American Dad! is an American animated television series produced by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions for 20th Century Fox. It was created, in part, by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy. The pilot episode aired in the United States on Fox on February 6, 2005, thirty minutes after the end of Super Bowl XXXIX; the regular series began May 1, 2005, after the season premiere of Family Guy. American Dad! follows the events of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Stan Smith and his family.
The show centers on the Smith family and the various obstacles Stan, an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency, encounters to ensure that his country remains safe including the obstacles he faces with his immediate family. The Smith family lives in the fictional community of"Langley Falls, Virginia" in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The town name is a composite of Langley, Virginia and Great Falls, Virginia, both of which are located in Fairfax County. Langley is the real-life location of CIA headquarters.
Stan Smith: Has worked for the CIA since the 1980s as a"weapons expert" and is always on the alert for terrorist activity. As of the first episode of Season 2, he seems to be the"Deputy Deputy Director," although the official announcement of his promotion was not shown to viewers. Since then his work has included the interrogation of possible terrorists. He can be quite paranoid and protective: he has a terror-alert color code on his fridge, and is so high-strung as to shoot the toaster when the toast pops up. Stan is in almost top physical shape (though he has a bit of a gut) and is able to do moves like James Bond. He has no qualms about kidnapping, drugging, or tasering anybody, even family members, for his own deranged reasons; in one episode, in which Steve cannot get a date, he kidnaps American actress and singer Hilary Duff. He worships Ronald Reagan, quoting his speeches and even going as far as choosing a dog because it was alive during Reagan's administration. He is startlingly out of touch with international events. Stan has a very itchy trigger finger, and apparently loves Mr. Pibb. He also drives what appears to be a black Ford Expedition. It has been noted by Seth MacFarlane that he is based on the announcers of the ever popular 1950's American anti-communist propaganda films.[citation needed]
Francine Smith
Enlarge
Francine Smith
Francine Smith: The sweet, stereotypical trophy housewife of Stan Smith. She keeps her own opinions and party-hearty personality mostly to herself, for the sake of her husband's ultra-conservative views. She rarely has any friends except for one closet bisexual (she has no career and Stan always scares the neighbors). However, in the 1980s, she slept with Adam Ant, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Dexy's Midnight Runners. She is more sympathetic to Hayley's ideologies and Steve's geekiness than Stan is. Her housework is her life, although she has occasional longing for grander things. Francine is not a natural blonde and is in fact a brunette, which explains why neither of her children have blond hair. She once owned a muffin-selling kiosk at the mall, but it was destroyed in an explosion caused by extremist hippies. She also has a deep resentment of actor George Clooney because she blames Clooney for costing her an acting career. Francine's brain has been repeatedly damaged by her husband in acts of foolishness (Francine's Flashback, Roger 'n Me), which is considered a form of Diane Szalinskiism. In American Dad Vs. Family Guy Kung Fu, she looks and acts like the Statue of Liberty.
Hayley Smith
Enlarge
Hayley Smith
Hayley Smith: The ultra-liberal daughter of Stan and Francine. Because of her views, Stan distrusts her more than her brother. She is eighteen and goes to community college. She partakes in recreational marijuana, usually with her on-again, off again boyfriend, Jeff, and goes hiking with him. They are both vegetarians, although Hayley appears to be forcing her beliefs onto Jeff. In the episode"Bullocks To Stan", she dropped Jeff to sleep with her father's boss, CIA Deputy Director Bullock, because she was looking for a guy who"can stand up to her." After Stan's intervention, she dumped Bullock and went back to her hippie boyfriend Jeff. In Saudi Arabia she slept with a Shawarma King guy because she was impressed by his (false) claim about being a tormented, conflicted member of Al Qaeda. She later broke up with Jeff.
Steve Smith
Enlarge
Steve Smith
Steve Smith: Geeky little brother of Hayley and son of Stan and Francine. Roger seems to be his best friend. He goes to extreme measures to raise his social status and get dates, yet he actually knows very little about sex. Although he was stereotypically whiny in the pilot episode, in the regular series he is confident and smart, but still a dork. He plays Dungeons& Dragons with his three best human friends. He's fourteen years old, reads Elvish, and had a brief fling with a senior citizen (when criticized for the relationship, he responds with:"So do raisins![have wrinkles] But they taste pretty sweet!") Steve has numerous run ins with Stan wanting Steve to follow in his footsteps, often criticising his (nerdy) friends and Steve's actions. A most prominent example of this is in the star trek episode, in which Steve gets legally divorced from his family.
Klaus the Talking Fish
Enlarge
Klaus the Talking Fish
Klaus: The result of the CIA swapping an East German Olympic ski-jumper's brain (actually his brainwaves) with that of a goldfish in order to prevent him from winning the gold medal. This libidinous fish manifests some sadistic tendencies ("I'm German!" is the explanation he offers) and lusts after Francine. In the"Finances With Wolves" episode, Klaus switched his goldfish body for that of a black man's, and almost ran off with Francine, but the body was destroyed in the aftermath of an explosion at the mall, which also destroyed Francine's short lived muffin-selling kiosk, and his brain was placed in another goldfish's body. He is extremely tolerant of water conditions; while the average goldfish will die even in tapwater, Klaus has swum in a washing machine and a Thermos of coffee, and frequently perches himself out of the water. Klaus's brain swap was said to be during the"1986 Winter Olympics," which were not real. His voice is modeled after Peter Lorre's. In the German dubbed version of American Dad!, Klaus speaks in a Saxon dialect, which is seen as a stereotype for East Germans in general and is considered funny among German native speakers outside of Saxony. His behaviour in the German version is reminiscent of an ex-Stasi agent and he gives a few hints that he was once attached to the Stasi agency.
Roger the Alien
Enlarge
Roger the Alien
Roger: The sarcastic, surly, lonely, and effeminate space alien who saved Stan's life in Area 51. He spends his time eating (mainly junk foods), smoking, and drinking. Roger is an avid film, television, and celebrity buff. He is not allowed to leave the house and the family has to conceal his existence, although he has left on a few occasions in various disguises including a frilly dress, gloves and hat which caused him to be mistaken for a senior citizen. His voice is modeled after Paul Lynde's. Roger is in many ways a Family Guy-esque version of ALF. It has been said that Roger is a parody of the character Spewey on the short-lived sitcom, Get a Life. Roger is often humorous and aloof and in many episodes his often flamboyant remarks lead the audience to question his sexuality. He has the power to defecate gold with jewels on it, which now leads to a side story in the series about how people who have found it become greedy and often meet a horrible end.
[edit] Smith Relatives* Jack Smith: Stan's father. For most of his life, Stan believed his father to be a top secret agent in"The Scarlet Alliance". In reality, he was a jewel thief. After the man Stan paid to pretend to be his father died, the real Jack dropped in on the family. Roger developed a"boy crush" on Jack but the other family members remained wary of him. Jack has grey hair and is missing an eye, based on the traditional look of Marvel Comics' super-spy Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D., but resembles Stan. Voiced by Daran Norris.[edit] Other characters
In addition to the Smith family, there are numerous minor characters which have appeared, or have plans to appear, in multiple episodes.* Avery Bullock: Deputy Director of the CIA, and Stan's 58-year-old-boss. He is as high-strung as Stan, but considerably less paranoid and usually more competent. He is voiced by (and resembles) Patrick Stewart. He once had an intimate relationship with Hayley. He is married, but his wife is handcuffed to a radiator in Fallujah, as he does"not negotiate with terrorists".
* Greg Corbin: Local News Anchor, Terry's co-anchor and domestic partner. Also Stan's neighbor. Afraid to tell his father he's gay. He and Terry had a penchant for minor bickering, however, they are a complete antithesis of Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons of Family Guy. Greg is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans, and has brown hair.
* Terry Bates: Local News Anchor, Greg's co-anchor and domestic partner. Also Stan's neighbor. Stan was completely unaware of the fact that his neighbors are a homosexual couple, and, while initially being prejudiced against them for their practice of liberal journalism, eventually merely considered them nice young men that just happen to live together. Terry is a Democrat and has blonde hair.
* Jeff Fischer: Hayley's stoner boyfriend. Hayley dumped him in the 1st season, because he agreed with people very easily, until Stan taught him to"stand up for himself" (by beating, electrocuting, and entombing him). He and Hayley got back together. Loves events like Burning Man. In one episode, he was bleeding and twitching on the floor of a diner after being thrown head-first into a wall by B |