The creators of Fox's formerly-canceled "Family Guy" were preparing Wednesday to premier a new season of the prime time cartoon.

The non-sequitur spouting Griffin family will return with new episodes May 1, three years after the network pulled the plug on the irreverent series because of poor ratings, the Los Angeles Times reported.

This time around, the Fox network's parent, the News Corp., says ratings are not as big an issue since the company's business model is built around license fees from cable and from sales of new DVDs and merchandise.

Gary Newman, president of 20th Century Fox Television, said it was the DVD sales that prompted the show's return. To date, more than 3.5 million "Family Guy" DVD boxed sets have been sold.