American Dad!

I'm not going to do a whole deconstruction of that. What I will say is that I didn't laugh once.

Also Seth MacFarlane has irreparably busted his vocals chords. Roger sounds wrong now. 1 star.

The story was blah but this had two or three pleasurably insane jokes as only this show could do.

First off, I loved Stan talking about the S.O.S. from Mind Quad. That was great.

The joke where the chickens are speeding in the stolen van is so funny when you get to the cops. The heavy cop tells the skinny one he needs to relax and the guy grunts about how much he hates chickens because chickens killed his father. The other cop says chickens killed HIS father too but he doesn't allow that fact to rule his life.

The chicken fetus omelet is one of the sickest jokes the show has done in awhile. And I still laughed my head off.

More bizarre nonsense, please. 3 stars.

It was all right. The framing story was interesting until it turned out to be an apocryphal religion set 2000 years in the future. But I was sort of amused how bad Stan was at everyday conversation and everyone cringing at everything he says.

I also laughed at Jeff noting Francine was watching porn on the living room TV. At which she bows.

Christopher Meloni was a great choice to voice the dialogue coach hitchhiker. His voice sounds like a real person, but he can also do comedy, which is nice.

I think the episode sort of lost itself by the end. But most of it was okay. 3 stars.

The story was not solid. You can tell because the ending was unfinished.

The thing I loved was that the episode didn't just reference Muppet Treasure Island, which would be geeky enough. It detailed an actual scene in that movie which is like an insane level of Muppet nerd-dom that I must bow down to.

But really, that episode was mess other than that joke. Which occurred in the first two minutes by the way.

There were some other selling points, if I'm being honest. I loved Stan being reminded he actually loves Snot. But the best non-Muppet joke was great because it explained something. When Steve exhorts Toshi to "Say something!" he says, "I speak fluent English and always have." Without an accent no less. That's another reason the non-canon ending bugged me. That would have been a perfect explanation as to how Toshi seems to understand everyone despite only speaking Japanese.

Very flawed episode I think. 2 1/2 stars.

I liked Klaus and Snot's story but I think the ending was too sad.

I also dug Roger convincing the party-goers to attempt the rescue by calling it a search party.

For the record, Stan is an unusually stupid character, even for television. I liked the bit of him claiming him and Jeff were blood brothers.

Above average. 3 1/2 stars.

I just notice Jeff Fischer is now billed with the regular cast of voices. Neat.

The episode? Not so much. I think the 50's had some above average music, but I think everything else about that decade sucked butt. Unpopular opinion, but the fondness people used to shower on it during the 1980's, was only because they were living in a decade as sucky as the 1980's, and barely survived the 1970's. The bar was pretty low back then is what I'm saying.

The episode wasn't great. 2 stars.

Man, that was great. Aside from the premise being somewhat terrifying (it IS a Get Out riff after all) I thought the clips they used to show Klaus was a loser at the end were absolutely sublime. If there was this much subtlety attached to have much Michael Scott sucks, I'd never say a bad word about The Office. That is a masterclass in simply affirming the premise that Klaus is a secret loser.

My favorite bit in this episode, might wind up my favorite bit in the entire series. There is an embarrassment of comedic riches to choose from on this show. But truly no moment made me feel as great when Francine asked if she could play with the guy's cats (to a Karma Chameleon montage). That made me laugh, feel good, and was totally awesome as the same time. One of the series finest moments, if you ask me.

That was a great episode. 5 stars.

What a messed up ending. You knew it was gonna spiral when the moral appeared to be Stan promising to take his disappointments out on the kids more.

I love Francine being so self-unaware when she's talking about the supposed virtues of cigarettes. Very funny and messed up.

Somebody else voiced Reginald which is a good sign. They sounded JUST like Erik Durbin. It was just a gag here but this could wind up working in the future.

Is this the first role for Keith David on the show? It shouldn't have been if it was. He's a voice-over legend.

Solid. 4 stars.

I love Roger commenting on the wine, "2020 was a great year. I'm not sure about wine though." On-brand for a sociopath like Roger.

I also love the guy asking if Steve was faking and the other guy saying that's the main thing you aren't supposed to ask.

Lewis and Klaus were a decent subplot too.

It was pretty funny. 3 1/2 stars.

I loved the fights and the plane crash. Hayley summed up their ridiculousness by saying "I'm glad you're all alive... But I wish my Sims family was alive too."

The amnesia stuff at the lighthouse was stupid but the episode surprised me with a third act where they got back to reality and became town laughingstocks, which was hilarious. And Stan saying that the episode was a paid advertisement for Gold Top Nuts was great.

The episode asking the question of what people who don't understand humanity would think of our dumber mundane aspects like commercials is kind of interesting even as it annoyed me. But it was the aftermath that actually made the episode worthwhile for me. 3 1/2 stars.

I thought it was kind of neat. It was funny and the stuff with Milk Girl was SO ludicrous. I love that she's Reese Witherspoon. Although it's not exactly a flattering portrayal so I get why she didn't voice herself. It was still super funny.

I love the stuff with the background characters. I thought it was cool.

Ally is kind cool too. I like that she and Steve are just going to have to wait and see. It was kind of sweet. She likes him whether she only said it because he was smooshed or not.

The stuff with the truck of cereal crashing and Francine getting the giant spoon out of the closet felt like Classic American Dad.

I really loved this episode 4 1/2.

Yeah, no. Terry Crews was okay, but everything else sucked butt.

I'll tell you what I DID like. Roger realizing this is what the family goes through with him every damn week. Ot I would have liked it if it were a lesson that was going to stick. Since it isn't, the moral there is as annoying as the episode is. And the less said about the Klaus and Jeff boinking stuff the better. *.

I missed this one.

My favorite bit is Steve telling Lewis about the Stars Hollow map explanation, "I'm not going to be as impressed by this as you are hoping I'll be."

I also love that they got back Angelica Huston as the Superintendent.

Billy made a pretty good wingman for the Halloween episode. And yes, Dr. Calgary is just as creepy as described.

What a funny episode. 3 1/2 stars

I like that the end is Raiders.

Stan criticizing that perfect essay at the beginning is on-brand for what a jerk he is.

I love the dad-loving teacher. I also love that he randomly hates Billy.

Speaking of random, Rogu's cameo was funny too.

Bullock making Stan "Pissboy" was amusing.

Pretty solid week. 3 1/2 stars.

You can bet you ass Tuttle was an effing ghost.

The You Are Here song was great. I love Sethverse songs.

The plot sort of went off the rails once the dude was revealed to a Warlock but I think the show understands that and itself pretty well. Telling people in their college dorms to pause and rewind the info dump sort of says they understand the problem of complex plot turns like that.

The food truck stuff was funny simply because Klaus' dumb idea worked.

I disagree Steve took the family's critique wrong. He took it the only way to take it.

Funny and weird in equal measure. ***1/2.

I also love that when Hayley tells Stan women can't Mansplain, Stan tells her he can't believe the things she believes women cannot do. I love that. The entire episode is Stan Mansplaining and not listening, and that was the best and most clueless interchange about that I've heard in awhile.

I also love the "Dead to us" song. The little girls in the episode in general gave great performances. I tend to disapprove of children working in Hollywood, but they were still excellent.

"Anyone get any crab?" "No." Hilarious.

Steve's plot of his Merlin fantasy wasn't so hot but I think the last scene and joke made up for it.

Judges aren't so mean. Just get to them after lunch.

I love Klaus telling Hayley she might have been sabotaging the troop out of jealousy instead of trying to help them. I also found it refreshing that she was found out instead.

I liked this week. ****.

I am not a people-pleaser myself, but I don't actually consider that a fault. Unless it leads to people being taken advantage of and hurting other people, I consider it another word for kindness. That's a virtue, and the fact that our culture believes a person not being out entirely for themselves is a bad thing is a problem with society. I actually WISH I were more of a people-pleaser. It's a good thing, not a bad one.

Stan has clearly gone insane in the episode. The fact that it made me uncomfortable might have actually been forgivable if it had been funny. But no.

The tyrant restaurant manager was funny. I loved Hayley standing up to him, him loudly apologizing, and then breaking a plate for effect in rage. Funny bit there.

More Jeff Fischer please. ****1/2.

Roger's behavior was kind of cute, but between him, Hayley, and Stan, I feel like everybody was acting a bit deliberately OFF tonight. It's fine because it's funny, but I noticed each of the main characters obsessing about something they normally didn't.

It was fun. And I like Julius. Big shock. ***1/2.

Also funny were the Jeff and Hayley puppets making out. I loved when Jeff told her not to embarrass him in front of his friends.

I however didn't buy for a second Steve was able to outpace Roger in getting to the drugs. Roger has superspeed after all.

Klaus' boys are funny too.

I found Klaus' flashback gross instead of funny though. I wish it had been something else.

But the episode was still a riot. ****.

Yeah, that was a LOT of mess to undo all right. I hope the series can get renewed by Hulu or something. But I'll be taking a special interest in next week's Christmas special. 3 1/2 stars.

But like usual, even the bad episodes have a couple of interesting things going on (or at least a couple of funny jokes). Stan's magazine plot went nowhere, but I really loved the family obsession over Snot's hotness list at the beginning. It was so great, I was actually surprised the episode wound up sucking.

For the record, I'm not surprised at Snot's listings. I'm just surprised he didn't put Jeff last. Also there is clearly a reason Stan has grown to like him. Snot worrying about Francine's drinking was great too.

I also appreciated the Grounch singer detailing copyright laws about fair use exceptions for parody. It wasn't just funny. It struck me as handy.

But I have to say, the episode was both too nuts and too gross. American Dad sans Mike Barker always swings for the fences in the TBS era. This was a clear miss. 1 1/2 stars.

Considering American Dad is on a clock at TBS, I wonder if this subplot could have been the next Golden Turd with them returning to it once a season. Either way it was terrific.

Noticed the Leonard Zane reference. That was cool.

Super episode. *****.

I love that the Smiths groan in equal frustration to being Rickrolled as they do having the static on their TV interrupted for a news report.

Brief callback to Roger's "Dive on in."

Francine's line about the adult diaper at the end is exactly the right kind of depraved for this show.

Rogu showing up was funny too.

Stan's stuff with Barry was dark. Even for Stan I couldn't believe the stuff he was doing.

I feel like this was a little TOO cynical. But parts of it made me laugh. ***.

I was super impressed they got back Angelica Huston as Superintendent Riggs AGAIN. She's too good for this show and still does it. She's the female version of Patrick Stewart. Come back, Forrest Whitaker. I understand your dismay completely, but you were amazing.

The convicts were pretty funny on what they argued about. He heard somebody say something once. Was that what you heard? No. I don't think so. I also loved the main guy telling the others not to get distracted by the distraction.

The giraffe stuff was the episode's weak link, but luckily the show tied both plots together at the very end, so I don't mind it even a little bit.

This show is as nuts as Lewis. But like Lewis, deep down it's good. ***1/2.