Meg first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Griffin family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. She was created and designed by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, who was asked to pitch a pilot to the Fox Broadcasting Company, based on "The Life of Larry" and "Larry & Steve", two shorts made by MacFarlane featuring a middle-aged man named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. After the pilot was given the greenlight, the Griffin family appeared in the episode "Death Has a Shadow".