Creators
Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker, and Matt Weitzman
Cast
Seth MacFarlane Stan Smith/Roger
Wendy Schaal Francine Smith
Rachael MacFarlane Hayley Smith
Dee Bradley Baker Klaus
Scott Grimes Steve Smith
Mike Barker Terry
DVD Release Date: May 15, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 408 Minutes on 3 discs
The Show
Seth McFarlane is a man of many voices and has a mind with numerous ideas rolling around in it. He brought us the Griffin family as they tried to live their quasi-normal existence. But McFarlane still had more to give. The offspring of Family Guy, American Dad! brings us the Smith family as they try to live a normal everyday life in present day America. The only problem is that they aren’t the average everyday American family.
Stan is the man of the household, who works for the CIA, and loves his country just like every gun-toting American should. His wife Francine is the homemaker and likes to keep things going smoothly even though she has a short temper. Hayley is their free-spirited hippie daughter who believes in making the world a better place through her odd, yet informative songs. Last but not least is the youngest member of the family Steve who is a young boy merely trying to get along in life.
Oh, let’s not forget Roger the alien who lives in the attic and Klaus the talking goldfish. Klaus always has something witty to add to any conversation taking place near his fishbowl. Even stranger, his fishbowl always seems to be located wherever the family is in the house. Roger has a bit of a drinking problem and is just trying to fit in however possible. With a little trial and error, he seems to do a fine job at blending in; a wide assortment of wigs and disguises (glasses) get people to look past his abnormally large head and grey skin.
The second volume of American Dad! gives some really great episodes such as “Rough Trade” where Roger and Stan swap places for a few days to see how hard it is to live in the other’s footsteps. My favorite episode in this set has to be “Stannie Get Your Gun” which shows Stan and Hayley trying to reconcile their differences by reconnecting as father and daughter. Stan’s pimped out wheelchair really makes the whole episode especially the small sound heard as the one playing card flips in the spokes.
It is a show that fans of Family Guy are sure to enjoy, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t draw in much of an audience if Stewie, Peter, and the rest of the Griffins hadn’t come along first. It’s a shame, because McFarlane’s second animated series has a lot of good episodes and really is a fun show, in general. One thing it also has going for it is the limited amount of flashbacks, which FG uses a crux more than a few times each epsiode.
AD! is, of course, a cartoon aimed at adults, but shouldn’t just be considered a Family Guy spin-off; the two shows have nothing to do with one another and are both great in their own rights. American Dad! brings a whole new family with new problems and great humor that go to all new levels. If you can’t laugh at the awkwardness between Roger and Stan in the episode “Roger ‘n’ Me,” then you really need to stick to simple Saturday morning cartoons. Because there is nothing funnier then the conversation they have in the car when they finally have their “defining the relationship” talk after their big night. Its humor like that that makes this an animated show deserving of a long run on TV. Maybe not enough to wear out its welcome (i.e., The Simpsons decade-plus legacy on FOX), but just long enough (four or five seasons, tops).
Episodes
Disc One:
Stannie Get Your Gun
Star Trek
Not Particularly Desperate Housewives
Rough Trades
Finance With Wolves
It’s Good To Be The Queen
Roger ‘n’ Me
Helping Handis
Disc Two:
With Friends Like Steve’s
Tears Of A Clooney
Camp Refoogee
The American Dad After School Special
Failure Is Not A Factory Installed Option
Lincoln Lover
Dungeons And Wagons
Iced, Iced Babies
Disc Three:
Of Ice And Men
Irregarding Steve
The Best Christmas Story Never
The Video
The episodes are shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and look great. The colors are bright and it’s obviously not meant to be the best or most realistic animation in the world, so it doesn’t try to be.
The Audio
The episodes are heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and make for some real fun times. The great part about Seth McFarlane is that he often adds subtle little things that you really need to pay attention to or you’ll miss. Some of those things happen to be off screen comments from other characters or softer hilarious comments while a lot is happening on screen. The surround sound really captures everything and lets you hear things you may have missed while watching the show.
Special Features
Audio Commentary – I had a screener copy of the set so I didn’t have any commentary, but from looking around online I saw that a lot of the episodes do have it.
Season One Remembered – Another special feature not on my screener discs but said to be in the sets that will be available in stores.
An American Dad Like No Other – A really deep look into the episode entitled “Dungeons And Wagons.” The producers, creators, directors and more all talk about how this episode came about as they were in a bind and needed a story fast and cheap. A few ideas were thrown about combined with some childhood nerdy memories and an online gaming episode was born. This was a fun watch to see the crew talk about how big of geeks they were as kids and still kind of are.
Favorite Scenes – All of the actors who provide the voices discuss their favorite scenes from the series in which they were involved. Almost kind of like a “best of” segment. After the voice actors; the producers, writers, and more step in to talk about their most favorite moments.
Drawing Roger – Jim Feely, the character designer for the show, does exactly what the title of this feature says: he draws Roger the alien. I really liked this special feature because I am into drawing and art, and it interesting to see one of the characters come to life out of nothing.
Deleted Scenes – Close to 100 deleted scenes that are just a lot of fun to watch. I can understand how there can be a good bit of stuff left over from a cartoon because you have to get it into a certain amount of time and it’s hard to judge until all the scenes are put together. But there are some excellent and hilarious scenes here that make every single one of them worth watching.
The Inside Pulse
I’ve been a fan of Stewie and the Griffins for a few years now and only caught American Dad! for the first time earlier this year. I am now sad that I missed all these episodes in their original airing and vow never to miss one again. It’s just great that they can all be relived now in their over-the-top comedic glory. The special features add a great deal to the high score too because it’s just fun seeing the geniuses behind these characters. I beg of you to check this show out and pick up this set because it is hilarious, interesting, and you can’t help but love every single character in the show. No-one seems to blend into the background and they are always doing something memorable. I only wish I could get a talking German fish and alien of my own. Makes me kind of sad knowing it will never happen.
