“We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of ‘Family Guy,’ but after reviewing an early version of the variety show, it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand,” said a Microsoft spokeswoman.

I have no particular information about the internal decision-making process than what is revealed here, but in mentally translating Microsoft spokeswoman-speak to English I keep getting:

“We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show because we bought a report from Nielsen indicating that ‘Family Guy’ was popular among our target demographic for Windows 7, but after we realized that not one single upper-middle manager at Microsoft had actually seen an episode of ‘Family Guy’, it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand,” said a Microsoft spokeswoman.

So, let’s see if I’ve got this straight: uncomfortably homoerotic banter between Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld is a fit with the Microsoft brand, but “riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest” – aka The Four Basic Food Groups of Family Guy Humor – are not? What the deuce?!

Recent episodes of Family Guy have dealt with: Star Trek The Next Generation, Surfin’ Bird, and OJ Simpson. OJ freakin’ Simpson. The Gates/Seinfeld ad was made 10 years after Seinfeld’s show went off the air. In my opinion, Microsoft and Family Guy are a perfect fit for each other. It seems that neither of them are able to acknowledge the existence of anything that happened after about mid 1998.

With the growing popularity of DVRs and internet-streamed programming, product placement and sponsored programming will become even more prominent. And it probably won’t be long until the networks respond with a direct response offering for advertisers. Simply pause your favorite show, move your cursor over Jack Bauer’s cell phone or Eva Longoria’s sweater, and “purchase now.”