According to Entertainment Weekly, Oscar nominee Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born, Road House) has joined the Family Guy voice cast to succeed the late Adam West as mayor after West died in 2017. After paying tribute to the late actor and debuting his final episodes, the show acknowledged his death during an episode that featured the high school being renamed after him.
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“We wanted to take the time to respect Adam,” executive producer Richard Appel told the outlet. “In having a conversation about ‘How do you replace him?,’ the universal belief was: he’s irreplaceable. And then the next question is, ‘Do you find a new mayor?’ In the world of Family Guy, he had an important role, and a role that was necessary for a lot of stories.”
Finding a new mayor, the producers were “faced with a difficult question” in who would be as “original and unexpected and comedically fun and fresh” as West was.
“Sam has a voice that — obviously he’s a movie star but he also has a voice made for radio, and Sam Elliot quickly became our first choice,” said Appel.
Elliott will voice Mayor West’s cousin in the animated series, whose first and middle names are Wild, aka, Wild Wild West. Wild West comes to Quahog when Peter becomes unhappy with the candidates in consideration for the job and decides that the town needs a celebrity figure who is fun.
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Family Guy will return for its 19th season on September 27 on Fox. The Season 19 premiere will serve as the show’s 350th episode.
(Photo by Vincent Sandoval/Getty Images)