Patrick Warburton has had enough of apologizing for Family Guy.
The 58-year-old American actor is known for many roles throughout his career, starring in shows like Seinfeld, Ellen, and Rules of Engagement. But none of those shows come close to the actor’s longevity in the animated US sitcom, Family Guy.
Created by Seth MacFarlane all the way back in 1998, the show first hit our screens the following year, and has gone on to become one of the most popular sitcoms – animated or not – of all time.
Spanning 21 seasons and over 400 episodes, Family Guy is known for its near-the-knuckle humor, with MacFarlane once saying: “Family Guy likes to hold a mirror up to society and say, ‘Society, you’re ugly.'”
One of the show’s longest-running characters is Warburton’s character, Joe Swanson, a paraplegic police officer known for his strength and short temper.
After appearing in over 270 episodes of the show, some of Joe’s most popular storylines include the epsiode where teen neighbor Meg Griffin falls madly in love with him and the one where Joe abandons his friends and family after getting a leg transplant.
Now, despite many people obviously finding Family Guy hilarious, there are many who believe the show goes “too far” with its attempts at comedy. (Not me, I’m a big fan, personally.) In fact, even Warburton’s own mother, Parents Television Council member Barbara Warburton, has criticized the show for “sending the wrong messages to children”, per the Daily Mail.
But her son believes he has nothing to apologize for, as he recently told Fox News: “I used to apologize for being on Family Guy, and I apologize no more because this world is a horrible native satire.”
“Everybody takes themselves too seriously, and… I think in many ways become an overwhelming mess,” Warburton added. “But we need humor in our lives, and we need love and humor, acceptance. It’s all rather simple.”
During the interview, Warburton also spoke about his religious upbringing, and how his mother had raised him. “I was brought up very Catholic. My father was in the monastery for three months,” he said, adding: “That being said, my mother was worse than my father.
“I mean, she has scrupulosity, so it’s all religion all the time with my mother. Cut to, like, two years ago, when my wife’s doing Ancestry.com, she finds out that I’m actually 12.4% Ashkenazi Jew.”
The Daily Mail reports that Mrs. Warburton had admitted to praying to God that her son would quit his role on Family Guy.
And speaking of refusing to apologize for things, another comedy that has long been criticized is the 2008 movie, Tropic Thunder. However, star Ben Stiller recently spoke out in defense of the movie, and said he also refuses to apologize for the controversial flick.