WesternAnimation On the whole, not so bad
I admit to quite frankly disliking American Dad when it first premiered. I didn't find it at all funny and it was basically a poor carbon copy of Family Guy. The writing was boring and the plots were mostly unenthusiastic political satire.
That said, sometime later, I gave the show another chance and things had dramatically improved. The plots were no longer one dimensional and the characterizations had improved, each given their own storylines to deal with (Except Klaus cause no one likes him!). As American Dad has gone on, I feel it's gotten a great deal better from its early days. It's quality has since often surpassed Family Guy and it was always leaps and bounds ahead of the horrible Cleveland Show.
If you haven't given it a second chance after checking it out and not liking it, you should. It's certainly worth another look.
WesternAnimation Most annoying show on Earth.
I hate this show with all my heart. Please let the flaming begin; I expect it, but after my review is over, you'll understand my annoyance here. The first thing that bugs me about Dad! is that—other than Hayley and Klaus, everyone personifies the most annoying aspects of a family ever. Francine acts like a total jerk sometimes and is about as exciting as a block of wood most of the time, Roger's an alien with Brian tendencies, but his voice is the most shrill piece of work I've ever heard, like Stinky from Hey Arnold on weed. Steve is much worse—if his voice really wasn't enough, there's just something truly irritating about him. Maybe it's just his voice, maybe it's the constant boob/race jokes that spawn from his mouth, I don't know. Stan is, pretty much, the Mr. Strangejob, the dad everyone aspires to be, and not much else. The second thing is the use of offending jokes. I could take it in Family Guy, I could take it in King of the Hill, but this show takes them way too far. This show stomps, bulldozes, tramples, then gets some elephants and tramples on them some more. What show is this? Really? Ok, flame me for not having watched enough episodes or something, but after watching a few, I couldn't bring myself to watch. The third thing is the annoying theme song. After you listen to it once, you can't get it out of your head. Sure, it sounds good ONCE, but with several airings at ten-thirty-ish of the same song with Stan belting, it gets annoyingly Earworm-y.
I don't care for the fans of this show very much, but for everyone else—stay away.
WesternAnimation It's Come a Long Way
I remember seeing early promos for American Dad on Adult Swim, to be honest, it didn't look special. And it's pilot...well it wasn't still. American Dad has always had to live in the shadow of its older brother, Family Guy. And much like being the younger child trying to achieve their place in the world in the shadow of an over-achieving older sibling, American Dad had to find it's own way into the animated sitcom world, and do it on it's own terms.
One thing that American Dad (we'll just call it AD for short) strives to set itself apart is to do away with the scatter-brain comedy of Family Guy, namely, the cutaway gags. There are none to be had here, except maybe sort of one in the pilot. Instead each episode tends to follow a main story, usually Stan learning something by episode's end, and a side story involving another member of the Smith Family. This allows for more structured story-telling and a chance to really dig into the characters. Stan even follows a notable change throughout the series, namely his views on homosexuality. In the beginning of the series he can't stand the idea of two men being together, and now he has little to no issues with Greg and Terry.
I'd love to describe the Smith Family in depth but, I don't have the word space to do so, nor would it be appropriate for a review to tell you absolutely EVERYTHING about it. From this troper's point of view, this cast as far and away stronger than Family Guy's and The Cleveland Show. Characters are colorful (both aesthetically and figuratively) it's hard to say enough about them, but there are not too many that are just throwaways, as much of AD follows a nice continuity. If something changes in the cast, you can almost bet the consequence of such an event will be mentioned later.
Ultimately, I leave you with this: Give this show a chance. If you saw it before and thought it was crap, it might have been when it started out. But it's come a long way, made a name for itself and is a much stronger show for abandoning Family Guy's random antics. The show may seem to promote Republican values, but it honestly mocks it as it praises it. It's easily one of my favorite series on TV, and I hope it goes strong for awhile. It's got some risky writing, it's creative, and most of all it's funny. Give it a shot, you might be surprised.
WesternAnimation Seth Mac Farlane's daimond in the rough
American Dad is an animated Sitcom created by Seth Mcfarlane, a man who also created Family Guy, and The Cleavland Show
American Dad is mostly centered around political satire and everyday situations, sometimes both in the same episode. It sounds like something out of the ordinary, but trust me, the episode where STAN SMITH GET'S ADDICTED TO CRACK will convince you otherwise. What I love about this show is how unexpected and clever it is in terms of writing. Almost every episode has a plot twist that will catch you off-guard and sometimes even make you laugh. Another thing I like is that it's very ridiculous and weird at times, but it's not a random rhapsody that Family Guy is so it makes all the weird and randomness a lot more unexpected and funny. A lot of the humor comes from the characters like where Stan's political ignorance is obvious, his extreme personality is where the humor comes from, I could be here all day if I have to list all his personality traits, he is competitive, odd, ignorant, obsessive, an all around hardcore conservative. The other Smith characters are just as funny as Stan. Francine is Family Guy's Peter Griffin, she is very ditzy, like she's always in her own world, and because of that, the things that come out of her mouth are just hilariously strange but she is also unusually talented so she isn't just the ditzy girl. I would talk about the other characters but I'm running out of space here, Just know that, Steve has his moments, Haily is the normal girl - she's okay, Roger can be obnoxious at times but he's funny, Klaus is hilariously neglected, and most of the other character are crazy. Also one of the characters is voice by Patrick Stuart need I say more?
I think a good way to describe this show is a cartoon for adults. It has all the wackiness of a cartoon and the maturity to treat it's audiences like adults. You should definitely check this show out. That isn't to say it's perfect, there are some forgettable episodes but it's a very creative and unique take on the animated sitcom format. Simply nothing else like it.
On a scale of (1-Good) to (5-Masterpiece) this gets a (3-Excellent)
WesternAnimation Weird
American Dad...hm....can't say enough about the show as a whole. It's really not that bad of a sitcom to be honest with you. I think the appeal really is that it doesn't contain any cutaway gag moments and if it does, I don't know about them. Yeah, that's about it I mean, besides the whole Stan being a C.I.A. operative (not agent, operative!) and a few talking animals, fishes, and aliens, there really isn't much to say about it. Still, not a bad show...as a whole.
WesternAnimation It's pretty underrated
This is an amusing show, and quite underrated. It's about a CIA agent named Stan and his family as they deal with situations from average to mundane.
Even with my high standards, I can't figure out why this show often recieves mediocre to mixed reviews from critics. The show is almost the same level of Family Guy, Seth Mac Farlane's other show, and it's actually a bit smarter at times. It doesn't rely as much on shock value. Even better, it avoids those REALLY annoying Overly Long Gags that have been plaguing Family Guy lately. Most of the humor comes from Stan's stubborness and hypocrisy, and it actually makes for some pretty good comedy. There's also a lot of great call-backs, if you watch the show a lot and become a fan, you'll really appreciate all the subtle references made to past episodes. (lord knows it's hard to find an animated comedy that likes to keep a degree of continuity) Stan being a CIA agent, in the show, gives him access to a lot of crazy technologies and allow him to go on a lot of strange and creative missions. It creates a lot of opportunities for humor, plots, and plot devices that just don't get to come up often in other shows.
So basically, it's a good show. It certainly deserves more attention. Kind of quirky humor, and it's really fun. I strongly recommend watching it.
WesternAnimation The American Dad After School Special
In this episode the fact that Stan is not in the best of shape is drawn to his attention. He goes nuts, going on a crazy exercise program and getting an abusive personal trainer. However Stan gets fatter and fatter as his family seem to be conspiring to make him even fatter. He eventually gets suspended from the CIA when he collapses on an assault course.
And then we get the twist.
Stan does indeed have a "weight problem", but that problem is Anorexia. His body image is distorted, he is really as thin as a rake and what is more, his personal trainer is a hallucination.
By making Stan the sufferer they get to explore the perceptions of Anorexia, more than once Stan is referred to as a teenage girl by the support group. The way the episode works also draws attention to the way that the disease works and, all in all, this is one of the better treatments of Anorexia in mainstream media. Well worth seeing, both as an episode in its own right and as a warning as to the dangers of this disease.
WesternAnimation I HATE this show!!
I LOATHE this show with PASSION. At first I thought it was going to be like Family Guy, which I love. Than, after a few episodes, I found out how bad it was. The characters are extremely annoying, unlikeable, poorly-written and not funny at all. The storylines ALWAYS involve the dad learning a lesson. Yeah—-ALWAYS. There's none of the great jokes and cutaway gags of Family Guy, yet they just have to do a ton of weird and gross stuff.
I hate this show with all my heart and only got sucked into it because I was so bored. I just hope it gets cancelled. Soon.