Seth MacFarlane has labelled the Emmy Awards "nonsense", with the nominees chosen by people who "check boxes while they're shaving".

In 2009, Seth's animated show Family Guy made history when it became the first animated series to be nominated for one of the awards since The Flintstones, 48 years earlier.

However, in a chat on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, Seth admitted he doesn't understand where the Emmy board is coming from with their choices.

He sighed: "The Emmys are so f***** up. So much of it is nonsense. First of all, it's nonsense that we would get nominated for best comedy when The Simpsons had not gotten nominated ever. That's weird.

"It's also weird that Family Guy never won best animated comedy in the 25 years. There's a lot of things that are weird about the Emmys that make me think, 'Is anybody watching anything, or is this people just checking boxes while they're f****** shaving?' And you start to not care a little bit, which is a healthy place to be."

Seth also said that it was even more strange to have received a nomination in 2009 as they "weren't even campaigning for it".

He added: "I don't even know if that was our best year. I just suddenly woke up one morning and we got nominated for best comedy. I don't understand it."

Seth created and voiced one of the characters in Family Guy, which has been running for 24 series so far.

It has also been renewed for a further four seasons, taking it to 2029.

Seth continued the interview to insist that he doesn't see Family Guy being axed anytime soon - as long as there are people who still want to see it.

He said: "I'm consistently shocked at the numbers for the show, that they continue to be very, very high. I don't know why that is. It's been so long.

"It's been a quarter of a century that this thing has been on the air!"

As for a movie based on the show, it's something that will "always be in the back of my head", Seth admitted.

He said: "I've always had a pretty clear idea of what it's going to be. It's that arrow in the quiver that I keep for when everything else goes to s***.

"I always kind of assume that if I have a really dismal professional failure, like I produce a movie or a show that just fails so badly, the only thing that can cleanse the palette of the audience is the Family Guy movie.

"That's when I'll do it!"