One of TV’s longest-running animated comedies is boldly stepping into the streaming future. “Family Guy“, currently in its 21st season on Fox, is producing two upcoming holiday specials exclusively for Disney-owned streaming service Hulu. Creator Seth MacFarlane and 20th Television offered fans a first look at the upcoming 23rd season during a panel at Comic-Con earlier this month.
The Hulu specials will debut in 2024, continuing a strategy that has proven successful for animated giants like “The Simpsons” and “South Park”. Hulu’s deal mirrors those shows’ moves to take content directly to their parent company’s platforms. “This allows us more creative freedom outside the traditional network format,” MacFarlane tells Entertainment Weekly. A Halloween installment will kick off the slate, followed by a Thanksgiving or Christmas-themed episode.
Joining animated peers like “South Park”, which produces long-form specials for Paramount+, “Family Guy” is poised to push boundaries on Hulu. “The streaming model offers so much untapped potential for exploring new stories and types of stories,” says MacFarlane. At Comic-Con, a sizzle reel teased references to blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” and DC’s Justice League, signalling another season of pop culture parodies and irreverent humor fans love.
By bypassing traditional networks, “Family Guy” gains flexibility to break from its long-reliant 22-minute format and episodic routines. MacFarlane hints the specials and future seasons will leverage Hulu’s runtime to “enrich characters and dive deeper into outlandish plots.” Fans can look forward to big changes as the subversive series embarks boldly into streaming’s new creativefrontier.
