American Dad - General Discussion

[Spartan Girl]

Was not expecting a Silence of the Lambs ending, but I should've guessed from the title.

I did NOT need to see that poor little squirrel get decapitated. Sometimes, I really hate you Seth.

But I loved the opening with the Smiths cosplaying Law and Order, and the surprise cameo of Ice-T at the end!

[ganesh]

Stan and Hayley plots are usually out there. I like how they get so competitive with each other. I also like when Roger shows up and one of the Smiths is so over his deal. I don't get his character this time though. There wasn't any pay off. 

[SmithW6079]

I couldn't figure out who they were supposed to be in the Law & Order cosplay. 

An issue I've had with the show since it moved to TBS is that all too often, the episode just ends. It's like they don't know how to end stories anymore, so they just stop writing. Stan and Hayley's story didn't make any sense -- the old woman is the serial killer, but she doesn't live in the evil-looking house? She has a home in the neighborhood, but lures the husbands of her neighbors to the house, where she dumps them in a pit and then skins them? 

[OnceSane]

Episode 3:

Quote

"Shell Game"

Steve tries to stop Roger after he joins a mysterious order of birds' egg thieves; Francine buys a new Italian sauce for the family.

Airs February 26, 2018.

[Galileo908]

You'd think this would be a legit case for Wheels & The Legman. Those egg collectors were WEIRD.

And has there been a weirder B-story than how everyone loves zesty Italian sauce? Although I loved Italian Francine. Everybody got to be Italian this week, this must've been fun to record.

[Spartan Girl]

So the Bird Watching Buddies were a new Wheels and Legman, compkete with their own theme song. And Roger is such a pain in the ass that even those egg weirdos were getting sick of him.

What the hell WAS in that sauce?

[Amethyst]

On 2/20/2018 at 10:09 PM, SmithW6079 said:

An issue I've had with the show since it moved to TBS is that all too often, the episode just ends. It's like they don't know how to end stories anymore, so they just stop writing. 

Last night was a good example of that.  I thought the Italian subplot was hilarious, but it had no real resolution in the end.  Was the sauce magical?  Do the Smiths have some weird distraction with spaghetti sauces?  

[Galileo908]

That was an odd jump. Stan and Hayley want to restore a mural after All You Can Eat Wings was simple enough, but a concussion makes Steve want to go to Clown College (taught by Roger, of course)? And of course, Steve's plot becomes Whiplash, but with clowns. Why do I have the feeling that the whole plot was just a set up for the IT spoof?

Of course Stan was gonna be like that lady that restored that painting of Jesus with the mural. Stan performing plastic surgery on Hayley ranks among one of the grossest things this show's ever done. Showing Francine's acid-burned face might still be at the top for me. I liked Hayley's actual plot. Just shows once again that she's just as ruthless as her father. These plots used to be better.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Galileo908

[Spartan Girl]

So even when Steve can accurately predict when it's Roger in disguise, he still gets sucked into his Whiplash-style clown school. Wasn't expecting the It twist at the end.

Stan has done so many horrible things to Hailey that it was long past time she went Emily Thorne on his ass.  Too bad he worked his way out of it again.

Love Francine just being so over both Steve and Stan's shit. She didn't even blink when "Hailey" had a penis.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Spartan Girl

[OnceSane]

Episode 4:

Quote

"The Mural of the Story"

Stan discovers that the Langley Falls historical mural has been ruined by graffiti and neglect and convinces the town to allow him to restore the mural himself; Roger becomes Steve's instructor at a prestigious clowning university.

Airs March 5, 2018.

[ganesh]

These episodes lately have been bizarre. Entertaining but bizarre. I think it works best when one character is just over everyone like Franny was. They all bring the crazy, but all at once is too much.

I didn't make the connection that Steve went to clown college because of the concussion, but again, it works when the Smith family member is like, "oh ffs it's Roger." I assume since the theme of the show was revenge, Steve stuck it out to get one over on Roger for a change. 

Haley's disguise was Dr. Montecristo. Heh. Stan is too dumb to figure it out. I loved her bad guy line readings. 

The whole thing with the clown lawyers doing all the bits was killing me. The guy just taking stacks and stacks of papers out of the briefcase while the other one played the trombone. And then a chicken flies by. 

I know they won't, but I actually would like it if the show kept Hayley's new face. 

And thanks Jeff for sticking up for her. 

[ZoqFotPik]

On 3/6/2018 at 6:58 PM, ganesh said:

Haley's disguise was Dr. Montecristo. Heh. Stan is too dumb to figure it out.

Oh Shit! I just got that!

[ganesh]

Franny only said it once. 

[OnceSane]

Episode 5:

Quote

"(You Gotta) Strike for Your Right"

Hayley gets a job as a delivery driver and begins delivering lunch to Stan's office; when she sees the terrible work conditions, she organizes a strike; the family watches Breaking Bad in reverse and discovers the show is hiding a scavenger hunt.

Airs March 12, 2018.

[Galileo908]

"That DOES sound like it's gonna be the shit."

Love Klaus getting mad that he got bleeped and not Steve or Francine.

I honestly loved how silly the Breaking Bad plot was.

I wouldn't be surprised if Patrick Stewart actually acts out Home Alone on his own time.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Galileo908

[Spartan Girl]

Bullock is the worst boss ever, but getting to hear Patrick Stewart say "massacre my penis with baseball bats" is the reason why this show is still worth watching.

LMAO at Klaus flipping off the censors after getting bleeped.

The Breaking Bad plot was nuts, complete with the dark twist ending. Of corse a Roger dresses up as Jesse. Loved how Francine understood Vince Gilligan's mindset despite getting his name wrong over and over again. Take note, Simpsons-- THIS is how you make a dumb housewife a fun character!

Edited March 13, 2018 by Spartan Girl

[Twilight Man]

Once again, just like that "Big Bang Theory" episode, I find myself having to argue that there is a huge difference

between a scavenger hunt (Sleepover, That one episode of KND, and well, the film Scavenger Hunt) 

and a treasure hunt (Midnight Madness, that one episode of "Parks and Recreation", and well, that "Big Bang Theory" episode).

If baseball and softball are officially two separate games, despite only having a few differences,

why do people insist that these two games that drunk college kids play are the same despite being completely different????

 

PS (Despite that, I liked the episode.  Once again, Stan shows us that he really cares for Hayley despite all)

[ganesh]

I liked how the initial strike at the CIA was a typical Stan/Hayley competition, but that Stan learned to use that in the field. Stan has always been reasonably good at his job, which is one of the things I like about the show. 

The whole reverse-o plot was even out there for this show, but I was cracking up the whole time because Franny was right all along. I liked that she was the ringleader and it wasn't like Roger doing a character. Also VG died waiting for someone to figure out his game. 

When you think of it though, starting with the ending of Breaking Bad going in reverse, is an interesting take if you never saw the show. 

I wonder if you could pull that off with The Wire?

[Charlesman]

On 3/12/2018 at 7:35 PM, Spartan Girl said:

LMAO at Klaus flipping off the censors after getting bleeped.

 

 

As someone who works in the TV business, and knows how the network censors work, this cracked me up.  I get countless memos from Standards & Practices about what they will and won't bleep, and often there is a numerical limit. On the family-friendly ABC, for example, a show is only allowed 3 'hell' or 'damn's per episode. On the cable networks, we're allowed the stronger words, but also within limits. So seeing the bleeps happen after "shit" gets dropped a fourth time got me laughing good.

[OnceSane]

Episode 6:

Quote

"Klaustastrophe.tv"

Stan begins to experience crippling separation anxiety, which affects his performance at work; Klaus builds a website and forces the rest of the family to participate.

Airs March 19, 2018.

[SmithW6079]

On 3/6/2018 at 9:58 PM, ganesh said:

The whole thing with the clown lawyers doing all the bits was killing me. The guy just taking stacks and stacks of papers out of the briefcase while the other one played the trombone. And then a chicken flies by. 

I hate clowns -- and the "It" bit at the end genuinely made me jump -- but I couldn't stop laughing at the clown lawyers and the clown judge.

[Galileo908]

I liked this one. Who'd have thought an episode with old Harlem Globetrotters would be so fun?

"You made my net look like a fool!" Patrick Stewart is the MVP of this show, I swear.

The cast has been awfully self-aware of their B-plots lately, haven't they? They know that Klaus's thing is the one fun thing they do this week, and just resign themselves to just commit to it, and realize that Klaus is too lame to know what an epic fail is.

"Yeah Klaus, I was just crying about my life. It's not that big a deal." I love Francine.

[Spartan Girl]

Ah, this was the perfect antidote to last night's Family Guy. Whether it's Roger's Pam Anderson outfit in the intro or Bullock using his haters' tweets for toilet paper, this show can still make me laugh.

Poor Klaus, winding up as his own epic fail. But at least he got revenge for a little while. As much as the family rips on him for being lame, Steve is definitely the whinier lameass.

Love that the Globetrotters were in a home standing by for a Space Jam sequel.

Poor Dr. Ray, brought back from the dead only to get killed off again. LOL at him acting like Stan was nuts just for recollection of the shrinking incident. Now they have to explain how the family got out of Roger's stomach...

A Jack appearance! And he's human again! What gives?

Can we please give Bullock his own thread so we can talk about all the crazy shit he does and says?

[Twilight Man]

Steve learns the hard way that one can not force oneself into the A plot.  Now stay in the B plot until

you have been called.  Francine and Hayley have obviously learned this.

7 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Dr. Ray, brought back from the dead............. LOL at him acting like Stan was nuts just for recollection of the shrinking incident.

Now that this show has reached this "level" of "hand wave", can we please bring back some of the characters killed off in the bus crash??

10 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

A Jack appearance! And he's human again! What gives?

Did you not just see Dr. Ray, back from the dead??  The almighty Seth McFarlane "hand wave" knows no limits.

20 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Who'd have thought an episode with old Harlem Globetrotters would be so fun?

I still prefer the super intelligent Globetrotters from another planet, but these Globetrotters were almost as awesome.

[OnceSane]

15 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Can we please give Bullock his own thread so we can talk about all the crazy shit he does and says?

Go for it!

[ganesh]

I kind of call bs because one of the things I like is that Stan is actually a competent agent. I tend to think he should have done a little better as a rogue agent, though I can buy all the chips in him summoning the rest for backup. 

I like when Roger calls Klaus "Fish". 

None of Klaus' or the others gags were actual epic fails, but I liked that this was two weeks of them all together in the plot. 

[OnceSane]

Episode 7:

Quote

"Death by Dinner Party"

Francine hosts a dinner party even though a serial killer who attacks dinner parties is terrorizing the town; when the lights go out and guests start to disappear, Roger takes charge of solving the mystery of who is stalking the party.

Airs March 26, 2018.

[SmithW6079]

13 hours ago, OnceSane said:

Episode 7:

Airs March 26, 2018.

 

13 hours ago, OnceSane said:

"Death by Dinner Party"

Francine hosts a dinner party even though a serial killer who attacks dinner parties is terrorizing the town; when the lights go out and guests start to disappear, Roger takes charge of solving the mystery of who is stalking the party.

I'm assuming the killer is Roger. ?

This sounds like the "Family Guy" episode where the Peter and his family and friends are invited to James Woods's house and start disappearing.

[Galileo908]

9 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

I'm assuming the killer is Roger. ?

At least they got that out of the way quick. I totally loved how they introduced Uncle Colonel (who's been around the whole time) out of nowhere just as an obvious red herring. I enjoyed this one, I always love a good murder mystery. I figured that there was gonna be a cop out when Bullock was killed off, that it was all a prank on Roger.

"Do everything but the taint. I'm growing that out." Ahh, Patrick Stewart is so great.

[Spartan Girl]

I thought the killer would be Roger too. Instead it turned out to be an elaborate plan to screw with Roger and get back at him for all his shit. And of course he doesn't learn a damn thing.

Klaus freaking out over what to cook was hilarious, as was Drunk Bullock.

[ganesh]

I think Bullock was more than drunk. He had a needle and a bag in the attic. 

This was kind of like the movie The Game. Of course Roger just thinks that he needs to up the ante. 

[OnceSane]

Episode 8:

Quote

"The Never-Ending Stories"

Bullock asks Stan to fill in for him at his class at the CIA Academy and Stan finds that the cadets are the perfect captive audience for his boring stories; Klaus becomes the hype-man for a famous rapper.

Airs April 9, 2018.

[Spartan Girl]

Stan deserved to have his tongue shot off, but Roger shoving it up his ass? Gross. As was the poor toucan getting sliced and the impaled severed head.

I love how the family continues to be so completely over Roger turning up as yet another character.

"My students call me Professor X." "Because you look like..." "Because I'm always trying to sell them ecstasy!" Oh Bullock...

Aw, I liked Klaus' rap video.

[Galileo908]

I could watch Bullock getting ready for his vacation all day. Only he would get kicked out of swingers resort for NOT jerking it in the steam room.

I liked how Roger's new persona was clearly Linda Richman from SNL. And how many fake kids does Roger have now? At least he was upfront about brainwashing this one. Also, liked hearing JK Simmons as the Sexy Dean.

[SmithW6079]

12 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

I could watch Bullock getting ready for his vacation all day. Only he would get kicked out of swingers resort for NOT jerking it in the steam room.

I liked how Roger's new persona was clearly Linda Richman from SNL. And how many fake kids does Roger have now? At least he was upfront about brainwashing this one. Also, liked hearing JK Simmons as the Sexy Dean.

This episode made me laugh out loud a couple of times, which is better than their track record has been.

How could Bullock get kicked out for not jerking it? Seems like the kind of dude who'd be whacking off 24/7, regardless of where he was.

I don't think Roger has that many fake kids. The only other ones I recall are the kids who were filming Stan and Francine's renewal ceremony, when Roger was Jeannie Gold, wedding planner. 

[ganesh]

23 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I love how the family continues to be so completely over Roger turning up as yet another character.

This is a great recurring gag because it hits all the family members. And then they're, "what now, Roger?"

I didn't like that the plot was basically all Stan with everyone shoved aside, and I don't like when they make Stan out to be a bad agent. At least he did realize that he screwed the kids over and got there to help them. 

[Galileo908]

It was only a matter of time before Stan finally ran for office. And of course won due to 10,000 migrants showing up out of nowhere, and Roger becoming the REAL mayor and turned the town into a totalitarian state while admitting he wasn't a good leader. Sure seems familiar...I can't put my finger on it. All for an Urban Outfitters.

Hey, James Garfield came back, and a ton of other minor characters showed up for, like a second (Reginald!).

I liked Francine's coat of rats. So weird, and Steve's plot didn't really amount to much, there was just so little time for it.

"The real enemy...is delegation!"

Edited April 17, 2018 by Galileo908

[Spartan Girl]

This whole episode was an allegory for Trump. Stan running for mayor, goaded on by Roger and the public embracing a dumb idea that everyone thinks will solve everything...only to realize that he's way in over his head and Roger takes over. They even got the red caps. 

LOL at Stan's resignation speech, laying the blame on the voters. Subtle, Seth.

Happy to see Garfield back, and even a brief cameo of old characters as news pundits! And now Garfield's mayor!

Francine bonding with rats was gross.

[OnceSane]

Episode 9:

Quote

"Railroaded"

Stan is frustrated with traffic so he goes to the mayor and proposes that the town build a bullet train, but the mayor laughs off the idea; Roger pushes Stan into running for mayor; Stan wins the election but finds himself overwhelmed.

Airs April 16, 2018.

[ganesh]

23 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

This whole episode was an allegory for Trump.

They actually built the train. Otherwise, yeah. I hope that they maintain continuity and Garfield will stay mayor. Of course this is a total scheme for Roger to get an Urban Outfitters. I did like that they kept with Stan being a competent field agent by beating up the Power Squad. I liked the quick joke with Hayley asking if she can get a new husband too. 

[SmithW6079]

20 hours ago, ganesh said:

I liked the quick joke with Hayley asking if she can get a new husband too. 

One with a big dick, if I recall (which is a throwback to Jeff making a remark about his small penis in an episode from a previous season). 

[OnceSane]

Episode 10:

Quote

"My Purity Ball and Chain"

Steve is acting out his sexual energy, so Francine asks Stan to give Steve the talk; Stan is terrified because he's afraid he will do it wrong; the family builds a giant water slide in the backyard. 

Airs April 23, 2018.

[Spartan Girl]

I don't know what was creepier: the daddy-daughter purity camp or Steve's sex aversion therapy. Or maybe him dry humping a broom. Seriously, a broom?! Great opportunity for the Quidditch joke, though.

Jack's version of The Talk being making Stan watch him have sex? Okay, there's the winner.

I love water slides, so the B-plot was fun (and also gross). And hey, return of Forest Whittaker as the dim detective!

Anyone else notice Steve trying the "hitting the dusty trail" bit from Family Guy?

[Galileo908]

Principal Lewis is great in small doses.

I feel like I've seen the abstinence group plot before. Purity balls are creepy, and leave it to Stan to take it way too far thanks to avoiding responsibility yet again. I do like how Stan is impressed by hopscotch. And swords.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Galileo908

[ganesh]

I thought it was going to turn out that all the purity girls were fooling around together. I did like that Steve and Stan both knew that the whole thing was wrong. 

[Matt K]

Not one of the better episodes, although it did have some funny moments.  I really liked Rodger, Hailey and Jeff's waterslide stuff (but it just kind of petered out quickly).  The purity stuff was good for a few laughs but I think the story ran too long.  

[ganesh]

I liked that Steve's indoctrination was a pic of Axl Rose. 

[TresGatos]

On 4/23/2018 at 10:30 PM, Galileo908 said:

I feel like I've seen the abstinence group plot before.

This episode reminded me a lot of the one where Stan is up in arm over Sex Ed being taught in school so he decides to teach Steve himself and then gets caught masterbating (he had been prescribed an ointment). I looked it up Season 2 Episode 2: A Smith in The Hand

[OnceSane]

Episode 11:

Quote

"OreTron Trail"

Roger becomes worried about outliving the family; Klaus opens a convenience store in the attic. 

Airs April 30, 2018.

[Spartan Girl]

My brother and I played the Oregon Trail when we were kids. Crappy, depressing game.

Kind of find it odd that the family would grieve so deeply for Roger after all the shit he's put them through; they just seemed 100 percent over him lately. And sure enough, the second he gets back he traps them all in a computer and only frees them when he watches them die so many times he just doesn't care anymore.