FOXSorry, Brian, but it looks like Seth MacFarlane does not want to follow the wise words of "let sleeping dogs lie."
The Family Guy creator is speaking out for the first time since the extreme amount of fan controversy that followed after the series "killed off" of one their original characters for three episodes.
"It surprised all of us," MacFarlane said to a small group of reporters at the winter TCA press tour on Monday. "We were all very surprised, but in a good way, that people were still cared enough about the character to get that angry. It just didn't occur to us. We thought maybe it would create a little bit of a stir, but the rage was not something we had thought about."
Back in December, E! Online gifted fans with the exclusive explanation as to why the Family Guy team decided to kill off Brian in a horrific car accident. Three episodes later, Stewie, and his newly mended time machine, then brought the talking dog back as a "Christmas miracle."
Despite all of the uproar, MacFarlane insisted that technically the series did not lie to their viewers. "It was a three-parter without the words 'to be continued' at the end of the episode," he quipped. Overall the creator says that he does not regret received the overwhelming amount of backlash that came after their death deception. "Based on the numbers, no. Because it was time to do it, to remind people that this is still a show where anything can happen, despite the fact that it's been on for a while."
So should Brian be worried that his life continues to hang in the balance? MacFarlane was quick to dismiss the concerns saying, "Do it again? No. We already did it! No, who knows? Season 25, we'll see." Yikes—hang in there, Brian!
Family Guy is all-new Jan. 26 at 9 p.m.