In only a couple short weeks, we’re getting a new season of American Dad! That’s not shocking considering it’s been on the air for 20 years. On the other hand, it’s going to be airing on Fox for the first time in over a decade. American Dad! had been a TBS staple for years, and the show had grown a lot during that time. Now that it’s going to be on Fox again, will it continue to be a highly entertaining adult animated sitcom or will it, like an adult moving back in with his or her parents, revert to a shell of its former self?
It’s easy to forget the beginnings of American Dad! way back in 2005. Family Guy was going through one of its cancellations, but that didn’t mean Fox didn’t want a raunchy animated show to join its line-up. Family Guy ended up returning by the time American Dad! premiered, and with The Simpsons and King of the Hill rounding outthe line-up, what could American Dad! give audiences that the other shows couldn’t?
Family Guy was, like The Simpsons, a take on the classic American sitcom only more extreme and self aware. American Dad! branded itself as a more topical show by adding a political element. It was a post-9/11 world, and with George W. Bush in the White House, the comedy came from things like invasive government oversight, fear of foreign terrorists, and over the top American patriotism. Stan Smith was a right wing CIA agent who could clash with his liberal daughter, Hayley. And while Family Guy had a talking dog and a hyper intelligent baby, American Dad! had a talking fish (who was actually a man in a fish’s body) and a wacky alien.
The comparisons to Family Guy were there, and it may have taken a couple seasons for 
American Dad! to forge its own independent identity, it happened in a big way. Francine and Steve may have been “the mom” and “the son”, but it wasn’t long until people stopped comparing them to Lois and Chris Griffin. Stan’s job for the CIA was an important vehicle that made the show unique. It wasn’t just a family sitcom, sometimes it had action and science fiction tropes. The climax to an episode could be bigger, and the jokes could get weirder without feeling out of place. Then there was Roger. Initially, a shut-in alien hiding from the CIA, Roger soon took on multiple personas to get a more active role in the stories. He quickly became one of the funniest characters on the show. American Dad! standing on its own and proving its worthiness to be a Fox animated comedy pretty much came about when they figured out how to mine Roger for comedy.
So where did Fox leave American Dad! when it was canceled? After ten seasons, American Dad! was a rock solid show, and TBS had no problem with the audience following the show to its new home. It was unique in its humor and characters, not afraid to get experimental with some episodes, and even changed up the status quo in a major way. Hayley’s on again/off again boyfriend Jeff not only moved in with the Smiths, he also married Hayley. Jeff then found out that Roger is an alien and, essentially, become a core member of the family.
Behind the scenes, American Dad! had a change up of producers. Mike Barker, who had been the executive producer and showrunner for 10 seasons, left the show. He was replaced by Matt Weitzman. The quality of the show didn’t change significantly, but Terry Bates (a news anchor and husband of co-anchor Greg Corbin), was written off. Terry had been voiced by Mike Barker, and his departure meant that Greg became the sole voice of the news.
American Dad! was in a good place in 2014 when it went to TBS, but being on cable allowed it to spread its wings a little more. Sure, TBS re-ran episodes of Family Guy, but these were new episodes of American Dad! You might catch bits of Family Guy here and there, but you were tuning in for American Dad! And this was an “edgier” American Dad!, as the promos would say. Being on cable allowed American Dad! to use unbleeped curse words, which it would take advantage of in pretty much every episode. Plots did get a little more risque, and Roger, in particular, was used for many sexual jokes and subplots.
Yes, American Dad! was edgier. But what did it really gain by being on TBS? Jeff may have been the biggest addition on Fox, but it’s perhaps Klaus who really benefited from the new network. Klaus was one of the most underused characters of the main cast. As a fish in a bowl, he couldn’t do too much. By the time American Dad! was on TBS, Klaus was fully mobile and could operate like a full grown person as long as he was dragging his bowl along with him. They also gave Klaus the hilarious running gag of being hopelessly in love with Hayley’s friend, Danuta. As far as brand new characters go, Roger was given an offspring in Rogu. Introduced all the way in season 15, you’d think Rogu would have the problem that many sitcoms do when they add a younger, cuter character. Rogu, however, became a deconstruction of that idea, and the show used him sparingly enough that he never became annoying. Another significant change was that Hayley, who was once a college student, became an employee of SubHub during the TBS seasons.
Overall, I would say that the TBS seasons were stronger than the Fox seasons. That was partially because early American Dad! had to find its footing. Later Fox seasons were already using recurring gags like the constant threat of Krampus during Christmas and introduced some of the best Roger personas (like Dr. Penguin and Ricky Spanish). While we can say American Dad! was a better show on TBS, it was already pretty much there during its last days on Fox.
So what does American Dad! need to do when it returns to Fox to feel like it hasn’t lost 
anything it gained from TBS? It may have to tone down its language, but it won’t have to tone down its stories. I think the best bet is for American Dad! to continue on as if they were still on TBS. A successful return of American Dad! to Fox is going to be episodes where we can’t even tell that the show has returned to its original network.
One thing is for sure, if American Dad! is going to continue for a few more years, Fox is the safest place. TBS hasn’t been big on original content as of late, and Fox is set on having a full block of animation on Sunday nights no matter what show is going to air (and there’s no worry about Futurama or King of the Hill swooping in to snag a timeslot, those are Hulu exclusives).
Season 20 of American Dad! premieres on February 22nd on Fox. This season’s going to be a big one, with the 400th episode on the horizon. The good news is, American Dad! has been renewed for 4 more seasons, so we’ve got at least another 56 episodes to see it back on the channel that launched it.
