The SmarK DVD Rant for American Dad: Volume One
– So let me tell you a story, and you’ve probably heard this one before. In 1999, Seth McFarlene leaves cult cartoon favorite Johnny Bravo and starts his own version of the Simpsons, called Family Guy, doing most of the voices himself and pretty much all of the creative drive behind it. Ratings are OK, but FOX bounces the show around and eventually kills it off after 3 seasons. People go nuts and drive sales of the DVD sets to record numbers, prompting FOX to give him another show instead, called American Dad. However, while that is in production, they change their mind and resurrect Family Guy, leaving American Dad in a bit of a bind, as all of the key players on Family Guy return to that show and American Dad is left to start from scratch. And 13 episodes later, we have the first DVD release to look back and see if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
The Show
Originally looking like a Republican-themed copy of Family Guy, American Dad actually made a strange evolution by shying away from the flashbacks and cutaways that define Family Guy and focusing on a more linear storytelling style. And it generally worked well, elevating the show above the mediocre returns that Family Guy has been delivering lately, although it took a few episodes for the creators to really find what they wanted to say with the show.
Disc One
– “Pilot”. And with that imaginative title, we meet the Smith family: Stan, the ultra-conservative CIA operative father, Steve the geeky son, Francine the clueless wife, Hayley the bleeding heart liberal activist daughter, Roger the bitchy alien and Klaus the German goldfish. After the opening bit that was heavily downloaded on the internet, we start the main plot, as Steve wants a dog and Stan gets him a mangy walking fleatrap instead, and then promptly shoots him to death in an overzealous midnight patrol of the house. This leads to Stan rigging the student elections in Steve’s favor, via a compromising picture of the leading candidate and the Jack in the Box guy. The other plot has a sugar-jonesing Roger trading sweets for Hayley’s schoolwork. The Roger stuff is funny, but the main Steve plot is rehashed family show stuff, and the show just doesn’t click yet, as there’s very few laughs to be had here. Still, FOX at least stuck with it.
– “Threat Levels.” Gay news anchors Terry & Grey are introduced (“You know what’s so wrong about gayness? If there’s two guys, who has the vagina?” asks Stan) as the national threat level is lowered from orange (“Something somewhere sometime could be going down, so LOOK SHARP!”) to a less threatening blue, but Stan may have infected everyone with a deadly virus. Despite being the perfect time to bond and watch the first season of 24 on DVD, this leaves Francine pondering her life, which leads her to get into real estate. So of course she sells a house to Greg & Terry, which has Stan offended not by the gayness, but by the liberal bias of the media living next to him. Hayley’s plan to run her own homeless shelter is tied to Fran’s real estate dealings, but Stan steps in and turns it into a money grab by running Bum Fights with the homeless. Complete with impressive backstory for the fighters, like the alligator-wrestling Cajun bum from the Bayou, who Stan dubs the Aviator. Roger gets the line of the show, however, with “The boss is being a real Catch U Next Tuesday,” which I and everyone in the cast couldn’t believe made it past the censors. Getting better.
– “Stan Knows Best.” Stan shaves Hayley’s head to show his disapproval of her green hair, driving her into the arms of loser stoner Jeff Fischer. Naturally, in the spirit of empowerment, Hayley becomes a stripper, making for awkward moments when the CIA gang stops by for lunch at the club, which they call “That place with the buffet.” Meanwhile, Steve is still horny.
– “Francine’s Flashback.” Now we’re getting into the better portion of the series, as the more they go to the CIA for laughs, the funnier the show gets. Stan forgets his anniversary, as Patrick Stewart joins the cast as Deputy Director Bullock, Stan’s boss. But in an American Dad plot twist, Stan has the CIA erase Francine’s memory of the day so she’ll forgive him, only to realize that they erased 20 years instead of 20 hours. See, those Men In Black flashy things are dangerous. So Francine reverts back to the days of blowing Def Leppard’s roadies, and with typical Stan logic, he decides that the only way to win her back again is by recreating a car accident on the night he originally met her, and this turns into a bizarre and hilarious battle to the death with an unkillable raccoon. That’s pretty much the peak of the episode, as everyone heads to Burning Man for the big resolution. The writers on the commentary promise that the raccoon is coming back just as soon as they can find another plot worthy of it.
Disc Two
– “Roger Codger.” Now we’re getting into the good stuff, as Stan shows off his terrorist-killing and action-hero-one-liner skills but fails to win his victory muffin. Like “Making a killing on the shock market” wouldn’t beat “Lucy, you’ve got some ‘sploding to do” any day. Sucking up to Bullock at dinner goes badly, however, thanks to Roger dropping dead at an inopportune time. Being the humanitarian that he is, Stan dumps him in a fast food dumpster, not realizing that he was just sleeping. This leads Roger on a road trip to a Dynasty museum with a racist old woman, and leads Stan to a CIA psychiatrist who is less than sensitive (“You forgot your purse.”). The flashback to Roger’s origin is great, too (“See, kitty’s got claws.”) And it keeps going, as Stan drinks coffee that is WAY too hot for anything but his leathery man mouth, leading to a spit take gag while Bullock threatens potential traitors with “Weird stuff. BUTT stuff.” The wrap-up is incidental to the second act’s greatness, fear not.
– “Homeland Insecurity.” Francine is feeling lonely, so newly super-fun Stan throws a block party…which includes Iraqi neighbors from Cleveland. Stan learns that cavity searches are NOT neighborly. The stuff with Stan’s surveillance of the neighbors is the highlight here, especially the purse gag in the doctor’s office. Steve, meanwhile, joins a group of evil Boy Scouts, which leads to a bizarre, extended sequence with Roger’s golden turd that destroys the lives of everyone it touches. Stan was a bit too crazed here, but the movie parody stuff was great.
– “Deacon Stan, Jesus Man.” It’s Stan v. his neighbor, the perfect Chuck White, in competition for church pride. Soon enough the Deacon drops dead and Stan wants the job. Continuity note: Francine wishes death on George Clooney here, but her true feelings would come out in the second season finale. So, determined to win his election by any means necessary, Stan reaches into the bowels of HELL and hires…KARL ROVE. This is of course great stuff by the writers. The other plot, which soon intersects with the main one, sees Roger making potato salad with his reproductive fluids, and then impregnates Steve, leaving Stan with tough choices about abortion to make. Luckily, there’s always Mexico. And we learn that kissing CAN make you pregnant, if you’re kissing someone who’s already impregnated with an alien baby. Remember that one, kids!
– “Bullocks to Stan.” More Patrick Stewart goodness, as Stan wants a promotion and Hayley’s liberal leanings may jeopardize it. Until he catches Bullock in bed with his daughter, setting up the all-time greatest American Dad line to date: “By any chance do you have any Gatorade, because I think I left all my electrolytes in your daughter.” Try it yourselves! Soon, the only solution is to kill Jeff Fischer, and it leads to a shockingly violent showdown in a diner, with Klaus the Goldfish providing fake DVD commentary. Definitely a season highlight.
Disc Three
– “A Smith In Hand” It’s Sex Ed time for Steve at school, so Stan freaks out and teaches his son about the evils of self-abuse. And soon becomes an addict himself, leaving Francine feeling unfulfilled. So naturally Stan aims the blame at TV, and takes it over in the name of right-wing morality. Filthy and hilarious stuff.
– “All About Steve” The ultimate geek episode, as a maniac is leaving notes in an unknown language and the CIA’s codebreakers are dropping dead at the worst time. Even worse for Stan, his son is a geek! I know, I’m as shocked as you. Irony proves ironic as usual, and Stan soon develops acne and needs braces. Still, not quite as geeky as the people I work with who spend their lives playing World of Warcraft. Stan coming to a sci-fi convention and quipping “Good god, who’s manning the internet” seems suspiciously close to a line from Mission Hill, but still wins line of the show. Stan Smith v. A Million Star Wars Nerds is GOLD, of course. And this is probably the only show where you’ll hear the phrase “5.1 anamorphic DVD transfer” as a punchline.
– “Con Heir” Stan is feeling depressed about his job and doddering father, but thinks pick up for him once his dad dies. But not to worry, because his REAL dad returns from his super-spy lifestyle, ready to bring Stan into his super-spy organization. But he may be a jewel thief con artist. And Steve is macking on a senior citizen for your yucky subplot of the week. Stan beating the crap out of an elderly security guard is really sold by the voiceover gag.
– “Stan of Arabia (1)” The first season wraps up with a two-parter, although it was original intended as an hour-long show. Stan has to plan a party for Bullock, but his family is falling apart, and he accidentally murders host Jay Leno. Even worse, Michael Moore has sold out! Great line from Stan here: “Laughter is infectious, like smallpox, or gay.” And so Stan gets banished to Saudi Arabia, which you’d think would be a nightmare for him, but the country’s progressive views on women’s rights, polygamy and public singing impress him enough that he burns his passport. And with Stan happy and the rest of his family miserable, we move to the second part.
– “Stan of Arabia (2)” Sadly, they didn’t change the opening titles to “Arabian Dad” to fit with the theme. So, Roger has been sold into a harem, Hayley is in love with a terrorist, Steve is stuck in the desert with a hallucination of Angelina Jolie, and Francine is singing. In public. So things are bad all over. Hayley wins the filthy joke contest with “Now I know how a kebab feels” and even gets the runner-up with “If you’re confused because of that thing I did with my finger…”. Luckily everyone is saved from a dramatic stoning by George Bush, although it turns out to be a dream sequence, and it all ends up with the status quo again by the end of the episode to wrap up the season.
The Video
Brilliant colors here, definitely one of the better animation transfers I’ve seen lately. Things are almost too bright at times, however.
The Audio
Good effort from the audio guys here, as they actually re-recorded all the music in 5.1, although everyone else was left alone. The dialogue isn’t terribly impressive, but when the music swells up, it’s really cool.
The Extras
Lots of stuff here, surprisingly.
First up, you get creator commentary on 12 of the 13 episodes, although why they skipped one is a mystery to me. The commentaries are generally better than the awful Family Guy ones, but still fall into the trap of watching the show or making inside jokes instead of actually adding to the experience of watching. Seth is only on a couple of them, which is a good thing because he’s pretty bad at doing them.
The third disc contains all the other extras, including:
– “All in the Family: Creating American Dad.” The usual talking-heads-over-clips featurette, runs about 20:00.
– “How’s Your Aspen? American Dad Live at the 2005 Aspen Comedy Festival.” Definitely an interesting extra, as we get a full read-through of “A Smith In Hand” by the cast intercut with the actual episode.
– “Secrets of the Glass Booth” More interviews with voice talent, running 5:00.
– “American Animatics” Storyboard-to-final animation comparisons, running 15:00.
– “Threat Levels” table read comparison.
– 42 deleted scenes.
– “The New CIA”, which was a short film that ran in theaters around the time of the show’s debut on FOX. Dig the 5.1 mix here!
– A pre-game promo from the Superbowl, featuring the Smith family buying nachos.
– And of course, a Family Guy commercial.
The Ratings
The Show: ****
The Video: ****
The Audio: ****
The Extras: ****
