American Dad! Season 12 Premiere Review

In an unconventional move, TBS put the very first episode of American Dad! they'll air on YouTube last night, but with a major catch; it'll only be available for 48 hours. So be sure to check it out! Now, on with the review!


American Dad! has been dismissed as a Family Guy clone by the majority of the population, but even a few minutes of footage would prove that assumption to be inaccurate. American Dad! derives it's humor from the absurd, using the medium of animation to do some twisted and inspired gags, and also manages to have some witty writing in there to boot. Some of that humor is on display here, though I'm kinda disappointed the episode that many will take as their introduction to the show when it debuts on TBS next week couldn't be more consistent in its quality.

The plot for this episode is simple, nothing too special despite being the first one to air on a new network. It's kind of nice to see the show hasn't changed in terms of animation style or voice actors, but they can't compensate for the weak plot behind this one. Haley dyes her hair blonde in order to get people to listen to her protests, and with her new hair color gets caught up in a reckless party lifestyle, and you can guess where it goes from there. The lack of surprises or innovation in this one is Disappointing, considering American Dad! is usually reliable on creating some sort of unexpected plot out of traditional story tropes.

Not helping matters is that the jokes aren't especially strong for most of the episode. Roger is aces, but Haley, the center of the story, is surprisingly bland for much of the episode rendering many jokes surrounding her inert. A subplot involving Stan Smith and his son Steve breaking into a fancy house under construction doesn't yield many laughs for most of its run, though a sight gag involving Snots head on a scantily clad woman's body is way more amusing than it should be.

Thankfully, the last act of the episode picks things up considerably, even if it doesn't tie both plots together in a meaningful way like many great American Dad! episodes. Utilizing the kind of lunacy the show thrives on, the finale of this story manages to be both satisfying and hilarious (Roger reaction to a closet full of tusks is brilliantly funny). I wish more of the episode had had this kind of quality, but at least it made an appearance here. Hopefully future entries of the show on TBS find more consistency than this one, because there really is some great stuff nestled within some lackluster moments.