In a land where coffee grinds are indistinguishable from month-old carpet stains and philosophical treatises lay side by side with the latest issue of GQ, one can bet that the familiar face of Peter Griffin will be staring back upwards from the cover of a DVD. Economists rejoice; the forces of demand have spoken. FOX will be returning Family Guy to its rightful 9 PM timeslot on the first of May.

FOX, with a characteristic lack of suave, seems determined to set the Family Guy back on the road to television recovery. After announcing the return of the cancelled program several times throughout the course of the last two years, FOX seems determined to relaunch the freakin’ sweet show that has consistently rocked the world of DVD sales.

With over $50 million in sales from the various collections in 2003 alone, it seems undeniable that the Family Guy’s successes have reached the level of cult phenomena. Over 3.5 million copies have been sold in total, and the fans don’t seem to be wavering. As flocks of college students stumble through keycard-activated doors in a drunken stupor (or as Peter would say, simply “exhausted from drinking all night”), they seem to unnaturally gravitate towards the DVD player and towards yet another episode of the Family Guy.

Yet, Seth MacFarlane won’t be making it big just with the Family Guy series. His newest brainchild, American Dad, will be preceding Family Guy’s season premier in the spring. In this new show, an ultra-conservative agent of the CIA, his tree-hugging hippie daughter, a sardonic alien, and a Gramophone goldfish will be living in the same abode. This may sound like another horrific FOX reality show (The Simple Life, anybody?), but in fact this promising cartoon will net MacFarlane a plush $2.5 million.

But after last year’s Superbowl (henceforth to be known as“Nipplegate”), FOX has been more cautious than ever about television content. Earlier this month, in an effort to self-censor and avoid the FCC’s wrathful vengeance, FOX blurred out Peter Griffin’s flawless pixilated buttocks using techniques formerly reserved for the Jerry Springer Show. The same Family Guy episode aired without censorship - and without complaint - five years ago. It all begs the question: amidst this climate of reactionary censorship and increased political correctness will Family Guy be able to survive? Will our beloved Stewie and our brilliant Brian ever be the same?

Part of Family Guy’s appeal stems from its glaring honesty. There’s something too real about classy societal commentary interspersed with some of the most scatological and racy jokes surviving on network television (kidnapping Jews for success comes to mind). Removing that element of rawness would deeply affect the show’s popularity with its original cult audience, this author included. Family Guy finds its humor by reminding the viewer how often we flatly lie to ourselves (I only wish I was worth kidnapping).

Although no one can tell for sure if honest television will ever be the same again, MacFarlane and his followers seem hopeful for the future. Indeed, barring the swoop of Calista Flockhart’s scythe, FOX execs have the return of Family Guy at the top of their agenda. As they so eloquently posted on their website, “Some might say FOX is a little late to the Family Guy party. Well, errrr... yeah. Ummm, I guess we were and we're gonna be over-compensating like an angry little guy in an oversized H2 for that hefty gaffe.” Welcome back, Peter.