Hulu will stream Family Guy The October 14 Halloween special is the first two exclusive holiday specials leading up to the show’s highly anticipated 23rd season. The animated show, celebrating its 25th anniversary, was created by Seth MacFarlane for Fox and currently boasts Rich Appel.King of the Hill) and Alec Sulkin (Ted) as showrunners.
Family GuyThe Halloween special centers around a pumpkin contest in which the show’s characters must take on champion Patrick McCloskey (voiced by Twisters star Glen Powell). Intertwined with the annual Quahog competition are problems in Stewie’s relationship with his usually inanimate teddy bear, Rupert, who is now voiced by Gosford ParkDerek Jacobi, who has developed a taste for violence. While this isn’t Rupert’s first time performing, it marks his biggest role on the show. Along with special guest stars, Family Guy Favorites also appear, including MacFarlane himself, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis and Arif Zahir.
Connected
On-screen rant interviewed Appel and Salkin about some of the ideas behind Family GuyIt’s a special Halloween, especially when it comes to the casting process. The showrunners also looked back on the previous decade. Family Guy and the reasons why the show has been so successful even longer.
Family Guy showrunners explain the secret to Rupert’s revival
“Such a classically trained actor, distinguished by his accent, naturally felt like a suitable partner for Stewie.”
Screen Rant: Many moons have passed and Rupert has rarely spoken a word, and now there’s an entire guest star and storyline dedicated to him. Can we talk about jazzing it up and making it a little spiky?
Rich Appel: We’re always looking for something fresh and new. This isn’t the first time Rupert has acted, but it’s definitely the first time he’s had such a long-term role.
One of our show’s long-time writers, Gary Janetti, filmed the series in England with Ian Macallan and Derek Jacobi. Unlike most cartoons, we knew we had a connection with Derek Jacobi, and the idea of casting such a classically trained actor with a distinct accent naturally seemed like a good fit to partner with Stewie.
Screen Rant: Can you talk about the idea behind this Halloween special? Are there specific horror stories that inspired it? Obviously with Rupert we see part Children’s game there is, but is there anything else you draw from?
Alec Sulkin: There’s a bit of a single white woman feel to it, where Rupert kind of says to Stewie, “If I can’t have you, no one can.” It doesn’t look like Halloween, but like something out of a horror movie.
But I think Rich nailed it when we realized we could get Derek Jacobi – it sounds weird to say in 2024 because he’s not exactly on everyone’s mind, but he’s just a fantastic actor and he really loved the role.
I think when Glen Powell appeared in one story and Derek Jacobi in another, there was a sense of, “Okay, we’re covering our bases here.”
Glen Powell will play Quahog’s pumpkin content champion Patrick McCloskey
“I thought, with apologies to Glenn, ‘Who better to play a cocky jerk?'”
Screen Rant: At what point in the process did Glen Powell come in? Did you always know that he would be the one voicing this character? Did you have that vision and foresight, or did you think, “This person is exploding. Let’s do this?
Rich Appel: I know him a little bit and have known him for a few years. I remember he made Top Gun: Maverick before COVID and it kept getting delayed and everyone who saw it knew that this movie was going to do very well. And he’s just a great guy.
I literally ran into him or saw him by chance when we were just about to read this episode. I thought, with apologies to Glenn, “Who better to play a cocky jerk?” He was so cheerful, like Derek Jacobi, and walked into the office.
He showed up to the office unannounced and, as if that wasn’t enough, brought along his adorable dog, who often appears in his Instagram posts. Word spread and even after working from home, people began to flock around the recording booth. He was absolutely nice to everyone.
Family Guy’s 25-year legacy shows no signs of slowing down
“Much of this is due to our smart, capable and funny writers.”
Screen Rant: We’re celebrating our 25th anniversary Family Guyand this continues to this day. It is still a relevant, significant and ubiquitous part of pop culture. How do you guys do this?
Alec Sulkin: It’s been a pleasure running the show with Rich, who’s been running the show longer than I have. But I’ve been working with him for almost nine years now, and I think we work well together in this capacity. By the way, in no other capacity – we are terrible miners.
Honestly, I was thinking about this today. We just have a lot of very smart and funny writers, and times change and tastes in comedy change. I think people have this idea of, “Family Guy is grandpa and is immune to all this.” But no, we had to change with the times. Maybe not as much as some other shows, but a lot of the credit goes to our smart, capable, funny writers who sense the changes happening in society and find the funniest way to do it on Family Guy. I think that has a lot to do with why we’re still here.
Rich Appel: I would just back that up and say that from the early years – and I was gone for a lot of the early years – Seth was fearless. 25 years ago, just like today, people responded to comedy quite fearlessly. Sometimes people say, “You’re an equal opportunity offender,” and I think that’s very simplistic. I don’t think that’s the point of the show. I think the show is fearless in telling stories and telling them realistically, and reality isn’t always so sensitive to someone’s reaction to things. In fact, we all know that this is not true.
The three longest-running comedies on the air right now are The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park. What do these shows have in common? I think a huge advantage of animated series is that we have a cast of at least 35 characters, just like The Simpsons. It’s simple math: the number of stories you can tell and the type of stories you can tell are growing. We have characters that come from very different walks of life than your average sitcom. They are limited by budget, so they have seven actors. It just helps to have a novel world of characters.
More on Family Guy’s Halloween 2024 special
“Peter, Peter, the Pumpkin Trickster”: Peter and his friends aim to unseat the reigning champion (Glen Powell) in the annual Quahog Pumpkin Contest by any means necessary.
25th Anniversary Halloween Special Family Guy It premieres October 14 exclusively on Hulu.