DVD/TV Series Review: American Dad: Volumes 1-4

 

American Dad is a now long-running adult animated comedy that was created by the creator of Family Guy, Seth McFarlane, who also voices multiple characters on the show, including the lead character Stan Smith. The show is set in Langly Falls Virginia and focuses on Stan's life as a CIA agent, and his family which includes his wife Francine, his son Steve, his daughter Haley, an alien named Roger, and a talking fish named Klaus. Stan saved Roger from the CIA and Klaus was a German olympian whose consciousness was transferred into a fish. So, the show does get a bit silly under the guise of the CIA covering tons of things up. In the early seasons, the show really focused on Stan's job and then tied in "side stories" that involved the other characters. Over the course of time the show gets more off the wall and usually involves Roger and his various characters (people he dresses up as to hide the fact he is an alien).

This set has the first five DVD volumes. They are not really seasons, as when the show was released on DVD in the early years, much like family guy, they did not put all the season episodes in one DVD set. For example, Volume 1 has the first 13 episodes from season one, and then Volume 2 has the rest of the season one episodes and the first nine episodes from season 2. In the early releases, the sets included a lot of extras including commentary tracks on some episodes, featurettes, deleted scenes, animatics, and the ability to watch the episodes with uncensored or censored audio. In later releases, they just released the DVDs with uncensored audio.

Overall, the show is a story-of-the-week type of show that occasionally refers back to prior episodes or events. But mostly, you don't have to have seen prior episodes to in order to get what is going on. It has a very similar comedy style as Family Guy, but it does not do as many cutaways or include as many pop culture references as Family Guy does. It is definitely not a show for kids as there is swearing and a lot of adult jokes, including many that it is surprising made it past censors when the show was on Fox. Chances are, most people reading this have an idea of what the show is and is not, but if you are just trying to figure out whether to watch the show if you like more adult humor and are not offended easily, it is worth watching, especially the early seasons which were, in my opinion, better than the later seasons are.

DVD Review: American Dad Volume 13

 

As most die-hard fans of the show know, the quality of the DVD releases has gone way down over the course of time. However, the one saving grace is that the episodes on the DVD were uncensored, so you would get the unedited jokes, f-bombs, and all. Now the MOD sets are just releasing the broadcast versions of the show, with the edits. And, they are not even captioning the sets as they have done in past years. So, really, the only reason to get this is if you already have the prior seasons on DVD and you want to keep your collection complete.

As far as the show goes, it pretty much follows the story-of-the-week format it always has. Some of the episodes they just plain make as weird as they possibly can. Of course, because it is a cartoon it is easy for the writers and showrunners to do so. I still think the best episodes are the ones that somehow involve Stan's job at the CIA, which the show has really removed as a focus. The show is definitely getting a bit long in the tooth but, like Family Guy, it seems that this one is going to go on as long as Seth McFarlane wants to continue making it. So, I cannot say that everyone, even people who have been fans of the show are going to like this season. Certainly, die-hard fans will probably still like it, even if not as much as in prior seasons, but if you have never liked the show, this season is not going to do anything to change your mind.

DVD Review: American Dad Volume 12

 

American Dad, much like Family Guy (which was also created by Seth McFarlane) is a show that people tend to love or hate. By now, I think most people know what the show is, but for those who do not, it is an adult animated series that basically tells a story-of-the-week (sometimes stories-of-the-week) set around the character Stan Smith who works at the CIA and his family, which includes an alien named Roger and a talking fish named Klaus. Over the years the CIA part of the story has taken a large backseat to the quirky family life, which I think has taken away from the strength of the show. There are still episodes set around Stan's job, but not as many as there were in the early seasons.

For those who get the DVD set, it is a straight MOD release. Just the episodes. For some weird reason, it appears that Volume 12 was only released as a Region 2 set (the UK and Europe) and not in Region 1, so if you are in the US or Canada you need a Region free (or Region 2) player to watch this. The episodes are uncensored, so you do get some f-bombs being dropped that were bleeped out of the broadcast and streaming versions of the episodes.

Overall, I would say if you have liked the show up to this point you will still probably like this season (unless the shift from the CIA storylines really bugs you). On the other hand, if you have never liked the show, this is probably not going to do anything to change your mind.

DVD Review: Family Guy Season 16

Family Guy has been around long enough that anyone reading a review of it by now is aware of what it is. It follows the same story-of-the-week (sometimes with or without a side story) procedural format. While they do make callbacks to old jokes and references to past episodes, you really do not have to watch from week to week to follow what is going on (for the most part). There are some two or even three-part episodes from time to time, including this season. But, for the most part, the episodes are stand-alone. 

The show continues to be irreverent, making jokes about anything and everything, including the show itself. It is definitely adult humor, especially on the DVDs as the episodes are uncensored and they do drop in swearing that does not get put on the broadcast versions of the episodes. For me, the standout episodes of the season are the season finale in which Peter has a conversation with God. The Putin episode (mainly for the well-inserted Access Holywood Tape joke), the episode in which Brian enters himself into a dog show, and the body-switching episode. 

For those who are looking at the DVD set. As you are probably aware, the quality of the extras on the DVD releases has gone down as the years have gone by. For this set, you just get deleted scenes and an animatic of one of the episodes that is longer than the regular episode and have a commentary track on it with a couple of the writers. They are okay but not nearly as extensive as what the older DVD releases got. But, of course, as physical media has been slowly dying, especially when it comes to TV series, the fact that any DVD release happens is lucky.

Overall, the season is good. I still think the series was at its best in its first couple of years before it was canceled by FOX, but it managed to find a formula that works and has kept it on the air for years since it was brought back. As for whether it is worth getting the DVD set, it boils down to whether you want the uncensored episodes, as I have heard, the streaming version of the show is the same as the broadcast version. 

DVD Review: Family Guy Season 15

 

Season 15 of Family Guy pretty much follows the same format that it has used. The episodes are all stand-alone stories of the week, but there are callbacks to old jokes and references to past episodes. By now, anyone who is thinking about buying the show, especially on DVD, knows what it is and what it is not. Like the more recent DVD releases, this is uncensored, so there is a lot stronger language than what can get broadcast on TV, including some f-bombs here and there. There are a lot of good episodes this season, but honestly, the season finale, "A House Full of Peters" was probably my favorite of the bunch. There is not really a stand-out episode this season (like the "Family Guy Presents" episodes in which Stewie and Brian go on some adventure) but there were not really any duds either.

This release is fairly light on bonus features. There are deleted scenes for every episode that run from a few seconds to a few minutes. There are no commentary tracks on any episodes or any interviews with the cast or anything like that. There are two tributes, one to Carrie Fisher and one to Adam West, who died in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The tribute to Fisher was mostly the writers talking about their love of Star Wars and how much they enjoyed working with her on the series. The tribute to West was basically a collection of the more memorable scenes of his character from the series with a tribute card at the end of it. 

Overall, the show is what it is. If you have been a fan, it is worth watching. If you have never been into it, this season will not change your mind. A case can certainly be made that the series is getting long in the tooth, but I think the writers continue to come up with good story ideas, so I do not think it has gotten to the point where it is totally stale, or the writers are not coming up with new ideas. So, if you are a fan of the show it is worth watching. Whether you think getting the DVD is worth it vs streaming, I do not know if the streaming versions are censored (I believe they are the broadcast versions), but that is one consideration, and you do get some bonus features that you will not see if you just stream it. 

DVD Review: Family Guy Season 14

 

Season 14 of Family Guy continues to follow the pattern the show has followed for years. A story of the week, with pop culture and/or political jokes thrown in throughout the episodes. It is really the formula that has worked for the show for years, and they seem to be content with it. By now, the show has been around long enough that people know whether they like it or not. I personally still find it entertaining, although I do not think it is as good as it was during its original run on FOX before it was canceled and brought back. The DVDs do have the advantage of being uncensored, so the jokes can be a bit edgier and they do swear a lot, including dropping more than a few f-bombs throughout the season. The big "special" episode of the season was the season finale where Brian and Stewie travel to India to meet a call center worker that Brian falls in love with over the phone. There are some Bollywood references and a spoof of Slumdog Millionaire. 

For those who get the DVDs, the extras include commentary tracks on select episodes and deleted scenes for every episode. The deleted scenes are accessible from the extras menu on the main screen for each disc, but if you want to listen to the commentary tracks, you have to go into the menu for each individual episode menus, then go into the extras menu for the specific episode. So, it is not extremely convenient. The commentary tracks do not include any of the cast members, usually the writer and director of the episode and one of the producers (not Seth McFarlane). They are good, but not a must listen to. There is also a full animatic/storyboard sequence for one of the episodes.

Overall, the show is still good, even if it is getting a bit long in the tooth now. If you are a fan you will probably like this season, even if you do not love it as much as you have in the past. If you have never liked the show there is nothing about this season that is likely to change your mind. 

DVD Review: Family Guy Season 13

 

The big "event" of Season 13 of Family Guy was the crossover with The Simpsons in which the Griffons find themselves in Springfield. All of the major Simpsons characters appeared, and there were inside jokes and callbacks to things from the past of both shows. From there, the season pretty much played out as it always has, basically having a storyline or two of the week in a given episode, but not really any kind of story arc extending through the season.

For those who get the DVD, the episodes are uncensored (they drop f-bombs quite frequently) and, because the show is still popular, you do get some extras. These include a making-of feature on The Simpsons episode, deleted scenes, an animatic version of the episode where Brian and Stewie take Chris through time to teach him history, and commentary tracks on select episodes. My only complaint is that the commentary tracks are not accessible through the extras menu. You have to go into the menu for each individual episode to see if there is one available for that particular episode. So, if you use the "play all" feature to watch the episodes, then go into the extras menu, you have no way of knowing which episodes have commentary tracks and which do not. Aside from that, you get a good amount of material if you like going through the bonus features.

By now, anyone who is considering getting this knows what the show is and what it is not. The jokes can be very offensive and almost no topic is off-limits. While I still think that the original run of episodes from before FOX canceled it after the second or third season was the best, it is still a strong series (if you like adult (sometimes very adult) humor). If however, you have never been a big fan of the show, nothing about season 13 is likely to change your mind.