American Dad! (season 1)
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The first season of ''
American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
'' aired on Fox from February 6, 2005, to June 19, 2005, and consists of seven episodes. The series (at this point) focuses on the eccentric
upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term '' lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class stra ...
Smith family in a fictionalized version of Langley, Virginia and their six housemates: Father, CIA agent, and Republican, Stan;
housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...
Francine; their liberal, hippie daughter, Hayley; their dorky high-school-aged son, Steve; the family's unusual goldfish, Klaus; and flamboyant, homebound alien,
Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
. Nineteen episodes were produced during the first production cycle with production numbers 1AJNxx, but only seven were aired in the first season, with the remaining twelve making up the majority of season 2. The series premiere,
Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
, was broadcast directly after Super Bowl XXXIX and was watched by 15.1 million viewers; the highest number of viewers the series ever amassed. The rest of the first season would then air between May 1 and June 19, 2005, all premiering on Sunday nights. The series received mixed reviews from most critics, though it did receive praise for some episodes, particularly "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man" and "Homeland Insecurity". The season, along with the first six episodes of season 2, are included within the Volume One DVD box set, which released in Region 1 on April 25, 2006, Region 2 on April 24, 2006, and Region 4 on May 24, 2006. MacFarlane and Weitzman conceived the idea for American Dad! in 2000, after the win of the Bush administration in the
election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
. In 2003, Fox Broadcasting ordered a short pilot presentation of the then tentatively titled American Dad! and stated "If greenlit, American Dad! could launch as early as fall 2004." At the time, Fox was aiming to develop a new lineup of adult animated sitcoms. The pilot presentation would then be extended to a full 22 minutes and air as the series' first episode.


Development


Conception

In 1999, ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'', Seth MacFarlane's first animated show, aired on Fox to massive ratings success. During this time, MacFarlane had come up with the idea for ''American Dad!'' after the 2000 presidential election; stating "me and co-creator Matt Weitzman were so frustrated with the Bush administration that we would just spend days bitching and complaining, and we figured we should channel this into something creative and hopefully profitable." Later, series co-creator Mike Barker stated, "About a year and a half ago, Seth called and asked if Matt and I would be interested in working on a show about a right-wing CIA agent and his liberal daughter. It was right up our alley, and everything just fell into place." In late 2003, '' Variety'' reported that Fox Broadcasting had ordered a pilot presentation of the then tentatively titled ''American Dad!'' and "If greenlit, ''American Dad!'' could launch as early as fall 2004." At the time, Fox was aiming to develop a new lineup of adult animated sitcoms following the cancellation of Family Guy.


Cast

The season aired on the Fox Network in the United States. Season one had a cast of five main actors. MacFarlane provided the voice of Stan, the Republican C.I.A. agent patriarch of the family. The family's flamboyant pet alien,
Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
, was also voiced by MacFarlane. Other members of the family include Francine, the mild-mannered housewife, voiced by Wendy Schaal; Steve, the geeky, high school aged som, voiced by Scott Grimes; and Hayley, the liberal daughter, whom often butts heads with Stan, voiced by Rachael MacFarlane. The family also includes Klaus Heisler, the often overlooked, incredibly horny fish, voiced by
Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of his work has consisted of vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as '' Adventure Time'', ''American Dad!'', '' Avatar: The Las ...
.


Episodes


Extras


Reception

The season and series premiere,
Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
, aired following Super Bowl XXXIX. This premiere episode was broadcast as part of an animated television night on Fox, following an episode of ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
''. The episode was watched by 15.1 million viewers.
In addition, the season was nominated for a Golden Reel Award for the episode "Homeland Insecurity". Season one was met with mixed reviews. Certain critics commented positively on the season, such as ''DVD Fanatic'', who graded the season a "B" rating. The website stated "the series may not be fully there yet, but it shows more promise than ''
Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...
'' did in its first season", and listed "Homeland Insecurity" and "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man" as the "best episodes" of the season. Sophie Evans of
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...
wrote a negative review of the season, criticizing it for a reliance on political humor, and for Stan's character. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the season holds a 79%, the lowest Popcornmeter score in the series' Fox run.
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
wrote a mixed review stating, "At its worst, ''American Dad!'' proves critics right – it is a lot like ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
''. Stan is an idiot, Roger and Klaus are very similar to Stewie and Brian, and Francine acts as the voice of reason. Sure, there are differences, but there are plenty of moments when the characterizations are exactly the same. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you're not a fan of ''Family Guy'' you might not be a huge fan of this show, either." However, the website believed the series showed improvement towards the end of the season, saying "once you get into the season, the show becomes downright hilarious, and the humor really detaches from ''Family Guy''. It feels like it took some time for the writers to get used to not having the cutaways of ''Family Guy'', and finally came to grips with the new format.", citing "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man" and as one of the highlights of the season.


Home Media

''American Dad! – Volume One'' was originally released by 20th Century Home Entertainment as a three-disc
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
1 DVD
box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
in the U.S. on April 25, 2006. The DVD release contains all of season one, along with the first six episodes of season two. It features bonus material such as deleted scenes for each episode, select episode animatics and a short clip from HBO's 2005 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Also included is audio commentary on select episodes, each by either voice actors or crew members who worked on the episode.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:American Dad! Season 1 2005 American animated television seasons