Fox Pulls Family Guy Clip: A recent episode of the animated comedy depicted many deaths at the Boston Marathon, and has been pulled from Fox and Hulu’s websites.
NEW YORK—Fox has pulled from websites a recent episode of “Family Guy” that depicts mass deaths at the Boston Marathon, and has no immediate plans to air it again.
Fox spokeswoman Gaude Paez said Tuesday the episode has been removed from Fox.com and Hulu.com.
In the episode, which originally aired March 17, protagonist Peter Griffin is asked by sports announcer Bob Costas about his performance at the marathon. A flashback shows Peter mowing down runners with his car.
“I'll tell ya, Bob, I just got in my car and drove it,” Griffin says. “And when there was a guy in my way, I killed him.”
Later, Peter befriends a terrorist who, unbeknownst to him, is plotting to blow up a bridge. When Peter dials a cellphone the friend has given him, explosions and screams are heard. On some websites, an edited clip has been circulating that fuses the two scenes, making it seem — incorrectly — as if the explosion was at the marathon. Some commenters have implied that the show “predicted” the bombings.
Another clip circulating online, of a Family Guy episode that aired a day before the bombings, shows Peter’s daughter walking into her house with a date.
She tells the date that she didn’t expect to have a good time, but ended up having a blast.
“Well, call the bomb squad, because with the blast that I had, that makes two blasts,” the date tells her.
“Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane took to Twitter on Tuesday to vent anger over the edited clip and offer condolences to victims of Monday’s bombings at the marathon.
“The edited ‘Family Guy’ clip currently circulating is abhorrent,” MacFarlane tweeted. “The event was a crime and a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the victims.”
Television networks and movie studios typically review material, according to Reuters, “that might be considered sensitive or offensive” after national tragedies such as the shootings in Newtown, Conn.
Other theories that commentators say “predicted” the bombings include two Facebook pages—one allegedly set up the day before the marathon, offering condolences to the victims, and another similar page made hours before the marathon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
