ASU students and members of the public gathered at Marston Theater at the Tempe campus on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to hear about the highs and lows of being a co-creator, producer and writer on one of America's most popular animated shows from "American Dad!" co-creator Mike Barker.
The night was full of stories, life lessons and, of course, plenty of jokes. It was put on by Hollywood Invades Tempe, an ASU film club that connects students with professionals in the film industry.
Barker, who hails from Wichita, Kansas, said he remembers the first time he wanted to be a writer.
"I remember in the eighth grade being asked by a teacher to write down three possible careers," Barker said. "I chose actor, writer and lawyer. In the Midwest in the '80s, being a 'writer' meant writing novels. I don’t think I realized that writing for television was even a thing until I was around 22."
The University of Arizona alum majored in pre-law and didn't think much about writing until moving to Los Angeles. Once in the land of angels, he gravitated toward writing for television and got a job writing for a sitcom called "Daddy Dearest."
Barker said he never thought about writing for animation until he was approached to write for a new show called "Family Guy". David Zuckerman, who developed the show with Seth MacFarlane, wanted Barker's take on the new 22-minute show and after watching it, Barker was hooked.
"I was so blown away by how funny the presentation was that I told David he should definitely develop the show," Barker said. "He had to hire me and my writing partner once it got picked up to series or I would never speak to him again."
It was a few years after "Family Guy" aired when MacFarlane presented Barker with the idea of making a show about a conservative father and his liberal hippie daughter. Barker said he could never have predicted the success and attributes the cast, writers and fans for making the show popular.
"An episode always had to be about something," Barker said. "Being funny wasn’t enough — the audience also had to care. The golden rule I use for breaking stories is that you should always try to make television history. You’ll rarely succeed, but when you set the bar that high, you end up with many more memorable episodes and far fewer duds."
The evening started out with the audience watching three episodes of the show, each one introduced by Barker, who described the plot as well as the whole process it took to get the episode to air.
After an hour and thirty minutes of hard-hitting jokes, the club's adviser and filmmaking professor, Adam Collis, sat down with Barker to talk about the industry as well as run a Q&A session with the audience.
Barker said "Family Guy" and "American Dad!" share a similar comical structure with jabs at human behavior mixed with the twisted dark humor that the shows are known for. However, "American Dad!" ups the ante with more jokes about politics, because it first aired during a time when many Americans were unhappy with Washington politicians.
"There was a tangible frustration with the Bush administration and the Iraq war, so "American Dad!" was a decent salve," Barker said. "But it wasn’t until Obama took office that it became clear the fans were truly invested in our characters. So the show outgrew its politically-satirical origins and became something much more."
For those who want to make it in show business as a writer, Barker provided some useful advice from his years in Hollywood.
"Make sure that you aren’t afraid to do the hard work of organizing your thoughts and putting them on paper on a consistent basis, because actual writing is tough, which is why a lot of writers only talk about writing, " Barker said. "The more regularly you write, the easier it gets."
Amanda Scoglio, a sophomore business student and long-time viewer of the show, said she was fascinated with how long the process took.
"He was talking about when he makes the animations and (he has) to change everything based off the storyboard," Scoglio said. "Especially if the script that they have is too dirty or if the storyline is not good, they have to change everything. I didn't know how much effort went into that and how every decision made with the storyboard will affect everything else."
The event even attracted students who weren't regular viewers or didn't even know what the show was about, but who came to hear Barker's success story.
Dani Hess, a freshman nursing student, said she isn't an avid viewer but she knew the chance to hear what went into making a popular adult-animation program was too good to pass up.
"I had a lot of work, but it was worth coming out here," Hess said. "[Barker] was very relatable and some of the questions he answered helped me gain some insight."
Hollywood Invades Tempe has events like this throughout the semester. The club brings producers, writers and directors out from Hollywood right to ASU. To find out more about upcoming events and the club, follow its Facebook page and follow its Instagram or Twitter.
Reach the reporter at jhaynie1@asu.edu or follow @jilli_haynie on Twitter.
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