Animators, animation writers and executives, for the most part, live a life of obscurity. While often working and living in the same Hollywood bubble as their live-action counterparts, animation folk don’t show up in US Magazine, get invited to sit down with Letterman, or end up disgraced on TMZ.com. There’s a few exceptions to this rule, however – Matt Stone and Trey Parker (South Park, Book of Mormon), Seth Green (Robot Chicken, Family Guy) and the other Seth – Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show). There’s other ‘big names’ in the animation game (Groening, Lasseter, Judge, Burton, Miyazaki), but the public isn’t terribly interested in what they look like when they jog or eat dinner. This isn’t a wonderful gauge of success or happiness, but I’m pointing it out because today we have a prime example of how bright Seth MacFarlane’s star is burning. Today he’s on the cover of the insider mag The Hollywood Reporter, and his jet-owning, club-going lifestyle has indeed landed him on TMZ more than once.

In this behind-the-scenes video of his cover shoot, you’ll see MacFarlane shoulder-to-shoulder with Groening and Judge, perhaps ‘accepting the torch.’ He is standing on the shoulders of these two animation greats, but he’s also redefining the reach of an animation icon, establishing that animation is but a part of his interests. In the cover article (Seth MacFarlane: The Restless Mind of a Complicated Cartoonist), we learn that MacFarlane “thinks that Family Guy should have already ended,” but let’s not forget that in 2003, it did, only to be resuscitated for 8 more seasons. There’s also interesting details on the reboot of The Flintstones, and his surprising goal of “infusing more scientific accuracy into entertainment programming.”

This Sunday’s Christmas-themed Family Guy episode pits Santa Claus vs. Stewie in a battle for all the stockings. And there’s a Muslim joke. Smiles everyone! The episode is titled Road To The North Pole.

The Family Guy team has a great deal of experience in the realm of Star Wars spoofs, having first delivered Blue Harvest (spoofs Episode IV: A New Hope) and Something, Something, Something, Dark Side (sends up Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back). As you might expect, next up is their Return of the Jedi spoof, which is due out on DVD on December 21st. Here’s the trailer for Family Guy: It’s A Trap!:

Yes, it’s strange that FOX airs Halloween specials a week after Halloween, and no, I couldn’t figure out why. All I could discover was that this ain’t the first time. But, nevertheless, all 4 animated series on the network will deliver Halloween-themed episodes this Sunday, November 7th starting at 8pm. Here’s a few clips:

Family Guy – Halloween on Spooner Street clip

American Dad – Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls

This Sunday’s new episode of Family Guy, Welcome Back Carter, flirts with infidelity. Peter catches Lois’ father, Carter Pewterschmidt, having an affair. Gasp! Here’s a clip from the episode, which airs on Sunday at 9pm ET/PT on FOX.

A new Family Guy DVD released yesterday, that was so offensive, it wasn’t allowed on FOX. This season 8 episode, titled Partial Terms of Endearment, tackles the taboo topic of abortion with the caring, sensitive grace that only Family Guy can muster. For instance:

A theatrically-released Family Guy movie is apparently just a matter of time, and we’re guessing it will be animated. Just a hunch.

Buuuuuut…. if it wasn’t animated, it might look something like this. Here’s our casting choices: Mad Men’s curvy Christina Hendricks as Lois and the recently sober Artie Lange as Peter Griffin.