Why James Woods Disappeared From Family Guy

One of the most unhinged celebrity guest stars on "Family Guy" was James Woods, who played himself repeatedly in the show's early years. His character was absurdly petty and self-centered; he tries to ruin Peter's life on multiple occasions and even destroys one of the only good scripts Brian's ever written. The character did try to make amends in the season 9 premiere, "And Then There Were Fewer," but he was promptly murdered before he could do so.

His death was retconned in the season 10 episode, "Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream," where he's back in his usual villainous role. This time he convinces Peter to abandon his job as Tom Tucker's Hollywood agent, only to turn out to be so high-maintenance that Peter quickly regrets the decision. In season 15, Woods would go on to host the meta behind-the-scenes episode, "Inside Family Guy." It's a lot like the underrated "Behind the Laughter" episode in "The Simpsons" season 11, except it's not as funny. 

Since then, James Woods has not returned to the show. Even in "Adam West High," where there's a storyline around Brian wanting to change the town's high school from "James Woods High" to "Adam West High," Woods himself never shows up to offer his perspective on the issue. It's now been nine years since James Woods has done any voice work on "Family Guy," and it doesn't seem like he's coming back any time soon. So, what's up with that?

In 2018, Woods tweeted, "I was recently offered another #FamilyGuy episode and reluctantly turned it down for similar reasons. It was so mean-spirited, so totally political, and (worst crime of all) simply not funny. The rabid hatred of conservative values has ruined comedy. #Sad."

The tweet seems to point to the defining issue between Woods and the "Family Guy" writing staff. The TV show has always been fairly liberal, even if its anti-PC viewpoints have led some conservatives to think it's on their side. While Woods has always been conservative, he has gotten far more vocal and extreme ever since Donald Trump ran in the 2016 election. All you need to do is look at his Twitter account today to see that the man is very far down the far-right rabbit hole, and it doesn't look like he'll be climbing out of it any time soon. Add on the fact that he hasn't been in a good (or even popular) movie in a long time, and it's easy to see how the appeal of bringing Woods back on the show has dwindled.

The show itself alluded to this falling out in the "Adam West High" storyline. When Brian makes his case to remove Woods from the school's name, he successfully does so by saying, "James Woods is an embarrassment to Quahog. He's a political troll and a maniac on Twitter." Usually, Brian is shut down for his political stances, but nobody in the family bothers to defend Woods here.

Although Woods' early appearances on "Family Guy" aren't flattering — his episodes are littered with constant references to how difficult he apparently is to work with and jokes making fun of his political views — I also think they did far more to help his image than hurt it. By letting him voice himself and say these self-deprecating lines, "Family Guy" allowed Woods to seem humble and self-aware. It's sort of like how the Rush Limbaugh episode of "Family Guy," which technically made fun of the right-wing radio personality, still ultimately served to make him more palatable to a general audience. The fact that the show made fun of Limbaugh's views only made Limbaugh seem cooler for being okay with it; despite the show's claims that it hates Limbaugh's politics, they basically offered this far-right ghoul the mother of all PR wins. 

You can see this dynamic on display constantly throughout the history of "Saturday Night Live," another show that will make fun of a politician but will still let the politician come on stage and take part in it, allowing the media to praise them for being "willing to take a joke." "SNL" may posture as a show speaking truth to power, but as long as they're inviting the politician on stage with them it's clear that all they're really doing is helping their image. 

This all may have seemed worth the trouble for the "Family Guy" writers, who've often insisted that they can be friends with people regardless of how vehemently they disagree with each other's politics. However, in this era where right-wing celebrities like Woods have gotten far more extreme (and where their views are actually being directly catered to by the government, unlike how they were in the Obama years), the writers may have changed their minds. They used to be able to stomach all the baggage that came with a James Woods guest appearance, but it seems like that's no longer the case.