Seth MacFarlane exposes the TV addict in us all. The creator/executive producer/writer has three animated sitcoms on Fox -- 'Family Guy', 'American Dad', and 'The Cleveland Show' -- that regularly pay homage to classic television and also address social issues (same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization) in a humorous way that viewers haven't seen since the heyday of Norman Lear ('All In The Family', 'Maude').

As busy as he is, MacFarlane also produced 'Something, Something, Something, Dark Side', the DVD movie that spoofs 'The Empire Strikes Back', the second installment in the first 'Star Wars' trilogy. AOL TV recently chatted with the creative genius about his plans for future movie spoofs ('Khan'!!), the importance of opening theme songs, Jay Leno returning to late night and how biting humor can change people's hearts and minds. Seth MacFarlane exposes the TV addict in us all. The creator/executive producer/writer has three animated sitcoms on Fox -- 'Family Guy', 'American Dad', and 'The Cleveland Show' -- that regularly pay homage to classic television and also address social issues (same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization) in a humorous way that viewers haven't seen since the heyday of Norman Lear ('All In The Family', 'Maude').

As busy as he is, MacFarlane also produced 'Something, Something, Something, Dark Side', the DVD movie that spoofs 'The Empire Strikes Back', the second installment in the first 'Star Wars' trilogy. AOL TV recently chatted with the creative genius about his plans for future movie spoofs ('Khan'!!), the importance of opening theme songs, Jay Leno returning to late night and how biting humor can change people's hearts and minds.

'Something, Something, Something, Darkside' spoofs 'The Empire Strikes Back' on multiple levels -- like where 'Chewbacca' points out that 'Lando Calrissian' was -- for some reason -- wearing an outfit worn by 'Han Solo' after 'Han' was captured. The Lucasfilm people didn't put many restrictions on you.
Oh, yeah. They are very progressive and are very, very easy to work with.

Are you working on the third installment -- 'Return on the Jedi'?
We are.



How many times did you and your writers have to watch the 'Star Wars' movies?
We all know the movies pretty well so it just takes one group viewing [for a refresher]. We watch the movie in the writers' room with all of us there and we just do a 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' thing where we all start yelling out jokes and writing them down.

There are a few points in 'Something, Something' where you can forget easily that you're watching a spoof and you just get lost in the music.
That's the brilliance of [composer] John Williams. There are many, many movies throughout the 1980s that should just say "directed by John Williams." [Smiling] You can quote me on that.

There's a nice nod to 'Back to the Future.' Could that be your next spoof?
Yes. We would love to do 'Star Trek II [The Wrath of Khan]'. That's the next one we'd love to do. I'd love to do 'The Sound of Music.' That's a bigger challenge because the Oscar Hammerstein estate is very protective of his lyrics, which they should be.

How do you manage to helm three shows -- 'Family Guy,' 'American Dad' and 'The Cleveland Show'?
I delegate where I can. I have two great sets of show runners --- Rich Appel and Mike Henry on 'The Cleveland Show' -- and Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman on 'American Dad.' That's the only way I'm able to do that.

The opening to 'The Cleveland Show' is a throwback to the openings of TV shows from the 70s and 80s. Why is it important to you to have those in your shows?
A theme song is very, very important. I think the animated shows are the only shows left that are still doing them. Today, networks are often fearful of a show having an opening theme because it's the same thing every week and [they may think] that people might get tired of them and change the channel. In reality, it's the opposite effect. It's a drum roll. It's P.T. Barnum going, "Come one, come all. There's going to be a show."



You've tailored the 'Family Guy' opening to other classic TV show openings like 'Superfriends,' 'Will & Grace' ... are there any others planned?
Yes. We have our 'Incredible Hulk' [homage] coming up.

Jay Leno is going back to late night, which is opening up five hours a week of TV for NBC. Do you see that as a good sign for scripted programming?
Yes. I think everyone in town will say the same thing -- the move [with Jay Leno] to 10PM was a mistake. Anytime a network tries to pull a fast one on the viewership in order to save money, it blows up in their face. It happened with ABC and 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.' That's something that could have been taken note of. It's now created a mess.

Some people may misinterpret the jokes on your shows as personal slams. But, the way I see it, your humor makes people examine their own prejudices that they may have.
You just said that better than I could have. You're absolutely right. That's exactly it.