Family Guy, synonymous with a talking dog, awkward teenagers, and a baby that wants to take over the world, hardly the first thing you would ban when taking a hard-line on drugs. Apparently not.
Venezuelan authorities have made television stations pull the plug on the series, following an episode in which Brian, the talking dog, campaigns to legalise marijuana. According to the Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami, this, in a cartoon, will promote the use of drugs on the general Venezuelan population.
Television stations refusing to axe the show will be fined as punishment. Televen, which broadcast the offending episode, only avoided these fines by dropping the show from its usual morning slot, and replacing it with Baywatch, obviously a suitable alternative. It was also forced to show public service films as penance for airing the original episode, and by way of an apology.