Family Guy Phasing Out Gay Jokes

Deadline reports that Family Guy is phasing out jokes about gay people. Show producers Rich Appel and Alec Sulkin say that the show is evolving

“If you look at a show from 2005 or 2006 and put it side by side with a show from 2018 or 2019, they’re going to have a few differences,” Sulkin said. “Some of the things we felt comfortable saying and joking about back then, we now understand is not acceptable.”

Appel noted that Family Guy has been on the air since 1999 now, and that a show that runs that long deals with a changing culture. He added that this isn’t a reaction to what is and isn’t politically correct right now, but rather a change in the people behind the show.

“It’s not us reacting and thinking, ‘They won’t let us [say certain things].’ No, we’ve changed too,” Appel said. “The climate is different, the culture is different and our views are different. They’ve been shaped by the reality around us, so I think the show has to shift and evolve in a lot of different ways.”

The most recent episode featured a parody of Donald Trump with the storyline centering on him sexually assaulting Meg, but Sulkin says they take their shots at the left, too.

“We’ve had some episodes in the past that had some left leanings in them,” Sulkin said. “But we take hard shots all around. We’ve made fun of the Clintons and Barack Obama. It’s not like we would avoid anyone because we vote this way or that way. In any time that Family Guy has been on, we’ve pointed out idiots and the dumb things they do. This just happens to be our current person, and it would be no different if a Democrat were doing something idiotic, which they do.”