Consisting of two television series—Family Guy (1999–present) and The Cleveland Show (2009–2013)—the franchise primarily focuses on the Griffin family (Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris, Stewie, and Brian) and their friends and associates.

The series centers on the Griffins, a family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children, Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog, Brian.

The show is set in the fictional city of Quahog that is located in Rhode Island (a place that actually exists), and exhibits much of its humor in the form of metafictional cutaway gags that often lampoon American culture.

However, favorable DVD sales and high ratings for syndicated reruns on Adult Swim convinced the network to renew the show in 2004 for a fourth season, which began airing on May 1, 2005.

[1][2] Appel and Henry served as the show's executive producers and showrunners, handling the day-to-day operations, with limited involvement from MacFarlane.

"[8] The show follows the Family Guy character Cleveland Brown, who is voiced by Henry, as he leaves the town of Quahog and moves with his son to start his own adventure.

[9] On July 16, 2013, MacFarlane confirmed an upcoming twelfth season episode of Family Guy centering on Cleveland's return to Quahog.

The Griffin family also cameo appeared in not just both The Cleveland Show and American Dad!, but also in The Simpsons, Futurama, South Park, Robot Chicken, Drawn Together, Animals, Bordertown, Bones, MadTV, and Mad.

[11] In the episode, the Griffins are forced out of Quahog due to Peter offending women with a newspaper comic strip he created.

On the road, their car gets stolen, leaving them stranded in the town of Springfield where they meet and befriend the Simpson family,[12] only for their friendship to turn sour when Pawtucket Patriot Ale is revealed to be a rip-off of Duff.

Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, and Hank Azaria guest star as their The Simpsons characters.

[17] Other books include Family Guy: It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One (ISBN 978-0-7528-7593-4), which covers the events of the episode "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One";[18] and Family Guy and Philosophy: A Cure for the Petarded (ISBN 978-1-4051-6316-3), a collection of 17 essays exploring the connections between the series and historical philosophers.

[30][31] Family Guy: It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One was written by executive story editor Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and actress Alex Borstein.

[32] The book is a biographical monologue by Lois Griffin discussing her memories of growing up and to her attempted run for mayor in the town of Quahog.

The book covers events featured in the Family Guy episode "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One", with which it shares a title.

[37] In 2007, at the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, MacFarlane performed (as the digitally inserted Stewie and Brian) the ceremony's opening number.

"[39] In TV Week on July 18, 2008, MacFarlane confirmed plans to produce a theatrically released Family Guy feature film sometime "within the next year.

"[41] On October 13, 2011, MacFarlane confirmed that a deal for a Family Guy film had been made, and that it would be written by himself and series co-producer Ricky Blitt.

[54] On November 2, 2009, IGN journalist Ryan Langley reported the production of a Family Guy-based party game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii.

He cited the LinkedIn profiles of former HB Studios developer Chris Kolmatycki and Invisible Entertainment co-owner Ron Doucet, which stated that the individuals had worked on the game.

It is a crossover card fighting/strategy game featuring Family Guy, American Dad!, King of the Hill, Futurama and Bob's Burgers.