Family Guy creator says it takes “10 months to a year” to make 1 episode

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You’d expect a show like Family Guy, after being on television for 27 years, to be made pretty quickly. But surprisingly, creator Seth MacFarlane says it actually takes 10 to 12 months to finish just one episode.

Seth MacFarlane is currently promoting the second season of his comedy series Ted, which begins streaming on Peacock today, March 5th. All eight episodes are available to watch now.

Now that Family Guy’s twenty-fourth season is in production, Seth MacFarlane is getting a lot of questions about what’s next for the show.

After celebrating its 450th episode in February, Seth MacFarlane has been thinking about how much work goes into making each episode of the show, and how long the process really takes.

Seth MacFarlane leaves Family Guy fans confused with production timeline

Seth MacFarlane recently shared on the Pardon My Take podcast that creating a single 22-minute episode of his animated show takes roughly 10 months to a year.

The hosts were surprised by his answer, as Eric Sollenberger explained that creating characters for Family Guy isn’t as easy as simply animating existing designs. He suggested it’s a more complex process than just making them move.

MacFarlane pointed out that the key difference is in the creation process. With live-action filming, actors perform, and the camera records it instantly. Animation, however, requires building each frame individually.

Animators always start by figuring out the feeling of a scene, he explained. Is the character begging, or are they acting dismissive? These are very different approaches, and each one needs to be planned out carefully before the animation process begins.

He explained that each animation sequence needs to be carefully timed using something called an exposure sheet. This sheet tells the animators exactly how many frames make up each part of the sequence – whether it’s 48 frames or just 12, for example.

His comment really got people talking online, especially considering how many episodes of Family Guy there are. One person jokingly pointed out that the show supposedly began in 1580.

Someone joked that the numbers didn’t add up, and another commenter playfully suggested the show must have started filming when the first settlers arrived in America.

People have noted the similarity to the animated show South Park, which is well-known for completing episodes in just six days. One person pointed this out, and another simply stated, “South Park does it in six days.”

Putting jokes aside, the estimate of “10 months to a year” likely refers to the entire production process, where several episodes are being worked on simultaneously by different team members.

Many fans have noticed that it takes about ten months from the start of recording to the release of each episode. It’s likely they’re working on around 20 to 30 episodes simultaneously.

“People not understanding that they can work on the entire season at once,” said another.

Hey, if you’re like me and always looking for the next binge-worthy show, you should definitely check out what’s hitting streaming services this month. And if you’re a planner, they even have a calendar showing all the TV shows coming out in 2026 – seriously! It’s a great way to keep track of what’s on the horizon.

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2026-03-05 13:50