‘Family Guy’ Producers Tease Upcoming 400th Episode As a Take on Obsessive Fandom

variety.com:

BreAnna Bell As “Family Guy” heads into its 21st season on Sunday, executive producers and showrunners Alec Sulkin and Rich Appel shared details behind the series’ upcoming 400th episode. “Family Guy” continues to bring a satirical eye to its scenarios, and in the anniversary episode, the show will take a deep dive into social media’s obsessive fan — a.k.a. “stan” — culture.

Episode 400, which is expected to arrive in November, follows Stewie (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) as he becomes a crazed fan of a famous pop star.

That obsession takes him to some hilariously wild lengths. It was MacFarlane, who knows a thing or two about having outspoken fans, who first pitched the idea to producers. “That’s not a story that would have even occurred to us to tell five years ago, that phenomenon of fans of artists like Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez — you name them — who are just really so devoted, that they adopt their viewpoints,” Appel said.

It’s a practice the animated series does from time to time –– taking facets of society that become trends and presenting them to their audience through a satirical lens.