It originally aired on the Fox Network on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX and an episode of The Simpsons.
The episodes introduces the series' main protagonist Stan Smith, who rigs a school election to make his son Steve more popular.
The episode was written by series co-creators Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman and directed by Ron Hughart.
Because of this, MacFarlane chose to focus on Family Guy and handed creative control over to Barker and Weitzman.
After the pilot aired, the rest of the first season began on May 1, 2005, on Fox's Animation Domination lineup which had its debut on that date.
They bury the dog, and Stan tries to make up for it by rigging the school election and discrediting his opponent by showing an altered photo of her in bed with the Jack in the Box Man (who Stan tells Steve, and Roger later discovers, is still in their basement) so that Steve wins and becomes the school president.
Roger is also addicted to sugar, and Francine puts him on a forced diet when his weight causes him to break a chair and the dinner table.
In order to get around Francine's strict control of junk food in the house, Roger strikes a deal with Hayley to do her homework in exchange for her smuggling sweets to him.
after the 2000 presidential election; stating "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.
"[2][3] Later, series co-creator Mike 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.
"[3][4] On September 14, 2003, Variety reported that Fox Broadcasting had ordered a pilot presentation of the then tentatively titled American Dad!
As a result, MacFarlane chose to focus on Family Guy and handed creative control of American Dad!
"[9] The New York Times's Alessandra Stanley said the show "aspires to pick up where 'The Simpsons' and 'South Park' left off, but many of its jokes and cultural references seem off.