Variety is reporting that the Tribune group of TV stations secured the syndication rights to the Family Guy cartoon series.  Most industry experts felt that Family Guy would end up running in syndication on the Fox network stations, like those other popular Fox animated series, The Simpsons and King of the Hill, so the Tribune group's acquisition of the series comes as something of a surprise.

But then the Family Guy series has always been something of a surprise.  Cancelled in 2002, the series was the first network primetime show in history to return to first-run status after cancellation thanks to boffo DVD sales and a highly-rated run on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.  The Family Guy series is currently a key player in Fox's Sunday night line-up and enjoying better ratings than ever.  By the fall of 2007 it will have passed the 100-episode mark, which is the standard for syndication.

The impending syndication of the series is good news for retailers (at least those in the top urban markets covered by the Tribune stations) since there is a plethora of Family Guy merchandise available including trading cards from Inkworks, a new comic book from Devil's Due (see 'Devil's Due to Publish Family Guy Comics'), books from Harper Collins, and action figures from Mezco.