American Dad!
Summary
American Dad!was earlier conceive as a soft political satire , but it owe its 20 - year seniority to the producers ’ early decisiveness to abandon that premise and lean into the bizarreness . WhenFamily Guybecame one of Fox ’s biggest hits , Seth MacFarlane had the opportunity to create another show for the net . Since the Bush governing body was all over the word , MacFarlane consider a new animated menage sitcom that would supervene upon the aimless non - sequiturs ofFamily Guywith a more focused satire of politics and current events .
For its first couple of seasons , American Dad!focused almost only on politics , with Stan and Hayley butting heads over every political matter . The show had episode about everything from Log Cabin Republicans to the separation of church and state . But throughout seasons 2 and 3 , as the author fleshed out Francine , Steve , Klaus , and especially Roger , they realized they were boxing themselves in with the political centering and that there were more storey to recite with these characters . This conclusion end up saving the show and paving the way forAmerican Dad ! ’s 20 - season political campaign .
boob tube shows risk everything by ditching their original premises . It often ends ill , but sometimes unexampled ideas are just what a show needs to stay brisk .
American Dad! Moved Away From Political Satire In Later Seasons
American Dad!was ab initio gestate as a easy political satire . Its original premiss saw stanchly button-down Stan clashing with his revolutionary handsome girl Hayley ’s progressive views . Each instalment would play up a political issue like abortion or immigration or gun for hire control or same - sexual urge man and wife . Stan would take the good - wing stance , Hayley would take the left over - annex posture , and the storyline would take them on a journey that end with Stan seeing things in a more reformist light . When he witnessed how these issues bear upon existent hoi polloi , he would end up siding with Hayley .
In its later time of year , American Dad!drifted away from the political satire that defined its other season , and the show owes its two - decade length of service to that decision . The serial publication got some great sequence out of Stan and Hayley ’s political disagreements , but it quickly became a predictable formula , and that ’s the quick way to kill a show . By abandoning its direction on politics to lean into the weirdness ofRoger ’s many disguisesand Stan ’s world-wide ineptness , American Dad!saved itself from becoming stale and made itself more accessible to a wider audience .
American Dad! Becoming More Fantastical Saved The Show
By the time the author adjudicate to softenAmerican Dad ! ’s political elements , they ’d already established that Roger could seamlessly disguise himself as anyone and flim-flam everybody besides the Smiths . This was in the beginning conceived as a way to get Roger out of the family , as he spent the former episode in his attic watching TV , butit open up the writer to endless storytelling possibilities . Shifting aside from politics and focusing more on fantastical elements like Roger ’s disguise ultimately savedAmerican Dad!from falling by the wayside .
All the mosticonicAmerican Dad!episodesare from the post - political geological era . Season 8 , episode 17 , “ Ricky Spanish , ” is all about Roger ’s most hated persona . Season 4 , episode 10 , “ Tearjerker , ” is a hilarious parody of the James Bond movies feature theAmerican Dad!characters . time of year 14 , episode 4 , “ coney Ears , ” sees Stan trapped in an old black - and - white television receiver show . time of year 6 , episode 9 , “ Rapture ’s Delight , ” sees Stan allow for behind in the Rapture and newsflash forward to a lawless post - revelatory wasteland .
The Original American Dad! Premise Wouldn’t Have Lasted 20 Seasons
If it had stuck with its original politically blame premiss , there ’s no wayAmerican Dad!would’ve lasted 20 seasons , because the writer would ’ve eventually run out of political progeny to burlesque – and the political landscape is invariably exchange . The conflict between a ultranationalistic , right - wing father and his progressive girl was complete to parody the clime of the Bush giving medication in the mid-2000s . Stan ’s paranoia surrounding terrorism was relevant in the Bush era , at the superlative of the “ war on holy terror , ” but it would ’ve become irrelevant when Barack Obama acquire office .
As the years work by , through the administrations of Obama , Trump , and Biden , the U.S. political landscape changed drastically . If it remained a political show , American Dad!would’ve had to keep altering its assumption to keep up with the time . The writers would be furrow headline , not the motivations of their characters . The characters would eventually become shadows of their former selves . By ditch the politics and focusing on timeless elements like Stan ’s sociopathy and Roger ’s image , American Dad!has enabled itself to keep going as long as audiences keep tune up in .
American Dad!has been renewed for time of year 21 .
