I used
Netflix to catch up with Family Guy (as well as re-watch some episodes) , Bob’s
Burgers and The Cleveland Show. Feeling
like I should give this a second chance, I began watching American Dad again
from the beginning.
Back
when American Dad first aired on Sunday nights on Fox with Family Guy and The
Simpsons, I still had cable. I
remember watching the first season in “real time” (I DVR’ed them before that
was cool) and thinking that this show just wasn’t very funny.
Now
when I look at this on Netflix, it shows me the first 23 episodes of this
series as being “Season 1”. However,
Wikipedia seems to believe that the first seven episodes are Season 1, while
the next sixteen episodes are Season 2.
I’m not sure which is correct, but to keep things clear for this review
and this review alone, I will stick with the words of Wikipedia.
So,
from here on out, what Netflix calls “Season 2”, I will review as “Season 3”
and so on, just adding one to what Netflix claims. To see the complete list of American Dad
episodes as chronicled by Wikipedia, my source on this for some reason, click
here:
Being
that the first seven episodes of American Dad create the first season, I must
stick with my original gut reaction and claim that these episodes are still not
that funny. Truth be told, I am in the
middle of Season 5 (via Netflix, Season 6 via Wikipedia) and this show does get
better as it goes on, but it just seems like these first few episodes are typical
of the animated comedy.
Also, with
the characters and timing it just feels as if American Dad hadn’t really found
their groove yet. The first episode I
really like comes on in Season 2, which is “All About Steve”. Maybe it’s the sci-fi nerd in me or the way
that Roger interacts with the guy he abducted once, but this is the first
episode I really found to be worth watching in the series.
The
Second Season has some other bright spots near the end (Steve gets boobs, Steve
and Klaus get locked in Hailey’s closet, that little dog and George Clooney),
but overall, you know, I feel like these first 23 episodes are a one hit wonder
at best. In the world of music, you
would not buy this album because there just isn’t enough overall good. But as someone who has watched a number of
episodes past this point, just remember:
It gets better.
