American Dad! Season 14, Episode 7 Ninety North, Zero West Grade: B- I mean, there’s no land at the North Pole. Let’s just get that out of the way first. And Pangaea? Definitely more than 5,000 years ago. That said, I appreciate the insanity that American Dad Christmases regularly bring around as the Smiths have yet another horrible holiday. Except for Jeff, who is probably having a great time somewhere in the Langley Falls sewer system. Some of the gags worked (Santa’s PowerPoint presentation, Francine’s deep Gilgamesh knowledge, the banished elf that got cut in half, Roger on Tinder) but … Continue reading “Ninety North, Zero West” American Dad! S14 E7

American Dad! Season 14 Episode 6 Roger’s Baby Grade: C- A welcome return to serialization revisits the aftermath of the highly successful ‘Jeff voyage home’ arc with mixed results. On one hand you have a couple very funny gags, and on the other you have a dull clunker of an episode, with fewer jokes than usual, more exposition, and a bizarrely unnecessary sewer monster lady at the end to kill any residual warm feelings I felt toward the show tonight. But let’s start with the good stuff! Morning Mimosa’s is a larger part of the show these days, and they’re … Continue reading “Roger’s Baby” American Dad! S14 E6

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 5 Bahama Mama Grade: B This was a hard one to grade. On one hand I love the ‘Off Screen Motors’ type gags, some of the anti-humor (‘Even my Smorfs,’ ‘Unincorporated Candy Township’), and the random, evocative line intonations scattered throughout the episode (‘Yes, the wallet Jeff. The wallet.’). On the other hand, we have an apparent infomercial for the Atlantis resort and some uncomfortable racial politics in the form of the drug gang that runs the dilapidated rest of the island. The sole laugh out loud moment for me was the line about KlausRazor and … Continue reading “Bahama Mama” American Dad! S14 E5

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 4 Portrait of Francine’s Genitals Grade: A- A whole bunch of pitch perfect gags liven up the standard plot this week as Stan gets insecure and jealous over a painting of his wife’s genitalia and Rodger attempts to capitalize. Shockingly, nothing is taken to extremes- Rodger doesn’t betray Stan, Steve doesn’t have some sort of breakdown over not being able to masturbate, and Klaus never really gets his comeuppance. Nor, really, does Stan. And he kind of deserves it this week. The gender politics of this episode are not… the best. The attitude that you … Continue reading “Portrait of Francine’s Genitals” American Dad! S14 E4

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 3 The Enlightenment of Ragi Baba Grade: B Has Roger been a cult leader before? It seems like Roger has had to have been a cult leader before at least once. Either way, it’s no surprise that he jumped right to the poisoned punch phase at the first sign of trouble. Pretty sure all those cultists at the spiritual co-op are dead. I was less enamored of Stan and Steve’s B-plot, although the perennial disappointment that the restaurant owner’s son experienced was a great recurring gag. There were some basic lapses in logic in this … Continue reading “The Enlightenment of Ragi Baba” American Dad! S14 E3

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 2 Fight and Flight Grade: A- After the somewhat inexplicable lows of Season 13 (well, not entirely inexplicable, given the transition from Fox to TBS) it’s good to have American Dad back with the expectation of quality from week to week. But here it is, alive and kicking (creatively speaking) well past when nearly any other show would have given up the ghost. The main plot of Fight and Flight (Stan micromanaging Steve’s life) is nothing special, and the ending involving the pilfering of the Spirit of St. Louis is derivative of ‘Sideshow Bob’s Last … Continue reading “Fight and Flight” American Dad! S14 E2