When he was young, Andrew Goldberg would write stories as a way to calm down and collect his thoughts during school, where he described himself as “the class clown.”

Now, Goldberg is a staff writer on the animated Fox sitcom, “Family Guy,” one of the most critically acclaimed and financially successful shows on network television.

On Wednesday, Goldberg spoke about his background as a writer, the success of “Family Guy” and the role of social satire in the media.

Growing up

After attending school at Columbia University in the film program, Goldberg moved to California to attend the University of California, Los Angeles.

“That was the first big chance that I took,” Goldberg said.

While at UCLA, Goldberg took his first sitcom writing class, which Goldberg credits as his watershed moment in deciding his future career.

“When I first went to grad school, I wasn’t quite sure exactly what I wanted to do,” Goldberg said. “And when I took that sitcom writing class, I thought this was so fun. I enjoyed the process of writing my first spec script.”

From that point, Goldberg started writing spec scripts, or his own versions of popular television shows, that he would send to agents in order to get his name out as a writer. Goldberg said his first spec script that he wrote for his class was an episode of “Malcolm in the Middle.”

Finding difficulty in securing a writing job in Hollywood out of college, Goldberg took a job at 20th Century Fox, a film and television production company that produces “Family Guy” and other shows. After a couple of years of working for the company, Goldberg was offered an executive position, but turned it down for one ultimate reason.

“I took a big chance and said, ‘No, what I’d rather do is be a writer,’” Goldberg said.

After being introduced to various writers around Los Angeles, Goldberg became aware that Seth Macfarlane, the creator of “Family Guy,” was in need of an assistant because the show was coming back on the air after it had been canceled in 2001. After working as Macfarlane’s assistant for a few years on the show, Goldberg was promoted to a staff writer in 2007, where he has written a number of episodes and contributed to countless others.

‘Family Guy’ and social satire

In terms of “Family Guy” and its impact on cultural satire, Goldberg said he thinks the issue doesn’t revolve around whether or not the show takes things “too far,” but how certain aspects of the show interfere with one’s own personal beliefs.

“People tune into ‘Family Guy’ expecting it be provocative and expecting it to be edgy,” Goldberg said.

In addition, Goldberg discussed the current state of network television and its overall impact in terms of satirizing American culture.

“A lot of network comedy has gotten funneled toward the middle, not challenging to watch,” Goldberg said. “I like it when we do an episode that is a little challenging, and maybe a little jarring.”

In addition, Goldberg mentioned other forms of satire in the media, such as “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report,” hosted by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, respectively, who lampoon current events in the news. Goldberg said shows like these are popular among a large group of people not for what they convey, but how the portray the news in a humorous way.

“I think a lot of the people that watch ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘The Colbert Report’ probably would not watch news otherwise,” Goldberg said. “They’re not watching it instead of CNN. They’re watching it instead of watching ‘Seinfeld.’”

Having an opportunity to “kiss up to my boss,” Goldberg said he had nothing but praise for Macfarlane, the show’s creator and one of the highest paid television writers in history.

“He’s the most talented person I’ve ever met,” Goldberg said. “It’s terrific that he’s found this niche that’s perfect for creating an animated TV show.”

An old friend

Ross Bryan, director of residential communities and a criminal justice professor, said he has known Goldberg for years, having spent many summers as Goldberg’s camp counselor at Wild Wood summer camp in Maine when Goldberg was only 12 years old.

“It’s kind of neat to see that he’s successful now,” Bryan said of Goldberg’s success on the show.

Bryan said the overall goal of bringing people like Goldberg to campus is essentially to cultivate conversation within the student body.

“We’re always trying to think about programming where students are at the University,” Bryan said. “It’s all entertainment. The trick is you have to be with it on different levels.”

Bryan said he has a conflicted view on “Family Guy;” although he wouldn’t want his children to watch the program, it is something he said his students should watch and think about.

“It does a pretty good job of presenting sides of different issues,” Bryan said. “It’s very interesting. Not a lot of shows do that.

“No matter how you feel, you’ll gain an opinion. That’s a very good way to start conversation.”