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The Main Characters
This series showcases the Smith family. Stan is the main character. He is the head of the household and is a CIA secret agent and staunch Republican. He is a real man’s man. His wife is Francine, a stay-at-home mom with more than a few psychological issues. They have two children, Hayley, a girl who goes against everything her father stands for, and Steve, a nerdy boy in the most awkward stage of his life. The family is rounded out with Roger, an alien with an appetite for wine and afternoon television, and Klaus, a fish that has in it the brain of a German man. It’s funny to note that in both Seth shows, the most abnormal character is actually the most normal and the voice of reason, with Brian being that character in Family and Roger being that character here.
The Setting
Langley Falls, USA. It appears to be outside of Washington DC, or thereabouts.
The Episodes
I’ve reviewed almost all of these on my blog and these reviews are copied from my original reviews and in fact the only two shows that I never reviewed before are Stanny Slickers and Spring Break Up.
---Disc One---
1) Tearjerker (21:53)
Original Airdate: 01/16/08
This starts off with an awesome (and funny) Bond-ish opening and the whole episode is one big spoof on James Bond and spy movies altogether. Think of it as Austin Powers meets James Bond. The plot deals with Roger (playing Tearjerker) masterminding a plot to kidnap all the movie stars so he can make his own film. His reasons are inane and beyond reason which is part of the fun. Watch for all American Dad characters making appearances here, from Francine as Sexpun, to Steve as S, the man who makes the crazy inventions and all have to do with women's breasts getting bigger. Of course, watch out for a Stan virgin joke at the end. Great episode, one of the best this season. A.
2) Oedipal Panties (21:52)
Original Airdate: 01/27/08
This episode sees Stan's mother coming back after she was dumped and we see Stan and his mother's weird relationship. It boils down to Stan telling her he'd always be there for her after their father left. It's pretty creepy, especially when he's in the bathtub with her washing her. Ooookay. Anyway, Francine and Roger hook up the mom with another dude and Stan doesn't really like it. Roger researches why she keeps getting dumped and finds all her men have turned up missing! To no one's surprise, it is Stan kidnapping all these guys. After a crazy mess of storytelling where they end up on plane to Greece, Stan realizes his mother is happy with her new man and Stan is happy to have a loving wife like Francine. Awww. The lead story was just creepy and wasn't terribly funny. The sub-story of Steve getting Ick from Klaus was pretty stupid, too. The whole episode dealt with themes of loneliness from one of the characters and wanting to have attention but ultimately it was a lackluster show that will be forgotten next week when the show is pre-empted for the Super Bowl. D.
3) Widowmaker (21:52)
Original Airdate: 02/17/08
Stan goes through therapy (held by Roger) to start opening up to Francine, much like Francine's friend experiences with her husband, a currently missing CIA agent. Things get a little weird when Stan reveals he actually killed the woman's husband! This drives a wedge between the two but this was all one elaborate attempt by Stan to cover for the man who he allegedly killed so he can go off and marry a foreign woman. The main story was just eh, but the Steve/Hayley was great. Hayley kills one of Steve's beloved bees so he oversees a huge hive in order to get revenge. On the fateful day he even dresses like a bee, then all the bees attack him! That was the one really funny moment of the show. There was a crappy little bit in the middle with Roger making the show's 1000th vagina joke then interrupting the show for an award. That was a gag more suited for Family Guy I think. The episode was mediocre at best. B.
4) Red October Sky (21:51)
Original Airdate: 04/27/08
Stan looks for an old KGB agent but cannot find him, until he moves in next door. The old spy renounces his ways and Stan believes him, until the Russian starts feeding Steve his Communist beliefs to help him win a rocket race. Stan eventually gets Steve back and they build a rocket together. Roger and Klaus travel through Europe in a storyline that wasn't terribly entertaining or fun. The Steve bleeding was really funny, but the rest wasn’t so much. B.
5) Office Spaceman (21:52)
Original Airdate: 05/04/08
There are two stories running here. The first is Roger selling photos of himself to the local paper, getting caught as the photographer selling them (Parker Peters), getting hired by the CIA to find the alien (who the CIA doesn't know is him) and eventually leads to Roger finally having to listen to Stan to get out of a sticky situation. The subplot shows Francine ordering a young black female friend of Steve's out of the house. Hayley and Steve thinks it is because she's black (which leads to Klaus not immediately denouncing the situation as terrible in a funny joke) but its really for another reason altogether, she's left-handed. It seems that Francine was born left-handed and was taught by the nuns who taught her it was evil and forced her to be right-handed. I am happy the nuns I had never forced me to be right-handed. This was a solid episode, making up in the story department what it lacked in the laugh department. B.
---Disc Two---
6) Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie’s Gold (21:22)
Original Airdate: 05/11/08
Haley gets a nose ring, and Stan demands she takes it out. So Stan heads out for work, only to get into a car accident and end up dead for a few seconds. Stan rethinks what he’s done with his life, leading to a great line about epiphany. So Stan decides to dig for Oliver North’s gold, including a great old 80’s cartoon animation song. Stan finds the gold, but loses his sanity in the process. Meanwhile, Roger hears that people get money for being harassed and he plans on getting harassed to get money. Both things conclude well enough and it’s a really enjoyable episode. B
7) Spring Break Up (21:53)
Original Airdate: 05/18/07
Stan finds that Francine is bored by him and Stan stays while Francine goes to help her father. He is around to see Roger host a spring break party using Stan’s house. Stan even gets a Spring Break buddy named Jessica who laughs at all the jokes Francine didn’t. Stan finds Jessica when she goes back to college but finds that he can’t recapture the magic of Spring Break. There’s a funny sub-plot of Steve trying to hook up with Carmen Selectra and having it blow up in Carmen’s face. Great episode with all storyline points ending on a high note. A.
8) 1600 Candles (22:32)
Original Airdate: 09/28/08
==Start of Season 4==
American Dad started with new opening animation and the whole episode was great from start to finish. The family prepares to celebrate Roger’s 1600th birthday when the onset of Steve’s puberty puts things on hold. Seeing the family recount Haley’s puberty was funny stuff. So Francine and Stan both use secret formulas to try and bypass his puberty but both fail. Steve escapes to a retirement home as Roger just wants someone to remember his birthday. The final act sees both of these come together, with Steve returning to puberty only to have Roger ruin it for him at the big dance. The last 5 minutes were just hilarious and some of the best stuff American Dad has done. Focusing on characters instead of gags (like Family Guy does) really makes the show a lot better. A.
9) The One That Got Away (21:52)
Original Airdate: 10/05/08
The Smith family gets obsessed with Simon (the game) while Roger plays detective to find out who stole and maxed out his credit card. Roger finds the one who did it and gets set on ruining the thief’s life. Of course, the twist thrown out there is that it was one of Roger’s persona’s who stole his own credit card. Yes, Roger’s personas have taken on lives of their own. The great thing is, we actually take a look at that persona in action. This is actually a lot different from what we are used to, but not in a bad way. It was a total Roger-centric story about the masks he wears and is a very interesting psychological analysis of Roger, but still keeping its comic base (I require a password with letters and numbers!). This was a very good Roger episode, and really the only thing it missed was a big laugh-out-loud moment. B+.
10) One Little Word (21:51)
Original Airdate: 10/19/08
Stan becomes Bullock’s Number One (and hearing Patrick Stewart of TNG fame say that is an extra nod to TNG fans) and soon he starts doing crazy things just so he can stay his number one, like watch his adopted kid, go out to bars and be his wingman, save his wife from Fallujah, and even watching his chubby Asian skank all while he should be with Francine on their Valentine’s Day weekend. I had the feeling I saw this episode before, and they have used the theme of Stan following Bullock’s orders. Like Family Guy, this was a very flat episode with few laughs. The B-story of Roger being jealous of Bullock’s kid showing up much like one would when a new sibling is born was just silly, too. C+.
---Disc Three---
11) Choosey Wives Choose Smith (21:51)
Original Airdate: 11/02/08
Stan learns that Francine was engaged to someone else before him. Stan is now on a mission to find out who this man was and we have our plot. He and Roger fly off to meet this guy, and he lives on a ranch in the middle of nowhere and is perfect in every way. He even brings the guy back home to be with Francine! Francine doesn’t like him but Stan isn’t convinced, faking a crash landing on a desert isle and seeing what Francine will do when this guy shows up. Of course, a tsunami takes out the island and now Stan and Roger are deserted for real. There’s a great sub-plot with Steve and a cat that turns into American Dad’s version of Peter vs. the Chicken. This was a really fun episode. A.
12) Escape from Pearl Bailey (21:55)
Original Airdate: 11/09/08
This is gonna be a classic AD episode. When Steve’s girlfriend decides to run for class president, Steve is all over it. Until the cheerleader and her popular group start slinging mud. Janet loses the election and Steve wants revenge, Kill Bill style. He gets his revenge but soon he’s discovered as the culprit. The school is after him and he must join with his nerd friends, who actually set up Janet, to escape from Pearl Bailey, a great homage to Escape From New York. The Smith family appeared for one scene and this was all Steve’s story. It had great storytelling, while using the themes of two great movies, and it stayed funny and entertaining while keeping an inherent originality that made this the best episode of the season. A+.
13) Pulling Double Booty (21:53)
Original Airdate: 11/16/08
Stan learns that Jeff broke up with Haley, and he rushes to tell Jeff that Haley goes bezerk when she’s dumped. So Stan has to approve of Haley’s new boyfriends. Stan (and Roger) gets a job separating male and female chickens in Chinatown. Of course, things get REALLY FUCKING WEIRD when Haley starts seeing Stan’s body double. Things get even weirder when Stan’s body double starts hitting on Francine! So Stan gets rid of him and must try and get Hayley to break up with his body double so she doesn’t go mad. This was just a crazy episode, with a lot of themes that probably don’t belong on network TV. Just weird. C+.
14) The Most Adequate Christmas Ever (21:59)
Original Airdate: 12/16/07
This would be the Christmas episode of American Dad and what a doozy it was. Stan comes home to a house decked out in Christmas decorations but it just isn't good enough for him. He makes the family trek out to the forest, in sub-freezing temperatures to find the perfect tree. He ends up climbing up a mountain while his family freezes in the car and after he chopped the tree down, it fell on him. Stan actually dies and goes to heaven. He tries to get a second chance back alive (since his family is literally freezing to death in their car) but in second chance court he fails. So he steals a heaven gun to break into the birthday for JC to demand from God a second chance. He actually makes it with the help of his bumbling wingless lawyer and holds a gun to God to get a second chance. God tells him no but when Stan finally does a selfless act, he's allowed to go back. He even gets wings for the angel, too. Stan shows up right as he walked in the door at the beginning of the episode and celebrates with his family. There's a great callback at the end with the angel and a drunken Roger and this was just a classic episode with plenty of laughs and good cheer to go around. A. By the way, what’s up with the ordering of these episodes? Why is this last on the DVD?
Collection Review
Even though there are only 13 episodes on here (why so cheap?) the quality definitely makes up for the lack of quantity. There were only two really bad episodes on here. The rest of the episodes all clocked in at a B or better, with a lot of really funny, hysterical episodes in here. This is just a great collection of episodes and it shows why American Dad has been just destroying Family Guy for material for the last few seasons.
DVD Features
A) Extras
I should mention they have the Original Televised Episodes for most of these shows as an extra, but that just means all the swearing is bleeped, unlike the unedited versions you get on the DVD.
---Disc One---
1) Audio Commentaries
---A) Tearjerker
Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, Albert Calleros, Eli Dolleman, Jonathan Fener, and Nahnatchka Khan recorded commentary for this episode. They talk about how they had to be very careful with the opening since the Bond people are very litigious (they like to sue). Khan starts coughing in the commentary and has to leave. One of the guys says he is bored and I have to agree with him. Someone makes a reference to a Back to the Future and they talk about getting gang-raped by Germans. I have no idea what these people are talking about. Ouch, bad commentary to start off the DVD.
---B) Oedipal Panties
This was recorded by Jordan Blum, Rodney Clouder, Eli Dolleman, Kevin Thresher and Brent Woods. Mike and Matt are not here so their assistant Jordan moderates this. They talk about their TV-14 rating and how they theoretically could get away with more because of their 9:30 timeslot, but they really can’t. This was another below average commentary.
---C) Widowmaker
This was recorded by Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, Bob Bowen, Keith Heisler and John O’Day. This was edited during the writer’s strike. Really, Matt complains about his hemorrhoids and the lack of talking on this commentary while everyone else just watches the show. Matt and Mike make an appearance during Roger’s 1000th Vagina joke. This was slightly better than the other commentaries, but not really up to the “really enjoyable” level yet.
---D) Red October Sky
This commentary was recorded by Jordan Blum, Eli Dolleman, Shawn Ian Herkhoff, Mike Mayfield and Brent Woods. Take a pass on this one, they spoke the whole time but I didn’t hear anything terribly important.
---E) Office Spaceman
This was recorded by Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, Chris Bennett, Laura McCreary and Brent Woods. They talk about the interesting opener, with Laura joking about her headline that she came up with. They talk about Roger using the opening of the Beach Boys Kokomo song, and they were surprised they actually had to pay for it. This started off well, but I just lost interest.
---Disc Two---
1) Audio Commentaries
---A) Stanny Slickers II
This commentary was recorded by Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, Pam Cooke, Erik Sommers and Jansen Yee. They talk about the great School House Rocks bit, and the animator having to watch the episodes a lot to get a frame of reference.
---B) Spring Break
Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, Albert Calleros, Eli Dolleman, Jonathan Fener, and Nahnatchka Khan recorded commentary for this episode. Their first commentary was pretty bad, so I hope this one could be better. They mention this was the last headline in the show, as the intro sequence would change for next year. There’s an interesting discussion of Carmen Selectra being the name of the host since the real Carmen Electra didn’t like the way this was portrayed and thus didn’t want to do the episode. There’s funny banter between two of them about how the look and it got a bit intense. This was a lot better commentary than the earlier ones.
---C) 1600 Candles
Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, Caleb Meurer, Kenny Schwartz and Rick Wiener recorded commentary for this episode. This features the new introduction sans headlines (which were really a pain in the ass to do according to the writers). Steve’s wang is covered up on the DVD (thankfully) and they talk about someone drawing Francine naked. This commentary kind of fell apart after the first act, though the discussion of the last scene was interesting to say the least, with Steve’s pube flying away a la Forrest Gump.
---D) The One That Got Away
Mike Barker, Jennifer Graves, Chris McKenna, Walter Murphy and Tim Parsons recorded commentary for this episode. They talk about the episode featuring just Roger as the A-plot, with an interesting second half featuring two stories running in a linear fashion. The eagle-eyed commentators notice the palms underneath the crucifix above Roger’s bed.
---E) One Little Word
This was recorded by Albert Acosta, Glenn Buswell, Rodney Clouden, Kevin Thresher and Adrian Venturina. That’s quite a mix of people I’ve never heard of before. This is the retakes department and there was a lot of retaking in this episode, as a whole section and most of the plot was jettisoned in favor of what was here. One of the guys has the thickest Boston accent I’ve ever heard.
---Disc Three---
1) Audio Commentaries
---A) Choosey Wives Choose Smith
Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, Alex Cuthbertson, Joe Daniello, Mat Fusfeld and Shawn Murray recorded commentary for this episode. There’s talk of a band named Morning Jacket. They joke about the cat getting beat up by Steve.
---B) Escape from Pearl Bailey
This was recorded by Bob Bowen, Valerie Fletcher, John O’Day, Kevin Thresher and Brent Woods. There’re a lot of commentaries on here that don’t have Matt or Mike, and none of the voice-over talent has appeared yet. This was modeled after the Warriors, not the Escape from New York movie. They talk about the design of the bleachers and how it was all hand-drawn. This was an entertaining commentary.
---C) Pulling Double Booty
This was recorded by Mike Barker, John Aoshima, Brian Boyle, Josue Cervantes and Rachel MacFarlane. Rachel is the first voice over actor on here. She says she’s happy to be here and one of them jokes that she was there already. One suggests that since this was recorded at 6:20pm they had better things to do with their time. They talk about the fire at the end of the episode that coincided with an actual California fire in the area on the day the show aired.
---D) The Most Adequate Christmas Ever
This commentary was recorded by Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, John Aoshima, Kurt Dumas, Chris McKenna and Matt McKenna. This was an episode started before the strike that was edited during the strike. They mention that some of the Family Guy crew helped out with this episode.
2) Deleted Scenes (38:29)
There are 98 Deleted Scenes here and if you think I am going to run through them all then you are crazy. At least the episodes go in a linear fashion and by that I mean the Tearjerker scenes are first and it flows into the Christmas special. The new beginning to Tearjerker was really funny (with the obvious Sean Connery imitation). There’s more with the 1,000th Vagina Joke scene, then a Haley scene of her sleeping in the grave of her dead neighbor and then throwing up on his grave. A scene of the Devil in hell waiting for left-handers was a bit disturbing for me as a left-hander. A lot of these deleted scenes were deleted for a reason and most of them didn’t really add anything to the episode or anything, though some gems were thrown in here.
3) Tearjerker: And Then They Will Cry (15:46)
This was the big concept episode of Season 3 and it was decided to be a James Bond spoof. They show some animatics with the side by side animation, as well as all the great character designs of all the characters, especially Klaus. They show all the celebrity robots that make an appearance (including Bill Nye and Adam Ant) and a lot of Family Guy models were used for the celebs. They talk about the movie within a movie and how much fun they had with this episode general. It’s nice to see a big episode like this get its due.
4) Roger: Master of Disguise (11:09)
Roger started as a character that didn’t leave the house but it evolved from there and to get him out of the house he needed a disguise. Thus a new idea was born. We see all the great costumes of Roger with many of the artists talking about is costumes and the general design of Roger. They also ponder if Roger is gay or not. He’s like the Stewie of American Dad!
5) Comic-Con [2008] (39:59)
This is a live table read from the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con and is a reading for the episode entitled Pulling Double Booty. They have one of them doing the exterior establishing scenes with all the voice actors doing their voices. Seth does the voice of Bullock here. They show rough storyboards while the people are talking. The second act shows the animatic while the voice over actors just chill. The third act is the complete animated version and again the actors just chill. This was an interesting way to do this. I would've preferred the complete table read but what can you do?
B) Audio/Video
The video is presented in widescreen format and the audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The video transfer was actually excellent and I think it’s better than what was done on the Family Guy DVD sets. The colors are bright and clear and there are no instances where the picture pixelates at all. The sound is what you’d expect from a TV show but still good.
C) Packaging / Liner Notes
This is a departure from the previous three American Dad collections, as it is all housed in a single slipcase, which I guess is more eco-friendly and saves paper. As a result, all the episode listings are on the inside cover and sometimes obscured by the DVD’s or the DVD holder.
D) Easter Eggs
None
Overall Review
Man, where do we start? For one, there are four less episodes than on the previous collection which just screams “money-grab.” Second, it was almost impossible to read some of the liner notes. Would it have been that hard to just put a single piece of paper with the information inside the DVD case? The DVD was pretty good. I like that they put commentaries for each episode, though the commentaries for the most part are below average. Most of the time the people talking sounded bored to be there instead of wanting to do it. If that were the case I would’ve rather not had it on there. Boring commentaries are not better than any commentaries. I still think there is enough here for this to be a recommended collection. Sure we can complain about the lack of full seasons on here but the episodes here were just fantastic. There’s a ton of deleted scenes for people who like those and the Tearjerker and Roger extras were really cool. Overall it is a fine collection, on par with all the other American Dad collections out there.
Overall Rating
8.5
10.0 Perfect
9.0-9.5 Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5 Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5 Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5 Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5 Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5 Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5 Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5 There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5 Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5 Worst DVD ever
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