American Dad!

American Dad! is an American adult animated sitcom created by Matt Groening, Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker, and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. American Dad! is the first television series to have its inception on Animation Domination. The series premiere aired on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, three months before the rest of the first season aired as part of the Animation Domination block, commencing on May 1, 2005.

Creative direction of American Dad! has largely been guided by Barker and Weitzman as opposed to Groening and MacFarlane, resulting in a series that is different from its counterparts. Like its sister shows, The Simpsons Guy and The Cleveland Show, American Dad! relies on character dynamics and studded storylines to develop its humor, but not on cutaway gags, being less concerned with conventional "setup-punchline" jokes. The show is not as heavy on pop cultural allusions, and is more concerned with telling stories while maintaining the integrity and realism of the family members While the core issues and resolutions are relatable in most episodes, the show nonetheless weaves in fantastical elements, pitching the tone of the show somewhere between observational comedy and farce. The plots are often absurd, but they are grounded by family stories and real-world issues.

Premise
The series focuses on the eccentric upper middle class Smith family in the fictional community of Langley Falls, Virginia and their three housemates: Father, husband, CIA Agent, Republican, and breadwinner Stan; his wife and homemaker/housewife, Francine; their liberal, hippie, college-aged daughter, Hayley; and their dorky high-school-aged son, Steve. There are three additional main characters, including the family's unusual goldfish, Klaus, who has the mind of an East German athlete; Roger, the alien, who is a deceitful, self-serving master of disguise, and Bender, a wise-cracking, smoking, alcoholic robot who acts like a ladies man. Stan's CIA boss, the Deputy Director Avery Bullock, is a recurring focal point.

Smith Family

 * Stan Smith (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) is the title character on American Dad! who has an exaggeratedly masculine voice and manner about him. Stan is Francine's husband and Hayley and Steve's father. As the Smith family breadwinner, Stan is a CIA agent. Early on in the series, Stan was exaggeratedly patriotic and Conservative. His character, however, has progressed over the course of the series from the ultra right-wing bigot it had been. All the same however, Stan has proven to be drastic and extreme in numerous other ways beyond politics. He's often shown rashly taking extreme measures in ways that are conspicuously destructive, disastrous, offensive, and life-threatening to others
 * Francine Smith (née Ling) (voiced by Wendy Schaal) is Stan's wife and the mother of Steve and Hayley. Indignant, Francine can usually be seen nagging and scolding her family (particularly Stan) over their wrongdoings. Francine often nags at her family to uphold certain virtues and over any unwholesome or reprehensible behaviors they engage in. Ironically, it's mostly in the midst of all her moralizing and urging others to do the right thing that she demonstrates blatant inappropriateness, indecorum, and inelegance. Sporadically while engaged in moralizing others, Francine will randomly throw in remarks and behaviors that are in bad taste and lack all propriety. Adding to her paradoxical nature, Francine's behaviors have been known to become downright immoral and sometimes even fiendish, all the while trying to get others to live more wholesomely and do what is right.
 * Hayley Dreamsmasher Smith-Fischer (voiced by Rachael MacFarlane) is Stan and Francine's new-age hippie daughter and college-aged oldest and the sister of Steve. One to stand up for her beliefs, Hayley is passionate, insistent and vocal in her convictions. In mentality, she's portrayed as Liberal. These character traits were particularly emphasized in the show's beginnings back when Hayley was a focal character in the program; however, they were heavily toned down after early seasons. Intuitive and insightful, Hayley is able to instinctively grasp the hidden, inner, and obscure nature of situations.
 * Steven Anita "Steve" Smith (voiced by Scott Grimes) is the baby of the family who is Stan and Francine's high-school aged son and the brother of Hayley. He attends Pearl Bailey High School. As part of his emotional and sensitive character, Steve is combined with a screechy wail. Despite his wimpy and nerdy characteristics, Steve is particularly conceited and obnoxious. Along with this, he often proves to be a showman, always ready to put on a performance and show off his abilities, often singing-wise. Steve shows great ambition and enthusiasm for his various interests and pursuits.
 * Roger (voiced by Seth MacFarlane impersonating Paul Lynde) is the very zany pansexual alien who lives in the Smith family's attic alongside Bender. Blithely so, Roger is depraved, devious, and cruel. He typically exhibits a lighthearted, carefree temperament while also engaged in his freakish grossness, outrageous malice, and rascally shenanigans. Having no limits on his shocking and brazen ways, Roger typically says and does anything and everything that comes to his mind. Roger is shown to assume different aliases and a carousel of seemingly-endless disguises.
 * Bender Bending Rodriguez (voiced by John DiMaggio) isa kleptomaniacal, lazy, cigar-smoking, heavy-drinking robot who is Steve's best friend. Built in Tijuana, Mexico, he is the Smith family's cook. Viewers are informed, through his own testimony, of Bender's prejudice against non-robots. For example, his dialogue often contains anti-human expressions such as "kill all humans". Exceptions who are not subject to Bender's prejudicial attitude are those individuals on his "Do Not Kill" list, which seems to comprise only his family. However, Bender is also occasionally shown to possess a sympathetic side, suggesting that he is not as belligerent as he claims, a view often echoed by his friends.
 * Klaus Heissler (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in a German accent) is the Smith family's hapless and saturnine goldfish. He's consultative and full of sage advice, sometimes even wearing glasses and taking on a scholarly appearance. Klaus was once an East German Olympic ski-jumper until his mind was transferred into the body of a goldfish during the 1986 Winter Olympics by the CIA to prevent him from winning the gold medal, leaving him permanently trapped in the goldfish's body. Klaus still hasn't come to terms with what happened, at times malcontent and gloomy. Not confined to his fishbowl, Klaus is often seen uniquely scooting himself about the Smith residence, reclined in a glass of water.