Family Guy is paying tribute to the late, great Carrie Fisher.
Known for her iconic role in the Star Wars universe – as Princess (and later General) Leia – Carrie lent her voice to over 20 episodes of the adult-comedy where she portrayed Pawtucket Brewery boss and friend of Peter Griffin's, Angela.
The tribute will arrive in tomorrow's (December 9) new episode which plays on Fox in the US, where the residents of Quahog bid farewell to Angela with a funeral that doesn't turn out the way you'd imagine.
Family Guy's executive producer Steve Callaghan said of Carrie's work on the show (via Entertainment Weekly): "It would be easy for a less capable actress to make that character kind of one-note, gruff, and yelling all the time. But Carrie brought to it a depth that I don't think just anyone could have…
"We're incredibly grateful to her for that, and we all feel the loss of that now that we're writing episodes that don't have Angela in them."
But what of the episode itself?
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"It's very much intended and a respectful goodbye to both the character of Angela and also Carrie Fisher," explained Callaghan. "Peter has a speech in there where he's talking about Angela, but we the audience know that he's also quite deliberately talking about Carrie Fisher.
"It's not like the entire episode is about Angela's departure, but it does introduce Peter's new bosses that then sets the stage for what the episode is about."
This episode of Family Guy is scheduled to air tomorrow (December 9) at 9pm on Fox.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
