In the World of ‘Family Guy,’ Losing Feels Like Winning

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When Fox television producer Seth MacFarlane’s TV series “Family Guy” didn’t win for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards last week, MacFarlane wasn’t disappointed.

In fact, he expected it. And he had already thrown a party celebrating the loss.

“We had our loser’s party on Friday,” MacFarlane said at Fox’s post-Emmy bash Sunday night at the Cicada in downtown Los Angeles, where he rubbed shoulders with some of TV’s top talent and Fox brass. “The Family Guy orchestra was there singing songs. It was great.”

He was reconciled to the loss because animated shows simply don’t win in that category. In fact, MacFarlane pointed out that “Family Guy” was the first animated show to even be nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series since “The Flintstones” in 1961. Even “The Simpsons” never made it.

It’s so rare that MacFarlane quipped he felt like the first female vice presidential candidate.

“Well, I hope we’re not like Geraldine Ferraro,” he corrected. “Then we’ll never win.”


Puppet on a String?

There was much hand wringing in the tech community over the past few weeks after Internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis announced that there would not be another TechCrunch50 conference. But he quickly recanted: It had been a joke.

Following the close earlier this month of the popular annual event, which gives Web 2.0 startups the chance to pitch their ideas to venture capitalists, Calacanis, the founder of Santa Monica Web directory Mahalo.com, said in a taped interview with a hand puppet (yes, really), “I can tell you that this is the last TechCrunch50. It’s over.”

After news of the statement hit blogs and message boards, Calacanis, who co-founded the conference, claimed it was all a ruse.

On his Twitter feed, he said, “Press People: Please stop calling me! There will be a TechCrunch50 next year. It was a *joke*… I was talking to a *puppet* my gosh!”


Long Walk to the Pier

In July 2008 Los Angeles architect Doug Hanson, principal at DeStefano + Partners, had his firm’s three interns walk the 16 miles from downtown to the Pacific Ocean in order to get a better feel for Los Angeles and its architecture. But the firm didn’t have interns this summer a result of the recession and it appeared there was no one to carry on the tradition.

So Hanson, who designed downtown’s soon-to-open Concerto condo project, laced up his running shoes and set off himself on Sept. 11. His effort was spurred by his children.

“When I told my kids about it last year, they said, ‘How can you make the interns do it and you aren’t doing it?’ ” he said.

Hanson said it took him five hours and 10 minutes to complete the journey from his downtown office to the Santa Monica Pier. Four other employees made the trek, though each took a different route. Hanson stayed mostly on Wilshire Boulevard, and beat his colleagues to the beach, though it wasn’t a race.

The group celebrated with beers at Big Dean’s Oceanfront Caf & #233; next to the pier.

“It was perfect. I would absolutely do it again,” he said.


Staff reporters Charles Proctor, Richard Clough and Daniel Miller contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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