He originally created The Life of Larry as a thesis film in 1995 while attending the Rhode Island School of Design.

Executives at Fox saw both Larry shorts and contracted MacFarlane to create a series based on the characters, to be called Family Guy.

[3] Recalling the experience in an interview with The New York Times, MacFarlane stated, "I spent about six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot.

The short features a middle-aged everyman named Larry Cummings, his cynical talking dog, Steve, patient wife Lois, and overweight teenage son Milt.

During the live action segments, MacFarlane is being served cheesecake by his Asian servant, Wang, played by fellow student Chang S. Han.

The Life of Larry was created as MacFarlane's thesis film during 1994–1995, while he was studying at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Larry mentions a furniture store called "Stewie's", a name that will later be used for the character of Peter Griffin's infant son.