American Dad! was created during the immediate period after producer Seth MacFarlane's original series Family Guy had been cancelled by FOX (it has since been restored). As a result, the show's creators purposely attempted to re-create a Family Guy-esque dynamic that the existing writers, fans, and production team would be comfortable with.
Compared to Family Guy, which makes heavy use of non sequitur cutaways and nonsensical (nearly dadaist) humor, parodying celebrities and other pop culture icons, American Dad! follows a generally more coherent, linearly plot-driven storyline, and is easier to grasp without as much background information. Fans and critics alike have noted the similarities between the two. Even Seth MacFarlane himself (when questioned on The Late Show with David Letterman about how American Dad differed from Family Guy) remarked, "It's the same show." The nuclear family concept in both series is strongly conceived.
Stewie - smaller than the rest with witty wisecracks. Has an accent, loathes mother character.
Klaus - smaller than the rest with witty wisecracks. Also has accent, and lusts after mother character.
Brian - Spends time eating, smoking and drinking alcohol, lusts after mother character. Pet/ family member.
Roger - Spends time eating, smoking and drinking alcohol. Pet/ family member.
Since Family Guy is frequently regarded as rather derivative of The Simpsons, it follows that Amerian Dad is similarly derivative of The Simpsons. This was referenced in The Simpsons episode "The Italian Bob", in which a picture of Peter Griffin was shown below the charge "PLAGIARISMO," and Stan Smith then shown beneath the legend "PLAGIARISMO DEL PLAGIARISMO."
The show centres on the Smith family and the various creatures that Stan has encountered during his work for the CIA and has brought home to live with them. The family supposedly lives in the community of "Langley Falls," in Langley, Virginia. Langley, right outside the Washington, D.C. metro area, is where the headquarters of the CIA are located.
Stan Smith: Has worked for the CIA since the 1980s as a weapons expert and is always on the alert for terrorist activity. As of the first episode of Season 2, he seems to be the "Deputy Deputy Director," which makes him the #3 guy in the CIA, although the official announcement of his promotion was not shown to viewers. He can be quite paranoid and protective: he has a terror-alert color code on his fridge, and is so high-strung as to shoot the toaster when the toast pops up. Stan is in almost top physical shape (though he has a bit of a gut) and is able to do moves like James Bond. He has no qualms about kidnapping, drugging, or tasering anybody, even family members, for his own selfish reasons. He is also not above insulting any friends of his family members. He called Steve's friend, Barry, "Fatty fat fat pants". In one episode, in which Steve cannot get a date, he kidnaps American actress and singer, Hilary Duff. He worships Ronald Reagan, quoting his speeches and even going as far as choosing a dog because it was alive during Reagan's administration. He is startlingly out-of-touch with international events. Stan seems to genuinely love his family, however it often would appear that he does not. He also has a very itchy trigger finger.
Francine Smith: The sweet, loving, stereotypical model housewife of Stan Smith. She keeps her own opinions and party-hearty personality mostly to herself for the sake of her husband's ultra-conservative views, although she is not afraid to put him in his place. She rarely has any friends except for one closet bisexual (she has no career and Stan always scares the neighbors). However, in the 1980s, she slept with Adam Ant, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Dexy's Midnight Runners. She is more sympathetic to Hayley's ideas and Steve's geekiness than Stan is. Her housework is her life, although she has occasional longing for grander things. Francine is not a natural blonde and is in fact a brunette, which explains where Steve got his hair color. She once owned a muffin-selling kiosk at the mall, but it was destroyed in an explosion caused by extremist hippies.She also has a deep resentment of actor George Cloony because of the fact that they are complete polar opposites.
Hayley Smith: The ultra-liberal daughter of Stan and Francine. Because of her views, Stan distrusts her more than her brother. She is eighteen and goes to community college. She partakes in recreational marijuana, usually with her boyfriend, Jeff, and goes hiking with him. They are both vegetarians. In one episode, she dropped Jeff to sleep with her father's boss, CIA Deputy Director Bullock, because she was looking for a guy who "can stand up to her." After Stan's intervention, she dumped Bullock and went back to her hippie boyfriend Jeff. In Saudi Arabia she slept with a Shawarma King guy because she was impressed by his (false) claim about being a tormented, conflicted member of Al Qaeda, but did not tell Jeff of her infidelity.
Steve Smith: Geeky little brother of Hayley and son of Stan and Francine. Roger seems to be his best friend. He goes to extreme measures to raise his social status and get dates, yet he actually knows very little about sex. Although he was stereotypically whiny in the pilot episode, in the regular series he is confident and smart, but still a dork. He plays Dungeons & Dragons with his three best human friends. He's fourteen years old, reads Elvish, and believes that like raisins, women should have wrinkles.
Klaus the Talking Fish: The result of the CIA swapping an East GermanOlympic ski-jumper's brain (actually his brainwaves) with that of a goldfish in order to prevent him from winning the gold medal. This libidinous fish manifests some sadistic tendencies ("I'm German!" is the explanation he offers) and lusts after Francine. In one episode, Klaus switched his goldfish body for that of a black man's, and almost ran off with Francine, but the body was destroyed in the aftermath of an explosion at the mall and his brain was placed in another goldfish's body. He is extremely tolerant of water conditions; while the average goldfish will die even in tapwater, Klaus has swum in a washing machine and a Thermos of coffee, and frequently perches himself out of the water. Klaus's brain swap was said to be during the 1986Winter Olympics, an event that did not actually take place. His voice is modeled after Peter Lorre's.
Roger the Alien: The sarcastic, surly, lonely, and effeminate space alien who saved Stan's life in Area 51. He spends his time eating (mainly junk foods), smoking, and drinking. He is not allowed to leave the house and the family has to conceal his existence, although he has left on a few occasions in various disguises including a frilly dress, gloves and hat which caused him to be mistaken for a senior citizen. His voice is modeled after Paul Lynde's. Roger is in many ways, a Family Guy-esque version of ALF, to whom he bears a certain resemblance.
Jack Smith: Stan's father. For most of his life, Stan believed his father to be a top secret agent in "The Scarlet Alliance". In reality, he was a jewel thief. After the man Stan paid to pretend to be his father died, the real Jack dropped in on the family. Roger developed a "boy crush" on Jack but the other family members remained wary of him. Jack has grey hair and is missing an eye, based on the traditional look of Marvel Comics' super-spy Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D., but resembles Stan. His voice was done by Daran Norris.
In addition to the Smith family, there are numerous minor characters which have appeared, or have plans to appear, in multiple episodes.
Avery Bullock: Deputy Director of the CIA, and Stan's 58-year-old-boss. He is as high-strung as Stan, but considerably less paranoid and usually more competent. He is voiced by (and resembles) Patrick Stewart. He once had an intimate relationship with Hayley, revealing that he is an ephebophile. He is married, but his wife is handcuffed to a radiator in Fallujah, as he does "not negotiate with terrorists".
Greg Corbin: local News Anchor, Terry's co-anchor and domestic partner. Also Stan's neighbor. Afraid to tell his father he's gay. He and Terry had a penchant for minor bickering, however, they are a complete antithesis of Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons of Family Guy.
Terry Bates: Local News Anchor, Greg's co-anchor and domestic partner. Also Stan's neighbor. Stan is completely unaware of the fact that his neighbors are homosexual, and merely considers them nice young men that just happen to live together.
Jeff Fisher: Hayley's stoner boyfriend. Hayley dumped him in the 1st season, because he agreed with people very easily, until Stan taught him to "stand up for himself" (by beating, electrocuting, and entombing him). He and Hayley got back together. Loves events like Burning Man. In one episode, he was bleeding and twitching on the floor of a diner after being thrown head-first into a wall by Bullock. Jeff appears to have made a full recovery since then.
Snot: Steve's acne covered friend (voiced by Curtis Armstrong. Snot is a parody of Armstrong's role of "Booger" in Revenge of the Nerds). He speaks Klingon, and seems to read Elvish. Like Steve, he has a fetish for older (octogenarian) women.
Barry: Steve's obese friend. Stan hates him, but doesn't know why. He also speaks Klingon, and seems to read Elvish. It is later revealed that his normally quiet and innocent personality is the result of powerful antipsychotic "vitamins". After temporarily stopping his medication regimen, Barry turns into a dangerously deranged mastermind, brilliantly framing Steve for the destruction of Stan's beloved commemorative plates, in an attempt to replace Steve. His madness gets worse over time, with him trying to eliminate everyone that might get between himself and Stan. Finally Steve saves the day by tricking Barry into taking his medication, reverting him back to his usual self.
Toshi: Steve's Japanese friend. He only speaks Japanese (his dialogue appears in subtitles), which his friends usually misunderstand, though he understands English perfectly. He believes that Japan (or possibly Asian people in general) will rule the world in the next century. He also seems to read Elvish (which incidentally appeared as nonsensical Japanese text in that particular episode).
Bob Memari: Is the Iranian neighbour of Stan. Stan initially distrusts Bob because of his ethnic background. He has a wife, Linda, and it is later revealed that he is a racist.
Linda Memari: Is the wife of Bob and close friend to Francine. In season one Linda saves Francine from the Lady Bugs, a social group for women who cheat on their husbands, by kissing her. Linda is a bisexual, which her husband knows, and one must wonder about the circumstances of their marriage of convenience. In an attempt to hit on Francine, she rearranged her clothes to make her bust more prominent and knocked on the Smith Family door (prompting a drunk Stan to comment "Where did those come from"). After thinking that Stan was beating Fran, she makes an awkward excuse to leave. Fran then says, "She's a weird chick". Her husband is apparently resigned to her preferences, and asks if he can at least watch "this time", in a defeated voice, when he sees Linda eyeing Francine.
Jackson: One of Stan's co-workers at the CIA. He was once a real estate agent, and was also once gay. However, once he stopped selling houses, his sodomy cleared up. He still appears to have some remnant of homosexuallity in him, and he also wishes he had a vagina. Jackson is voiced by Mike Henry, the voice of Cleveland Brown from Family Guy.
Dick: Dick is another of Stan's co-workers at the CIA. His wife eventually got a job, by which she earned more money than him. He didn't mind, but she kept earning more, and eventually, his genitals disappeared. He also has a son, who has a freakishly large hand that he uses to beat his father with. He's voiced by Stephen Root, who plays as Bill Dautrieve and Buck Strickland in King of the Hill.
Chuck White: Stan's gloating arch-enemy, who has stuff so much better than him. However, he is over-protective of his daughter, forcing her to do gymnastics and keeping her away from boys because he believes they will get her pregnant. He ends each sentence with a mocking laugh, e.g. "Looks like you're parking in the sun again, ha-ha!"
Principal Lewis: Principal of Pearl Bailey High School, which Steve attends. When Steve was Student Body President, he commandered Principal Lewis' office, as the SB president was entitled to secure any school grounds he needed. Lewis didn't mind, though, as Steve had merely proved that he could read, and that the system worked. He latter allowed to Stan to teach a "morally upright" sex-ed class, but only Steve was signed up for it.
Lt. Nathan Goldberg: Police officer whose father was killed during the Holocaust. His last wish to him was to go to America and become a prominent police officer.
Duper: CIA Agent and rival of Stan Smith who apparently beat Stan's time on a "Regime Change" testing simulation (he also had a better snappy line than Stan's as well). When Stan placed a bomb in Bullock's office to make himself look good by saving the day, Duper disabled it when Stan couldn't see the manual.
Additional characters, voiced by Martin Mull and Beau Bridges, will be appearing in future episodes.
Stan Smith uses his CIA skills to help 13-year-old son Steve win class president and the heart of the hottest girl in class, Lisa Silver. But when being class president makes Steve mad with power, Stan must jump in to save the day. Meanwhile,...
Stan Smith is mad because after getting his wife a job (or "hobby") as a Real Estate agent, she makes more money than him. In the meantime, his daughter Hayley ran a program that helped the homeless, and Stan's son Steve had an idea to have a Bum...
Hayley comes home from a Green Party rally with her hair dyed green, instigating a fight with Stan. While she's sleeping, Stan cuts her hair (for her own good, of course). After learning of what Stan did, a wigged Hayley defies her father yet...
When Stan forgets his anniversary, he arranges to have 20 hours of Francine's memory erased, but the CIA temp on duty accidentally erases 20 years. Francine, having reverted to her wild child days, moves into her old apartment with Hayley as a...
Stan invites his boss over for dinner, but the Smith family fears getting caught hiding Roger. After a close-call, Roger goes into a coma, making everyone thinking he's dead. After the family disposes of his body, Roger tries to get back home, but...
Francine decides to throw a block party to get in touch with the neighborhood. Stan learns his new neighbors are Iranian and immediately suspects that they are terrorists. To prepare Steve for living near terrorists, Stan makes Steve join a group...
Stan goes to great lengths to compete against his rival, Chuck White, and become the new deacon of their church. Meanwhile, Steve is falling in love with Chuck's daughter, Betsy. Roger is going through his reproductive cycle, causing him to...
When Stan is up for a promotion, he asks his family to be on their best behavior at the CIA picnic. Unfortunately, Hayley ends up getting into a fight with Stan's boss, Bullock, which makes Stan think his chances for the promotion are ruined. But...
When Steve brings home a permission slip to take sex ed at school, Stan flips out and demands to teach it himself. However, after Stan unrealistically explains the birds and the bees to Steve, he gets into an accident that causes him to take...
When the CIA organizes a father-son baseball game, Stan is determined to show his co-workers that his son is masculine and athletic. Unfortunately, Steve is a geek, so Stan decides to lie and ditches him. But after getting a taste of his own...
When Stan's father passes away, Stan reveals his real father is actually Jack Smith, a super suave spy. Jack convinces Stan to quit the CIA and work with him at the Scarlet Alliance, an ultra-secret spy group. Francine is upset with Stan, who is...
Stan has to throw a party for his boss and assumes his wife Francine will do all the work, but she refuses. With Stan as party planner, the event turns into a disaster. As a result, Stan’s boss relocates Stan and his family to Saudi Arabia,...
As the Smiths continue to live in Saudi Arabia, Stan is fully enjoying the male-dominated society, while the rest of the family struggles with the different social norms. Meanwhile, Francine’s musical exposé on gender roles gets her into...
Francine insists that Stan and Hayley spend an entire day together, after their arguments drive her crazy, so they can work out their differences about gun control. However, her plan backfires when he takes Hayley to the "National Gun Association...
Steve becomes a famous author, and the entire family gets caught up in his celebrity, including Stan, who becomes an unbearable "stage parent." After Steve hooks up with an agent, he abandons his family to lead a "Cribs" lifestyle.
American Dad: Episode 16 -
Not Particularly Desperate Housewives
As Stan continues to dominate the household, Francine finds herself idolizing a group of women who seem to have it all. She tries to impress them and even lies in order to gain acceptance into their group, until she realizes they aren’t as...
After receiving a hefty bonus from work, Stan buys extravagant gadgets while Francine pleads for her dream kiosk. Upset about his lack of support, Francine opens a muffin shop without his approval and gives Stan a taste of life without a...
American Dad: Episode 19 -
It's Good to be the Queen
Because of a past incident at his own prom, where he was lured into a dance with the homecoming queen only to have a pile of pigs dropped on him, Stan wants revenge by showing off that he married a homecoming queen, Francine. A proud Stan...
When Stan goes to Atlantic City for a bachelor party and is shunned by his so-called best friend, Roger steps in and becomes Stan's new sidekick. Their friendship goes to a whole new level, but when
they return home and face Francine, Stan...
Stan wants Steve to be popular and goes to desperate measures giving him steroids to make him bigger, better, and part of the in-crowd at school. But when the steroids have an unexpected side effect,
Steve gets a lot more attention than...
American Dad: Episode 22 -
With Friends Like Steve's
After Steve shows a lack of interest in Stan's job, Stan replaces him with Barry, Steve's malicious friend. Barry frames Steve to eliminate him from the household, but when Steve discovers Barry's
weakness, he relies on his CIA skills to...
When Francine's birthday brings back haunting memories of a celebrity film moment stolen by George Clooney, Francine's new dream is to destroy the star. But when she tries to win Clooney's heart with
the intention of breaking it, Stan...
When Stan tries to trick Steve into attending summer camp, things go horribly wrong and Steve ends up in a refugee camp. However, Stan, being the eternal optimist, joins Steve and manages to stage a
camp Olympics between the refugees and the...
American Dad: Episode 2 -
The American Dad After School Special
Stan realizes his own weight problem after he criticizes Steve about his new, overweight girlfriend, so he goes overboard with exercising, and develops anorexia. Steve realizes that his overweight
girlfriend is the root of his father's...
American Dad: Episode 3 -
Failure is Not a Factory-installed Option
Stan loses his confidence, and his job, when a car salesman gets the best of him in a negotiation. To get even, Stan comes up with an elaborate scam that temporarily costs his family their integrity.
Meanwhile, Roger and Steve set up a...
Stan, who is normally homophobic, tries to live out one of his dreams by becoming gay. While the people around him disapprove of his new lifestyle choice, Stan decides to follow his heart to speak on
their behalf.
Stan gets in the driver's seat and becomes involved in drag racing to add excitement to his marriage with Francine. Meanwhile, Hayley's ex-boyfriend Jeff joins Steve's world of online gaming.
Francine develops empty nest syndrome and tries to convince Stan to have another baby. Meanwhile, Roger becomes a college professor and Hayley finds a new crush in her classmate Ethan.
Francine discovers Stan's passion for figure skating and becomes his pairs partner. Meanwhile, Steve's classmate Snot finds new respect among his peers when he parades his mail-order bride around the
playground.
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American Dad (2005) 
American Dad (2005) [TV series]
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