Seth MacFarlane

A Star Trek-watching, show-tune-singing, entertainment-obsessed fan boy, MacFarlane began drawing cartoons at age 2 and was publishing his own comic strip in his hometown newspaper by age 8. Sure of what he wanted to do for a living, the New England-born animator landed a job with Hanna-Barbera straight out of art school, drawing storyboards and writing scripts for a number of series (Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo). Soon Fox approached him about creating his own show, and in 1999 the cult favorite Family Guy was born. With offbeat characters (many of whom were voiced by MacFarlane, who won a 2000 Emmy for his portrayals), obscure pop-culture references and outrageous, un-PC humor that sparked all kinds of complaints, the cartoon sitcom had a rocky road and was canceled in 2002. But its surprisingly robust DVD sales prompted the network to give it another go — as well as green-light a second MacFarlane series, American Dad — in 2005.