AceShowbiz - Seth MacFarlane gave his "Family Guy" TV bosses at Fox advanced warning about his new role in "The Loudest Voice", because it doesn't cast late studio boss Roger Ailes in the best light.

The funnyman takes on a rare dramatic role in the new TV miniseries, which focuses on the last 10 years of Ailes' life and chronicles his downfall amid sexual misconduct allegations in 2016, a year before his death, aged 77.

MacFarlane's involvement in the project, in which he portrays the controversial producer's public relations executive, drew interest from the media, especially as his animated series "Family Guy" and "American Dad!", as well as his more recent sci-fi comedy "The Orville", are all broadcast in the U.S. on Rupert Murdoch's Fox network, but he insists producers were fully supportive of his latest acting gig.

"As a courtesy, I did call my friends up there in Murdochland (sic) and said, 'I just want to let you know I'm doing this,' and they said, 'This sounds great, sounds like a great show. I'm sure it's gonna be cool, I'm sure you'll be great in it'," MacFarlane tells U.S. breakfast show Sunday "Today" with Willie Geist.

He insists he didn't expect any opposition from Fox officials anyway, because the executives he works with are very level-headed and open to different points of view, unlike some of the more outspoken conservative personalities featured on the company's Fox News channel.

"On a day-to-day basis, it's very civil, and look, I've worked with them for years," MacFarlane continues.

"I've had personal conversations (with executives) where I've said, 'I think this is a massively irresponsible operation over there (Fox News),' and yet we're still able to interact."

Russell Crowe plays Ailes on "The Loudest Voice", which also stars Sienna Miller, Annabelle Wallis, and Naomi Watts, and debuts in the U.S. on Sunday night (June 30).