Richard James "Rich" Appel (born May 21, 1963) is an American writer, producer and former attorney. Since 2012, he has served as an Executive Producer and co-showrunner of "Family Guy" on Fox. Growing up in Wilmette, Illinois, Appel developed a love of comedy and dreamt of a career as a comedy writer; he attended Harvard University and wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. Following in his mother's footsteps Appel instead became a lawyer.