<Tr> <Th> Official website </Th> <Td> www.fox.com/familyguy/ </Td> </Tr> <P> Family Guy is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company . The series centers on the Griffins, a family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children, Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog, Brian . The show is set in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, and exhibits much of its humor in the form of metafictional cutaway gags that often lampoon American culture . </P> <P> The family was conceived by MacFarlane after developing two animated films, The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve . MacFarlane redesigned the films' protagonist, Larry, and his dog, Steve, and renamed them Peter and Brian, respectively . MacFarlane pitched a seven - minute pilot to Fox in 1998, and the show was greenlit and began production . Shortly after the third season of Family Guy had aired in 2002, Fox canceled the series with one episode left unaired . Adult Swim aired that episode in 2003, finishing the series' original run . However, favorable DVD sales and high ratings for syndicated reruns on Adult Swim convinced the network to renew the show in 2004 for a fourth season, which began airing on May 1, 2005 . </P> <P> Since its debut on January 31, 1999, 298 episodes of Family Guy have been broadcast . Its sixteenth season began on October 1, 2017 . Family Guy has been nominated for 12 Primetime Emmy Awards and 11 Annie Awards, and has won three of each . In 2009, it was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first time an animated series was nominated for the award since The Flintstones in 1961 . Family Guy has also received criticism, including unfavorable comparisons to The Simpsons . </P>

When was family guy taken off the air