Never-to-be-Aired Family Guy Episode Shown to Emmy Voters

Seth Macfarlane is no stranger to controversial topics and material throughout all of his hit shows, but no show is more popular at the moment than Family Guy. The show was recently nominated for an Emmy award, the first animated series to receive such an honor since 1961, when The Flintstones were nominated for an Emmy. I have to admit that I never really found the Flintstones all that funny, but I was probably too young to grasp the humor.

That said, a Family Guy abortion episode will likely find its way onto the Web - and/or perhaps a special edition DVD release - so don't worry about having to wait too long to see it. Although the episode was created with the intention of airing it on Fox, the network decided not to air it over concerns that some of its advertisers may have a problem with that sort of content.

Without direct knowledge of the advertisers currently buying time on Family Guy, it's a safe bet that at least a few of them would have backed off the show - at least for that episode. As we've seen in the past, advertiser "boycotts" are largely ineffective. The boycott itself makes the vehicle in question that much more popular, at least initially, then advertisers come slipping back in to try to cash in on the increased buzz.

Fox is well aware of that, certainly, but they are also likely unwilling to deal with the backlash and the scrutiny that would come from airing that sort of episode. Things are going too well for them at the moment to wade into that potential hornets' nest.