Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is the actor who played Rivers in the two episodes and ; however , he is best known as the creator of the popular animated series " Family Guy " , " American Dad ! " , and " The Cleveland Show " . In addition to his minor roles on " Enterprise " MacFarlane had a character named after him . MacFarlane also recorded an audio commentary for the episode , for the show ' s fifth season Blu - ray set ( along with episode writer Brannon Braga ) , despite admitting on the commentary that he had no involvement in the making of the episode . MacFarlane is a big " Star Trek " fan , and many references to it have appeared in " Family Guy " , from the redshirt s of the , William Shatner shouting " " Khan ! " " as Tevye in a production of " Fiddler on the Roof " , to Quark and Odo ( voiced again by Rene Auberjonois ) from appearing in . MacFarlane has even worked " Trek " references into " Star Wars " productions ; in the episode " Something , Something , Something , Dark Side " ( a Lucasfilm - sanctioned re - telling of " " ) , when he speaks to the bounty hunters assembled on the Star Destroyer ' s bridge , Darth Vader , in the form of Stewie ( who had previously used a baseball bat to destroy a mailbox on an asteroid with the name Nimoy on it ) mistakes the for a Gorn , while in " It ' s A Trap ! " - a similar treatment of " " - despite a desperate plea from Lando Calrissian ( Mort Goldman ) , the crew ( in TNG - style uniforms , and therefore unaware assistance later provided by Lando ' s ship during a pivotal engagement ) politely declines to provide cover fire at rather than interrupt their afternoon tea break . Michael Dorn and Patrick Stewart voiced their TNG characters in that scene . In October 2011 , MacFarlane mentioned to the Hollywood Reporter that he was eager to reboot the " Star Trek " series for television : " " 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 . I don ' t know who would give me the keys to that car . " " Also in 2011 , MacFarlane appeared in the documentary , " Trek Nation " . Among the other " Trek " alumni who have lent their voices to his shows are Jonathan Frakes , Alexander Siddig , and Connor Trinneer . Stewart also has a recurring role on " American Dad ! " , which also co - stars guest star Wendy Schaal . " MADtv " cast member and DS9 guest star Debra Wilson has also voiced characters on both series . Wallace Shawn voiced Bertram in two episodes of " Family Guy " . The entire principal cast of appeared as themselves in the episode " Not All Dogs Go To Heaven , " in which Stewie abducts them with a homemade transporter to spend the day with them , only to be driven insane by them being extremely difficult . MacFarlane is a descendant of " Mayflower " passenger , who is an ancestor of 20th century entertainer – grandfather of TNG actress Denise Crosby . As such , MacFarlane and Denise Crosby are distant cousins . MacFarlane narrowly avoided dying in the 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center through sheer luck . The " What You Leave Behind " expansion of the " Star Trek Customizable Card Game " features a card of Seth ' s " Enterprise " character , giving him the full name of " , Patriotic Engineer " ( quite probably referencing his character of Stewie Griffin in " Family Guy " and his series " American Dad ! " ) . In 2015 , MacFarlane received a Grammy Award nomination in the category Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for " No One Ever Tells You " . In September 2017 , MacFarlane launched the one - hour " Star Trek " - inspired dramedy series " The Orville " for Fox TV , co - produced by Brannon Braga and former " Family Guy " collaborator David A . Goodman , alongside another " Star Trek " veteran Andre Bormanis , who reprised his role as technical advisor . Together with MacFarlane as Captain Ed Mercer , the series stars Penny Johnson Jerald as chief medical officer Claire Finn , and Scott Grimes as helmsman Gordon Malloy . " Star Trek " actors appearing in the series have , so far , included Victor Garber , Brian George , J . D . Cullum , James Horan , Ron Canada , Joel Swetow , Brian Thompson , Molly Hagan and Robert Picardo ; Braga , James L . Conway , Jonathan Frakes , and Robert Duncan McNeill have directed episodes . Although initially promoted as a spoof , the series is in fact a comedy - drama done in the style of TNG . MacFarlane ( who , as noted above , previously expressed interest in rebooting " Star Trek " proper ) indicated his intent was to pay homage to " Star Trek " while resurrecting the style of optimistic science fiction TNG espoused . Due to " ' s " production delays , " The Orville " ended up debuting only two weeks before " Discovery " , leading to many reviewers making head - to - head comparisons between the shows .