While Adult Swim may just be a subdivision of Cartoon Network, a cable network that bases itself on mainly animated programming, they seem to be doing quite well for themselves. They’ve been able to stack the deck with highly watched syndicated shows, and outrageously funny original programming. One original show in particular is doing better than even the show creators were expecting is Robot Chicken.

The show, which is a 15-minute comedy done entirely with stop-motion animation and old MEGO dolls, was created back in 2005 by Seth Green and partner Matt Senreich. Since then, the show has grown in leaps and bounds, popularity-wise.The network has just ordered a whopping 40 new episodes (roughly two new seasons) of the show, and according to Variety, the creators are more surprised than we are.

“It’s kind of amazing,” Green said. “We never expected to do a second season, let alone a fifth and sixth. We’re really busy, but we’re still having a lot of fun making it.”

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Hard to believe it has been over 2 years since Family Guy aired it’s first Star Wars special, “Blue Harvest.” And now, we’re less than a month away from the highly anticipated follow-up special, “Something Something Something Dark Side.” The specials were originally set to air consecutively each year, but due to the popularity of the first, FOX decided to milk this cow for all it was worth and delay the release until now.

Last we left our heroes, Chris had destroyed the Death Star with the help of Han, thwarting Stewie’s plan to take out the rebel alliance, all while Lois and Chris grew closer together, not knowing their true relationship. Strange how this plot seems familiar.

In the next special, we of course get a direct parody of The Empire Strikes Back, with Hoth, Jon Benjamin as Yoda, and even the evil chicken as Boba Fett. Check out the full trailer after the jump. Keep your eye on the DVD shelves, as Something Something Something Dark Side is set to hit stores on December 22nd.

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In what may come as no surprise to some, Microsoft has backed out of the Family Guy special that would have promoted Windows 7. Well, thanks a lot Microsoft for completely undermining the article I already wrote regarding this very event. Microsoft responded in a statement:

“We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of Family Guy, but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand.

We continue to have a good partnership with FOX, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas.  We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent.”

“…not a good fit with the Windows brand.”  Has anyone at Microsoft even watched an episode of Family Guy? How did they not see what was coming? Well, as much as I was somewhat skeptical of the whole deal it would have been interesting to see what Seth McFarlane thought up for the show. Maybe Apple should jump in and pick up where Microsoft left off to promote Snow Leopard?

When I heard about Microsoft’s Windows 7 tie-in with Family Guy I was slightly taken aback. Doesn’t Hollywood live and die by the Apple Mac? I thought so, which made me wonder why anyone in that industry would be pitching Microsoft products.

I may not have a specific answer to that (other then the most obvious one: money) but at least I now know the air date for the Family Guy special in which Windows 7 will be promoted, fiercely I imagine, to viewers of the hit series:

“The half-hour “Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show” will air at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 8 and star series creator Seth MacFarlane and his co-star Alex Borstein. The special will air without traditional commercials and instead will feature Microsoft-branded programming that Fox said will blend with the show’s content.”

Now, this could go one of two ways: brilliant or horrible. If McFarlane and company craft something in which they don’t try and hide the baked-in advertising, it could work.  30 Rock has had pretty good success in a comedic capacity when it comes to product placement and is definitely something to emulate.

On the other hand, should the writers try and trick the audience into thinking they are not watching an ad for Windows 7, that could backfire. Considering the quality of the show, I’m less inclined to think they’ll hide what’s really going on and fess up. This should bring the audience in on the jokes and make it that much funnier.

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Though we’ll have to wait until November 8th for the next new episode of Family Guy, we here at The Flickcast have got a special sneak peek at the episode, entitled “Brian’s Got a Brand New Bag”.

In the episode, Brian gets into a fender bender with an attractive young woman, falls for her, and goes to her house to retrieve her information. When he gets there, he gets shot down but immediately finds the girl’s mother as interesting. Things pick up from there.

There will be no episode this Sunday or next Sunday due to something called “sports,” but the show will be back with a full season after that, including the second part to the Family Guy Star Wars spoof entitled “Something Something Something Dark Side.”

Check out four new clips of the next episode after the jump, and be sure to keep it here for more on the show!

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Well, we all knew this day would come. When something pure and excellent in the world of animated comedy would eventually get tapped in an attempt to make more money and multiply. It happens with the best of things: Macaroni and Cheese becomes Spider-Man Shaped Mac and Cheese, iPhone brought on the Gphone, and Family Guy brought on American Dad (which isn’t all that bad) and now The Cleveland Show. One of these things are still great (looking at you, web-shaped macaroni), but sadly the rest come across as poor knockoffs, and truly miss the point, especially the spin-off about Peter Griffin’s affable-yet-slow neighbor, Cleveland Brown.

Mike Henry, who writes for Family Guy and voices Cleveland, is now leaving the show, and taking his voice with him. With Seth McFarlane as one of the hottest and highest paid TV writers in Hollywood today, Fox was easily talked into a second spin-off to the twice canceled series about a family from Rhode Island.

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I think I prefer the 2D...

Well, not really red-and-blue-glasses 3D, but three-dimensions nonetheless. Family Guy creator and all-around funnyman Seth McFarlane was on Adam Corolla’s also funny podcast and the conversation quickly steered towards a theatrical release of the Fox series and maybe even some live-action…action:

MCFARLANE: I can say with definitive assuredness that it will be out. Within the next few years. We already know what it’s gonna be. We’ve been trying to lock into something that makes it so that it has to be a movie, as opposed to an extended Family Guy episode. And I like the Simpson’s Movie , but that’s something they could do with animation on TV because they’re not constrained by sets. [...] You have to find some way to make it so that it has to be a movie.

CAROLLA: Are you hinting at some live action?

MCFARLANE: Possibly, possibly. Here and there. It will not be a 90-minute Family Guy episode.

McFarlane is most likely referencing the first direct-to-dvd film, “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story”, which got negative reviews for essentially being 3 episodes strung together with a few dirty words. The FG team has been kicking around the idea of a theatrical release for a few years now and just about everyone in the cast, from Adam West to Mila Kunis has expressed enthusiasm for the idea. This, of course, begs the question: who would play our favorite family from Quahog? Seth McFarlane in a fatsuit? Drew Carey and Kathy Griffen? Let’s hope it’s none of the above.