Throwback Thursday: The Legacy of American Dad????

Good Morning, Bubblefans! I got a feeling that it’s gonna be a wonderful…uhm…review! So here I am taking time out of my busy day to review American Dad for all of you good Blabberboys and Blabberbabes.

American Dad tells the story of Stan Smith, rigid Reaganite republican who works for the CIA. Stan has a quirky family that includes his son Steve, his left wing granola smoking daughter Haley, His wife Francine, his renegade alien Roger and their pet goldfish (who is actually a person trapped in the body of a goldfish,) Klaus. The family is always getting up to crazy hijinks and the show is tinted with political commentary and satire.

That being said, it is well noted that Seth MacFarlane either really hates the conservative philosophy, or is just really good at satirizing it (I think the former,) and American Dad is his giant monolith to his personal philosophy. The Show was born out of the Bush Era and the patriot Act and post 9/11 hysteria. It was his way of fighting back at the craziness of that time by showing us what people of that Ilk looked like to the rest of the so called “civilized world”. Stan is an ugly American, believing he is and his country are perfect in any way and to disparage the US is a direct indictment of him. He has a “with us or against us” philosophy that is both over the top ridiculous but frighteningly accurate.

Now, I will take heat for this, but I’m getting tired of the Seth MacFarlane Communist Block that is Animation Domination.  Family guy is a good show (though waning, in my opinion,) and I refuse to acknowledge the Cleveland Show, but American Dad is like that piece of food stuck in your back molars after all you can eat rib night at The Sizzler, it’s kinda there and won’t go away. Every now and then you’ll remember it exists, poke at it for a little while, and then go about your day until you finally get home to dental floss.  I personally think Seth should stick to movies these days (Ted was genius and I’m looking forward to his Western coming out,) because we’re inundated with his characters and their random adventures.

That isn’t to say I deplore this show, it has funny moments and I laugh, but now that the Bush Era is well gone and history is judging that time appropriately, I think it’s time to move on. We are all aware that America has its share of problems, and many are of the opinion that we don’t need someone like Seth MacFarlane pointing them out, but if you really needed a companion piece to Family Guy, I suppose you could do worse than American Dad.  It pays homage to ALF, that 80’s sitcom about a family hiding an alien in their house with some pretty decent voice acting overall. Sir Patrick Stewart has a recurring role on the show which makes some of the less than good episodes bearable.

All in All, if you want good social commentary without the holier than thou attitude, check out South Park. Still jonesing for a Seth MacFarlane fix? Check out the show that made him famous, or better still, watch Ted again.

-Paulie Von Doom (who has not now or never been a member of the Communist Party)