One of the voice actors on Family Guy said his very religious parents wanted the show off the air.
Created by Seth McFarlane, Family Guy is an animated comedy following what seems to be a nuclear family—a show that has come to be known for its edgy, and sometimes controversial, satire.
Patrick Warburton has played Joe Swanson on the Fox show since it debuted in 1999, but his mom is not a fan.
“She’s donated money to Parents Television Council and their biggest fish to fry is to get Family Guy off the air,” the actor told The Mirror US.
Now known as the Parents Television and Media Council, the advocacy group’s aim is to “protect children and families from graphic sex, violence and profanity in the media, because of their proven long-term harmful effects,” per its website.
The actor added that there was “a huge gap with my parents and myself” and “because they’re so deeply religious they would see” Family Guy “as blasphemous and not truly understanding that satire is what it is.”
But Warburton argued that we “need satire in society,” because “we need to be able to hold up the mirror, we need to be able to laugh.”
“I think that in the realm of comedy, we need to have that immunity in society so that comedians can feel free to take a swing of the bat and it might be a miss, but if we don’t have satire and we don’t have humor, then we’re all at a tremendous loss,” he explained.
Patrick Warburton attends the Film Independent Special Screening of “The Duel” on July 25, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The actor revealed his mom is not a fan of “Family Guy.”
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Newsweek contacted the PTC by email on Monday morning for comment.
Warburton previously opened up on his parents’ Catholicism and their stance on Family Guy during an interview with Newsweek.
“My father was in the monastery for three months in Gethsemane. His spiritual adviser in the monastery was Thomas Merton, who’s a famous scholar. My father actually met Padre Pio, last ordained a saint out of the stigmata. If you get the impression my father’s religious—my mother even more so, she’s scrupulous. She can’t talk about anything unless it’s religion,” Warburton told the Newsweek Radio Podcast in 2023.
“They would get their newsletters, and Family Guy deeply offended them. At one point, my father left a message on my phone. My dear departed father, I love my dad very much. A very good man, and a very good doctor. But they were a bit overbearing in the religious department.”
“They saw it as blasphemy. Because of the way I was brought up, I guess I saw it that way to a degree too… But I’m a team player. I’m there.”
Other than his 25 years on Family Guy, Warburton is known for his work in The Tick, Seinfeld and playing author Lemony Snicket in Netflix‘s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Other voice actors on Family Guy include Mila Kunis, Seth Green, Alex Borstein and McFarlane.
