American Dad! is a satirical American animated series owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions and produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television.
It was created by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, as well as two former Family Guy writers, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman. The pilot episode aired in the United States on Fox on February 6, 2005, thirty minutes after the end of Super Bowl XXXIX; the regular series began May 1, 2005, after the season premiere of Family Guy. American Dad follows the events of CIA agent Stan Smith and his family.
The series is currently in its fifth season, which premiered on September 27, 2009.
Similar to other animated shows' opening sequences, American Dad! features a recurring gag that is changed for every episode, except for "Office Spaceman," which started with the sequence interrupted early. After Stan wakes up singing "Good Morning, U.S.A." and has breakfast with his family, he heads out his front door and picks up the newspaper waiting on his front porch. He then cartwheels into his car and drives to his CIA office. The newspaper's front-page headline is different for each episode, like in The Simpsons (e.g. couch gags, Bart Simpson's chalkboard gags, or Lisa Simpson's saxophone piece). It is usually a topical joke such as "Child obesity up, pedophilia down" ("Four Little Words"), "Economy turns corner, falls down stairs" ("Roger Codger"), "Bush finally gets joke about last name" ("Deacon Stan, Jesus Man"), "Iran changes flag to middle finger" ("Black Mystery Month"), or "Israel pulls out of Gaza, Gaza not pregnant" ("A Smith in the Hand"). These headlines are satirical in nature, usually directed at the United States Government, the media, or current affairs. A notable exception is the episode "Office Spaceman," whose headline, "ALIEN SPOTTED!" (featuring a picture of Roger on the front page), shifts the sequence directly into the episode itself.
As of season 4, the opening sequence has been replaced with a new one, starting with the episode "1600 Candles." While featuring the same music, most of the interaction with the family has been changed. Replacing the newspaper gag used in the first three seasons is Roger popping up next to Stan in the family's SUV to sing the final "Good Morning, U.S.A.!", wearing a different costume each time. Roger's sudden appearance causes Stan to end the sequence by crashing into the flagpole at the C.I.A. building. This opening sequence has continued into season 5.
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