Despite Seth MacFarlane's influence on the show being not as frequent as when he first started out, it's still clear his writing team are told to concoct episodes which tell the audience of his beliefs vicariously through the characters. Such episodes as 'Excellence In Broadcasting" focus on the main American political parties, but largely why the democrats are better than the Republicans. As Brian, voiced by MacFarlane, is considered to be like-minded to himself, it's clear the dog is more often than not preaching MacFarlane's beliefs to the viewers. It has become all too evident when watching the show that the writers, perhaps under orders, are using a number of episodes to get their point across to the masses if there's a belief they want the audience to be aware of - rather than present a well-balanced argument. Episode 12 of Season 10 "Livin' on a Prayer" was certainly the biggest example of obvious preaching to the viewers about a controversial subject. The plot itself focuses on a boy who has cancer but can't receive treatment because his parents hold religious beliefs that don't allow it. The episode was labelled as propaganda on message boards, and that says all you need to know.
Crippy Cooke, 23, is a freelance Football Writer contributing to What Culture. He's had work featured on Zoo, MSN, London 24, The Telegraph, The Huffington Post, and was recently named Writer of the Year on FTBpro - while also a nominee for Best Male Blog in the Football Blogging Awards.
