What do you think things would be like if Family Guy had not returned in 2005?

[Cartoons90]

Family Guy reruns did so well in ratings that FOX pretty much had no choice but to bring the show back in 2005. But...what if they hadn't? What if the higher-ups at FOX just thought the high ratings in the reruns were a passing phase, and that the show had run its course? How would the animation and entertainment worlds be different right now if Family Guy had not come back in 2005?
You would think MacFarlane would've eventually come up with something to get himself back in the ball game, but theoretically none of the FG spinoffs would have come to be in the above scenario. Also reasonable to argue we would've never seen films like Ted and A Million Ways to Die in the West, but if MacFarlane still ends up finding a winner on television some other way, maybe those movies still get made.
Nevertheless, I think comedy, television, entertainment in general might be a lot different. Family Guy has changed the world the last 17 years with seasons, DVDs, a strong streaming presence, specials, etc. The general style of comedy it uses is all around us; hate him or like him, MacFarlane has impacted the culture. If Family Guy had only run from 1999-2002, a lot of that magic wouldn't have come to be (though personally, I actually prefer the first few seasons).
What do you think things would be like if Family Guy had not returned in 2005?

Edit - Ah man, I meant to put this in Animation, not Entertainment. Can this be moved? Sorry about that.

 

[JMTV]

In a perfect world, Adult Swim would NEVER rerun Family Guy in the first place.

 

[Cartoons90]

In a perfect world, Adult Swim would NEVER rerun Family Guy in the first place.

What channels were airing Family Guy around, say, summer '03? I remember watching during my days off from school on...TBS, if I'm not mistaken? But then more reruns maybe would air at night on Adult Swim? Something like that. Hard to remember after 19 years, haha.

 

[DLJL731980]

Family Guy didn’t get bad and stale until the Early-2010’s and Mid-To-Late-2000’s Family Guy played a part in making the Mid-To-Late-2000’s awesome…so the world would be a slightly worse place.

I can think a better question would be if what if Trey Parker and Matt Stone had the good graces to hang up South Park after it’s 20th anniversary and the Trump era of comedy…instead of letting it continue and milk the show every penny like they continue to do.

 

[Toonhead2002Ultra]

Alright, has someone who's a pretty big fan of old school Family Guy, I want to answer this question in three ways. The first would be how Seth Macfarlane's career would be different. I think it would've been much harder for him to get projects like The Orville the Ted duo-logy, and a Million Ways to Die in the West off the ground seeing as many companies like Fox and Universal wouldn't have seen his content as that financially viable. I think American Dad! could've struggled as well. Sure, it was originally meant to be Seth's main project after Family Guy had ended, but I'm not sure if Fox would be as willing to pick it up if they weren't inclined to give Family Guy another chance at around the same time. Lastly Cleveland Show obviously wouldn't have existed so make of that as you will. As for Family Guy itself, I think most of us could agree that the show as a whole would've been better if it had ended after Season 3, but it would also be much more obscure akin to something like The Critic or The PJ's as opposed to being a competitor to a show as iconic and long running as The Simpsons. While you could argue that any publicity is good publicity, I think the show's legacy would've been better if it had ended while it was still good yet became more forgotten, as opposed to well overstaying its welcome and becoming as infamous as it is to the cartoon community at large (Seasons 1-4 are the golden age and 5 & 6 are the silver age to me personally). Lastly I want to guess how the animation industry as a whole would be different. There is a chance that adult cartoons would've been less edgy or common without Family Guy's return, but I'm not entirely sure. Things like South Park and Adult Swim still could've driven the industry to its current point without Family Guy's help, or things could've been wildly different for all we know. For example would Comedy Central still have revived Futurama had Fox not brought back Family Guy to big financial success? Would shows like Bob's Burgers, Brickleberry, Paradise PD, Archer, Rick and Morty, Big Mouth, Tuca & Bertie and other animated sitcoms that are edgier than The Simpsons or King of the Hill still have existed? There's also a chance that a different show could've taken Family Guy's place in influencing the industry the way Family Guy did, but of course we can never really know for sure. Also I'm not sure how different Adult Swim would be; maybe they would've stopped airing Family Guy much earlier than they did in our timeline, maybe they would've never gotten KOTH, maybe they'd rely less on Fox in general, I can't really guess. Do any of you guys agree on some of the points I've made, or are there things I'm missing the mark on? Please let me know!

 

[Beast of Beef]

In a perfect world, Adult Swim would NEVER rerun Family Guy in the first place.

*Dystopia

 

[TUO]

I believe that King Of The Hill would take second place after The Simpsons.

 

[FleebusInFlat]

I thoroughly believe that the world of adult animation on television would look a lot better if Family Guy never came back in 2005. All those hacky sitcoms created by celebrities with generically bland art styles? They take so much of their DNA from Family Guy.

Yes, The Simpsons is the originator of the animated sitcom in the modern era, but you tend to notice that adult animation in the 90s, the stuff that was taking inspiration from The Simpsons, like Duckman or The Critic, was far better and more ambitious than the animated sitcoms post-Family Guy‘s revival. Not to mention the experimental stuff on channels like MTV and The WB, like Beavis and Butt-Head, Æon Flux, Downtown, Mission Hill, and, whether you like this show or not, The Brothers Grunt was also very experimental.

Family Guy reruns even hindered Adult Swim in a way. Fox cartoons like Bob’s Burgers and American Dad have taken up the schedule for so long now, that it’s not allowing originals to breath (which wasn’t the case in the early 2000s when Family Guy and Futurama reruns first started because they had less episodes).

Look, I love Family Guy, I even really like the post-revival seasons, and I know Seth didn’t intend to ruin adult animation, but facts are facts.

And I think it goes without saying that in this theoretical world, Family Guy would be a cult show as opposed to being a mainstream success. So it would still have a dedicated following. Remember, they made 3 whole seasons before Adult Swim even picked it up for reruns. That shows that there was SOME kind of audience for it.