Review: American Dad! “Roots” (S13Ep1)

American Dad! returned to TV tonight with a new episode on TBS entitled “Roots”. Being an avid fan of the show, I’ve read these future episode titles for so long that it’s almost surreal to see them finally air. That being said, I felt strangely about the last season of American Dad! after Mike Barker’s departure– I started feeling like the show was missing something after it left FOX. Whether it was lacking Barker’s weird touches or something else in the writing (because the art is as crisp and cool as ever), tonight’s season 13 premiere was an inspiring breath of fresh air.

The episode established two storylines, one of which was a new football stadium and Stan’s changing feelings regarding it, and Steve’s worry of his stalled height. We see a really intriguing pair of stories both grow, and intersect, and have that same kind of good warmth that a quality Simpsons episode has when they work in a similar way.

Overall, there were some hilarious laugh-out-loud moments such as Roger’s character switching and commitment to their authenticity, some true weirdness (nipple twisting), and a great cold open, which is now the show’s style after doing away with the newspaper gag and still before the Roger-disguise gag. The episode was a little slow to start, but I had the feeling it was coming to a cohesive sort of connectivity, and it certainly did.

“Roots” was a great start to American Dad! season 13– and these shows never start a season with what they feel is their strongest episode. So if that’s not this season’s best, I’m psyched to see what else MacFarlane and company have to offer this time around.