American Dad!
history| last_aired = present | num_seasons = 5 | num_episodes = 91 | list_episodes = List of American Dad! episodes | website = »http://www.fox.com/americandad/ | related = Family Guy }} American Dad! is a satirical American animated series owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions and produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television.
It was created by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, as well as two former Family Guy writers, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman. The pilot episode aired in the United States on Fox on February 6, 2005, thirty minutes after the end of Super Bowl XXXIX; the regular series began May 1, 2005, after the season premiere of Family Guy. American Dad follows the events of CIA agent Stan Smith and his family.
The series is currently in its fifth season, which premiered on September 27, 2009. It has been officially renewed for a sixth season; renewals are made ahead of time in order to facilitate the extensive production line of animated shows.Andreeva, Nellie. »'American Dad' cleared for Season 6 Hollywood Reporter (October 29, 2009) Since January 2008, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim program block reaired the show's syndication.
The show centers around the domestic life of its nominal title character, Stan Smith, a staunchly conservative Republican CIA agent, and self-proclaimed patriot. He is married to Francine Smith, a fairly ditzy housewife who is trying to make up for a wild youth. Their two children are Hayley Smith, a passionately left-wing college-aged activist, and Steve, an awkward teenage nerd. The Smith family is also in possession of two bizarre nonhumans — Roger, an escaped alien from Area 51 who Stan is covertly housing in defiance of his employer, and Klaus, a goldfish whom the CIA implanted with the brain of an East German Olympic skier.
Plots generally center around the misadventures of various family members in their respective realms. Recurring themes include Stan's desire to see Steve mature "properly", Roger's desires to establish a life outside of the house, and Hayley's desire to rebel against her father's politics.
Opening sequence
Similar to other animated shows' opening sequences, American Dad! features a recurring gag that is changed for every episode, like The Simpsons couch gag and Bart Simpson's chalkboard punishments.
This originally took the form of a newspaper headline, usually a topical, satirical joke directed at the United States Government, the media, or current affairs. Examples include "Child obesity up, pedophilia down" ("Four Little Words"), "Economy turns corner, falls down stairs" ("Roger Codger"), or "Bush finally gets joke about last name" ("Deacon Stan, Jesus Man"). A notable exception is the episode "Office Spaceman", which has the headline, "ALIEN SPOTTED!" (featuring a picture of Roger on the front page) that shifts the sequence directly into the episode itself.
As of season 4, the opening sequence has been replaced, starting with the episode "1600 Candles". While featuring the same music, most of the interaction with the family has been changed. Replacing the newspaper gag used in the first three seasons is Roger popping up next to Stan in the family's SUV to sing the final "Good Morning, U.S.A.!", wearing a different costume each time. Roger's sudden appearance causes Stan to end the sequence by crashing into the flagpole at the C.I.A. building.
Crossovers with Family Guy
Certain characters and locations have been featured in some episodes of Family Guy, another animated comedy created and produced by Seth MacFarlane.
- "Meet the Quagmires" - Roger makes a last-minute cameo asking the Griffins, "Who ate all the Pecan Sandies?" His line is a reference to a line he said early in the American Dad! pilot episode, asking Francine if she bought Pecan Sandies while she was out shopping.
- "Blue Harvest" - Roger appears in the cantina scene socializing and sipping red wine with a glass in each hand.
- "Lois Kills Stewie" - Brian and Stewie are confronted by Stan and Bullock at the CIA where Stewie takes control of the power grid in his latest plan for world domination. Stewie even mistakes Stan for Joe, then explains that he looks like someone he knows.
- "The Man With Two Brians" - Carol Alt is told she was mocked in an episode of The Family Man, alluding to Family Guy, which she enquires "the one with the fish?", she is then informed "no that's American Boy", alluding to American Dad! and the similarities between both Family Guy and American Dad!
- "Return of the Bling" - In the beginning of the episode Klaus comes in wearing a cap with Brian Griffin on it, a T-shirt with the initials "FG" and a lunch box with the logo of Family Guy.
- "April in Quahog" - Stan and Francine will visit Peter and Lois before the apocalypse in Quahog.
- "We Have a Bad Feeling About This" - The Smiths will make an appearance along with the characters from The Cleveland Show.
{| class="wikitable"
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!colspan=6|Main cast members
|-
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| style="text-align:center; width:16%;"| Seth MacFarlane
(Stan and Roger)
| style="text-align:center; width:16%;"| Wendy Schaal
(Francine)
| style="text-align:center; width:16%;"| Scott Grimes
(Steve)
| style="text-align:center; width:16%;"| Rachael MacFarlane
(Hayley)
| style="text-align:center; width:16%;"| Dee Bradley Baker
(Klaus)
|}
Television ratings
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background-color:#E0E0E0" valign="bottom"
! Season
! Season Premiere
! Season Finale
! TV Season
! Ranking
! Viewers
(in millions)
|- style="background-color:#E0E0E0"
|- style="background-color:#F9F9F9"
| 1st
| February 6, 2005
| May 14, 2006
| 2005–2006
! #85
! 7.1
|- style="background-color:#F9F9F9"
| 2nd
| September 10, 2006
| May 20, 2007
| 2006–2007
! #79
! 7.6
|- style="background-color:#F9F9F9"
| 3rd
| September 30, 2007
| May 18, 2008
| 2007–2008
! #105
! 6.62
|- style="background-color:#F9F9F9"
| 4th
| September 28, 2008
| May 17, 2009
| 2008–2009
! #96
! 5.52
|- style="background-color:#F9F9F9"
| 5th
| September 27, 2009
| February 21, 2010
| 2009–2010
! TBA
! TBA
|}
DVD releases
{| class="wikitable"
!rowspan="2"| DVD Name !! colspan="3"| Release dates !! rowspan="2"| Ep # !! rowspan="2"| BBFCIFCOOFLC Rating !! rowspan="2"| Additional Information
|-
! Region 1 !! Region 2 !! Region 4
|-
|Volume One||April 25, 2006||April 24, 2006||May 24, 2006 || align="center" | 13 || 12/15/M || This 3 disc boxset includes the first 13 episodes from Season 1 (Pilot - Stan of Arabia: Part 2). Special features include commentaries, featurettes, and animatics. It was renamed 'Season 1' on region 2 and 4. When a compilation comprising Volumes 1-3 were released in the UK, Season 1 was renamed to Volume 1 much like its US counterpart.
|-
|Volume Two||May 15, 2007||May 28, 2007||May 21, 2007|| align="center"|19|| 12/15/M || This 3 disc boxset includes the remaining 10 episodes from Season 1 and the first 9 episodes from Season 2 (Stannie Get Your Gun - The Best Christmas Story Never). Special features include commentaries on all episodes, featurettes, multi-angle scene studies, and deleted scenes. An uncensored audio track is also available on the episode "Tears of a Clooney".
|-
|Volume Three||April 15, 2008||May 12, 2008||May 14, 2008|| align="center"|18|| 15/15/M || This 3 disc boxset includes the remaining 10 episodes from Season 2 and 8 of the first 9 episodes from Season 3 (Bush Comes to Dinner - Frannie 911), though "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever" does not appear on the DVD.»American Dad DVD news: Details for American Dad - Volume 3 | TVShowsOnDVD.com Special features include commentaries on all episodes, unrated audio, table read, and deleted scenes.»American Dad DVD news: Press Release for American Dad - Volume 3 | TVShowsOnDVD.com
|-
|Volume Four||April 28, 2009||April 20, 2009»American Dad: Volume 4 on Play.com||November 18, 2009|| align="center"|14|| 15/15/M || This 3 disc boxset includes the remaining 8 episodes of Season 3 (including The Most Adequate Christmas Ever) and the first 6 episodes of Season 4. Bonus features include commentary on every episode, storyboards/animatics, multi-angle scene studios, deleted scenes and optional censored audio.
|-
|}
- The Volume One release was retitled Season One for the Region 2 and 4 releases, however the subsequent releases retained the Volume titles.
- On the packaging for the Season 1 release on Region 2 DVD, there was no mention of audio commentaries or some of the bonus features whatsoever, leading many to believe they had been omitted from the release.
- The Region 2 and 4 DVDs do not have censored audio tracks on any episodes, although Volume 3 has so called "uncensored tracks" on the set, which was probably an error from the transfer because the tracks are already automatically uncensored on the set.