The Larry shorts were two animated films made by Seth MacFarlane in the 1990s, which led to the development of Family Guy as a prime-time TV show from 1999 onwards. One of them aired on Cartoon Network's What-a-Cartoon! show.
- Produced, Written and Directed By: Seth MacFarlane
- Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Chang S. Han, Lori Alan and archive footage of Newt Gingrich.
- Distributed By: The Rhode Island School of Design
Life of Larry
Life of Larry was made by Seth as his capstone project at the Rhode Island School of Design. It served as a pilot for an animated series starring an aging balding man named Larry, his talking dog Steve, his wife Lois (sound familiar?), and his son Milt. In between the animated segments, Seth does some live action wraparounds introducing some scenes and cutaways. Many of the gags from this short later appeared in early episodes of Family Guy, including:
- The cutaway gag about England having "drive-by arguments" appeared in There's Something About Paulie
- The flashbacks where Larry sees Philadelphia ("I got it...that's the guy from Big") and farted for the first time when he was 30 years old ("What the hell was that?") all appeared in Death Has a Shadow
- The gag of God appearing in church saying, "I hate it when he tells this story" also appeared in Death Has a Shadow
- The Star Trek parody appeared in I Never Met the Dead Man
- The flashback where Larry appears on Jeopardy ("What is diarrhea?") appeared in Brian: Portrait of a Dog
In addition, Seth's first line in the short was "Oh, hi there. You scared the crap out of me." He repeated this line in one of his live-action promos for Family Guy on [adult swim]. [1]
Larry & Steve
Larry & Steve was created for Cartoon Network's "What-a-Cartoon!" show. Larry & Steve deviated slightly from Life of Larry as the only characters from the former were Larry and Steve. Additionally, while Life of Larry focused around Larry, this cartoon centered on Steve. Also, while most characters acknowledged Steve as a talking dog, in this cartoon, only Larry could hear Steve talk. At one point, Larry mentions visiting a store called "Stewey's", and there is an airplane pilot character who shares some similar looks and a similar voice to a certain neighborhood rapist.