staged Family Guy table read.
Wait…what the deuce?
Granted, responsible and thoughtful ended up taking a backseat to controversial and laugh- (and even groan-) inducing, but Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, along with the voice cast and a full orchestra, gathered in Los Angeles last night for a live reading of the too hot advertiser-unfriendly-for-TV episode "Partial Terms of Endearment."
The episode revolves around Lois agreeing to be a surrogate mother for a pair of married friends only to see them perish in a car crash, leaving her with the decision of whether or not to keep gestating their egg. As anyone familiar with the Family Guy canon has no doubt guessed by now, she doesn't.
But before she doesn't, there's a fair share of Griffin family pontificating.
"If they left their mittens here, you wouldn't keep them, you'd send them back," Peter explains, albeit before he hears that abortion "is killing babies."
"If God wanted us to kill babies, he would have made them all Chinese girls," opines the Griffin family patriarch.
Earlier this year, Fox network honchos pulled the plug on airing the episode, citing the installment's unattractiveness to advertisers and not its subject matter as the reason.
Fans can rest assured, however, that the episode will be included on an upcoming DVD release (no doubt with a shiny sticker touting the controversial episode on its cover).
As for those who can think of no fate worse than being subjected to MacFarlane's animation—or admittedly liberal bent—they may have reason to tune in later this year.
Not, of course, for the recent revelation from MacFarlane that the matricidal catchphrase machine that is Stewie Griffin is gay. Rather for the newly announced pair of right-wing guest stars that will be stopping by Quahog.
Literal and figurative GOP heavyweights Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove have both accepted offers to play themselves on the Fox hit.
"Family Guy tends to be very liberal, because it's written by liberals," MacFarlane said. "So we figured…let's give the other side some face time."
As for how the duo will factor into the show, MacFarlane explains their appearance will come courtesy of the flip-flopping family dog:
"Most of the show's life has been under the Bush administration, and there's been a lot to bitch about…Now that Obama's won and the Democrats are in power, Brian finds that he's frustrated because he has nothing to bitch about, and he's not happy unless he's the underdog, so to speak. So he switches parties and gloms onto Rush Limbaugh."
Gentlemen, start your TiVos.
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Will Family Guy's controversy help or hurt it come Emmy night? Find out who MacFarlane & Co. are up against in our 2009 Emmys: Notable Nominees gallery.