was nominated for an
Emmy Award for Best Song for the episode "
Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows"
Family Guy was first canceled in 2000 following the series'
second season, but following a last-minute reprieve, it returned for a third season in 2001. In 2002, the series was canceled again after three seasons due to low
ratings. Fox attempted to sell the rights for reruns of the show, but it was difficult to find networks that were interested;
Cartoon Network eventually bought the rights, " basically for free", according to the president of 20th Century Fox Television Production. Following
Family Guys high ratings on Adult Swim, the first two seasons were released on DVD in April 2003. becoming the best-selling television DVD of 2003 and the second highest-selling television DVD ever, behind the first season of
Comedy Central's ''
Chappelle's Show''. The third season DVD release also sold more than a million copies. Fox president
Gail Berman said that it was one of her most difficult decisions to cancel the show, and was therefore happy it would return. The network also began production of a film based on the series. took a more prominent role in directing by the third season, having directed five episodes. Creator
Seth MacFarlane granted Povenmire substantial creative freedom. Povenmire recalled that MacFarlane would tell him "We've got two minutes to fill. Give me some visual gags. Do whatever you want. I trust you." Povenmire praised this management style for letting him "have [...] fun." Povenmire brought realism, and material from his own experiences, to the visual direction of
Family Guy. For "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea", several characters carried out fosse moves in prison — Povenmire went into the office of a color artist, Cynthia Macintosh, who had been a professional dancer, and had her strike poses in order for him to better illustrate the sequence. Povenmire drew on his childhood in the deep south to sequence a background scene where the "
redneck" character nonchalantly kicks a
corpse into the nearby
river. The episode, When You Wish Upon a Weinstein was supposed to premiere in 2000, but Fox executives were worried that the episode could be interpreted as antisemitic, and prohibited the episode from airing after it completed post production. That episode later aired on Adult Swim in 2003 and then on Fox in 2004. ==Reception==