Posted in: Fox, TV | Tagged: family guy, seth macfarlane

Family Guy: Seth MacFarlane "Insists Upon" Sharing Classic Line Origin

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane shared some of the backstory on where Peter's classic "It insists upon itself" line came from.

With as long of a run as it's having, it's not surprising that a number of lines from Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy have spread across the pop culture landscape. But one that's been finding a renewed appreciation in these slightly apocalyptic times comes from 2006's Season 4 Episode 27: "The Griffin Family History." Escaping to their panic room to avoid robbers, Peter decides to pass the time sharing some family history (a little too early to start telling "Star Wars" stories quite yet). Trapped in the panic room with no way out, the sprinklers are set off (no spoilers), and the room quickly begins to fill with water.

As Peter, Lois, Chris, Stewie, and Brian inched closer to drowning, Peter had a confession to make: he was no fan of The Godfather. What would result from the heated debate would be one of the animated show's classic lines, with Peter claiming, "It insists upon itself" (before adding that he loves Ton Hanks and Shelley Long-starring The Money Pit). With the phrase buzzing around again, MacFarlane took to social media to offer some personal historical context to the line's origin story. "Since this has been trending, here's a fun fact: 'It insists upon itself' was a criticism my college film history professor used to explain why he didn't think 'The Sound of Music' was a great film. First-rate teacher, but I never quite followed that one," MacFarlane posted.

Here's a look at MacFarlane's tweet offering the real-life backstory on the "It insists upon itself" line – followed by a look back at how FOX's Sunday night animation block will be changing up next month:

The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bob's Burgers: FOX's Midseason Changes

In terms of foundational animated series, you can't find a more impressive trio than The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers. Setting aside the fact that collectively, they take up an obscene amount of basic cable space (we're still not thrilled that Family Guy replaced FXX's Friday night It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia mini-marathons), each show's success only seems to be growing. The past year has also seen Family Guy and The Simpsons dip their animated toes into streaming, with exclusives on Hulu and Disney+, respectively). Yet, all three animated series are nearing the end of their two-season orders – with FOX not yet giving a green light. As we continue to be very fascinated by how all of this could play out, FOX is giving us an update on some big changes to its Sunday night animation block beginning February 16th. Here's a look at how the programming lineup will look in February and March.

February 16th: FOX's The Simpsons will begin a six-week break, with Family Guy Season 23 kicking off its run. Fascinating fact: this date will mark the first time in 30+ years that The Simpsons didn't lead the Sunday night animation block. In addition, the second season of Jon Hamm-starring Grimsburg will kick off at 8:30 p.m., The Great North kicks off Season 5 at 9 p.m., and Krapopolis stays at its same time, 9:30 p.m.

March 30th: FOX's The Simpsons returns, taking pack the 8 p.m. spot, with Family Guy shifting to 8:30 p.m. The Great North will remain at 9 p.m., with Krapopolis staying at 9:30 p.m.

What About "Bob's Burgers"? You might have noticed that Bob's Burgers was missing in action. According to FOX, the lineup changes are keeping the animated series out of the lineup for now, but "it will return to the lineup later in the season."

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