Stewie helps Brian understand the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine in a new “Family Guy” PSA.
The fun clip is a direct response to vaccine disinformation on Fox News, the animated show’s creator Seth MacFarlane told late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Monday.
Kimmel noted that MacFarlane has previously been “very critical” of “your own employer because the Fox network (on which ‘Family Guy’ airs) also is the parent of Fox News.”
“And I guess you’re not a Tucker guy?” Kimmel asked, referencing star Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, who has been a prominent spewer of conspiracies and is a self-confessed liar.
“No. You know, that’s why we did this ‘Family Guy’ PSA about vaccination,” MacFarlane replied.
“Because I looked around and I saw everyone else at Fox Corp. doing their part to get good science out there and be responsible with their platforms,” he sarcastically cracked. “And looking down the barrel of that kind of peer pressure, I said, ‘Well gosh, we’ve got to do something too.’”
MacFarlane then shared the PSA, the animated show’s second about vaccines, which also included a joke about that widely mocked, early-pandemic “Imagine” video featuring Gal Gadot.
As for why MacFarlane was allowed to release the PSA, he said:
You see, on the news side they are obviously in their imaginary fairyland. And then you have the entertainment side that’s like, we gotta exist with these people ― let’s be political and make the best of it.
Check out the full interview here: