# American Dad
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 7, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744 "2005-02-07T02:50:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/1 "2005-02-07T02:50:54Z")
Anyone else getting excited for this show? Starts right after the Simpsons following the Super Bowl.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/2 "2005-02-07T02:53:11Z")
I am so stoked for this it hurts.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/3 "2005-02-07T03:16:57Z")
I’ve seen the pilot…It’s…well…it’s only so-so. Nowhere near as good as _Family Guy._ (And if you hate _Family Guy_, I suspect you’ll _really_ hate this show.) But it may get better. I won’t reveal any details and let y’all judge for yourself.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/4 "2005-02-07T04:00:25Z")
I didn’t like Family Guy the first couple times I watched it, but grew to love the show. I don’t expect to really like American Dad until seeing it few times, if I end up liking it at all.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/5 "2005-02-07T04:28:29Z")
It’s mildly amusing so far. I agree that a few more episodes will help me determine, but it’s been a good enough pilot for me to watch it a few more weeks. So instead of a talking dog and baby we’ve got a talking goldfish and alien. I think it’d actually be funnier if they downplay the CIA agent bit a bit.
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### Author:  [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/6 "2005-02-07T04:28:58Z")
I just watched the first half and gave up. Did this meet anyone’s expectations? Was it as bad as it seemed to me? I mean. . . bad.
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### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/7 "2005-02-07T04:31:06Z")
I’d like the alien better if he didn’t talk like Paul Lynde.
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### Author:  [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/8 "2005-02-07T04:34:33Z")
Not sure why, but I really loved it. The dog was the funniest thing I’ve seen on TV in recent years.
Not the best show by far, but come on… it’s not that bad.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/9 "2005-02-07T04:40:15Z")
> [@capybara](#):
>
> Did this meet anyone’s expectations? Was it as bad as it seemed to me? I mean. . . bad.
Yeah, it was pretty weak. It felt and looked like someone trying to imitate _Family Guy_. Two or three good jokes and that was it.
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### Author:  [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/10 "2005-02-07T04:43:46Z")
That was absolutely PAINFUL.
Two chuckles, one bark of laughter.
‘I have a bear claw up my ass.’ Heh.
‘Oh my God! He’s going to pee! … No, just dust.’ Heh.
‘I didn’t know Todd’s mom had a website.’ ‘Yeah…sexy, huh?’ ‘Yeah, Todd.’ HAH!
Most of the rest… Meh.
The alien goo. Meh at first. ‘Oh give it a rest already!’ after that.
I have no clue why I watched it all the way through instead of switching to Family Guy.
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### Author:  [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/11 "2005-02-07T04:44:10Z")
I think most people are going to find this show weak and give up on it after the pilot because they can’t help but compare it to Family Guy (and rightfully so, since both were created/primarily the work of Seth M). But I think that’s a pretty weak comparison-- Family Guy had its 3 year run, and is coming back on its own (and perhaps will beat AD to a pulp), and people can’t help but compare this new show to episodes of Family Guy that have been repeated and idolized over the past few years.
I mean, when I watch it and think of it as being the little sibling of Family Guy, yeah, it’s pretty mediocre. But, on its own, I think it did pretty well for a pilot episode.
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### Author:  [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/12 "2005-02-07T04:44:37Z")
It felt exactly like Family Guy. But not as funny.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/13 "2005-02-07T04:45:03Z")
“Oh, god, I’ve got a bearclaw in my ass.” I larfed.
I didn’t like _Family Guy_ at first, either. I think _American Dad_ will grow on me. It was good for a few bellylaughs out of the gate – I think it’ll get better.
I’m hot for the return of _Family Guy_, too. Woot!
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### Author:  [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/14 "2005-02-07T04:49:02Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> It felt and looked like someone trying to imitate Family Guy.
That’s not a surprising thought, as one of the show’s creator-producers also created _Family Guy_.
I’m guessing the newspaper in the opening credits will change every episode, like _The Simpsons_’s chalkboard and couch.
I wonder how many people on the East Coast (other than myself) will get the references to Jack-in-the-Box and Chocodiles.
I thought the show was pretty good. It will probably do well.
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### Author:  [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/15 "2005-02-07T04:53:58Z")
I’m a huge fan of Family Guy. I would say this show is at least just as good. The problem is how similar it is to Family Guy. I mean its basically all the same characters with slightly different quirks. It was still funny, but too similar to Family Guy in general. If FG had been fully cancelled then American Dad would be a worthly replacment. However since FG is comming back we get two versions of the same show. And personally I’ll take Family Guy.
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/16 "2005-02-07T04:54:48Z")
That sucked. And I like Family Guy.
And I found the bearclaw line to be painfully obvious.
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### Author:  [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/17 "2005-02-07T04:55:36Z")
It was decent. I’ll give it a couple more shows before I decide to drop it, but it had better get better.
So far, the dad is the funniest character on the show. Though Bush getting a call from God was cute.
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### Author:  [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/18 "2005-02-07T04:57:24Z")
Oh, and I’m a huge family guy fan. The problem was, it kept reminding me of how funny family guy was and how I’d rather be watching a family guy episode.
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### Author:  [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/19 "2005-02-07T05:02:38Z")
It was terrible.
And I say that not due to some comparison with Family Guy - aside from animation style and some of the voices, I didn’t see all that much similarity. I say that because it wasn’t funny. It was one joke - one lame joke - already done to death in a million places, and the satire is just _too_ painfully obvious to be effective.
Ooh, the dad’s right wing. He doesn’t like his left wing daughter. His sleazy son isn’t good with girls (Bud Bundy?). This is not original - this is not the stuff good comedy is made of. This is pure, unadulterated crap. I don’t know how this show could come from the same mind that conceived Family Guy.
That said, I did find the scene with the father running through the mall with the purse mildly amusing. That was it.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dad/288744/20 "2005-02-07T05:07:02Z")
“Hold on, it’s Cheney, I gotta take this…Yes sir?”
Comedy gold.
The rest, meh, I was amused, I’ll watch it. I only like the alien because he talked like Paul Lynde, and henceforth I shall refer to him as the gaylien and encourage you to do the same.
It was way better than the Simpsons ep that preceded it.
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