The third season of Family Guy first aired on the Fox network in 22 episodes from July 11, 2001, to November 9, 2003, before being released as a DVD box set and in syndication.

An episode that was not part of the season's original broadcast run, "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", was included in the DVD release and later shown on both Adult Swim and Fox.

The executive producers for the third production season were Dan Palladino and series creator Seth MacFarlane.

Although Family Guy was initially canceled in 2000 due to low ratings, following a last-minute reprieve, the series returned for a third season in 2001.

[9] Following Family Guy's high ratings on Adult Swim, the first two seasons were released on DVD in April 2003.

[citation needed] They ordered 35 new episodes in 2004, marking the first revival of a television show based on DVD sales.

[12][13] Fox president Gail Berman said that it was one of her most difficult decisions to cancel the show, and was therefore happy it would return.

[15][16] For "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea",[17] several characters carried out fosse moves in prison — Povenmire went into the office of a color artist, Cynthia Macintosh, who had been a professional dancer, and had her strike poses in order for him to better illustrate the sequence.

[16] In the episode "To Love and Die in Dixie"[18] Povenmire drew on his childhood in the deep south to sequence a background scene where the "redneck" character nonchalantly kicks a corpse into the nearby river.