American Dad - Pilot Review
This is a good year for fans of Seth MacFarlane. First, Family Guy will be coming back with all new episodes on Fox starting in May after a three-year hiatus. In addition, American Dad, a new animated sitcom by MacFarlane also begins airing on Fox in May. The pilot episode of American Dad aired after the Superbowl two weeks ago and will again in March, and it looks very promising.
American Dad is the story of Stan Smith's family. Stan is a right-wing nutjob of a CIA agent who seems to spot terrorists at every corner and not afraid of using his government influence to his advantage - or wacking toast if it pops up the wrong way. His wife Francine is a seemingly sweet doting wife that hides a party-girl past, and 18-year old Daughter Hayley is as much to the left as her father is to the right. So far the All in the Family parallels are pretty strong... but once you add in the geek son Steve, Area-51 alien escapee Roger and CIA-expirement-gone-wrong fish-with-the-brain-of-an-East-German-guy Klaus who has an unhealthy crush on Francine... well the similarities end. Whew.
Although not as mad-cap as Family Guy, the comedy is true MacFarlane - irreverent and racy. One of the best cut-away's came when President Bush gets a phone call from God asking him to downplay their relationship ... only to have God hang up when he gets a call from Cheney, "Yes Sir?" Woah boy!
The animation is in the exact style of Famly Guy, I suppose you could say the Smith family lives in the same "world" as the Griffins... so there are no issues with the quality. It looks really good.
As far as concerns go, I don't know if Stan can be as endearing a focal character as Family Guy's Peter Griffin, or how easily political satire can connect with this medium in the current U.S. climate (though the idea of furnishing Iraq with Ikea is still pretty funny), but if anyone can pull this off, I think MacFarlane can. The show did have a few shining moments, and I think it has a ton of potential... and MacFarlane lending his voice talent to Stan and Roger certainly helps. I'm looking forward to the season starting.
Check out American Dad when it airs again on March 6th and decide for yourself.
American Dad is the story of Stan Smith's family. Stan is a right-wing nutjob of a CIA agent who seems to spot terrorists at every corner and not afraid of using his government influence to his advantage - or wacking toast if it pops up the wrong way. His wife Francine is a seemingly sweet doting wife that hides a party-girl past, and 18-year old Daughter Hayley is as much to the left as her father is to the right. So far the All in the Family parallels are pretty strong... but once you add in the geek son Steve, Area-51 alien escapee Roger and CIA-expirement-gone-wrong fish-with-the-brain-of-an-East-German-guy Klaus who has an unhealthy crush on Francine... well the similarities end. Whew.Although not as mad-cap as Family Guy, the comedy is true MacFarlane - irreverent and racy. One of the best cut-away's came when President Bush gets a phone call from God asking him to downplay their relationship ... only to have God hang up when he gets a call from Cheney, "Yes Sir?" Woah boy!
The animation is in the exact style of Famly Guy, I suppose you could say the Smith family lives in the same "world" as the Griffins... so there are no issues with the quality. It looks really good.
As far as concerns go, I don't know if Stan can be as endearing a focal character as Family Guy's Peter Griffin, or how easily political satire can connect with this medium in the current U.S. climate (though the idea of furnishing Iraq with Ikea is still pretty funny), but if anyone can pull this off, I think MacFarlane can. The show did have a few shining moments, and I think it has a ton of potential... and MacFarlane lending his voice talent to Stan and Roger certainly helps. I'm looking forward to the season starting.
Check out American Dad when it airs again on March 6th and decide for yourself.
