Published by Mason Oldridge, 6 February 2025
Good morning USA! Stan Smith has been jumping out of bed the same way for 20 years now. Initially set up following the cancellation of creator Seth MacFarlane’s other animated comedy Family Guy and born out of frustration with the Bush administration, American Dad was based on the premise of a Republican father and his liberal daughter, though this setup was soon exhausted, leading to the show branching out into different storytelling. Upon its special anniversary, let’s take a look at how the one-of-its-kind animated comedy with its own brand of surreal humour has changed over time.
Right-wing CIA agent Stan Smith lives in Langley Falls with his family, who he loves but also often tries to improve. He is married to Francine, a housewife who sometimes sets about exploring her own ambitions, and with whom he shares two children: hippie adult daughter Hayley and dorky teenage son Steve. Hayley is dating and later marries her stoner boyfriend Jeff Fisher, much to Stan’s dismay, while Steve spends all his time playing with his equally uncool friends and lusting after girls. Also living in the Smith household is flamboyant alien Roger who Stan rescued from Area 51 and their pet goldfish Klaus who inhabits the mind of a German ski-jumper after the CIA switched them.
In the earlier seasons, many episodes would focus on the political clash creating a rift between Stan and Hayley. In Stannie Get Your Gun, the two disagree on the topic of gun control and Hayley performs an anti-gun song at an ammunition-themed park, but when she accidentally shoots Stan, leaving him paralysed, she begins performing pro-gun songs against her own beliefs with Stan out of guilt. Elsewhere, in Bush Comes to Dinner, Stan has won a contest to have his personal hero President George W Bush come over for dinner, which Hayley uses to challenge his actions over the Iraq War.
Often featured in a subplot is Steve’s adventures with his friends: Jewish best bud Snot, unintelligible and overweight Barry and Japanese-speaking Toshi. Typical antics include playing video games in I Ain’t No Holodeck Boy and arguing over a Russian mail order bride in Of Ice and Men, but there’s been a couple of episodes that have averted the usual. Escape From Pearl Bailey focuses solely on the boys with only a cameo appearance from the family as Steve enacts revenge on the popular girls at school. Later on, in Independent Movie, the group embark on a cross-country road trip for the funeral of Snot’s estranged father in the style of the titular genre.
A recurring part of the show is Roger’s various characters he portrays for disguise (and pleasure) as he creates ridiculously over-the-top personas with complex backgrounds. Some highlights include Roy Rogers McFreely, who challenges Stan on the homeowners association, Dr Penguin, the family’s therapist that they all rely on despite offering bad advice, Max Jets, an elderly billionaire who begins a relationship with Stan’s mother and Sidney Huffman, a shy introvert who has taken on a life of his own. However, there is one legendary Roger persona: the villainous Ricky Spanish. Whenever his name is mentioned, a whispering voice repeats it while a flashback to one of his dastardly deeds is shown. In the episode, Spanish seemingly sets about to right the wrongs he has made, but his antagonist behaviour is revealed to have remained as he frames Steve for one of his devious plots. Aside from his outlandish personas, the character of Roger allows for space episodes too. In a multi-strand storyline, Jeff is sent there when he discovers Roger’s true form and must make a treacherous intergalactic journey to return home. In one episode set solely in space, Jeff attempts to prove to alien overlord Emperor Zing that his love for Hayley is true and he deserves to return to Earth in what is arguably the series’ most creative and surprisingly emotional episode.
American Dad has also never shied away from difficult topics either. In The American Dad After School Special, it tackles anorexia as he develops the condition after mocking Steve’s overweight girlfriend Debbie. It cleverly purports that Stan has initially become overweight himself, with the family concerned about his rapid change in size, before revealing that we were seeing him as Stan sees himself and he is actually underweight, with the family worried about the major weight loss. Elsewhere, in Lincoln Lover, the show tackles homosexuality as Stan is invited by a gay branch of Republicans to speak at their convention and, leaning into their community, learns that being gay is not a choice like he previously believed. Despite adopting a rather bizarre storyline which sees Stan attempt to sleep with gay neighbour Terry, the episode was actually praised by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Furthermore, in Stan’s Best Friend, the family buys a puppy against the wishes of Stan, who is traumatised by the death of his childhood dog. When their new pet Kisses is gravely injured, rather than taking him off life support and letting the pooch pass away peacefully, Stan desperately seeks help from an alternative vet, who performs unorthodox surgery to keep the dog alive using an electric shock machine. Despite the disturbing new appearance of Kisses and a jealous Roger revelling in Steve’s heartache, the episode actually serves to deliver a powerful message about dignified dying.
The series has also enjoyed a range of Christmas episodes too over the years, with a recurring theme of Santa out for revenge on the Smiths ever since Steve accidentally shot him in For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls.
American Dad may be one of the most madcap shows on television, bursting out of the shadow of Family Guy to make a name for itself, but while it can deliver up the laughs, it has also succeeded in producing stories across its different characters and some complex storytelling too. The show may have changed trajectory, but all for the better as it opened itself up to further avenues that have made the series what it is today.