Family Guy (season 4)
| Family Guy (season 4) | |
|---|---|
  Region 1 DVD cover art for Volumes 3 and 4
|
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Original release | May 1, 2005 – May 21, 2006 |
| Season chronology | |
The fourth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy aired on Fox from May 1, 2005, to May 21, 2006, and consisted of thirty episodes, making it the longest season to date. The first half of the season is included within the volume 3 DVD box set, which was released on November 29, 2005, and the second half is included within the volume 4 DVD box set, which was released on November 14, 2006. Season 4 was split into seasons 4 and 5 in regions outside the United States, leading to confusion over season numbers between U.S., Australian, and UK comsumers. The last three episodes of season 4 were the basis for the movie known as Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, and are edited for content; Fox does not include these episodes in the official episode count.
Family Guy had been canceled in 2002 due to low ratings, but was revived by Fox after reruns on Adult Swim became the network's most-watched program, and more than three million DVDs of the show were sold. "North by North Quahog" was the first episode to air following the series' revival.
The show was first canceled after the 1999–2000 season, but following a last-minute reprieve, it returned for a third season in 2001. In 2002, Family Guy was canceled after three seasons due to low ratings. Fox tried to sell rights for reruns of the show, but it was hard to find networks that were interested; Cartoon Network eventually bought the rights, "[...] basically for free", according to the president of 20th Century Fox Television Production. When the reruns were shown on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in 2002, Family Guy became the channel's most-watched show with an average 1.9 million viewers per episode. Following this, the show's first season was released on DVD in April 2003. The DVD set sold 2.2 million copies, making it the best-selling television DVD of 2003 and the second highest-selling television DVD ever, behind the first season of Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show. The season 2 DVD release also sold more than 1 million copies. The show's popularity in both DVD sales and reruns rekindled Fox's interest. They ordered 35 new episodes in 2004, marking the first revival of a television show based on DVD sales.Gail Berman said cancelling the show was one of her most difficult decisions, and she was therefore happy it would return. The network also began production of a film based on the show.
...
Wikipedia