• Watch American Dad Online
• Title: American Dad
• Category: Comedy
• Premiere: 2004

A show from Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, about CIA Agent/father Stan Smith, wife Francine, punk teenage daughter Hayley, geek son Steve, space alien Roger, and Klaus, a fish.

There’s been a lot of anticipation for American Dad, the new animated series from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. In 1999, Family Guy earned a following large enough to make it one of television’s hottest properties but not large enough to sustain the ratings Fox wanted, resulting in its cancellation. However, the record-setting sales of the show’s DVD sets and its excellent ratings as part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup led Fox to return it to the network’s midseason Sunday night lineup. Since all that, everyone’s been wondering what else MacFarlane had up his sleeve. The answer, unfortunately, is not much.

Stan Smith (voiced by MacFarlane) is a true-blue American hero, a clean-cut, square-jawed, supremely earnest saluter of Old Glory. He’s also an important cog in the War on Terror, a decorated CIA operative responsible for keeping the U.S. safe and freedom on the march. On the home front, he’s somewhat less successful. His daughter Hayley (Seth’s daughter Rachael) is a crunchy granola community college lefty who looks for every opportunity to challenge Dad. He has trouble relating to his son Steve (Scott Grimes), a pasty pre-pubescent loser with a Shazam t-shirt and no luck with the ladies. And his wife Francine (Wendy Schaal) is mostly supportive, but lacks enthusiasm about brandishing her machetes when Stan suspects a late-night attack by Osama bin Laden (Stan screams, “If I die, you must protect the clan!”).

Rounding out the family are Klaus (Dee Bradley Baker), a talking goldfish with the mind of an East German alpine skier (the CIA switched his brain during the fictional 1986 Winter Olympics to ensure American victory) and the hots for Francine; and Roger (MacFarlane again), an alien that saved Stan’s life at Area 51 and whose necessary house arrest has acclimated him to Earth’s simpler pleasures, like cigarettes, daytime television, and Chocodiles.

Watch American Dad Online