Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Seth MacFarlane Trivia That Might Surprise You


With Seth MacFarlane's second motion picture coming out in just two days, I decided to take a look at some of this stranger accomplishments.


1. "A Million Ways to Die in the West" was Seth MacFarlane's first novel.

It's becoming more common and more common for authors to be involved in films based on their work.  Stephanie Myers was a producer in the Twilight series, JK Rowling did the same with Harry Potter, but it's rare for Seth MacFarlane to do quite what he is doing with "A Million Ways to Die in the West".  Not only has he produced, written, and directed this film, but he's also given himself the lead role!

2. "Ted" is the highest grossing original R rated comedy of all time.

I think this sounds more impressive than it is, but it's still notable.  To be the highest grossing comedy with an R rating that also happens to not be based on anything is pretty specific.  It's like saying "Alvin and the Chipmunks" was the highest grossing movie released that Christmas that featured singing, dancing, chipmunks and also David Cross.  Still, if we narrow the playing field a bit, "Ted" was still quite successful.  Domestically, it's the 7th highest grossing R rated movie ever.  It's beaten out by three comedies: Hangover, Hangover 2, and Beverly Hills Cop.  It's fairly impressive for somebody's first movie, but he's also had years and years of comedy writing experience.

3. Seth MacFarlane is the highest paid TV writer.
Back in 2008, Seth MacFarlane signed a deal with Fox to guarantee "Family Guy" and "American Dad" would remain on the air until 2012, the deal was determined to be worth over  $100 million.

4. Seth MacFarlane was scheduled to be in American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11th, 2001.
According to a Penthouse interview, MacFarlane says he was supposed to be on American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston on 9/11.  He apparently was very hungover and had been given the wrong departure time, and when he arrived at the airport, the terminal had been closed.  Here's a quote from a TVShowsOnDVD.com interview.

"The only reason it hasn't really affected me as it maybe could have is I didn't really know that I was in any danger until after it was over, so I never had that panic moment. After the fact, it was sobering, but people have a lot of close calls; you're crossing the street and you almost get hit by a car..... this one just happened to be related to something massive. I really can't let it affect me because I'm a comedy writer. I have to put that in the back of my head."

5. Seth MacFarlane is an Academy Award Nominee.
In 2013 Seth MacFarlane was nominated for a Best Original Song Academy Award for "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted.  The award ultimately went to "Skyfall", but it's still impressive that he will forever be an academy award nominated song-writer.

6. Seth MacFarlane's voice was in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army"
MacFarlane was the voice of the ectoplasmic entity known as Johann Kraus in the 2008 film "Hellboy II".  In addition to Hellboy, MacFarlane has also done voices in "Futurama: Into the Green Yonder" and "The Drawn Together Movie".



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