Seth MacFarlane

Seth MacFarlane Headshot

Actor • Writer • Comedian • Director • Producer • Host • Animator • Voice Actor

Birth Date: October 26, 1973

Age: 50 years old

Birth Place: Kent, Connecticut

Partners: Emilia Clarke

Siblings: Rachael MacFarlane

Emmy Award winner Seth MacFarlane is the creative mind behind the irreverent animated series, "Family Guy" (Fox 1999-2001; 2005- ), which breathed new life into the family sitcom with its deep-cut cultural references and often risky political and social satire. A critical favorite from its debut in 1999, the show was cancelled in 2002 when its cult audience proved inadequate in number to satisfy the Fox network. In a nearly unprecedented move, however, the network revived the series in 2005 due to popular demand, and watched as it bounced back to earn more Emmy Award nominations for its densely packed writing. It also spawned the spin-off, "The Cleveland Show" (Fox, 2009-13). Concurrently, MacFarlane wrote, produced and voiced, as he had on "Family Guy," a significant number of the lead characters on "American Dad" (Fox, 2005-14; TBS, 2014- ), another animated portrait of a dysfunctional family, one whose right-wing head of household afforded MacFarlane the ripe opportunity to take aim at American conservatism. With three original and successful series to his name, as well as frequent voiceover contributions to a number of other series including the lauded "Robot Chicken" (Adult Swim, 2005- ), MacFarlane was widely considered one of the most well-respected figures in animated primetime comedy.

MacFarlane was born in Kent, CT on Oct. 26, 1973. At age eight, he authored a comic strip that was picked up by his hometown newspaper. A few years later, he became interested in pursuing a career in animation when he saw a television special segment profiling a young animator. To that end, he headed to the Rhode Island School of Design where he majored in animation, learned about the business, and began to find his own voice. A RISD professor sent MacFarlane's thesis film, "Life of Larry" - a precursor to "Family Guy" - to Hanna-Barbera Productions, which hired MacFarlane after his 1995 graduation. Relocating to Los Angeles, MacFarlane wrote and directed shorts and was a storyboard artist for "Johnny Bravo" (Cartoon Network, 1997-2004), "Dexter's Laboratory" (Cartoon Network, 1997-2004), and "Jungle Cubs" (ABC, 1996-98; Disney Channel, 1998-2000), as well as worked on an episode of "Cow & Chicken" (Cartoon Network, 1997-2000). In 1996, MacFarlane expanded his earlier thesis film into "Larry & Steve," and the comedy short caught the attention of the executives at Fox who offered him a deal to create animated featurettes to air on "Mad TV" (Fox, 1995-2009). The deal fell apart, but Fox did not want to lose MacFarlane or his talents, so they gave him $50,000 to produce a partial pilot for his own comedy series.

After six months of painstakingly hand drawing a 15-minute pilot episode, MacFarlane presented "Family Guy" to Fox executives who promptly bought it and aired its debut episode in the prestigious post-Super Bowl slot in January 1999. In addition to serving as the series creator, executive producer, and writer, 25-year-old MacFarlane also voiced three members of the Griffin family: wise dog Brian; Brainy, matricidal, inexplicably British-accented toddler Stewie; and oafish, clueless, but well-meaning dad Peter. Rounding out the cast of this offbeat, working class Rhode Island family were Alex Borstein as levelheaded mother Lois, Cree Summer as teen angst-ridden Meg, and Seth Green as underachiever Chris. Fox went on to move "Family Guy" to various time slots, but critics kept enough of an eye on the sharply written, wryly satirical show that in 2000, it earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program, while accidental actor MacFarlane took home the Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.

But despite critical acclaim and a cult following, the series struggled to bring in consistent ratings, and was axed from the Fox schedule in February 2002, the same year that MacFarlane won an Emmy for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for the song "You've Got a Lot To See" from the episode, "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows." Undaunted, MacFarlane remained a key figure in the increasingly popular genre of adult-oriented animation. While developing his next project - another animated series that would evolve into "American Dad!" - MacFarlane appeared (in voiceover) in four episodes of Comedy Central's "Crank Yankers" (Comedy Central, 2002-05), and also transitioned from voiceover actor to onscreen talent by putting his youthful, wholesome looks to work on the small-town dramedy, "Gilmore Girls" (The WB, 2000-06; The CW, 2006-07). The admitted sci-fi nut also had the chance to appear in two episodes of "Star Trek: Enterprise" (UPN, 2001-05). By 2004, Fox had signed a deal and begun production on "American Dad!" while record-breaking sales of "Family Guy" on DVD - coupled with the show's popular reruns on the Cartoon Network and an ongoing campaign by the show's fans - led Fox to put "Family Guy" back into production. That nearly unprecedented move was met with thundering applause, and in 2005, "Family Guy" returned to primetime alongside MacFarlane's latest creation, "American Dad!"Spawned from the divisive cultural and political atmosphere surrounding the 2004 election, "American Dad!" offered a wildly different domestic profile than its predecessor, featuring a trigger-happy, neoconservative CIA agent with delusions of heroism (voiced by MacFarlane) married to a former groupie and raising an ultraliberal daughter and a geeky, sensitive son. Further opportunities for social satire came from the effeminate alien living in the family attic (also voiced by MacFarlane) and a pet goldfish who embodies a former East German Olympic skier, the result of a CIA experiment gone horribly awry. While that show was slower to catch on with audiences, the return of "Family Guy" was immediately recognized with Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Animated Program in 2005 and 2006. While concurrently producing, voicing and writing for two weekly series, MacFarlane continued to work as a voice actor, beginning a long relationship with the series "Robot Chicken" (Adult Swim, 2005- ) in 2005. In his first live action venture, MacFarlane executive produced "The Winner" (Fox, 2007) for Fox, casting Rob Corddry as a successful thirty-something man who still lives with his parents. It was cancelled after only six episodes.

In 2008, "Family Guy" earned another Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program, and MacFarlane rolled out another project, the web-only animated series "Seth MacFarlanes' Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy." The series of shorts snared over three million views in its first two days on the web. MacFarlane was nominated for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for "Family Guy" in 2009, and that fall debuted "The Cleveland Show" (Fox, 2009-13), a "Family Guy" spin-off centered on Cleveland Brown, an African-American deli owner and neighbor of the "Family Guy" Griffin family. While that series went on to become a hit for the writer-producer, MacFarlane earned another Emmy Award nomination for his work on "Family Guy," this time for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. Ever ambitious and seemingly inexhaustible, MacFarlane made his feature film debut as the producer-writer-director of "Ted" (2012), a fantasy-comedy about a man (Mark Wahlberg) whose childhood wish for his Teddy Bear (voiced by MacFarlane) to come to life is granted, bringing about unintended problems for the pals years later. Raising the eyebrows of some and the expectation of others, MacFarlane further entrenched himself as a film industry player when it was announced that the prolific funnyman would be hosting the 85th Annual Academy Awards presentation in February of 2013. Unfortunately, his widely-panned performance became controversial; ironically, this was in large part due to a sketch imagining how badly the evening could possibly go, which included a satirical song-and-dance number called "We Saw Your Boobs" about nudity in films. Disgusted reaction shots--which had been filmed ahead of time by actresses who were in on the joke--were mistaken by some viewers to be genuine expressions of outrage.

MacFarlane's next project was executive-producing the TV series "Dads" (Fox 2013-14), created and written by his proteges Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. Despite a promising cast including Seth Green, Giovanni Ribisi, Martin Mull, Peter Riegert and Brenda Song, the series was immediately hit with accusations of racism and sexism, and poor ratings doomed it to a single season. MacFarlane's second film as writer and director, the Western parody "Eight Million Ways to Die in the West" (2014), was a box office flop.

Credits

Good Times

Executive Producer
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2024

TedStream

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Ted
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TedStream

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TedStream

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Ted

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Ted

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Christmas in Rockefeller Center

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2023

Pencils vs Pixels

Self
Movie
2023

The End Is NyeStream

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2022

The Orville: New Horizons

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Capt. Ed Mercer
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2022

The Orville: New Horizons

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The Orville: New Horizons

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2022

Christmas Classics by the Fireplace

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2021

The Drew Barrymore ShowStream

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Talk
2020

Cosmos: Possible Worlds

Executive Producer
Docuseries
2020
80%

The Kelly Clarkson ShowStream

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2019

The Loudest VoiceStream

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Brian Lewis
Docudrama
2019
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The Loudest Voice: Extras

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The Cowboy

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Comedy Central Roast of David HasselhoffStream

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2018

Today 3rd Hour

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Today 3rd Hour

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Gwen Stefani's You Make It Feel Like Christmas

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2017

The Orville: New HorizonsStream

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Captain Ed Mercer
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2017
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The Orville: New HorizonsStream

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2017
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Carpool Karaoke: The SeriesStream

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Live with Kelly and Ryan

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2017

Logan LuckyStream

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Max Chilblain
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Harry

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2016

ENCORE: Behind the Scenes With Barbra Streisand

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BordertownStream

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2016
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SingStream

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2016
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Sinatra 100 -- An All-Star Grammy Concert

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2015

Breakthrough Prize

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Breakthrough Prize

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The Late Show With Stephen ColbertStream

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2015

Blunt TalkStream

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2015
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Bordertown: Extras

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2015

Comedy Central Roast of Charlie SheenStream

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2015

The Late Late Show With James CordenStream

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2015

The Late Late Show With James CordenStream

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Ted 2Stream

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Christmas in Rockefeller Center

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Breakthrough Prize 2015

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Cosmos: A Spacetime OdysseyStream

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Late Night With Seth MeyersStream

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2014

Late Night With Seth MeyersStream

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2014

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey: Extras

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The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonStream

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2014

A Million Ways to Die in the WestStream

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Albert
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A Million Ways to Die in the WestStream

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A Million Ways to Die in the WestStream

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A Million Ways to Die in the WestStream

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DadsStream

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The Oscars

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2013

Academy Awards Nominations 2013

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2013

Barbara Walters Presents the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012

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2012

Live! With Kelly and Michael

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2012

Seth MacFarlane: Swingin' in Concert

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2012

A Celebration of Classic MGM Film Musicals

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2012

Larry King NowStream

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2012

Fox's 25th Anniversary Special

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Out of Character With Krista Smith

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CBS This Morning

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Larry King Special: A Dinner with Kings

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LIVE with Kelly

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2011

Comedy Central Roast of Donald TrumpStream

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2011

Seth MacFarlane and Friends: Cast and Creators Live at the Paley Center

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2011

Swingin' Christmas

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2010

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2010

Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy

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Peter Griffin/Stewie Griffin/Brian Griffin/Quagmire/Tom Tucker
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2010

Family Guy: Cast and Creators Live at PALEYFEST

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2010

ConanStream

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The Talk

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On the Red Carpet

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Tooth FairyStream

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Ziggy
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The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!

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Intelligent Smart Robotic Animated Eraser Lady
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Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show

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The Cleveland ShowStream

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The Cleveland ShowStream

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The Cleveland ShowStream

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The Cleveland ShowStream

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Tim
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The Cleveland ShowStream

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2009

Shark TankStream

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Reality
2009

Watch What Happens Live With Andy CohenStream

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2009

The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien

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2009

Kevin Pollak's Chat Show

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2009

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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2009

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder

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2009

Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II

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Hellboy II: The Golden ArmyStream

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The Graham Norton ShowStream

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The Winner

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Robot Chicken: Star Wars

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Help Me Help You

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Talkshow With Spike Feresten

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BonesStream

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ET Canada

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The War at Home

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Robot ChickenStream

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Santa Claus / Thor / Atheist Mayor
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American DadStream

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American DadStream

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American DadStream

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The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson

Guest
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2005

The Insider

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2004

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

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2003

BBC Proms

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2003

Comedy Central RoastStream

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2003

Comedy Central RoastStream

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2003

Real Time With Bill MaherStream

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2003

Jimmy Kimmel Live!Stream

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2003

Crank YankersStream

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Arthur Johnson
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2002

Last Call With Carson Daly

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2002

Star Trek: EnterpriseStream

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Engineer
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2001
56%

Gilmore GirlsStream

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Zach
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2000

Gilmore GirlsStream

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Bob Merriam
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FuturamaStream

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Mars Vegas Singer
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Family Guy

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Himself /Peter Griffin /Stewie Griffin /Brian Griffin /Tom Tucker /Glen Quagmire
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1999

Family Guy

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Family Guy

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Peter Griffin/Stewie Griffin/Brian Griffin/Quagmire/Tom Tucker
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1999

Family GuyStream

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Himself /Peter Griffin /Stewie Griffin /Brian Griffin /Tom Tucker /Glen Quagmire
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Family GuyStream

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1999

Family GuyStream

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Peter Griffin / Brian Griffin / Stewie Griffin / Carter Pewterschmidt / Biker
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1999

The Daily Show With Jon StewartStream

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1999

The View

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1997

The View

Music Performer
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1997

Access Hollywood

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News
1996

Larry and Steve

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Steve / Old Man / Pilot / Ricky / Rednec
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1996

Extra

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News
1994

Inside the Actors Studio

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1994

Late Night With Conan O'Brien

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1993

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

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1992

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

Music Performer
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1992

The SimpsonsStream

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Ben
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1989
85%

Entertainment Tonight

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1981

CBS News Sunday Morning

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1979

Live From Lincoln Center

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1976

Good Morning America

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1975

Saturday Night LiveStream

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1975

Today

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1952

Today

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1952

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