Family Guy premiered in 1999 as an animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, following the Griffin family in the fictional town of Quahog. Its theme song uses a classic big band show tune style that became closely linked with the series and its cutaway humour. Short clips of the music circulate online as instant shorthand for that style of comedy, appearing in meme edits, parodies and reaction videos where a brief, recognisable television sting is more effective than playing the full theme.