Seth Mcfarland made his name working on TV, be it behind the scenes writing for Hannah Barbara shows like Dexters Laboratory and Johnny Bravo or with his hit TV series Family Guy. Over the past couple of years though, the writer, director, and actor has transitioned away from the cartoon tv series to other forms of entertainment.
Mcfarland occupies his time now with other projects, including multiple movies (Ted, Ted 2, A Million Ways to Die in the West) and a Sci-fi series on Fox (The Orville). In a recent Reddit AMA, Mcfarland was asked just how he managed being on so many different projects at once without exhausting himself.
“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.”
When asked about his current contributions to the show he revealed that he has written for Family Guy since 2010. The statement came as a surprise to many, as they assumed that since he still did the voices, he must still have a considerable hand in writing for the show as well. 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.
Instead, the show has been now run by co-writer Alec Sulkin.  McFarland still has an active role in the product, as the voice of many of the characters. When asked about his “rivalry” with South Park back in 2006, he stated that he really enjoyed “Cartoon Wars Part 1 and 2.”
“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.”
McFarland concluded the AMA after a little over an hour, as it was filled with both informative answers and comical ones. For more information be sure to check out the entire Q&A on the site linked above.