{alltv} MacFarlane always taking risks

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane feels he always should be in danger of impaling himself on his own light-sabre, creatively speaking.

"My philosophy is if it's something that can potentially ruin the show forever, then it's probably something we should try," MacFarlane said. "That has served us fairly well as (Family Guy) has aged.

"At the end of the day, what's the worst that could happen? Shows live and die all the time. Better to go out taking some risks than to rest on your laurels and fall into lazy patterns."

MacFarlane keeps things interesting on his hit animated series Family Guy by coming up with theme episodes from time to time. Case in point, the hour-long, ninth-season finale, which airs Sunday, May 22 on Fox and Global, is another ambitious Star Wars parody.

Episode VI: It's a Trap will feature such divergent guest voices as radio host Rush Limbaugh, actress Anne Hathaway and none other than Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original three Star Wars movies.

This follows Family Guy's two previous Star Wars parodies, titled Blue Harvest (2007) and Something, Something, Something Dark Side (2010). This new instalment sees the members of the Griffin family reprising their intergalactic roles in a comedic retelling of Return of the Jedi.

Do you need an encylopedic knowledge of Star Wars to "get" these parodies? Well, yes and no.

To really, really, really enjoy them, you need to be a Star Wars geek. But that's not a prohibitive thing. So if you're like us and have only a casual memory of the Star Wars movies, you still can watch Episode VI: It's a Trap and appreciate the jokes on a more general basis.

MacFarlane, of course, provides the voices for Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin and Glenn Quagmire, among others.

"Brian is probably my favourite voice to do because I don't leave the booth sweating," said MacFarlane, who essentially uses his own speaking voice for Brian. "Most of the other characters, such as Stewie and Peter, require such a large amount of wind that I often need to take a nap after recording a show. It can be very exhausting.

"So certainly, Brian's voice gives me a little bit of a break."

There aren't too many breaks on MacFarlane's schedule, as he has two other animated series on the air, American Dad and The Cleveland Show. It's interesting that MacFarlane's shows - all three of which have been renewed for next season - seem to have developed separate audiences, flying in the face of the kneejerk assumption that if you're a fan of one, you'll be a fan of all three.

"Whether (American Dad and The Cleveland Show) will ever reach the success level of Family Guy, I don't know," MacFarlane said. "It is very rare that happens.

"But take Family Guy out of the equation and both those shows bring in very, very respectable numbers. So I don't know. Ask me again in five years."

If Family Guy still is around then, who knows what it will be parodying. Lord of the Rings, anyone?