is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company.

had largely been guided by Barker (prior to his departure from the show in season 10) and Weitzman as opposed to MacFarlane, resulting in a series that is different from its counterparts.

[10][11] The series focuses on the eccentric upper middle class Smith family in a fictionalized version of Langley, Virginia and their four housemates:[3] Father, husband, CIA agent, Republican, and breadwinner Stan; his wife and homemaker/housewife, Francine; their liberal, hippie, college-aged daughter, Hayley; and their dorky high-school-aged son, Steve.

Adding to all the ridiculousness and absurdity are the various personality traits of all the show's eccentric main characters, listed as follows: When asked what first spurred the idea for American Dad!

Seth MacFarlane answered, "It was right after the [2000] election, and me and co-creator Matt Weitzman were so frustrated with the Bush administration that we would just spend days bitching and complaining, and we figured we should channel this into something creative and hopefully profitable.

"[7][8] In early February 2005, Barker stated, "About a year and a half ago, Seth called and asked if Matt and I would be interested in working on a show about a right-wing CIA agent and his liberal daughter.

[2] Instead of taking over creative direction of the series, MacFarlane left the job largely in the hands of Barker and Weitzman so as to distinguish American Dad!

series debut, a writer of The Washington Post published a piece that reads "But those same executives have also given MacFarlane a whole new animated half-hour to play with in the disappointing American Dad!

"[17] In actuality, however, the program's beginnings take cues from the TV series All in the Family, almost a farcical animated version of the live action sitcom.

's initial couple of seasons and as it progressed, the show began to increasingly develop its very own distinct approach and identity, becoming more and more distinguished from all other programs on the air.

and the "Roger" character, MacFarlane began putting considerable amounts of his time and efforts into the series, more so in the last several seasons than ever before (this observation made in fall 2012).

During that event, he watched the rock band My Morning Jacket perform a four-hour set in the rain and realized from the experience that he could generate ideas for American Dad!

[24] Barker has stated that once he and the rest of the show's staff get the idea for the plot line, they spend a couple of weeks in a room with all the screenwriters.

Barker explained that they then all edit and rewrite it, "hopefully keeping as much of the first draft as we can and punching the jokes and making sure all the motivations are there, and then we take it to the table and read it.

The rest of the family members are forced to spend one holiday after the next alternating between Fran's and Stan's place (the sides of the house treated as distinct homes).

", a ferocious bear pauses in his attack, lowers his eyelids halfway, and repeatedly shakes his head horizontally, shaming Stan for missing him in a harpoon shot and instead spearing Francine into a wall; in the episode "Why Can't We Be Friends?

", the hallways of the Smith house transform into dark and dangerous alleyways every time Roger pays Jeff then ambushes him (in disguise) to steal the money back.

[35] For example, in the episode "The Full Cognitive Redaction of Avery Bullock by the Coward Stan Smith", Steve refers to Roger for help in dealing with a school bully, Luiz.

[3][14] As an example, one of Hayley's temporary breakups with Jeff expanded across a string of episodes, in which she instead temporarily dated a black man in a koala body, Reginald Koala—known for his very urban mannerisms and behaviors.

As another example, since the 9th season episode "Naked to the Limit, One More Time", Jeff Fischer has been absent from the Smith house and planet Earth altogether.

[39] Santa Claus returned in the Season 20 episode "Into the Jingleverse" where he gives Stan virtual reality goggles in order to be King of Presents forever.

[40] In discussing the cartoon's distinguishing story arc element, co-creator Mike Barker explained: Much of the wit used in American Dad!

has come in the form of black comedy as many of the predicaments and circumstances have made fun of the characters in life-threatening, disastrous, terrifying, and traumatic situations.

[33] As an example, the episode "A Ward Show" contains scenes of suicide and murder: Roger became Steve's legal guardian and responded to him getting picked on at school by rigging the teachers' cars with explosives and killing them all.

This culminated in Roger saving the day, his love supernaturally allowing the car to fly once Principal Lewis drove off the Canyon; another vehicle with a random white man and a black boy in it (opposite of Principal Lewis, a black man and Steve, a white boy) had also, coincidentally enough, driven off the opposite side of the Grand Canyon in a murder-suicide attempt.

[33] Another example, in the episode "Da Flippity Flop", Roger leaves a long series of harassing answering machine messages for Steve, trying to get him to sign up for his gym.

As of November 2013[update], the show's production crew was developing its first four episodes for season 11, slated to begin airing on October 20, 2014, when American Dad!

[67] On May 12, 2023, it was announced that the showrunners of American Dad, including Seth MacFarlane, would temporarily leave the show as a result of the 2023 Writers Guild of America Strike.

The other two animated programs were also created by Seth MacFarlane: Family Guy (the crossover episode "Bigfat" also included King of the Hill characters), and the cancelled series The Cleveland Show.

[158] In 2022, the Smiths also appeared in a crossover racing game was released titled Warped Kart Racers, along with Family Guy, King of the Hill, and Solar Opposites.