Comedy Series Review: American Dad!

Steve Smith and Roger the alien

An alien in the attic, a talking goldfish with the brain of a German guy, a GOP-loving father, left-wing activist daughter, cocky 14 year-old son and a clueless mother. That is the Smith family, the main characters in American Dad!. This award-winning American Sitcom first aired on FOX but is now aired around the world on many stations. So far over 160 episodes have aired and a new season is announced for the summer of 2014.

What makes this series so successful is its hilarious combination of classic American sitcom humour and absurd comedy. Especially Stan (the father) and Roger (the extraterrestrial) provide plenty of opportunity for absurd situations. Stan is a secret agent with the CIA and always carries his gun to protect his family and American values. Roger is an alien whose gender is never specified and whose sexual preferences are virtually limitless. He is also a master of disguise, being able to disguise himself to the point where the Smith family don't even recognise him anymore.

The Smith family

Steve is the family's 14-year old son. He is the second child and the youngest. Stan often considers Steve to not be “a real man” and every now and then attempts to make Steve more masculine by taking him hunting and do other 'manly' things. Steve is generally friendly with Roger but his best friend is Snot, another 14-year old who's in school with Steve. They often devise plans together, generally with the goal to get (older) girls, which invariably result in hilarious payoffs and failures. Roger also often comes up with devious schemes, usually to make money or achieve some of his other personal goals. These are sometimes much more ruthless, since Roger generally has no problems sacrificing others to achieve his own goals.

A great point of strength in this series is its continuity. True, there are several series out there with better continuity, but for an animated sitcom, American Dad! does exceptionally well. Some examples or this are Roger, who in the first two seasons wasn't allowed to go outside the house. An adventure during one episode made Stan realise Roger's talent in disguising himself. Ever since Roger has been building a considerable collection of clothes, shoes and wigs to allow him to go outside more often. He has grown much happier since he's allowed to go out and uses his freedom for a variety of purposes. Other comparable sitcoms, such as Family Guy – Seth McFarlane's other hit show – don't even come near the level of continuity in American Dad!.

Another source of hilarity is the relationship between Hayley and Stan. Hayley is Stan and Francine's daughter and oldest child. She is a hippie-like left-wing activist. She protests pretty much everything Stan stands for: capitalism, free gun ownership, the meat industry and the CIA's policies and practises. Over the course of several seasons Hayley was in a relationship with Jeff, a 'proper' hippie, who Stan believes to be a deadbeat. Jeff disappears from the series after Rogers has his people take Jeff back to their home planet, instead of Roger.

Stan Smith during the intro

As mentioned, Stan is often a source of absurd hilarity. Being an emotional and irrational, insensitive, inconsiderate conservative and self-proclaimed American patriot, he often takes to extreme measures to achieve his goal. At one point he framed his wife so as not to hear her say “I told you so” and in another episode he tries to get an atheist friend by spreading bird flu at his restaurant, taking away his children, brainwashing his wife to think she's a lesbian and blowing up his home. It is also revealed he takes Francine to a hypnotist every year to make her forget about bad things he's done over the previous year. The hypnotist reverses the effects after Stan goes to get a sandwich and doesn't offer him one for the umpteenth consecutive year.

Francine is Stan's wife and the mother of the family. She is often considered to be a moralistic nagging wife, who constantly scolds her family (Stan in particular) over their wrongdoings. She has a very paradoxical personality, often making remarks or performing actions that are completely inappropriate and sometimes unwholesome.

This motley crew all result in a generally hilarious American sitcom, which can be enjoyed by people from all over the world, even the ones without knowledge of American culture. The new season is definitely something to look forward to!