Fox’s ‘Family Guy’ launches Season 16 on Sunday

As everyone must know by now, Fox’s animated series “Family Guy” lives to lampoon human nature and human frailties, and does so without fear or favor.

There’s something bracing about “Family Guy” as it blows its whistle on a society that seems to grow ever coarser and more mean-spirited, while individuals squawk at any hint of disrespect directed toward them and wilt at every trigger word.

For anyone weary of today’s reflexive correctness, the show, with its deft blend of the ingenious and the rude-and-crude, provides a counteractive safe space where no low blow, regardless of how low, is inadmissible. And so it carries on, as porky patriarch Peter Griffin and his family and friends begin their 16th season on Sunday (9 p.m. Eastern) on Fox.

With that in mind, show runners Rich Appel and Alec Sulkin recently shared some details of what lies ahead — including the series’ 300th episode, which won’t be just a milestone, Appel promises, “but one of our best.”

The season premiere, said Sulkin, “will be our shameless grab to win a (best show) Emmy” — an itch so far unscratched by the Television Academy. As Peter embarks on his own For Your Consideration campaign, he will make “Family Guy” more like proven Emmy-winning shows, including not just comedy but also dramas and reality. Guest voices include Sofia Vergara, Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Louis C.K., Bill Maher, Christina Pickles and the late Adam West. What else? “We’ll have a special episode where (precocious toddler) Stewie is in therapy for the entire half-hour,” said Sulkin, “with the therapist played by Sir Ian McKellen.”

“Stewie actually learns something about himself,” said Appel — “as opposed to everyone else’s therapy.”