The network TV show Family Guy is known for its satirical and sometimes insensitive humor, but when jokes, in hindsight, hit too close to reality, even Fox won’t stand behind its hit show.
According to a Reuters report, Fox this week has pulled the Family Guy episode “Turban Cowboy” from the Fox website and Hulu due to a joke in the episode that involves murder at the Boston Marathon. The studio also announced that the episode will not be rebroadcast.
The episode, which aired on March 17, 2013, depicted the show’s main character, Peter Griffin, as he drives a car through Boston Marathon runners. He is then interviewed by sports reporter Bob Costas, who asks him how he “won” the marathon.
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Later in the same episode, Peter is depicted as accidentally setting off two separate bombs using his phone. These clips were later edited together to make it seem that Family Guy had predicted the bombings at the Boston Marathon this week.
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has condemned the clip, calling it “abhorrent.”
The edited Family Guy clip currently circulating is abhorrent. The event was a crime and a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the victims.