American Dad!

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American Dad!
The Smiths, from left to right: Roger, Francine, Stan, Klaus, Hayley, and Steve.
Genre	Animated sitcom
Creator(s)	Seth MacFarlane Mike Barker Matt Weitzman
Starring	Seth MacFarlane Wendy Schaal Rachael MacFarlane Scott Grimes Dee Bradley Baker
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	37 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 21 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original run	February 6, 2005 – present
Links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

American Dad! is a satirical American animated television series produced by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions for 20th Century Fox. It was created, in part, by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy. The pilot episode aired in the United States on Fox on February 6, 2005, thirty minutes after the end of Super Bowl XXXIX; the regular series began May 1, 2005, after the season premiere of Family Guy. American Dad! follows the events of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Stan Smith and his family.

Contents 1 Characters 1.1 Smith family 1.2 Smith relatives 1.3 Other characters 2 Opening sequence 3 Cast (voices) 4 Crew 5 Show information 6 DVD releases 7 Episodes 8 External links

[edit] Characters

The show centers on the Smith family and the various obstacles Stan, a CIA employee, encounters with his immediate family and in his efforts to ensure the safety of his country. The Smith family lives in the fictional U.S. community of "Langley Falls, Virginia" in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The town name is a composite of Langley, Virginia and Great Falls, Virginia, both of which are located in Fairfax County. Langley is the real-life location of CIA headquarters.

[edit] Smith family

Stan Smith (voiced by Seth MacFarlane): Has worked for the CIA since the 1980s as a "weapons expert" always on the alert for terrorist activity. As of the first episode of Season 2, his official job title is apparently "Deputy Deputy Director", although the official announcement of his promotion was not shown to viewers. Since then his work has included the interrogation of possible terrorists. He can be quite paranoid and protective: he has a terror-alert color code on his refrigerator, and is so high-strung as to shoot the toaster when the toast pops up. Stan is in mostly top physical shape, though he has a bit of a gut, and has no qualms about kidnapping, drugging, or tasering anybody, even family members, if he sees it as a means to an end. In one episode, he kidnaps American actress and singer Hilary Duff to date his nerdy son Steve. He worships Ronald Reagan, quoting his speeches and even going as far as choosing a dog because it was alive during Reagan's administration. He is startlingly out of touch with international events, has a very itchy trigger finger, and loves Mr. Pibb. He also drives a black Ford Explorer. It has been noted by Seth MacFarlane on the DVD commentary for the American Dad pilot, that he is based on the announcers of 1950s American anti-communist propaganda films. He also has a great obsession with cleaning and collecting guns, and constantly carries (and often uses at inappropriate times) two Glock 17s. He also owns anAR-15, MAC-10, a "pen gun", an MK 5, and what he calls a "sword gun" (a mix of a Glock 17 and a kitchen knife), all of which are stored in his wife's spice pantry, who does not seem to notice them. Viewers who look closely can see a large amount of ammunition and even grenades stored there. He stores weapons in random places around the house. During a mock robbery, Stan screams, "Hayley! Get the gun from the China cabinet!" He once opined, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Guns defend people from people with smaller guns."

Francine Smith (voiced by Wendy Schaal): The sweet, stereotypical trophy housewife of Stan Smith. She keeps her own opinions and party-hearty personality mostly to herself, for the sake of her husband's ultra-conservative views. She rarely has any friends because she has no career outside of the house, and Stan always scares the neighbors. But in the 1980s, she slept with Adam Ant, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Dexy's Midnight Runners. She is more sympathetic to Hayley's ideologies and Steve's geekiness than Stan. Her housework is her life, although she has occasionally longed for grander things. Francine is not a natural blonde but a brunette. She once owned a muffin-selling kiosk at the mall, but it was destroyed in an explosion caused by extremist hippies. She also has a deep resentment of actor George Clooney who she believes cost her an acting career. Francine's brain has been repeatedly damaged or tampered with by her husband in acts of foolishness ("Francine's Flashback", "Roger 'n Me"). In American Dad Vs. Family Guy Kung Fu, she looks and acts like the Statue of Liberty.

Hayley Smith (voiced by Rachael MacFarlane): The ultra-liberal daughter of Stan and Francine. Because of her views, Stan distrusts her more than her brother. She is eighteen and goes to community college. She enjoys recreational marijuana, usually with her on-again, off again boyfriend Jeff Fischer, and goes hiking with him. They are both vegetarians, although Hayley appears to be forcing her beliefs onto Jeff. In the episode "Bullocks To Stan", she broke up with Jeff to sleep with her father's boss, CIA Deputy Director Bullock, because she was looking for a guy who "can stand up to her." After Stan's intervention, she dumped Bullock and went back to her hippie boyfriend Jeff. In Saudi Arabia she slept with a Shawarma King employee because she was impressed by his (false) claim about being a tormented, conflicted member of Al Qaeda. Whilst in Iran, she stole a life time supply of Persian dishes from a restaurant in Tehran, which leads to her kindess towards the Mamari's. She later broke up with Jeff. In a possible parody of American liberal protesters, even though she advocates freedom and the right to choose, she often is annoyed or even hostile towards those who do not share her ultra-liberal views.

Steve Smith (voiced by Scott Grimes): Fourteen-year-old son of Stan and Francine. Roger seems to be his best friend. Steve goes to extreme measures to raise his social status and get dates, yet he actually knows very little about sex. Although he was stereotypically whiny in the pilot episode, in the regular series he is confident and smart, but still socially inept. He plays Dungeons & Dragons with his three best human friends. He reads Elvish, and had a brief fling with a senior citizen (when criticized for having a relationship with someone with wrinkles, he responds, "So do raisins! But they taste pretty sweet!") Steve has come into conflict with Stan, who wants Steve to follow in his footsteps, often criticising his (nerdy) friends and habits. A most prominent example of this is in the Star Trek episode, in which Steve gets legally divorced from his family.

Klaus (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker): The result of the CIA swapping a libidinous East German Olympic ski-jumper's brainwaves with that of a goldfish in order to prevent him from winning the gold medal. Klaus manifests some sadistic tendencies, usually offering the explanation, "I'm German!", and lusts after Francine. In the "Finances With Wolves" episode, Klaus switched his goldfish body for that of a black man's, and almost ran off with Francine, but the body was destroyed in the aftermath of an explosion at the mall, which also destroyed Francine's short lived muffin-selling kiosk, and his brain was placed in another goldfish's body. He is extremely tolerant of various environments other than his fish bowl: while the average goldfish will die even in tapwater, Klaus has swum in a washing machine, a Thermos of coffee, and frequently perches himself out of the water. Klaus's brain swap was said to be during the "1986 Winter Olympics" (when in real-life, the Winter Olympics were held in 1984 and 1988). His voice is modeled after Peter Lorre's. In the German dubbed version of American Dad!, Klaus speaks in a Saxon dialect, which is offensive to many East Germans but considered funny among German native speakers outside of Saxony. His behaviour in the German version is reminiscent of an ex-Stasi agent and he has dropped a few hints of once being attached to the Stasi agency.

Roger (voiced by Seth MacFarlane): The sarcastic, surly, lonely, aloof, and flamboyantly effeminate space alien who saved Stan's life in Area 51. He spends his time smoking, drinking and eating (mainly unhealthy foods). Roger is an avid film, television and celebrity buff. He is not allowed to leave the house and the family conceals his existence, although he has left on a few occasions in various disguises including a frilly dress, gloves and hat which caused him to be mistaken for a senior citizen. His sexual and gender identity seems to be very fluid, as he thinks nothing of wearing dresses, acting like a stereotypical drama queen and romancing both men and women. His voice is modeled after Paul Lynde's. Roger is in many ways a Family Guy-esque version of ALF. It has been said that Roger is a parody of the character Spewey on the short-lived sitcom, Get a Life.^{[citation needed]} He has the power to defecate gold with jewels on it, which became a recurring theme in the series in which people who have found it become greedy and often meet a horrible end.

[edit] Smith relatives

• Jack Smith: Stan's father. For most of his life, Stan believed his father to be a top secret agent in "The Scarlet Alliance". In reality, he was a jewel thief. After the man Stan paid to pretend to be his father died, the real Jack dropped in on the family. Roger developed a "boy crush" on Jack but the other family members were wary of him. Jack has grey hair and is missing an eye, based on the traditional look of Marvel Comics' super-spy Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D., but resembles Stan. Voiced by Daran Norris.

[edit] Other characters

In addition to the Smith family, there are numerous minor characters which have appeared, or are planned to appear, in multiple episodes.

• Avery Bullock: Deputy Director of the CIA, and Stan's 58-year-old-boss. He is as high-strung as Stan, but considerably less paranoid and usually more competent. He is voiced by (and resembles) Patrick Stewart. He once had an intimate relationship with Hayley. He is married, but his wife is handcuffed to a radiator in Fallujah, as he "does not negotiate with terrorists."

• Greg Corbin: Local News Anchor, Terry's co-anchor and domestic partner. Also Stan's neighbor. He and Terry had a penchant for minor bickering, however, they are a complete antithesis of Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons of Family Guy. Greg is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans, and has brown hair.

• Terry Bates: Local News Anchor, Greg's co-anchor and domestic partner. Also Stan's neighbor. Stan was completely unaware of the fact that his neighbors are a homosexual couple up until recently, and, while initially being prejudiced against them for their practice of liberal journalism, eventually merely considered them nice young men that just happen to live together. Terry is a Democrat, has blonde hair, and is afraid to tell his father he's gay. He owns a French bulldog named Heath Ledger. It's hinted that Terry is a number of years younger than Greg.

• Jeff Fischer: Hayley's stoner boyfriend. Hayley dumped him in the 1st season, because he agreed with people very easily, until Stan taught him to "stand up for himself" (by beating, electrocuting, and entombing him). Afterwards, he and Hayley got back together. Loves events like Burning Man. In one episode, he was bleeding and twitching on the floor of a diner after being thrown head-first into a wall by Bullock. Jeff appears to have made a full recovery since then, though he and Haley appear to again have broken up. Jeff is based on Seth MacFarlane's friend, also named Jeff Fischer, who voices the character.

• Snot: Steve's acne covered friend (voiced by Curtis Armstrong). He speaks Klingon, and seems to read Elvish. Like Steve, he has a fetish for (octogenarian) women. Believed to be Jewish, as he said his parents couldn't afford a Bar Mitzvah. Snot seems to be an homage to Curtis Armstrong's character Booger from the Revenge of the Nerds movies.

• Barry: Steve's obese friend. Stan hates him, but doesn't know why. He also speaks Klingon, and seems to read Elvish. He apparently has a fetish for Miss Piggy. It is later revealed that his normally quiet and innocent personality is the result of powerful antipsychotic "vitamins." After temporarily stopping his medication regimen, Barry turns into a dangerously deranged mastermind, brilliantly framing Steve for the destruction of Stan's beloved commemorative plates, in an attempt to replace Steve. His madness gets worse over time, culminating with Barry trying to eliminate everyone that might get between himself and Stan. Finally Steve saves the day by tricking Barry into taking his medication, reverting him back to his usual self. Voiced by Eddie Kaye Thomas.

• Toshi: Steve's Japanese friend. Though he can understand English perfectly, he always speaks Japanese with subtitles, which his friends don't seem able to understand. He can also speak Russian ("Of Ice and Men") and Spanish ("Irregarding Steve"). He may be able to read Elvish (which incidentally appeared as nonsensical Japanese text in that particular episode). Voiced by Daisuke Suzuki.

• Linda Memari: Is the wife of Bob Memari and close friend to Francine. Linda saves Francine from the Lady Bugs, a social group for women who cheat on their husbands, by kissing her. It has been suggested that Linda may not be attracted to her husband. In an attempt to hit on Francine, she rearranged her clothes to make her bust more prominent and knocked on the Smith Family door (prompting a drunk Stan to comment "When did you get those?"). After thinking that Stan was beating Francine, she makes an awkward excuse to leave. Francine then says, "She's a weird chick." Linda's husband is apparently resigned to her preferences, and asks, in a defeated tone, if he can "at least watch this time", when he sees Linda eyeing Francine. Voiced by Megyn Price.

• Bob Memari: Born in Cleveland, Ohio and the Iranian husband to Linda Memari and neighbor of Stan. Stan initially discriminates against Bob because of his ethnic background, as seen in the episode "Homeland Insecurity". Ironically, Bob seems to dislike African Americans. Voiced by Ron Livingston.

• Jackson: One of Stan's co-workers at the CIA. He was once a real estate agent, and is a "former homosexual". Apparently, when he stopped selling houses, his "sodomy cleared right up." His conversion has been suggested to be unsuccessful. He also expresses a wish to have a vagina, indicating he is transgender as well. Moreover, when asked if he had ever "did it with a dead mermaid", he replied "Mermaid, no." Previously had a body double who was shot repeatedly by Stan. Voiced by Mike Henry.

• Dick: Dick is another of Stan's co-workers at the CIA. His wife eventually got a job in which she earned more money than him. He did not initially mind, but she kept earning more, and eventually his genitals disappeared. He also has a son, who has a freakishly large hand with which he uses to beat his father. Voiced by Stephen Root.

• Chuck White: Stan's gloating arch-enemy, who often outdoes Stan. However, he is over-protective of his daughter, forcing her to do gymnastics and keeping her away from boys because he believes they will get her pregnant. He ends each sentence with a mocking laugh, e.g. "Looks like you're parking in the sun again, ha-ha!"

• Principal Lewis: Principal of Pearl Bailey High School, which Steve attends. When Steve was Student Body President, he commandeered Principal Lewis' office, as the SB president was entitled to secure any school grounds he needed. Lewis did not mind, though, since in doing this Steve proved that he could read, and that the system worked. He later allowed Stan to teach a "morally upright" sexual education class, but only Steve was signed up for it. He is also a member of the Illuminutty. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

• Lt. Nathan Goldberg: Police officer whose father was killed during the Holocaust. His last wish was to have his son go to the United States, become a prominent police officer, and avenge wrongs done to the Jewish people.

• Duper: CIA Agent and rival of Stan Smith who apparently beat Stan's time on a "Regime Change" testing simulation (he had a better snappy line than Stan's as well). When Stan placed a bomb in Bullock's office to make himself look good by saving the day, Duper disabled it when Stan could not see the manual (after dropping and breaking his reading glasses). In a later episode, his essay on President Bush beat Stan's, but he was disqualified after learning most of his essay was plagiarised from Willy Wonka.

• Debbie: An overweight goth girl that Steve asks out in "The American Dad After School Special." When she and Steve began dating, it caused Stan to become anorexic. Steve broke up with her after he realized she was causing it, but they got back together when he realized it did not help Stan overcome his problem at the end of the episode. She later appears in "Iced, Iced Babies", though she breaks up with Steve by the end.

• Donny Patterson: A bully who picks on Steve. It was revealed that Donny is a bully because he is constantly abused by his father.

Additional characters, voiced by Martin Mull and Beau Bridges, will be appearing in future episodes.

[edit] Opening sequence

Similar to other animated shows' opening sequences, American Dad! features a recurring gag that is changed for every episode. As Stan is singing "Good Morning, U.S.A." he heads out his front door and picks up the newspaper waiting on his front porch. The front page headline is different for each episode. It's usually a topical joke such as "Scooter Libby farts, pardoned" or "Confused Iranian President Denies Hollow Crust Pizza". These headlines are satirical in nature, usually directed at the United States Government, the media, or current affairs.

[edit] Cast (voices)

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

[edit] Crew

• Seth MacFarlane, Creator/Writer/Executive Producer
• Mike Barker, Creator/Writer/Executive Producer
• Matt Weitzman, Creator/Writer/Executive Producer
• David Zuckerman, Writer/Co-Executive Producer
• Rick Wiener, Writer/Co-Executive Producer
• Kenny Schwartz, Writer/Co-Executive Producer
• Nahnatchka Khan, Writer/Producer
• Mike Shipley, Writer/Co-Executive Producer
• Jim Bernstein, Writer/Co-Executive Producer
• Steve Hely, Writer/Story Editor
• Brian Boyle, Writer/Producer
• Chris McKenna, Writer/Story Editor
• Matt McKenna, Writer/Story Editor
• Dan Vebber, Writer/Supervising Producer
• Jon Fener, Writer/Supervising Producer
• Josh Bycel, Writer/Supervising Producer
• Dave Locke, Writer/Supervising Producer
• John Fitch, Production Editer

[edit] Show information

• Duration: Approximately 21-minute episodes
• Premiered on FOX : February 6, 2005 after Super Bowl XXXIX
• Network(s):
  • //// FOX (also in Latin America)
  • Adult Swim
  • TBS starting Fall 2008
  • Global Television (Canada)
  • BBC Two, BBC Three
  • Seven Network (Australia)
  • FOX8
  • TV3 (New Zealand)
  • C4
  • Viasat (Norway)
  • Viasat (Denmark)
  • TV6 Sweden, previously on ZTV (Sweden)
  • Sirkus (Iceland)
  • MTV Central (Germany)
  • MTV Central (Austria)
  • MTV Central (Switzerland)
  • SF2 (Switzerland)
  • Xtra HOT (Israel)
  • Jack TV (Philippines)
  • MediaCorp TV Channel 5 (Singapore)
  • Italia 1, where it airs at late night Wednesday (Italy)
  • Channel 6 (Republic of Ireland)
  • America Television (Peru)
  • UBC Series (Thailand)
  • Rede Globo, where it airs at late night Saturdays (Brazil)

Produced by Kara Vallow

[edit] DVD releases

DVD Name	Release dates			Ep #	Additional Information	DVD Cover
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Volume One	April 25, 2006	April 24, 2006	May 24, 2006	13	This 3 disc boxset includes the first 13 episodes from Season 1 (Pilot through Stan of Arabia: Part 2). Special features include 12 commentaries, featurettes, and animatics. It was renamed 'Season 1' on region 2.
Volume Two	May 15, 2007 [1]	May 28, 2007 [2]	May 23, 2007 [3]	19	This 3 disc boxset includes the remaining 10 episodes from Season 1 and 9 episodes from Season 2 (Stannie Get Your Gun - The Best Christmas Story Never). Special features include 6 commentaries, featurettes, and deleted scenes. This set will be named 'Season 2' in region 2.

• 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 fans to believe they had been excerpted from the release.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of American Dad! episodes

[edit] External links

• Official American Dad! website at FOX
• American Dad! at TV.com
• American Dad! at the Internet Movie Database
• American Dad! Wiki at Wikia

American Dad! v • d • e
On DVD | Episode list | Voice actors
Characters
Stan Smith | Francine Smith | Hayley Smith | Steve Smith | Roger | Klaus

Preceded by Survivor: All Stars 2004

Super Bowl lead-out program 2005

Succeeded by Grey's Anatomy 2006