'Family Guy' not going to promote Windows 7 after all

Microsoft initially had plans to exploit the popularity of the show to promote its latest operating system, Windows 7. In the original announcement, the half-hour special was billed as a half-hour with no commercial breaks that blends "unique Windows 7-branded programming" seamlessly with "original animation, live-action performances of 'Family Guy's' most memorable musical numbers, comedy sketches and surprise celebrity guests."

"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, who voices many of the characters, and Alex Borstein, who furnishes the voice of Peter Griffin's wife, Lois were expected to feature in the show.

The special, entitled "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" was scheduled to air on November 8 and will run without commercials, and promises to feature the 'wonders' of Windows 7. The 30-minute show will cost Microsoft as much as $200,000.

And now, Microsoft decided that the "typical 'Family Guy'-style jokes" - including riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest - might not go well with the company's corporate image and hastily cancelled the deal.  The company apparently had reviewed an early version of the special and decided that the variety show's content "was not a fit with the Windows brand."

In a statement, Microsoft maintained there are no hard feelings. The company said it continues to have "a good partnership" with MacFarlane, Borstein and the network, and is "working with them in other areas."