PILOT: American Dad Options

[Noodles]

Family Guy. Slow burner turns into cult classic. Seth McFarlane's creation will go down as one of the greatest satirical comedies of this era. Obviously based on his experiences whilst growing up in Connecticut he had ample comedy fodder stored up and plenty of ammunition to fire at people who had irritated him in the past. So, as the world waits with baited breath for his new show "American Dad", the question is, can he do it again?

Well, if the pilot is anything to go by, the answer is "who knows?".

For starters the plot was a little weak. OK - it was a pilot, but unlike Family Guy which seemed to revel in its surrealness, American Dad went out of its way to explain exactly why this family had a camp junk-food addicted alien and a goldfish with a German accent living with them. The episode seemed to center around Stan misusing his CIA powers to get his son a date, and Roger the alien helping the daughter with her homework in exchange for junk food. And that was about it. Add in a couple of amusing cut-aways in typical Family Guy style and there's your episode.

Stan Smith is an American dad and a CIA agent. As a character he's somewhere between Joe Swanson and Adam West from family guy - macho but paranoid and a little strange. He believes that everything is a threat and uses his influence in the CIA to his own advantage. As responsible and upstanding as he likes to believe he is, he quite clearly isn't fit to wield the sort of power that his job affords.

Francine Smith is Stan's wife. We see very little of her. Maybe she'll come into her own in future episodes. Maybe she'll remain the watered down Lois Griffin that she appeared in the pilot.

Steve Smith is Stan and Francine's son. Basically a male version of Meg Griffin but without her amusing cynical edge. Not one of the cool crowd at school, he is the typical American nerd with neither the tragedy of Meg nor the buffoonery of Chris to his credit.

Hayley Smith is Stan and Francine's daughter. Slightly angst-ridden like most teens but otherwise unremarkable.

Roger is a camp alien with a junk food obsession. He irritates me deeply and I'm not sure why. He could easily be played by Rip Taylor in the live action version.

Klaus is a goldfish. He used to be a successful ski-jumper for for some reason his brain was transplanted into a goldfish by the CIA and now he lives with the Smiths. Unable to move around outside his bowl his character seems limited to speaking in an absurd accent and dropping smutty innuendos.

Is it unfair of me to compare this show to the genius of Family Guy? All the main characters in Family Guy seem to have their American Dad counterparts, so it's difficult not to. But the characters in American Dad just don't have all the required character flaws, which are after all what makes comedy funny. They aren't interesting and I didn't warm to them.

We know that Seth McFarlane can do better than this. I just hope that American Dad will turn out that way. I wasn't impressed with the pilot, but then it's possible that my expectations were set unfairly high by Family Guy. I worry that Seth is going to turn into a 1-trick pony, and that's a trick he got right first time.

I remember people slating Futurama when it came out, but now with the benefit of hindsight it's far superior to the Simpsons. I hope the same can be said for American Dad in a few years. But I can't help wondering if this show would have even made it off the drawing board had it not had Seth McFarlane's name stapled to it.

Two disappointed-but-not-wanting-to-judge-too-quickly stars
**

[Godfella]

I agree about everything you just said. I just watched American dad last night and while it was ok it does not compare to the likes of Family guy and futurama (which IMO is better than the simpsons). some gags where funny like Stan running through the mall but overall I didnt get much laughs out of it.
I do think it has potential but so maybe it will even out in later episodes. have you seen the new season of family guy? I just watched the first episode and I was laughing so hard it hurt. it is just as good as the older seasons. I hope it gets kept on for a little longer this time.

[pots]

i can't comment without having seen it, but this guardian reviewer didn't seem to keen. but then i don't think he was too keen on family guy, so...

Now showing straight after Family Guy, American Dad sees Seth MacFarlane growing into the role of a more subtle, nuanced artist with the ability to... no, wait... it's the same show!

[skkflip]

i can't comment without having seen it, but this guardian reviewer didn't seem to keen. but then i don't think he was too keen on family guy, so...

Now showing straight after Family Guy, American Dad sees Seth MacFarlane growing into the role of a more subtle, nuanced artist with the ability to... no, wait... it's the same show!

i really cant agree with the guardian guy too much it has some similarities, but its more of a plot with jokes, whereas family guys humor mostly falls on gags and randomness, but the american dad jokes are kind of lame