Fox TV pulls Family Guy episode

(Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Images)

A US TV network has pulled new episodes of hit cartoons Family Guy and American Dad to avoid airing any potentially sensitive content after the Connecticut school shooting. Fox's originally scheduled episode of Family Guy had the main character, Peter Griffin, telling his own version of the nativity story. The American Dad episode told the story of a demon who punished naughty children at Christmas. Both series plan to substitute reruns. Fox also confirmed that a scheduled repeat episode of The Cleveland Show has been swapped for another rerun out of the same concern. Movie premieres for Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher and the family comedy Parental Guidance were postponed after the shooting rampage. Jamie Foxx, one of the industry's biggest stars, said Hollywood should take some responsibility for such violence as he promoted Quentin Tarantino's upcoming, ultra-violent spaghetti Western-style film about slavery, Django Unchained. In an interview, Foxx said actors cannot "turn their back" on that fact that movie violence can influence people. The film's press tour was continuing in New York as scheduled. Tarantino said he was tired of defending his films each time the US is shocked by gun violence, saying "tragedies happen" and blame should fall on those guilty of the crimes.