page_title: American Dad!
section_title: Early seasons and comparison with Family Guy and All in the Family
hierarchical_section_title: American Dad! / Production / Early seasons and comparison with Family Guy and All in the Family
caption_attribution_description: English: Mike Barker at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego
context_page_description: American Dad! is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker, and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later TBS. American Dad! is the first television series to have its inception on the network's Animation Domination block. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the rest of the first season airing three months later beginning May 1, 2005. American Dad! is a joint production between Fuzzy Door Productions and 20th Television.
  Creative direction of American Dad! has largely been guided by Barker and Weitzman as opposed to MacFarlane, resulting in a series that is different from its counterparts. Unlike MacFarlane's other shows, Family Guy and, to a lesser extent, The Cleveland Show, American Dad! does not lean as heavily on the use of cutaway gags, and is less concerned with conventional "setup-punchline" jokes, instead deriving its humor mostly from the quirky characters, the relationships between family members, and the relatively relatable plots.
context_section_description: 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." 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. It was right up our alley, and everything just fell into place." On September 14, 2003, Variety reported that Fox Broadcasting had ordered a pilot presentation of the then tentatively titled American Dad! and "If greenlit, American Dad! could launch as early as fall 2004." At the time, Fox was aiming to develop a new lineup of adult animated sitcoms.
  American Dad! had a mid-season debut. Its first episode, titled "Pilot", was originally shown directly following Super Bowl XXXIX on February 6, 2005. The rest of the first season, however, would not launch until May 1, 2005, as part of the debut of Fox's Animation Domination lineup. Initially, it was a replacement for the originally failed series Family Guy (1999–2002). American Dad! was originally intended to be Fox's answer to the hordes of fans left behind from the original failure of MacFarlane's previous animated venture. Just three short months after American Dad!'s debut however, Family Guy was revived, leaving American Dad! with a formidable expectation: whether the series could distinguish itself from its counterpart and succeed on its own merits. 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!
  
  In its early going, American Dad! brought in strong ratings but fought an uphill battle in gaining widespread acceptance and approval from viewers and critics alike. The popularity of MacFarlane and his involvement with Family Guy have led to foregone conclusions and prejudices against American Dad! as a rip-off of the predecessor and some critics had already written off American Dad! prior to its birth as nothing more than a pale imitation of Family Guy and MacFarlane's attempts to get his old show back on the air. One example, prior to the 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! The new series officially premieres in May but has a sneak preview tomorrow night in the coveted post-Super Bowl time period ... The look and pace of American Dad! is the same as Family Guy." 
  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. Both shows make use of political satire, bigotry, ludicrous expressions of Conservatism from their paternal main character (Stan likened to Archie Bunker), and sensible expressions of Liberalism from their daughter character (Hayley likened to Gloria Stivic). Moreover, the daughter in both series each has a Liberal hippie boyfriend turned husband (Jeff likened to Michael Stivic) to whom the daughter's Conservative father is antagonistic. Also in both, the daughter lives in her parents' home with her boyfriend turned husband as a housemate. American Dad! in its original form was even said to have been inspired by All in the Family.
caption: Mike Barker: co-creator and co-showrunner from seasons 1 through 10
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