I am Seth MacFarlane. Back for a new and better go at this AMA.

With the character of Brian being so similar to your own, did killing him off in Family Guy serve as some kind of symbolism of you distancing yourself creatively and emotionally from the show?

Excuse me, I have to run to my psychiatrist.

Okay, now I really do have to go to work! Thanks to you all for the second go at this -- hopefully it was better this time around. Til next time!

Is there a reason your monologue from the Oscars isn't anywhere on the official Oscars YouTube channel? I find it odd that I can't find it anywhere and yet the other hosts have their monologues uploaded on the official Oscars YouTube channel.

Well that's horseshit, ain't it

Hey Seth, thanks for giving this another go! What do you think contributed most to you success, and what failure did you learn from the most?

Well, I think my parents contributed most to my success, and the failure I learned from the most would have to be the previous AMA.

Yo Seth,

Good on you for starting over and trying to get this right. A lot of people would have just said fuck it and bolted.

I want to know - will The Orville have a race of teddy bears (perhaps Ted's family)?

They will now, son. They will now.

Hey Seth! Do you ever use your characters voices during sex?

Only Tom Tucker. Only Tom.

Who wins a in a fight? A million lions or the sun? Serious question

I'm glad I came back.

If you could have any super power, what would you pick?

Untangling Iphone earbuds in under six minutes.

What do you think about the South Park episode lampooning you?

I thought it was really funny. They flagged our cutaway setups, which had been getting a little fast and loose at the time. Props for that. RE: the cutaways themselves, though, they were off the mark a bit. The cutaways are actually the hardest things to write on the show. Story-centric jokes come a little easier, but when you have to conceive and invent a whole independent little sequence several times in a episode, it's challenging as hell. Like doing a Far Side cartoon 10-12 times an episode.

Whats the biggest regret of your career?

That earlier AMA.

You will only be remembered for the AMA you made to right the wrongs of AMAs past.

-Confucius

Thank Christ.

Being involved in so many shows and projects all at once, how do you manage? Do you ever feel pulled toward one project and burnt out with another? Does your passion tend to go back and forth between different projects at a time?

I jump between TV and film for that reason. I felt fried after 12 years of Family Guy so I left to do Ted. At some point maybe I'll wind up writing for Family Guy full time again.

do you contribute to family guy much at all anymore?

I haven't written on the show since 2010. I still do the voices, but it's now run by my co-writer Alec Sulkin.

If Disney asked you to direct a Star Wars spinoff what would it be about?

I... I don't think Disney would do that.

What was the coolest thing you saw as a kid?

What's the coolest thing you've ever seen?

I once saw Neil deGrasse Tyson eat an entire bottle of Flintstones vitamins on a dare

What is your favorite dessert? And thanks for restarting the AMA.

Jack Daniels.

Was crashing that ama part of your plan?

It was a test. You passed.

Hey Seth, what's the craziest thing you have ever personally purchased?

An accordion. It sits in my living room untouched. One day I will play it.

So, what is the probability of the PR firm not getting a christmas card this year?

It just might have a poo in it.

[deleted]

Sound of Music. Wanna fight about it?

Hi Seth. How long do you think it will be before Fox randomly cancels The Orville? Or swaps its time slot? Or plays the episodes out of order? In other words, why did you go with Fox instead of better options like Netflix/Amazon/HBO?

Well, after the audience response, we have a good shot at sticking around. But I wanted to do an episodic, non-serialized show. There's no real interest in that kind of storytelling on the Netflixes out there - they like continuing stories you can binge-watch. So the network made sense.

What are your thoughts on Rhode Island and why did you choose to make it the setting for Family Guy?

I spent a lot of time there in college, and I hadn't ever seen anyone depict it in a comedy series. Felt fresh. Like a mini-Boston. And the accent is hilarious.

Thanks for doing this AMA, Seth. Who's your favorite comedian of all time?

Jackie Gleason.

Cosmos season 2: still happening?

Stay tuned. I can't give a concrete answer to that yet cause I'm not allowed, but let's just say you won't be disappointed.

Hi, Seth! Would you ever consider having Patrick Stewart and/or William Shatner guest on The Orville?

Thanks for the extra AMA!

Loving the show, keep up the excellent work!

I want Shatner to show up only in the background as a grandfather playing with his little green grandkids.

If you have his number, call him and ask. I'll back you up.

What was your least favorite project you worked on or had a hand in? Actual project, not your previous AMA, as you joked about already.

Ok you want the truth? The Cavalcade of Comedy. I didn't feel like I had the time to put into it that it required. I thought it suffered as a result.

That's really cool of you to start a new thread, thanks a ton.

What's the worst reaction you've had by a celebrity you lampooned?

Adrian Brody got pissed at me at a party one time. Also I remember hearing that we got an angry call from Ellen Cleghorne, but I never got confirmation...

did you refer to Adrian as 'The Nose'? Because you should have.

I was already in damage control mode, so I don't think that would've been in my best interest.

Hey Seth, where does your love of pageantry come from? I was absolutely floored by the intro to Ted 2 and you've always had a flair for big song and dance routines. What started this?

I just... God, I've always loved pageantry. Fuck, do I adore pageantry.

What was it like performing with Jamie Parker at the Royal Albert Hall all those years ago? Now that he is super famous for playing Harry Potter do you still get to speak to him?

I can't get past his assistant.

Thanks for having another go of it rather than just throwing in the towel.

What do you think will set apart The Orville apart from similar shows?

I got my ass handed to me for answering Orville questions, man. Keep movin.'

How long are you planning on doing family guy for? Do you think that the show has lost its lustre?

Well, 16 years... it really depends on whether people continue to watch. I never thought we'd go this long.

Any advice for an aspiring cartoonist who doesn't have the money to create animation, but still loves writing scripts and storyboards? I have all these ideas concepts and jokes, but no money to make them a reality...

Find somebody who knows how the hell a computer works and have em direct you to a good animation program you can use at home. As you've seen, my computer skills aren't so hot.

What is the deal with Conway Twitty?

that gag has always been one of the most confusing.... It has just about no context and it lasts SOOOOO long. It's a complex one for sure.

It's one of my favorite jokes on the show. There's something about Conway Twitty that is beyond absurd; it's the hair, the music, his face. The joke is out of place and it catches you off guard, and then sucks you in because it's still going! How am I looking at this weird fucking guy still?? It never fails to get a laugh out of me.

It's a reference to the utterly haphazard nature of old variety shows. You'd do a sketch and then cut to a musical number with zero segue. So... basically Family Guy.

If you were called in to re-write the ending of LOST, how would you do it?

I would have Bob Newhart wake up next to Suzanne Pleshette.

Do you think Peter stands a chance as an independent during the next US presidential election cycle?

I think what we know now is that yes, ANYONE stands a chance

Which character on Family Guy was your favorite to voice for? Least favorite?

Was voicing any of them difficult?

Thanks for doing this AMA!

These days, Brian is my favorite because it's an easy vocal transition - Quagmire is the hardest because my voice is pretty much thrashed by the end of the session

What was your reaction to the fan reaction to Brian's death on Family Guy? Did it take you by surprise or was that what you expected?

Looking back, do you regret doing the episode at all?

I was very surprised by the size of the reaction. To me, the positive spin was "Hey, people still really give a shit about this guy. That's cool."

Would you rather be unable to sing or unable to draw?

Draw. I'm not Picasso in the first place, so...

If they were asking for volunteers to go to Mars and be it's first Inhabitants, would you go?

No. I would be terrified to actually go into space. I'm very happy to just look at the pictures.

Is your Flintstones show ever going to happen?

As of now, probably not. Honestly I couldn't figure out a way to find enough differentiation between a modern-day Fred Flintstone and... Peter Griffin.

Will it last longer than The Cleveland Show?

That's up to you.

Hi Seth! Thanks for coming back to finish the AMA! I wanted to ask you about your album that came out today (which is fantastic, BTW!) Did you consciously choose upbeat happy love songs for it as a kind of counter balance to No One Ever Tells You, or was it just a coincidence that all the songs on the new album had that happy love theme running through them?

It was a consistent thematic choice. Thus we trimmed Watching Scotty Grow from the final set list.

Hi Seth! Thanks for coming back, shame the previous one became a mess. Not your fault though! My questions are:

*Are there any Family Guy scenes/episodes you regret making? *What are some Family Guy scenes you feel are underrated, in your opinion, or maybe just your favourite not-so-popular scene?

I ah... I could do without the JFK Pez dispenser scene.

If you could steal a plot to any episode of any scifi show and do it on Orville without anyone remembering the original, what ep from what show would it be?

Defending Your Life. Brilliant.

Fox is notable for being quite right wing. Did you ever cop any flak for a lot of the political messages in early American Dad episodes, such as pro-weed or equality for homosexuals?

Fox behaves like two different companies. There's the entertainment wing, and there's... you know, the other one. They don't really communicate. So they may as well be two different entities.

What kind of direction do you see yourself going in for the coming years? I've always been a fan of Family Guy, and just about all the other shows you have created/produced, so I'm curious as to what you envision for yourself.

Thanks for the AMA!

I like to stay diverse. I like trying things that are new and challenging, that I haven't done before. I like the possibility of failure. That may or may not be healthy.

How do you feel about the massive amounts of 6-10 minute clips of Family Guy being uploaded to YouTube all of a sudden?

Do you feel as if the show has decreased in quality any?

How do you feel about Mysterious Mr. Enter, and other Family Guy critics?

The only time characters move in the the show is when they are speaking, fighting, or walking; everything else is completely still (no one even blinks). Is this intentional? If so, why?

Clip uploading is the world we live in now -- I see it as enthusiasm for the show. Then again, I don't work for Fox legal. But personally, it doesn't bother me.
As far as the other question, I believe a "less is more" approach to prime time animation works best for the comedy. There's something funnier about a blank stare than there is about a detailed, emotive reaction

Hi Seth! Any good restaurant locations in Connecticut I should check out?

Try the Fife n' Drum in my hometown of Kent.

Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses?

The second one. You just climb a tree and you're safe.