Reviewed by Jami Ferguson
It’s time once again to let it all hang out with an all-new volume of animated outrageousness! From the disturbed comic minds of Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, comes the always insane adventures of CIA operative Stan Smith and his wonderfully twisted family. In the 100th episode, Hayley elopes with Jeff! Other episodes include Stan on jury duty, Steve walking in on his amorous parents, Roger dating Steve’s best friend, and yet another AD Christmas classic. Plus, there are serial killers, Turkish amphetamines, and evil clones! So, you know, the usual!
Film (3 out of 5 stars)
American
Dad was created by Seth MacFarlane, the man behind Family Guy but this isn’t a spin off; it is a separate
distinct show. American Dad centers
around the Smith family. Patriarch Stan
Smith is a CIA agent who rescued an alien named Roger from Area 51. Stan and Roger have more than a few
disagreements, but it’s fair to say Roger is a part of the family. Stan and his wife Francine have two children, Steve
and Hayley and a family “pet” goldfish named Klaus who is actually a German man trapped in the
goldfish’s body.
American
Dad has not been one of my favorite shows so far, but it’s been just
entertaining enough to keep me watching.
While I love Family Guy, I’ve never enjoyed American Dad as much which is surprising since both are from Seth McFarlane. For some reason, I just don’t find most of these episodes
funny even after watching several seasons of the show. I’m hoping for a surprise with
season six but this far into the show I’m betting it’s probably more of the
same.
American
Dad Volume Seven contains the following episodes on three discs:
- 100 A.D. – The 100th
episode, complete with kill counter (promising 100 deaths). Hayley and
boyfriend Jeff run away to elope and her parents use the $50,000 they had saved
for her wedding as a reward for anyone who can break them up. - Son of Stan – Stan and
Francine argue over the best way to parent Steve and Stan brings home a clone
he names “Stevarino” so that each of them has a child to raise with
no interference from the other. - Best Little Horror
House in Langley Falls – Stan prides himself on having the best haunted house in the
neighborhood but the new neighbor has outdone him. To increase the scare factor, Stan brings
home real serial killers. - Stan’s Food
Restaurant – Stan
pursues a dream of opening a restaurant like one from his childhood and Roger
first helps and then takes over. Hayden
Panitierre stars as Ashley, an “easy” girl Steve is after that turns
out to have a very unusual best friend. - White Rice – Stan has been
taking Francine to a hypnotherapist to make her suppress all the things he
doesn’t like, including her stand up career.
Every time Stan leaves Francine for her session he ignores the
therapist’s request for a sandwich.
Finally the therapist has enough and brings all her memories back. Francine has a short lived television show
based on her standup comedy and her life as a Caucasian adopted by an Asian
family. - There Will Be Bad
Blood – Stan’s
half brother and his family are coming to thanksgiving dinner. This is Stan’s chance to show off everything
he has to his poor brother. When the
kids need an attitude adjustment, they head out to show them how Stan’s brother
lives which is surprisingly very well!
It turns out Stan’s brother has been coming to Stan’s house to make his
kids appreciate all they have. - The People v.
Martin Sugar – Stan
loves to be on jury duty, and there is no leniency even when the defendant is
Roger (as one of his aliases). - For Whom the Sleigh
Bell Tolls – Stan
gives Steve a gun for Christmas and he accidentally shoots Santa Claus, putting
Christmas in jeopardy. - Fart-Break Hotel – Roger’s toxic
gas causes the family to be forced to evacuate.
At the hotel, Francine tries out a new life. - Stanny Boy and
Frantastic – Stan and
Francine are in search of new friends and they meet a great couple. The new couple is younger than them, and has
no children and Stan and Francine try to keep up, pretending to be just like
them. When that doesn’t work, they
decide to make the new couple more like them, slowed down by a family. - A Pinata Named
Desire – Steve
and his friends are laughed at for still having sleep-overs so they plan the
ultimate and final sleepover. Roger and
Stan both pursue acting. - You Debt Your Life – Roger has an
argument with Stan and moves out, but is quickly replaced. - I Am the Walrus – Stan must
protect his claim as “big dog” of the family. - School Lies – The new guy gets on
a task force right away and Stan has failed to make waves in his 20 years,
which he thought was a good thing. Now
he wants to impress the Senator who makes those decisions. When Steve’s school is toxic, Stan doesn’t
want to send him to private school until he sees that the Senator’s daughter
attends the same school. When Steve
doesn’t cooperate Stan is desperate enough to have Roger take his place. - License to Till – Roger and Klaus
try to raise Steve’s social status and Francine and Stan are busy pulling
pranks. - Jenny Fromdabloc – Snot’s 10 year
crush has been rejected by Hayley and Steve and Roger attempt to cheer him
up. After watching an episode of
Bewitched, Stan decides to live like a man from the 1960s. - Home Wrecker – Stan and
Francine disagree about how to decorate the house, so they divide it up and
decorate separately. Principal Lewis
uses Barry to help him gamble, until Barry turns on him. - Flirting with
Disaster – Things go
horribly bad when Francine gets a job in Stan’s office. - Gorillas in the
Mist – Steve is
lost in the Gorilla cage at the zoo.
Roger opens a western bar.
Season six,
or volume seven had guest stars including Hayden Panettiere, Lou Diamond Phillips,
Jason Alexander and Burt Reynolds, among others. A few of the episodes were pretty amusing; a
lot of them were really dumb. While I’ve
been on the verge of quitting this show, I’m not there yet, and will go and
ahead and try the next volume as well. Which remind me to make one last complaint. I don’t like it when TV shows release volumes as I’d prefer actual season sets. Why can’t they just release an American Dad Season Six set? Why does it have to be a volume and furthermore, why is season six listed as volume seven? I think packaging my animated TV shows into volumes just makes things more confusing because for some reason when they come in “volumes” I have a harder time remembering if I’ve seen them before.
Video (3 out of 5 stars)
The video
quality of the episodes is equal to that of the TV broadcast, certainly not any
better. The video quality of the special
features has improved from the previous season.
It’s as good as I would expect from an animated DVD.
Audio (3 out of 5 stars)
American
Dad Volume 7 is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. For a television show on DVD, the sound isn’t
bad. Dialogue is at a consistent level
throughout and sound effects are realistic and not overwhelming.
Special
Features (3 out of 5 stars)
The special features are
pretty much the same as in previous seasons with the exception of “I Love
Patrick Stewart”, which was pretty cute.
- Deleted
Scenes – There are deleted scenes from every episode. None of them would have made a significant
addition to the story. - I Love Patrick
Stewart – Cast and Crew discuss how much they love Patrick Stewart and what an
addition he is to the show. - American
Dad at Comic-Con 2010 – The American Dad panel at Comic Con. Actors, writers/directors and creators sit on
the panel.
Final
Thoughts 3 / 5
Patrick
Stewart as Avery Bullock is still the best part of the show. With the addition of the “I Love Patrick
Stewart” special feature it’s clear the creators realize that fact as well. Hearing Patrick’s Stewart’s British accent and
commanding voice delivering some of these ridiculous lines might be one of the
reasons I keep watching. This season is
a slight improvement over last season so that gives me hope for the next
season.
Order your copy today!
