20th Fox closes down my buddies show! cease-and-desist

‘Swiss Family Guy Robinson’ has been shut down by the 20th Century Fox legal department. The network contends the one-man comedy stage production, which has played to critical and audience fanfare since premiering in July 2006, violates their intellectual property.
And all I can say is SHAME.

My friends:
Brian Froud, and Steven and Daniel Shehori, are the guys behind the production of the ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ where Brian uses impressions of nearly 30 characters.

Chris Alexander, vice president of Media Relations for Fox Television, issued the following statement to the Toronto Star, detailing Fox legal department’s recent decision:

"When we learned that this production had made unauthorized use of the Family Guy characters and material, we asked that the producers cease and desist and they have complied. Protecting our intellectual property and copyrights is something we take very seriously at Twentieth Century Fox Television."

Now here is the shitty part, they never saw the tape of this show, even though the Shehori's kept trying to contact the powers that be at FOX.

The decision was made despite the fact that a similar production named ‘MacHomer’ has been playing to audiences worldwide for 10 years – all with Fox’s approval. ‘MacHomer’ showcases the talents of Canadian Rick Miller, who tells the story of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ using voices and characters from Fox’s ‘The Simpsons’. When asked by the Toronto Star why ‘MacHomer’ was given Fox’s blessing, yet ‘Swiss Family Guy Robinson’ received a ‘cease-and-desist’, Chris Alexander refused to comment.

OK so the only thing that you can do is sign an online petition to Fox. I mean it was the Fans of Family Guy who saved it from its dimise, maybe fans of Swiss Family Guy Robinson can do the same.

Here is where you go to sign the petition: click here