I was once asked on a forum, can a show be saved. When I read it, I immediately thought of “The Family Guy.” In 2002, “The Family Guy” died a sudden death. However, this past Sunday, the sixth season premier aired, which was a tribute parody of “Star Wars.” (Remember Star Tours in Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, & Disney/MGM Studios) Seth MacFarlane, who voices many of its characters, created the show. Other voice actors on the show are Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green, Mike Henry, and Patrick Warburton.

A brief history of this show of this show displays the effects of fan passion. After the Fox telecast of Super Bowl XXXIII ended, Fox aired the first episode of the series to surprising ratings. The first season had many viewers, many whom did not know what they were watching. The show was on Sundays, but Fox executives decided to tinker with the time slot and what do you know. The ratings went down. Fox put the show in hiatus for the 2000/2001 TV season. However, the show came back during the summer with decent ratings during the summer of 2001. Fox decided to continue the third season, but put the show on Thursday night, directly against “Friends.” The Nielsen Ratings were not great. Fox started to play musical chairs with “The Family Guy’s” time slot. In February 2002, Fox cancelled this show permanently. However, something was about to happen.

The fans grow passionate about the show. Fans loved the humor, which is sometimes crude and vulgar, as well as the offbeat references to pop culture of the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s, in which the show parodied. The show’s buff wanted more “Family Guy.” An underground exchange of VHS taped “Family Guy” episodes emerged. The boys down in Atlanta, Cartoon Network, saw a great opportunity to boost ratings of its ‘Adult Swim’ and decided syndicate the show, starting in 2003. This was a decision they would not regret. Reruns of the show drew a loyal viewership on late nights. The channel sold much advertising space for a cancelled show. Seeing the profit possibilities, Fox started to produce DVD box sets of the show. Fans bought the DVD’s in droves. “Family Guy: Volume 1” outsold any television show related DVD at the time. It was at this time, “Bring back the Family Guy” Movement blew up. Fan-related sites spurn up all over the web, promoting the show’s revival. Enthusiasts started to turn other people on to the series, showing them DVD’s. The fan base for this show was grew larger. Soon, there were more “Family Guy” fanatics than there was before the series’ cancellation. Fans even promoted sales of the second volume DVD box set, which sold big. Fox executives saw the writing on the walls. They decided to bring back the show for a fourth season in April 2004. On May 1, 2005, Fox aired the first new episode of the series in over three years to a large audience.

A similar situation happened to the Disney Channel series, “Kim Possible.” Up to 2004, Disney Channel had an unofficial ’65-episode’ limit. (i.e. “Even Stevens”, “Lizzie McGuire”) “Kim Possible” quickly developed a loyal fan base, since it premiered in May 2002. Knowing that the series will end at episode 65, they united. (I was one of them.) Yahoo Groups and a website (kp.savedisneyshow.org) spurned up. Production on the series ended on February 2005. Despite the show’s production ceasing, the fan base of “Kim Possible” drew inspiration from “The Family Guy” situation. A campaign to renew the series ensued. “Kim Possible” drew good cable ratings and DVD sales. In November 2005, history repeated itself and “Kim Possible” was renewed for a fourth season.

(By the way, Patrick Warburton, Nicole Sullivan and Gary Cole were regulars on both “The Family Guy” & “Kim Possible.”)

So can a cancelled show be revived? I say “Remember the Family Guy!”

If it’s a Disney Show that you want revived, go to this website: http://www.savedisneyshows.org

(By the unofficial 100th episode of “The Family Guy airs Sunday on Fox Television. Just thought you would like to know.)