 MacFarlane explains that he is a fan of 1930s and 1940s radio programs , particularly the radio thriller anthology " Suspense " , which led him to give early episodes ominous titles like " Death Has a Shadow " and " Mind Over Murder " . MacFarlane explained that the team dropped the naming convention after individual episodes became hard to identify , and the novelty wore off . For the first few months of production , the writers shared one office , lent to them by the King of the Hill production crew . 
