The fourth season of Seth MacFarlane's animated comedy American Dad following the escapades of Stan Smith CIA Agent and family man.
There are so many excellent episodes in this boxset that it's difficult to choose favourites but here are just a few...
'Tearjerker' is a fantastic James Bond parody that has Stan playing a 007-type secret agent with a mission to stop the evil Tearjerker (played by Roger) from creating a movie so sad that anyone who sees it will cry themselves to death.
'Widowmaker' is a classic American Dad episode in the truest sense that sees Stan opening up emotionally to Francine after receiving psychiatrist treatment from Roger in one of his many disguises.
In 'Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold' Stan is determined to leave a legacy and searches for legendary buried treasure beneath his house. He loses control of the kids and Francine is understandably annoyed. In a common twist for American Dad, Stan finally realises at the episode's denouement that his legacy is his children and that he must be a better father.
In the episode '1600 Candles' it comes as a surprise that the Smith family are planning to celebrate Roger's 1,600th birthday but viewers need not worry as unsurprisingly something derails the party plans. The episode is in part a parody of Jon Hughes' cult teen flick 16 Candles. Steve finally hits puberty and Stan and Francine are terrified of having a hormonal teenager in the house. Francine says that she is leaving as she can't cope with it, until a more devious method of controlling Steve presents itself.
Worthy of special note is Roger who has to be the best character in American Dad and certainly my favourite. Roger is the lovable, but alcoholic, affection-craving alien, and queen of the soap-opera-style bitches. In this boxset his character develops even further than before as he brings out a variety of new wigs and disguises - yes he loves disguises.
There are the usual crazy, and frankly ridiculous storylines that we have by now come accustomed to, which are, let's be honest, part of the appeal. Every episode Stan seems to alienate his family, his boss, or his neighbours due to one or another, usually bigoted, deep-seated belief such as racism, homophobia, love of guns, misunderstanding of any and all forms of love, or just plain puerile behaviour. Naturally he always learns the errors of his ways - at least until the next episode.
The only negative element is the occasional joke that goes too far and ends up coming off as distasteful, but as there is always a fine line to walk with comedy this is more or less forgivable. However I would like to point out that the preoccupation that American Dad has with 'jokes' relating to people being raped is completely unforgivable. Why is that ever funny? It's not. Positively however the crudeness of humour rarely sinks to some of the low points that Family Guy was prone to.
Overall American Dad is consistently funny and amusing, it's certainly in my opinion, currently the best animated comedy and has been for some time. It is literally laugh-a-minute stuff, which can't be said for all TV shows, even the ones that do bill themselves as comedy. The moments of perfect pitch-black humour, that pop up every so often, are worth the cost of the boxset alone.
We will publish your review of American Dad - Season 4 - Complete on DVD within a few days as long as it meets our guidelines.
None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play From the creators of THE FAMILY GUY comes another outrageous and over-the-top take on the American nuclear family With his doting wife Francine at his side CIA agent Stan Smith runs a household that includes his ultra-liberal daughter Hayley; his nerdy son Steve; a sarcastic alien named Roger; and a lascivious German goldfish Klaus Features the complete fourth series
Fourth volume of episodes from the popular animated comedy series from 'Family Guy' creator, Seth MacFarlane. Stan Smith (voice of McFarlane) works for the CIA and is constantly on the alert for terrorist activity. Stan will go to extremes to protect his beloved America from harm - a fact that can be witnessed by the terror-alert colour code on his fridge, and his frequent knee-jerk reaction of shooting holes in the toaster whenever the toast pops up. In addition to Stan's wife and teenage children, the Smith household has two rather unconventional members; there's Roger (MacFarlane), the sarcastic space alien Stan rescued from Area 51, and Klaus (Dee Bradley Baker), a lascivious German speaking goldfish, the result of a CIA experiment gone seriously wrong. The episodes comprise: 'Tearjerker', 'Oedipal Panties', 'Widowmaker', 'Red October Sky', 'Office Spaceman', 'Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold', 'Spring Break-up', '1600 Candles', 'The One That Got Away', 'One Little Word', 'Choosy Wives Choose Smith', 'Escape from Pearl Bailey', 'Pulling Double Booty' and 'The Most Adequate Christmas Ever'.
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy
