SETH MACFARLANE & FRIENDS ON TOP SHOWRUNNERS FOR THR 2012

A day after Al Jean was on this list, The Hollywood Reporter has named a bunch of dudes from Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show as top showrunners including  Seth MacFarlane & Matt Weitzman, ‘Family Guy’s’ Mark Hentemann & Steve Callaghan, ‘Cleveland Show’s’ Rich Appel. Of particular interest in the article that I found hilarious are all of Seth’s one word answers, and the newly re-signed Rich Appel’s book report essay type answers. The stark contrast is pretty great like as seen here:

The show that inspired me to write:

MacFarlane: All In The Family.
Weitzman: The Simpsons. The way they could go from being so brilliantly funny to so stupidly funny in five seconds was inspiring. Plus, being a cartoon actually allowed me to more easily buy into their reality.
Hentemann: Seinfeld.
Appel: Writers hate clichés, and yet whenever I’m asked why I wanted to become a comedy writer, I fall back on just about the biggest one: The Dick Van Dyke Show. So many of my friends offer the same answer. I started watching reruns of that show when I was 9 on WGN in Chicago. Rob Petrie had everything I wanted: a job writing sketches for a TV show; funny co-workers; and Mary Tyler Moore. He also had a kid, but at the time I didn’t really want a kid my age. I could have done without the job, too.  And the co-workers. Basically I wanted Mary Tyler Moore.
Callaghan: As a kid, I was very inspired by the brilliance of M*A*S*H and am not afraid to admit that I cried during the last moments of the series finale.  To this day, I still cannot bring myself to ride on buses where Korean women are suffocating chickens or babies.

Really Hentemann?? Seinfeld. But, look at Appel’s long-form huh?? Seriously, he should work here…..