Family Guywasted no time in the New Year going after the biggest target in the world: Donald Trump.
(AndFamily Guyhas taken that on, too.)
As Lois apologized to Meg for not believing her, Peter went after Trump.
Credit: FOX
“What would your third wife, the soft-core girl-on-girl porn lady, think about this?”
“Or the actual porn star your lawyer paid hush money to?”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was the biggest challenge in bringing this episode to life?
RICH APPEL:Yes!
I remember that Trump guy!"
Of course he’s still hereand still embarrassing himself on a daily/weekly basis.
So we just had to lay into that aspect of it.
It’s an ongoing story that we feel like now we’re finally getting to cover.
APPEL: I think you could say: As Americans, we’re horrified.
As comedy writers, we’re gratified.
Things kind of come and go.
I’ll give you an example.
to Roger Stone, and he says, “I’ll take the fifth [of bourbon].”
SULKIN: It was to Michael Flynn.
APPEL: It originally was to Michael Flynn.
Then we went to Roger Stone.
When we last talked, you said that Fox executives didn’t have significant changes on the script.
But then, to everyone’s credit, that was all we ever heard.
And by the end of the call, they were like, “Go ahead.”
Family Guycreator Seth MacFarlane’s politics are clear, and the show has taken shots at Trump before.
But was there some concern even in the writers' room about alienating more conservative fans?
SULKIN: I think we were less concerned about that and more concerned with being funny with this material.
It feels like it is all over the place these days.
And I think it comes off much better in that way.
APPEL: There’s also at least two kinds of political jokes.
But it’s just about hypocrisy, it’s just about lying.
Why did you decide to have Trump prey on Meg?
APPEL:Let’s play a game.
If I say the words Donald Trump to you, what’s the first thing you think?….
It’s clearly offensive and gross and not appropriate.
Sexual assault is a sensitive subject.
What discussions and concerns did you have in the writers' room?
APPEL: Those discussions have been going on, certainly for as long as I’ve been here.
We are being a little self-deprecating there, but we try always.
And are we commenting on cliched assumptions?
Are we commenting on people’s knee-jerk reactions?…
And the ultimate judge is: Is it funny enough?
Why go after those nice, funny people atBob’s?
APPEL: Because we like them, respect them, and are jealous of then.
And really, doesn’t that motivate 70 percent of human behavior?
Yes, we like them, we know they’re talented and they’ve won awards.
What more do we need to say?
And obviously we would not shrink from him making any reference toFamily Guyin his show if he wanted to.
So maybe this could touch off a gentlemanly feud?
SULKIN: Rightfully, I think they’re already above it and we’re still here in the mud.
They’ve taken a very healthy, almost weary attitude toward our prodding.
You guys have some serious staying power.
You’ve been on that block a long time.
SULKIN: We have.
What message do you want people to take away from this episode?
The point of view of our show is what it is.
APPEL: Here’s the most hopeful thing we think it’s possible for you to take away.
Hunky Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is played as well by Josh Robert Thompson.
What do you think Trump’s reaction to this episode might be?
Have you pictured him watching it?
So, you know, I can dream.
