Family Guy Cast Talk Last Night

"That's 30 Balls!"

"Mmm, actually only 29..."

That was Alex Bornstein, the voice of Lois, and the guy who's the writer/voice of Cleveland and Herbert, talking about the source of the smell of the writers' room of Family Guy. Seems to be a common problem in an industry dominated by men. At Film Roman, we called it Weinersteam. I hope I didn't cross some line there - the Family Guy people started it!

The talk was great. They showed two episodes. The first was PTV - their take on the FCC and censorship. The second was the recent one where Herbert (the old pervert) falls for Chris. Watching animation with a large audience like this always astounds me. I laugh at very different things. Any time there was any physical humor, the audience went nuts. I laugh more at the writing. I first noticed this when I saw Bunny at an Oscars shorts screening years ago. The audience was going crazy laughing at just how the bunny moved. It was wild. I tend to think more of story, but it's easy to forget that people can just laugh at how some strange creature moves. Not a bad thing, as my short features plenty of odd creatures moving in unique ways.

Thanks to the whole Family Guy cast for putting on a great talk. It was really inspiring and entertaining.