'Family Guy' cast celebrates 25 years of laughs

LOS ANGELES -- It was a night of celebration, jubilation and reflection as the cast of "Family Guy" got together at PaleyFest to mark the 25th anniversary of the animated series.

The show, created by Seth MacFarlane, premiered on January 31, 1999 and shows the life and times of Peter and Lois Griffin, their kids Meg, Chris and Stewie and their talking dog Brian.

"Some people say it's an anniversary. I say it's kind of a birthday. This was a birthing," Alex Borstein, who voices Lois, told On The Red Carpet. "Seth contributed the sperm and the eggs. I just incubated it, I think. I helped him carry it. Yeah, it really has been a baby. We all have come so far. He was 25. I was, I think, 26. I mean, we were babies and kind of knew what we were doing. We knew what we thought was funny and went with it. We learned a lot."

The show definitely had its share of ups and downs. It was canceled after 2 seasons, brought back again, then canceled after the third season. It hopped networks and when it was released on DVD, it became a cult favorite and was revived once again.

Executive producers and showrunners Alec Sulkin and Rich Appel say the success and quality of the show all goes back to its creator, MacFarlane.

"You can't overstate his impact," Sulkin said. "He's set a course for us that we've just followed to the letter and it's really worked out because he's such a genius."

Appel added, "He sets standards high. We both worked in the writer's room with him, Alec more years than I. And there would be things that I would think, well that's hilarious...and it wasn't quite right and he would push the staff."

Seth Green, who voices Chris Griffin, says he wouldn't change a thing about the show and his experience.

"I feel like the writers and producers of this show have just gotten better and better and I wouldn't be so bold as to say, 'hey guys, what about this?'"

"I love Seth, I love this whole group, the team, our writers, directors. And so there's just a cohesiveness and just a deep level of love and respect across the board," said Patrick Warburton, who voices Joe Swanson.

Jennifer Tilly, who voices Bonnie Swanson, said the best thing about doing "Family Guy" is the ability for longevity.

"When you're doing voiceover, you never age! There's (sic) not very many shows where you're playing the same character 25 years later."

Arif Zahir, who voices Cleveland Brown, told On The Red Carpet he has always seen MacFarlane as a mentor.

"Initially as an impressionist, I came from doing cartoon impressions, looking up to him growing up, seeing how many voices he does, that's what kind of sparked my learning how to do Cleveland. And I think he's such an eclectic person and I just look up to that," Zahir said.

There was a little news to come out of the PaleyFest celebration. Sulkin revealed there will be original Halloween and Christmas episodes that will stream on Hulu.

As for a "Family Guy" movie? MacFarlane said he's known for the last 15 years what a potential movie plot would be, so never say never. We'll see!

All 22 seasons are streaming on Hulu.

Disney is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station