American Dad

American Dad Information

American Dad! is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company.

The series centers on the dysfunctional Smith family, consisting of father and breadwinner Stan Smith"?a blatantly inconsiderate and insensitive brute, who has no limits on his violence; his better half, Francine Smith"?a moralist and levelheaded housewife, who has an ironic corruptness and mean streak about her; their budding, adolescent son, Steve Smith; and their new-age hippie daughter, Hayley Smith. Other main characters include Hayley's mellow stoner boyfriend (later husband), Jeff Fischer; the family's saturnine pet, Klaus, a man in a fish's body; and most notably, the family's zany alien, Roger, who's full of masquerades, shocking antics, and brazen misconduct. Stan rescued Roger from government capture and harbors him in the family's attic.

The show is set in the fictional town of Langley Falls, Virginia in the Washington, D.C. metro area, which is a gesture of parody of the actual town of Langley, Virginia, home to the headquarters of the CIA. Unlike its sister shows Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, American Dad! does not use cutaway gags (though the show has used flashbacks, if the story calls for it), but rather focuses more on situational humor, character development and non sequiturs.

Since its debut on February 6, 2005, the show has broadcast 146 episodes and began airing season 8 on September 30, 2012.

American Dad! has been nominated for awards, most prominently two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Annie Awards, though it has been criticized by some watchdog groups such as the Parents Television Council. It holds a TV-14 rating for suggestive dialogue (D), offensive language (L), moderate to strong sexual content (S), and graphic violence (V).

Production

Early history

American Dad! officially premiered after Fox's broadcast of the Super Bowl XXXIX on February 6, 2005, alongside The Simpsons, with "Pilot". The show debuted to 15 million viewers, with 23 million viewers in overall, alongside The Simpsons with ratings. The show returned on May 1, 2005, with "Threat Levels", obtaining 9.47 million viewers, after the season premiere of the revival of Family Guy.

Summary

American Dad! centers on the domestic life of its nominal title character, Stan Smith, his family and their two non-human species. Stan is the unprincipled, dog-eat-dog, and brutish breadwinner, who has no qualms with exerting physical abuse and violent use of weapons on anyone and everyone, including those closest to him. He is a staunchly conservative Republican CIA agent and self-proclaimed American patriot. His conservatism is deliberately treated in the show as severe intolerance and self-abnegating. He's married to his much more well-intentioned wife, Francine, the moralist of the Smith household, though with an ironic and fiendish mean streak. Together, they have two children: Hayley, a passionate, insistent, and vocal liberal. Hayley is a college-aged environmentalist and activist with whom Stan is commonly at odds; and Steve, a nerdy, wimpy, fanatic, and ambitious high school student. Steve is often trying to be popular with the girls to no avail. He also has some homosexual tendencies with his best friend "Snot." He constantly attempts to live up to Stan's expectations but can never really measure up to the high standards in place for him.

The Smith family is also in possession of two bizarre non-humans: Roger, a very zany, callous, devious, and depraved alien. A former fugitive from Area 51, Roger is covertly living in the Smith home. Stan has allowed this in defiance of his employer because he owes Roger a "life debt"; and Klaus, the family's hapless and saturnine pet goldfish, whom the CIA implanted with the brain (and vocal cords, evidently) of an East German Olympic ski jumper.

The Smith family resides on 43 Cherry Street, in the fictional community of Langley Falls, Virginia. The town name is a composite of Langley and Great Falls, two unincorporated communities located in Fairfax County.

Plots generally center on the misadventures of various family members in their respective realms, as well as raucous interactions between the characters. Recurring themes include Stan's desire to see Steve mature properly (e.g. "The Magnificent Steven"), Roger's desires to establish a life outside of the house (e.g. "A.T. the Abusive Terrestrial"), Francine's desire of breaking out of an overly structured lifestyle (e.g. "Dungeons and Wagons"), Hayley's desire to rebel against her father's politics (e.g. "Stan Knows Best"), and Steve's desire to finally become one of the cool kids and lose his virginity, or at least "get some boob" (e.g. "Big Trouble in Little Langley").

Opening sequence

In its initial seasons, American Dad! featured a recurring gag in its opening sequence that changed for every episode: changing newspaper headlines, usually featuring a topical, satirical joke directed at the United States Government, the media, or current affairs (such as "Pedophilia Down as Childhood Obesity Goes Up", "Israel Pulls Out of Gaza, Gaza Not Pregnant", or "Economy Takes a Turn, Falls Down Flight of Stairs"). As of Season 4, the opening sequence changed, with the newspaper gag being replaced by Roger wearing a different costume each episode to sing the final "Good morning, USA!" before Stan shoves Roger into the seat and crashes into the flagpole outside the CIA. Syndicated airings use the costume running gag, regardless of what episode airs.

Voice cast

See also List of American Dad! characters and List of guest stars on American Dad!

Seth MacFarlane voices Stan Smith, Roger Smith
Wendy Schaal voices Francine Smith, Stan's wife
Scott Grimes voices Steve Smith, Stan and Francine's son
Rachael MacFarlane voices Hayley Smith, Stan and Francine's daughter
Dee Bradley Baker voices the Smith's man-in-a-fish's-body Klaus Heissler
Jeff Fischer voices Hayley's stoner boyfriend, and later husband, Jeff Fischer
Patrick Stewart voices Stan's CIA boss Deputy Director Avery Bullock


Seth MacFarlane	Wendy Schaal	Scott Grimes	Rachael MacFarlane	Dee Bradley Baker
Stan Smith, Roger Smith	Francine Smith	Steve Smith	Hayley Smith	Klaus Heissler

Reception

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipients and nominees
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Summer Series	American Dad!
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice V-Cast	American Dad!
2006	Golden Reel Award	Best Sound Editing in Television Animated	American Dad! for episode "Homeland Insecurity" (1.6)
2006	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Animated Show	American Dad!
2007	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Animated Show	American Dad!
	Annie Awards	Best Writing in an Animated Television Production	Dan Vebber for episode "The American Dad After School Special" (2.2)
	GLAAD Media Award	Outstanding Individual Episode	For episode "Lincoln Lover" (2.4)
	Golden Reel Award	Best Sound Editing in Television Animated	American Dad! for episode "Dungeon and Wagons" (2.5)
2008	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Animated Show	American Dad!
2009	Prism Award	Comedy Episode	For episode "Spring Break-Up" (3.16)
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Animated Program	American Dad! for episode "1600 Candles" (4.1)
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Animated Show	American Dad!
2010	Annie Awards	Directing in a Television Production	Pam Cooke and Jansen Lee for episode "Brains, Brains & Automobiles" (5.4)
	Artios	Outstanding Achievement in Casting	Linda Lamontagne
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Animated Show	American Dad!
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Animated Show	American Dad!
2012	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Animated Program	American Dad! for episode "Hot Water" (7.1)
2012	POPrepublic.tv IT LIST AWARDS	Favourite International TV Show	American Dad!

Episodes

Main article: List of American Dad! episodes

Television ratings

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Sunday 9:30 pm	23	February 6, 2005	15.10	May 14, 2006	6.86	2005"2006	#85	7.1
2	Sunday 8:30 pm	19	September 10, 2006	8.93	May 20, 2007	7.62	2006"2007	#79	7.6
3	Sunday 9:30 pm	16	September 30, 2007	6.07	May 18, 2008	5.64	2007"2008	#105	6.6
4		20	September 28, 2008	6.89	May 17, 2009	5.64	2008"2009	#96	5.5
5		18	September 27, 2009	7.12	May 16, 2010	5.82	2009"2010	#84	5.9
6	Sunday 9:30 pm Sunday 7:30 pm	19	October 3, 2010	6.16	May 22, 2011	3.57	2010"2011	#111	4.07
7	Sunday 9:30 pm	18	September 25, 2011	5.83	May 13, 2012	4.13	2011"2012	#110	5.47
8	Sunday 9:30 pm	TBA	September 30, 2012	5.25	May 12, 2013	TBA	2012"2013	TBA	TBA

Crossovers with other shows

Characters from Family Guy and The Cleveland Show have made crossover appearances in American Dad! and vice versa. Family Guy and The Cleveland Show and American Dad! have all made an episode related to the same theme. The Hurricane episode was all the premieres in the 2011 season.

Family Guy

Brian Griffin makes a brief cameo in "The People vs. Martin Sugar" as Stan's #1 Fictional Dog. Brian carelessly asks Stan, "Do I know you?" before walking away and Stan shouts, "Stop pretending I don't exist!"
Brian has an epiphany in the episode "Excellence in Broadcasting" where he changes his political views to Republican Conservatism. Once he realizes this, a cut away shows Stan Smith sitting on the couch supposedly watching Brian and says, "Good. Good for Brian."
Stan and Deputy Director Avery Bullock attempt to catch Stewie after he breaks into the CIA in "Lois Kills Stewie", where Stewie mistakes Stan for Joe Swanson.
In "The Worst Stan", Steve and Roger are watching a fictitious episode of Family Guy featuring Stewie and Brian going to Miami to enroll in Florida State University, with Steve questioning how a baby and a dog were able to get on an airplane.
At the end of the Family Guy episode "Meet the Quagmires", Peter is commenting that everything is back to normal when Roger enters the living room and says, "Who ate all the Pecan Sandies?", a reference to the American Dad! pilot.
In the first Family Guy Star Wars special "Blue Harvest", Roger is seen as one of the various aliens in the Mos Eisley cantina.
In the third Family Guy Star Wars special "It's a Trap!", Roger makes a cameo as an Imperial Officer sent to meet Darth Vader (played by Stewie) when he arrives at the second Death Star and Stewie remarks "Did we run out of our own characters?" Elsewhere in the episode, Klaus plays Admiral Ackbar.
In "Killer Queen", Barry is shown as one of the fat kids that is sitting next to Peter Griffin.
In the Family Guy episode, "Foreign Affairs", Bonnie remarks to Lois before having an affair, "Joe just isn't the same man I married." The American Dad! opening sequence from the early episodes (in which the running gag that is the newspaper headlines, not the later ones with Roger in a different costume) is then shown, with Joe replacing Stan.
At the beginning of "The Return of the Bling", Klaus proclaims he is ready to pretend to go to school if someone wants to pretend to see his bus outside. He has a Family Guy lunch box and is wearing a baseball cap with Brian Griffin on the front.
The end of "The Unbrave One" had Quagmire as the mysterious Internet doctor, Dr. Vadgers, whom Francine kept emailing for results on her pregnancy.

The Cleveland Show

In "Gone With the Wind", Quagmire tells Cleveland that after he drops Loretta's coffin at the funeral home, he is heading to Langley Falls for a background gag in a bachelor party scene in American Dad!.
In "Ain't Nothin' but Mutton Bustin'", Rallo has a belt buckle of Roger that he was looking to replace after winning his first mutton busting competition at the fair.
Roger is shown on a stained glass window in "Jesus Walks".

The first ever crossover with all three MacFarlane series occurs in Night of the Hurricane, with a hurricane storming through the towns of Stoolbend, Quahog and Langley Falls. In the first part of the crossover, "The Hurricane!", Channel 6 News reporter Larvell makes a meta-reference to the event stating that the hurricane will make its way through Stoolbend, Quahog and Langley Falls (which is referred to as "American Dad town"). The actual crossover of the event takes place at the end of the final part " the American Dad! episode, "Hurricane!", when Stan faces Cleveland Brown and Peter Griffin in a standoff after the hurricane has passed.

DVD releases

DVD Name	Release dates			Ep #	BBFC/IFCO/ACB rating	Additional information
DVD Name	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	Ep #	BBFC/IFCO/ACB rating	Additional information
Volume One	April 25, 2006	April 24, 2006	May 24, 2006	13	12/15/M	This 3-disc box set 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	19	12/15/M	This 3-disc box set 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	18	15/15/M	This 3-disc box set 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. Special features include commentaries on all episodes, unrated audio, table read, and deleted scenes.
Volume Four	April 28, 2009	April 20, 2009	November 18, 2009	14	15/15/M	This 3-disc box set 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. On the Region 2 DVD release a typo was made on the back cover.*
Volume Five	June 15, 2010	June 14, 2010	November 3, 2010	14	15/15/M	This 3-disc boxset includes the remaining 14 episodes from Season 4. Special features include commentaries on all episodes, deleted scenes, and a Power Hour Drinking Game.
Volume Six	April 19, 2011	June 27, 2011	July 13, 2011	18	15/15/M	This 3-disc box set includes all 18 episodes from Season 5. Special features include commentaries on selected episodes, deleted scenes, and the making of the episode "Rapture's Delight".
Christmas with the Smiths	N/A	November 7, 2011	November 30, 2011	2	15/15/M	Exclusive to the UK and Australia, it includes two Christmas episodes, "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever" and "Rapture's Delight".
Volume Seven	April 17, 2012	May 14, 2012	May 16, 2012	19	15/15/M	This 3-disc box set includes all 19 episodes from Season 6, along with commentaries on select episodes, deleted scenes, American Dad! at Comic-Con 2010, and "I ? Patrick Stewart".

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 (incorrectly) 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.
The Volume 4 DVD release blurb contained information on the episode "Phantom of the Telethon", which was instead featured on Volume 5.
On Volume 6, despite claims of being uncensored, the bleeps from "Home Adrone", "My Morning Straitjacket", and "G-String Circus" are not removed.