Seth MacFarlane based the voice of Peter Griffin on a security guard he knew while going to college at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
Seth MacFarlane has admitted that the family's constant abuse of Meg is a result of "a bunch of male writers not knowing how to write for a teenage girl."
The show's Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2009 marked the first time since Os Flintstones (1960) that an animated series earned such a nomination.
When Drew Barrymore was preparing the documentary Choose or Lose Presents: The Best Place to Start (2004), she contacted Seth MacFarlane to appear on it, and asked him to do a guest voice on the show. MacFarlane enjoyed her work so much as Mrs. Lockhart in season four that he offered Barrymore the regular role of Jillian.
In some episodes, the family pokes fun at Frango Robô (2005) and Chris gets mad. This is because Seth Green (Chris Griffin) is a producer, lead voice actor, and co-creator of the series.