u/Frikcha

Seriously, in the realm of modern, mainstream TV (including streaming) American Dad stands out to me as something that, first-and-foremost, seeks to bring enjoyment to as many viewers as possible.

It isn't cynical, it's not very mean-spirited and it stays moralistic without becoming preachy. It's fun for the sake of fun, self-aware, self-aware of its own self-awareness and still reigned-in enough not to get caught up in a weird feedback loop of parodying itself. It can even range from being really sympathetic/apologetic to super harsh and critical when it wants to be.

The variety of entertainment you can get from any 5 random episodes is enough to please a lot of different viewers; It's got EVERY genre of original music (with a family full of amazing singers), it's got episodes for guys, girls, younger people, people with anxiety, people who are TOO self-confident, artsy people, low-brow people. They will approach dated topics just as often as they will approach the modern ones, and they do it unashamed, knowing that it's still meaningful to certain age-brackets. Even the humour and the jokes themselves reach every corner of the spectrum; Wide-reaching, Niche, Absurd, Contemporary, Classic all the way to bone-dry.

Not every episode is gonna be for everyone the show itself really tries to be. Beyond that, the quality of what they produce is really just decent across the board: They put genuine effort into the musical numbers, the animation quality gets bumped when it needs or suits, the characters actually have some consistency (very impressive for like 20 seasons), it can be well-researched and informed when it wants to be, has plenty of maturity and wisdom from time to time and allows enough different talented hands to pass through the production process to leave their own flair on things, making it feel like something that was made with love and not just another day at the animation office.

It's just a nice show with a nice cast. Stan is great as a stubborn, conservative guy with a big head who does wrong things with the right intentions, Francine is just as good/funny of a "straight-man" as she is a complete troublemaker who overthinks everything, Roger really just goes without saying, Steve's talent as an entertainer and his innocence/willingness to express himself in unique ways is genuinely scene-stealing and you could argue he is the emotional heart of the show, Haley is a perfectly realistic mix of genuine maturity and self-contradiction who opens up so many unique avenues for storytelling, Klaus is an amazing punching-bag character who you can go from laughing at/hating to laughing with/loving really quickly and Rogu is honestly just a great late-game cast addition; he's the perfect little source of comedy if you use him sparingly enough and gets to make up for a few roles in the family dynamic that had been lost to the sands of time. He's like a fucked-up little Loony Toon.

It can be stupid and repetitive at times, but it has no problem making making fun of itself when that happens for the sake of even more comedy. Even if most episodes are formulaic or many are disjointed and rushed I can almost guarantee there's at least something in that 20 minute runtime that will at-least make you crack a smirk.

God bless you, America Father.