American Dad!, Vol. 1

     From the delightfully twisted creative minds behind Family Guy comes American Dad, the animated tour de force featuring CIA operative Stan Smith, his outrageous family, and Roger, the alcoholic extra-terrestrial who lives with them! Follow the adventures of the Smiths from the California desert where Stan's wife Francine relieves her wild youth at the Burning Man Festival to Saudi Arabia, where the entire family is sentenced to death by the Vice and Virtue Police! Whether it's rigging elections, erasing memories, chasing sleazy strip clubs, or staging "bum fights," it's all in a day's work for Stan, and it's all here in the side-splittingly hilarious first 13 episodes of American Dad!

     Though the jokes in American Dad! are not as free-associative as in Family Guy, McFarlane cannot seem to resist dispensing with character integrity for a gratuitous potshot at, say, Lisa Kudrow. But as with Family Guy, American Dad! tears at the sitcom envelope. The blasphemous episode "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man," had the distinction of being voted "Worst TV Show of the Week" by the Parents Television Council. And American Dad! has its own version of Family Guy's surreal titanic bouts between Peter Griffin and that chicken. The episode "Homeland Insecurity" features a digression in which a Department of Water and Power worker greedily kills his partner over a gem-encrusted gold "turd," only to find out his wife is having an affair. As he wails to the heavens, the words "To be continued" appear onscreen. According to the audio commentary, the writers do indeed intend to continue this compelling soap opera. So that's something to look forward to.

Comment:
    From the twisted mind of Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), come the misadventures of a man who will stop at nothing to protect his family and country in the hilarious animated comedy series "American Dad!". Stan Smith is an overprotective and high-strung CIA agent who loves his family and is constantly on the look-out for terrorist activity. In addition to his sympathetic trophy wife Francine, his ultra-liberal daughter Haley and his awkward pre-teen son Steve, the Smith household also includes a freeloading alcoholic space alien named Roger and a perverted German-talking goldfish named Klaus. "American Dad!" is the latest animated sitcom in Fox's Sunday Night lineup. The animated series shares numerous similarities with "Family Guy". "American Dad!" follows a more plot-driven storyline without the heavy use of cutaways and flashbacks. Its cutting-edge humor and outrageous characters are great. The 3-disc box set features such memorable episodes as "Francine's Flashback", "Bullocks to Stan", "A Smith in the Hand" and "Stan of Arabia", and guest voice stars like Carmen Electra, Stephen Root, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Gina Gershon, Matthew Lillard, Molly Shannon, Seth Green and Patrick Stewart.

If you're looking for riotous humor and fine extras, then check out "American Dad!: Volume One". All 13 episodes of the uproariously funny animated series are presented in standard full screen format. Its picture quality is quite good with solid colors. Its 5.1 Dolby Digital sound is crisp and clear. Among special features, the 3-disc set includes in-depth audio commentaries by series writers and voice cast on 12 episodes, "All in the Family" and "Secrets of the Glass Booth" behind-the-scenes featurettes, numerous deleted scenes, animated comparisons and promo spots.