"American Dad!" Series Talkback (Spoilers)

[[classic swim]]

[Z.O.I.N.C.S.]

I was pretty stoked about this episode once I read about it in an article awhile back.

Easily my most anticipated episode of the season.

It didn’t disappoint, but Scooby parodies have also been tapped dry after so many times. Still good, all things considered.

 

[Fone Bone]

American Dad! "Z.O.I.N.C.S"

Not too shabby. Or should I say Shaggy?

It's a pitch-perfect Scooby Doo parody. Most spoofs are not this in-depth or knowledgeable of the tropes. It's literally the first spoof I've seen of the painting with the moving eyes, which can never be explained on Scooby Doo itself. The bit with Klaus and Jeff in the copy room with the monster is also another bit you don't see spoofed: Scooby and Shaggy weirdly forgetting they are scared of the monster and just d-wording with it randomly for no reason whatsoever (and even fewer laughs). I also loved Jeff asking how he was supposed to eat the sandwich.

The solution sounds... convoluted. Which is vintage Scooby Doo. Stephen Hawking might have been a fan, but the mysteries themselves make little sense if you think hard on them.

My theory that Stan and Roger are getting a bit tough for Seth MacFarlane to voice since he blew out his vocal chords a couple of years back is given additional credence here. For the record, Roger's brief stuff in London was funny, as was the gag closing on him being stowed away with the pets.

A lot of shows that have been on the air this long struggle. Why is American Dad still this consistently good? ****1/2.

 

[Pooky]

I personally did think the Scooby pastiches were a little tired. It was a perfectly watchable episode but I didn't laugh much. Also, inevitable with a long running cartoon like this, but it was also a little disconcerting to see a flashback to a younger, glamorous Bullock with the time period symbolised by a portrait of Prez GWB, given the shows' genesis was firmly entrenched in that era, but I guess we didn't see him until W's second term.

 

[[classic swim]]

[A New Era For The Smith House]

I liked this one, I guess.

It did feel like an imbalance of some kind.

The Smiths were cartoonishly mean to Klaus about the picture frame, though I already know they could’ve done a lot worse to him. The episode last week also put some focus on Klaus being babied and belittled.

Not necessarily Dick, but Dick’s motives in the episode would probably be the one thing I responded to best.


I think it’s hilarious how Dick showed some bit of dignity when he was fired (not shaking Stan’s hand) and then they turn this around by making him some bum who’s squatting houses and is afraid of ghosts.


The ending would’ve been much better if the reaction to the house being destroyed was more abrupt and explosive. Which I guess you kind of got, but then they tried to outweird it.

 

[Fone Bone]

American Dad! "A New Era For The Smith House"

Saying that fell apart at the end would suggest it was a stronger episode than it was. It petered out because there simply wasn't much to it.

Not feeling this week. *1/2.

 

[[classic swim]]

[Between a Ring and a Hardass]

I liked what I saw. Feels like a disservice even describing it.

If you’re easily annoyed by the comedy trope of families trying/blatantly failing to be normal, this won’t be the episode for you.

There’s an even more ‘chaotic’ twist near the end that calls for some dedication.

 

[Fone Bone]

American Dad! "Between A Ring And A Hardass"

I'm surprised they couldn't get the actual Hobbits. I mean, really, what are THEY doing? Elijah Wood has even done the show before. Of course, it's possible the jokes were TOO degrading. And I would never have wanted the script to lighten that bit up.

I think the premise is not just long overdue. It's long overdue for Family Guy too. The difference being the Griffins would never be able to fake a normal night. The Smiths were barely able to do it.

Yeah, I liked it a lot. ****1/2.

 

[Pooky]

The joke about Barry thinking Soulja Boy is modern music is another slightly unnerving reminder of how long the show has been on the air.

Also in early episodes, or at least one, Steve was a nerdy LOTR fan and Stan found that embarrassing. Now Stan loves it which Steve seems to find slightly embarrassing *Shrug*

 

[Fone Bone]

American Dad! "Footprints"

We are in good shape.

The thing I loved about the episode is it did things the show should not do. Roger should not go back to space, see a member of his family or other aliens of his species, at least not until the movie. But the show knows there WON'T be a movie, and just has stopped caring about that.

The narrative choice at the beginning to suggest the episode took place after the episode where Jeff lost his hat but before the one he got it back is also a no-no in telling us he gets it back immediately. And yeah, the anticlimax of the ending was great and lived up to that narrative no-no.

I love that the Ricky Spanish lady was busy getting cloved (whatever that means).

Timeline question. I THINK, but I could be wrong, Twill Ogdenbone is a persona Roger created in an episode AFTER Jeff lost his hat. Unless that do a vague disclaimer that THAT one was set before both episodes too. And the writers ARE enough of a bunch of boogersnots to do that. The fact that they didn't makes it an actual error instead.

The Twill episode was also unusual in it was another episode Roger was trying to better himself.

We got a little more context for Roger's relationship with Bullock. It's creepy. And what's awful is that almost all of the creepiness is on Bullock's end. Knowing Roger, it shouldn't be. That SAYS something about Avery that HE'S the degenerate when he and Roger hang out.

Did not like the kid getting eaten. The kid's part was funny, but since they couldn't think of a different resolution out of it, it was probably a bad idea.

Emmys are considered valuable in the galaxy at large? Do they not understand that the fact that Murphy Brown and David E Kelly have won multiple statuettes means they are worthless instead? I'm said before that Murphy and Kelley's win are about as embarrassing for pop-culture as if Joe Eszterhaz routinely won Oscars.

I HATE Forrest Gump. I think it sucks. But I get the logic of a manipulative piece of drivel like it winning an Oscar, even against Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption, if only because of Tom Hanks. It was a terrible win, maybe the worst in Oscar history, but it was an honest one, and that film WAS the favorite going in at the time. There is literally nothing about Murphy Brown or L.A. Law / Picket Fences / Ally McBeal / The Practice that could EVER justify a group of sane adults declaring those pieces of dren the best pieces of television the years they aired during, much less multiple times. I'm wondering if the gag is the cheap shot it is because the show thinks that award is as worthless as I do. I wonder.

You must be THIS drunk to enter the Morning Mimosa studio audience. I told you we were.

I love the lady at Lids asking if that fish just talked. I'm pretty sure they've done that joke before, but not so often that it isn't funny whenever it happens, and it always makes me think, "I keep forgetting how weird this show is on paper." Also in practice.

What the was the TV executive's name? Vengeance something? I thought she was great. She seemed to be on drugs, she was so wired and weird, but that is never speculated on, which is fun. She might simply be honestly insane. Let's leave it up to the scholars to debate 500 years from now.

I think the reason this show doesn't suck or get long in the tooth very often is because it doesn't just try new things. It refuses to fit into television's easy mold, and do what a long-running series is SUPPOSED to do after being on the air for a couple of decades. I'm not saying it takes chances. It's more like it's stopped giving a crap about conventional TV wisdom and will tell the story any damn way it pleases, including informing us in the beginning this episode picks up directly from a long-ago previous episode's joke cliffhanger, and then immediately spoiling that the crisis is going to be resolved / fixed by the end of THIS episode. Or not making a federal case of seeing Roger's uncle or Roger in space. As the series is winding down, it's stopped being the show people always thought it was and should be, and just is whatever the writers WANT to it to be. That's not a solid way to write a drama, honestly. You will alienate a bunch of viewers that way, and will almost certainly make things worse. A long running animated edgy comedy? It actually makes things better. If I didn't believe that before tonight, this exact episode proves the thesis. It's in the pudding as they say. ****1/2.

 

[[classic swim]]

[Footprints]

Pretty good show indeed.

My comments on “Echoes” didn’t survive the Great Toonzone Wreckage, but this was honestly a better episode on legacy and how American Dad’s very much contempt with what they have. Even when it has been a struggle.


You remember the early 2010s before Rick & Morty existed? Back when people started hating Seth MacFarlane for Family Guy, but also couldn’t pass up having Roger Smith avatars, and still believing he was an iconic character in animation?

A lot of time really has passed AD by.

During the peak and prime of Adult Swim, they’d make promos for American Dad, but would abruptly cut with footage of Peter Griffin falling from an airplane. Or Peter Griffin slowly eating those floating chicken legs.

The only reason American Dad gets so many hours from [as] besides the extended schedule is because the channel now has to pretend that the show is Family Guy.

American Dad throughout both of its entire runs have always played second fiddle in some capacity until otherwise being pushed aside.

AD was booted from FOX just as it really started to have a grasp at its own footprint, and afterwards spent years on another channel which also doesn’t want to promote it much at all anymore.

American Dad has every reason to be a very spiteful and no effort comedy, but for whatever reason... they still try. It’s surreal on the surface, but effort is so blatantly present.



The air date of this episode couldn’t be more timely. We’re now at a point where it’s 1000% official that FOX only wants to nuke and harm Family Guy’s ratings in the future. That show in comparison has lead an infinitely more miserable existence, in spite of both me supporting the thing for 20 years, and the fact it’s had infinitely more financial backing and previous success just being the more famous program.

TBS has only done the bare minimum of just allowing the bulk of these episodes to quietly air with little to practically no advertising. And it’s still the best thing that happened to them when FOX continues to be an agonizing pit of endless failures, has-beens and sheer shortcomings. DOG WATER TELEVISION.




But you know, I’m glad this episode was one to really respect Roger for his own namesake. I’m glad to have an episode that holds a mirror to the alien. Not the yoga instructor, or sports journalist that’s secretly an alien in disguise.

 

[[classic swim]]

[Steve, Snot, and the Quest for the OG Four Loko]

“What if I don’t do it right? What if my penis is weird?”


Really fun adventure between Steve & Snot.

The concept behind the two personas actually resembling human adults was kind of cool. I guess this might imply they can tell who Roger is simply by voice.

Nice show. Surprising to see Vince Chung back after awhile. Even bringing up the boob episode for reference.

 

[Fone Bone]

American Dad! "Steve, Snot, And The Quest For The OG 4Loco"

Oh, well, the personas giveth and the personas taketh away.

No Stan lends credence to my theory the character is too big of a strain on Seth MacFarlane's vocal chords.

Good to hear Toshi again.

Callback to when Steve had boobs! Nice!

I actually liked the girl who liked Steve. I was rooting for Steve for that reason. I know they can't let Steve get laid, but I thought that would be a reasonable compromise. Oh well. ****.

 

[[classic swim]]

[The Pink Sphinx Holds Her Hearts on the Turn]

Roger as The Gambler. That’s all.


I’m alright with this one. Didn’t care for the plot. The episode has the least desirable depiction of the game, which in the end matches what Francine said about not even liking poker.

They got all their Gambler/Kenny Rogers jabs in and that’s all that matters. The villain of the episode also went by a Rock Lobster reference when describing her sunburn on Rehoboth Beach.

 

[Fone Bone]

American Dad "The Pink Sphinx Holds Her Hearts On The Turn"

I liked it.

Stan is back, but his role is small so MacFarlane doesn't have to overdo it with the voice.

Jeff doesn't understand the game at the beginning. I'm with him.

I loved Francine's rage at the end. I get why she was pissed.

It was a good week. ****.

 

[[classic swim]]

[A Little Extra Scratch]

Okay, that intro fakeout was pretty damn funny. Especially Roger being annoyed while waiting in the Ford Explorer.

This episode changed my perception of Stan’s chin. I’d take both Stan and Quagmire’s faces to be made of solid granite.


I didn’t exactly favor last week’s show because I found the point of it rather dull. This one on the other hand got it right. It had a fairly similar theme as last week, Francine wanting to be closer/more accepted by her kids. Only they throw a bone and add some humor.

I know it’s foolish of me to say “thank you, scripted comedy, for telling jokes.” I’ve just been getting a bit of that urge lately with the Fuzzy Door stuff.

Cool to see Chris Parnell get an AD spot after killing off Doug.

 

[Fone Bone]

Cool to see Chris Parnell get an AD spot after killing off Doug.

I sincerely doubt Doug is dead. That was an Olivia ending, not a Bertram one.

American Dad! "A Little Extra Scratch"

It was pretty good but when Hayley called it pretty gruesome she wasn't wrong. I mean, the thing with Stan's face was stomach-churning.

I love that Hayley gives Jeff an allowance for book-fair but doesn't want him to get Goosebumps because he'll be up all night. I remember the episode a couple of seasons ago where Steve mentioned he's very concerned about Jeff. He's dumb but not funny dumb. Like maybe Hayley committed a crime when she married him. They need to get their stories straight.

It was good, not great. ***1/2.

 

[Fone Bone]

American Dad! "Into The Jingleverse"

American Dad has one of my favorite fictional portrayals of Santa ever. Not because he's evil. Because he's funny. I remember the episode "Ninety North, Zero West" when Santa is doing the big light show in the Planetarium, and it fritzes out, and he asks the guy in the booth why the rest of the presentation worked but that didn't. And the guy tells him that those parts of the presentation were stored on separate servers. And Santa says "I kind of want to know why we did that, but I feel like I'll probably be really frustrated by the answer..." and he's a perfect character.

This episode didn't have him doing anything as funny as that, but he was still pretty damn funny. ****.

 

[[classic swim]]

[Into The Jingleverse]

There were two scenes from this episode that Adult Swim played over and over on promos practically all year round up until this actually aired. That seems unique.


Probably not as special as when they killed Santa, no. But the best to this anyway are the Santa line deliveries.

“That was NOT MEEE” in response to someone leaving a soiled diaper under the Smith Christmas tree.

I liked it. Any time a cartoon like this rolls with purposely bad animation, it makes for a good time.