American Dad! Season 14 Episode 18 The Long Bomb Grade: C+ The stadium. Why did it have to be the stadium. And a lukewarm Die Hard play by the numbers. Some of the bits in the mid-section (the hot dog, … Continue reading “The Long Bomb” American Dad! S14 E18

American Dad! Season 14 Episode 17 Family Plan Grade: C- None of this worked very well. I chuckled over the expectations game about which gag they’d go with or at the stupidity of the gags, but that’s about it. Oh, … Continue reading “Family Plan” American Dad! S14 E17

American Dad! Season 14 Episode 16 The Bitchin’ Race Grade: B+ I can dock this one down to a C+ for the ‘alpha/beta’ reference/dynamic, stupid recurring villain, and dumb race TV show conceit with no payoff to Dick’s party, or … Continue reading “The Bitchin’ Race” American Dad! S14 E16

American Dad! Season 14 Episode 15 The Life and Times of Steve Smith Grade: B A good start and some solid jokes with some baggage. From the beginning I was looking for clues about a potential cross over with the … Continue reading “The Life and Times of Steve Smith” American Dad! S14 E15

American Dad! Season 14 Episode 14 Julia Rogerts Grade: C- Minions. Why did it have to be, etc. After a laughless 8 minutes of setup that felt like padding, we arrived at the break in Roger and Stan’s friendship (which … Continue reading “Julia Rogerts” American Dad! S14 E14

American Dad! S14, Episode 13 Camp Campawanda Grade: B+ Some fantastic bits and visuals (the townie bar was a dead ringer for Moe’s bar from the Simpsons) in this episode were marred a bit by a plot that ended with … Continue reading “Camp Campawanda” American Dad! S14 E13

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 12 Bazooka Steve Grade: A- I was worried with the cold open that we were in for a retread of a bad Family Guy episode (specifically ‘Jungle Love’ where Chris escapes to South America through … Continue reading “Bazooka Steve” American Dad! S14, E12

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 11 Casino Normale Grade: C+ Blessed with an A plot with a lot of promise (Francine taking on the CIA), this episode was nevertheless rather aimless and generally saved by a couple good bits and … Continue reading “Casino Normale” American Dad! S14, E11

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 10 A Nice Night for a Drive Grade: A- The polar opposite of last week’s A-, this episode earns its keep through a steady string of jokes- from referencing ‘El perro, el perro, es mi … Continue reading “A Nice Night for a Drive” American Dad! S14 E10

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 9 Witches of Langley Grade: A- Much of this episode was sub-par, from the lifeless intro to the pat conclusion, to the kid stereotypes, to underused Roger, Fran, and Stan, but by the time the … Continue reading “Witches of Langley” American Dad! S14 E9

American Dad! Season 14, Episode 8 Whole Slotta Love Grade: A- Effective 4th wall breaks have been a hallmark of the later American Dad seasons, with freeze frame/Roger having a stroke proving the first solid laugh and Roger skipping right … Continue reading “Whole Slotta Love” American Dad! S14 E8

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, … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … Continue reading “Fight and Flight” American Dad! S14 E2

Episode grade: B Well, this is it… the season finale of season 13 of American Dad!. I don’t think any of us expected a show that’s been on the air so long to be able to recapture its mojo, but … Continue reading American Dad! Season 13 Episode 22: “Standard Deviation”

Episode grade: B- Stan and his son Steve: one of the most core-level sources of conflict within the Smith family. Steve, the nerdy, wimpy son of the big, strong, CIA strongman, who never fails to disappoint. Well, that’s not exactly … Continue reading American Dad! Season 13 Episode 21: “Next of Pin”

Episode grade: A- Stan’s job at the CIA is one of the core features of the show, stretching all the way back to its conception. Though Stan himself has evolved in many ways, the nature of his job as an … Continue reading American Dad! Season 13 Episode 20: “Gifted Me Liberty”

Whenever Stan tries to bond with Hayley, it’s a perfect recipe for awkward times. Sure, Stan doesn’t exactly have the best relationship with Steve either, but at least Steve is usually enthusiastic about spending time with his dad. Hayley, on … Continue reading American Dad! Season 13 Episode 19: “Garfield and Friends”