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(#1) American Fung
- May 25, 2015
In "American Fung," Seth MacFarlane sells American Dad! to a Chinese billionaire. The story's been edited to reflect this fact and follows Stan having Francine committed to hide the fact that he forgot their wedding anniversary.
Why it falls short: This is largely considered by American Dad! fans to be the worst episode ever. The framing device just doesn't work, and the jokes don't land. Plus, it ends with Stan getting drilled in the head, which is really tough to watch.
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(#2) Kung Pao Turkey
- November 24, 2013
In "Kung Pao Turkey," Francine invites her adoptive parents over for Thanksgiving, ruining Stan's plans of watching football. Francine's mother encourages Hayley to start dating again with Jeff still missing after his alien abduction, but she has ulterior motives for this.
Why it falls short: Thanksgiving episodes are important to nail because they're pretty much shown at least once a year, but this one really drops the ball. It has racist jokes and a boring lesson for Stan to learn. It just feels like no one really tried that hard on this one.
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(#3) Stan's Best Friend
- March 18, 2012
Francine gets Stan the dog he always wanted in "Stan's Best Friend." However, the dog suffers a horrible accident and Stan refuses to let it die. He turns it into a Frankenstein-esque abomination that terrorizes the family.
Why it falls short: If you're a dog lover, then you probably hate this episode. Seeing the dog get brutalized not once but twice in a single episode is a lot to stomach, and most viewers will likely prefer to skip this episode.
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(#4) Blagsnarst, a Love Story
- September 21, 2014
"Blagsnarst, a Love Story" mostly follows Roger as he attempts to break up with his girlfriend by killing her. He tries to get the CIA to kidnap and dissect her but saves her at the last moment only to kill her himself later.
Why it falls short: Roger is normally a heartless jerk, but this episode takes it too far. It's incredibly misogynistic with Roger wanting to break up with Qurchhhh because she talks often and wants a committed relationship. It has that bro-y humor that just hasn't aged well.
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(#5) Shallow Vows
- November 15, 2009
In "Shallow Vows," Francine learns that Stan only married her for her looks. As a result, she lets herself go before they renew their vows. Stan's response is to remove his retinas so that he doesn't have to look at her.
Why it falls short: Similar to Peter in Family Guy, Stan can be a bit of a jerk, but you want to believe that he's a good guy deep down. This episode does away with any pretenses and just makes him a flat-out a-hole to Francine.
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(#6) Kloger
- August 21, 2017
In "Kloger," Roger and Klaus end up dating after accidentally matching on an online dating site. They keep their affair a secret while Steve tries to get out of doing the Presidential Physical Fitness test and Hayley tries to get health insurance.
Why it falls short: It's mostly just boring, but the affair between Roger and Klaus and how they get intimate is pretty disturbing. The combination of being boring and uncomfortable make this an episode you can probably skip.
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(#7) Pulling Double Booty
- November 16, 2008
In "Pulling Double Booty," Hayley breaks up with Jeff and starts dating Bill, an exact Doppelganger of Stan. To try to break them up, Stan takes Bill's place on a getaway weekend unbeknownst to Hayley, who makes plans to try to have sex with him.
Why it falls short: Not sure why the Family Guy/American Dad! team makes episodes so involved with incest. Sure, it's not like Hayley is actually making out with Stan throughout the episode but still.
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(#8) Love, AD Style
- September 30, 2012
"Love, AD Style" begins with Jeff leaving and Roger realizing he has a crush on Hayley. Roger ultimately kidnaps her and wants to wear her skin. Meanwhile, Stan tries to sell his SUV on his own.
Why it falls short: There's nothing wrong with a little dark humor, but this episode goes overboard. Not only does Jeff get skinned alive, but a father and daughter break their necks while in Stan's car. The sequence continues with them being set on fire and then torn apart by a large cat. It's all way too much and is more gruesome than funny.
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(#9) Flirting With Disaster
- May 15, 2011
Francine starts working at the CIA with Stan in "Flirting With Disaster." She ends up getting a lot of attention, which makes Stan uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Roger and Steve make money by selling birdhouses.
Why it falls short: This is another episode that makes Stan irredeemable. Since he's jealous of the attention Francine's getting, he throws acid on her face to ruin her looks. We end up seeing what she looks like at the end, and it's absolutely horrific to see.
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(#10) Hot Water
- September 25, 2011
In "Hot Water," Stan gets a 30-year old hot tub that he obsesses over. He neglects his family in lieu of listening to CeeLo Green musical numbers.
Why it falls short: It's an incredibly surreal episode that may rub some people the wrong way. Ultimately, there's not much in the way of plot as any character development is swapped out for random songs. Plus, the ending is a letdown with everyone just getting murdered horrifically by the hot tub.
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(#11) Rubberneckers
- April 27, 2014
"Rubberneckers" is mostly a musical episode, but the plot focuses on how Stan gets away with checking out women while he's driving. He ends up in a car wreck, and his insurance agent threatens to rat him out to Francine about what he was actually doing at the time of the crash.
Why it falls short: The plot is just kind of gross. The musical numbers are enjoyable enough, but the ending is a downer, stopping you from fully enjoying the episode as a whole.
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(#12) Oedipal Panties
- January 27, 2008
"Oedipal Panties" starts off with Stan's mom getting dumped once again. Francine feels threatened and is determined to get to the root of the problem of why his mother can never keep a man.
Why it falls short: In addition to Stan's treatment of Francine in this episode, he's borderline incestuous with his mother, giving her baths. It's pretty uncomfortable. Ultimately leaving the audience with little to laugh at.
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(#13) 42-Year-Old Virgin
- November 18, 2007
In "42-Year-Old Virgin," Stan reveals that he's never actually killed someone. This makes Steve lose respect for him and Francine find him sexually unappealing. Meanwhile, Steve and his friends form a bond with a pedophile.
Why it falls short: This episode is incredibly nihilistic, including a sequence where they parade out characters who they deem "worthy of being killed," such as a 46-year old woman who hasn't married. The pedophile B-plot is also very uncomfortable.
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(#14) Bully for Steve
- April 25, 2010
In "Bully for Steve," Stan constantly bullies Steve in an attempt to make him tougher. Roger develops a liking for crime scene photography.
Why it falls short: Watching Stan beat up his son is probably supposed to be funny, but it just strikes all the wrong notes. The ending is also one of the most gruesome things in the entire series. It's clear American Dad! often tries to go for shock humor, but it just ends up being plain shocking with no laughable qualities.
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(#15) Dr. Klaustus
- March 11, 2012
Roger acts as the family's therapist at the beginning of "Dr. Klaustus." He tells the Smiths to repress their emotions. Klaus watches all this and eventually takes charge. He gets Roger to come back and sort everything out.
Why it falls short: The plot itself is fine, but this episode is just really nasty. The Smiths hate each other, and there really aren't any jokes that make it more palatable. It's an episodes that fails to redeem the entire family.
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About This Tool
American Dad is a comedy cartoon broadcast by Fox. In the series, the leading role is Stan Smith who is an agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency. While dealing with his weird-tempered boss, his angry and ridiculous families always make different troubles. His absent-minded wife, a typical ADHD son, a goldfish with a German accent, and an alien who looks like a gray octopus.
Since 2005, the series has been aired for 12 seasons, there are many hilarious stories about this family. But not all episodes are widely acclaimed, the random tool lists 15 of the worst American Dad! episodes.
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