DBWI: Seth MacFarlane doesn't write for Hey Arnold!

Seth MacFarlane has gone on to become one of the most successful producers of primetime animation.

It's easy to forget that Seth's career in animation had humble beginnings. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, MacFarlane went right to work, writing for the Nickelodeon TV series Hey Arnold!.

Of course, MacFarlane and Craig Bartlett, the show's creator, didn't exactly see eye to eye. Despite the back and forth arguing behind the scenes, I'm sure you have a favorite Hey Arnold! episode which happened to have been written by MacFarlane.

MacFarlane spent 1996 thru 98 on the Hey Arnold! writing staff before moving on to his greater success at Fox, where he would create Family Guy.

To this day, many Hey Arnold! fans continue to ponder how the show would've turned out had it not been for MacFarlane's writing.
 
Well, we certainly wouldn't have seen the series made so much money for Nick. Craig Bartlett's original vision, however, would be followed more closely. I'm sure many ideas that were pondered by him would've been used.
 

Dolan

Banned
Well, we certainly wouldn't have seen the series made so much money for Nick. Craig Bartlett's original vision, however, would be followed more closely. I'm sure many ideas that were pondered by him would've been used.
The original idea was apparently a family friendly cartoon shows that could be seen by everyone from children to elderly as wholesome family entertainment.

Then Seth MacFarlane inserted too much saucy jokes that the show effectively becoming some sort of absurd teenage sitcoms (even if those are still excellent one).

Still, every controversy there started after Arnold getting locked in a room together with Helga.
 
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Craig Bartlett
(Creator of Hey Arnold!)
Speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con

"Seth MacFarlane wrote plenty of episodes for the original series. I'm sure you guys remember some of them."

"Yes, there were disagreements between Seth and myself, but the rest of the crew seemed to think he was a funny guy."

"Arnold Betrays Iggy wasn't the only clunker that Seth wrote. There was one...I forget what it was called...but it was the one where Helga sang about her unhealthy obsession with Arnold to the tune of Hellfire from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The budget for that one episode doubled because we had to get Disney's permission to parody their song."

"And lets not forget the most topsy-turvy episode of the series...I'm sure you guys remember THAT one, which Seth wrote by the way..."​
 
The original idea was apparently a family friendly cartoon shows that could be seen by everyone from children to elderly as wholesome family entertainment.

Then Seth MacFarlane inserted too much saucy jokes that the show effectively becoming some sort of absurd teenage sitcoms (even if those are still excellent one).

Still, every controversy there started after Arnold getting locked in a room together with Helga.

That episode got real dark.

For the entire series Arnolds been this rock for every one, for all of their problems.

And then we find out that he keeps his mothers revolver in a safety deposit loaded and there for when ever life got to be too much, it was an episode that showed that even Arnold for all of the good he does could be a deeply lonely and depressed person.

And you see Helga wanting to say some thing do some thing you hear her mental angish but she says nothing as he puts the gun back into the safety deposit box, puts the cap on his fathers whisky flask, and as the bank doors open Arnold walks out alone and your see Helga's panicked face as he walks away.

And then the camera pans down to her wrist and you see the words on her watch.

"never knows best."

I looked at her footage of her watch and its always had that inscription you have to magnify it to see it but its been there the entire time and we didn't notice it until that moment.
 
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