Ever since Family Guy first premiered in 1999, the show's writers have toyed with jokes about Stewie Griffin's sexuality. Now, however, it looks as if they'll face the question head on with a new two-part episode.
In an interview with TV Line, executive producer Richard Appel said that they plan to address Stewie's sexuality right from the get-go via a therapy session. Stewie's therapist will be played by none other than Sir Ian McKellen. That said, Appel explained the sexuality discussion is just "the tip of the iceberg."
"It's just a two-character episode with Stewie in his therapist's office for the first time," Appel said. "It's a wonderful episode, and Seth's performance is spectacular. They delve into all sorts of things you would think would come up in a therapy session with a boy like Stewie. When Stewie's with his therapist, they pretty immediately address questions of sexuality. The episode covers that, and then goes to deeper issues for Stewie."
As NME reports, this isn't the first time the show has considered revealing Stewie's sexuality. In 2009, creator Seth MacFarlane told Playboy that an episode about the baby coming out of the closet had made it through pre-production.
"We had an episode that went all the way to the script phase in which Stewie does come out," MacFarlane told Playboy. "It had to do with the harassment he took from other kids at school."
He continued, "He ends up going back in time to prevent a passage in Leviticus from being written… But we decided it's better to keep it vague, which makes more sense because he's a one-year-old."
An air date for Stewie's big therapy session has yet to be revealed, but Family Guy will debut new episodes starting on March 11.
In an interview with TV Line, executive producer Richard Appel said that they plan to address Stewie's sexuality right from the get-go via a therapy session. Stewie's therapist will be played by none other than Sir Ian McKellen. That said, Appel explained the sexuality discussion is just "the tip of the iceberg."
"It's just a two-character episode with Stewie in his therapist's office for the first time," Appel said. "It's a wonderful episode, and Seth's performance is spectacular. They delve into all sorts of things you would think would come up in a therapy session with a boy like Stewie. When Stewie's with his therapist, they pretty immediately address questions of sexuality. The episode covers that, and then goes to deeper issues for Stewie."
As NME reports, this isn't the first time the show has considered revealing Stewie's sexuality. In 2009, creator Seth MacFarlane told Playboy that an episode about the baby coming out of the closet had made it through pre-production.
"We had an episode that went all the way to the script phase in which Stewie does come out," MacFarlane told Playboy. "It had to do with the harassment he took from other kids at school."
He continued, "He ends up going back in time to prevent a passage in Leviticus from being written… But we decided it's better to keep it vague, which makes more sense because he's a one-year-old."
An air date for Stewie's big therapy session has yet to be revealed, but Family Guy will debut new episodes starting on March 11.