Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has said that he feels it might be time to end the long-running hit animated show.

"Part of me thinks that Family Guy should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about the right lifespan for a TV series," said the comedian, who voices Brian and Stewie in the series.

“I talk to the fans and in a way I'm kind of secretly hoping for them to say we're done with it. There are plenty of people who say the show is kind of over the hill… but still the vast majority go pale in the face when I mention the possibility”, he told The Hollywood Reporter.

MacFarlane also hinted that he’d like the programme to go out with a bang, adding: “[A movie], creatively, that would be the way to do it for me. Do a really fantastic final episode while the show is still strong."

Family Guy, which is now in its tenth season, has attracted criticism from fans in recent years for a perceived dip in the show’s quality, with fans using forums to decry the show’s later seasons as ‘stale’.

His comments come a week after the fate of Matt Groening’s rival Fox animated sitcom The Simpsons hung in the balance, sparking debate about whether or not that series has also run its course.

As for what he'd rather do instead of Family Guy, Macfarlane said that he’d like to re-launch the Star Trek TV series, adding: "I don't know who would give me the keys to that car. But I’d love to see that franchise revived for television in the way that it was in the 1990s: very thoughtful, smartly written stories that transcend the science-fiction audience."