American Dad: 15 Behind-The-Scenes Facts
American Dad! has been going strong since 1999 and shows no signs of stopping. Let's take a look at 15 behind the scenes facts and revelations for America's favorite alien-harboring family. Good Morning USA!
Buffy the American Dad! Slayer.
20th Century FOX Productions
What’s the link here? Why?
In the episode "Virtual In-Stanity”, Stan decides to pilot a high school female android voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar from Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Not a huge deal on its own but another girl who takes interest in Steve is voiced by Alyson Hannigan; the actress who played Buffy's sidekick Willow in the same series.
It was given a huge chance to succeed.
20th Century FOX Productions
If you have The Super Bowl airing on your network, why not see if people want to stick around.
Much like Family Guy, American Dad! premiered after a Super Bowl. February 6, 2005 after Super Bowl XXXIX to be exact.
Family Guy premiered after Super Bowl XXXIII in January 1999, attracting 22 million viewers, but the very first episode of American Dad! (also the most watched) had only 15.1 million viewers.
Klaus’ 1986 Olympics appearance is a lie!
20th Century FOX Productions
Multiple times in the series, Klaus refers to his days as an Olympic skier in the 1986 Olympics, but there were actually no 1986 Olympic games.
That year, Olympic officials decided to alternate summer and winter games for the first time.
An ode to the late great Freddy Fener.
20th Century FOX Productions
Every show should insert some of those man’s best friend tear-jerkers.
The episode "Stan's Best Friend” centers around Stan’s attachment to an adorable beagle puppy.
Freddy was owned and loved by the show’s writer, Jonathan Fener, and this bit of reality heavily contributed to one of the show’s more heartfelt episodes.
Klaus was originally supposed to be French.
Turner Broadcast System
If you’re that good, they change the show for you.
Klaus was originally written with a French origin, and his name would have been Francois.
When Dee Bradley Baker auditioned, he admitted that his French was not very good, but he spoke German very well. The producers loved his performance enough to change the identity of the character.
Musical Inspirations
If it’s good, music can inspire. If it’s bad, it can inspire even more.
Mike Barker has revealed a lot of story ideas for American Dad! come to the writers through listening to music. Barker attended Bonnaroo in 2008 and watched the rock band My Morning Jacket perform a four hour set during a rainstorm.
He said, “When you hear music that inspires good ideas, you’re really grateful.” He also revealed that Louisville based band Wax Fang has been an inspiration for some stories.
Jeff Fischer as Jeff Fischer
20th Century FOX Productions/ Jeff Fischer
Jeff Fischer is the lazy pothead husband of Haley Smith and is an actual real-life person.
Voiced by the very real voice actor Jeff Fischer, who has voiced multiple television and video game characters, this has been a real "chicken or the egg" scenario for fans.
Was he offered to voice himself beforehand, or did Jeff Fischer think he could nail Jeff Fischer?
Snot IS Booger
Turner Broadcast System/ 20th Century Studios
Steve’s Friend Snot is originally based on the Character Booger from “Revenge of The Nerds.”
And if you think the character’s sound a lot alike, that’s because they got the actor who played Booger, Curtis Armstrong, to voice the character.
Hernia Hindrance
Voice acting can cause a real strain on your body, and not just on your vocal chords.
Scott Grimes, the voice of Steve, actually developed a hernia during an extended recording session for American Dad.
It's hard to explain, but I think I would get a hernia too if I had to do the Steve voice for hours on end.
Everybody Loves Stan.
CBS Entertainment Group
While it's considered a coincidence, the Smith's living room is almost identical to the layout of Ray Romano's home on “Everybody loves Raymond.”
The chairs and couch are laid out in the same way, the table with drawers contains similar clutter and toys, and the stairs leading to the second floor are even decorated with similar groupings of pictures.
Do I hear a crossover episode coming in the future?
Patrick Stewart draws the line.
Something you may not realize about the show is that Stan's boss, Avery Bullock, is legitimately voiced by Sir Patrick Stewart and not a sound-alike.
Stewart is apparently very open to playing ball when it comes to the jokes his character will say, however, at one point he did refuse to deliver a joke that heavily implied Avery was a pedophile.
Probably a good call, Picard.
Rogers Vocal inspiration.
Where does someone come up with as iconic of a voice as Roger? From someone else of course.
Rogers voice, performed by Seth MacFarlane, is based on the voice of actor, Paul Lynde.
To hear more of Roger in real life, check out this video of Paul's time on Hollywood Squares.
From Fox to TBS
When the show switched from Fox to TBS in 2014, the writers gained a little more freedom in their vulgarity.
Co-creator Matt Weitzman told Variety, “The marching orders were, keep it the same show, but you can swear a little but more.” Co-showrunner Brian Boyle says the rule of thumb is that writers can use “two s***s and an a******” per episode. “We can now show sideboob, which we couldn’t do on Fox,” Weitzman added.
How many American Dad! Side-boobs can you spot in the series? Let us know with #AmericanDadSideboobWatch on Twitter.
Mystery Twin
20th Century Fox Television
In the Episode “White Rice” it is shown that Hailey originally had a twin sister, who died because Stand did not have the pair vaccinated. However, in the episode “The Most Adequate Christmas Ever” it is shown that Hailey was born in Africa with no twin.
What is it American Dad? Twin or no twin? Let us know with #AmericanDadfaketwinWatch on Twitter.
The Show was supposed to stick it to the man.
20th Century Fox Television
Seth MacFarlane and his Co-producers came up with the idea for American Dad! after wanting to expand on the Bush Era politics outside of Family Guy cutaway gags.
The show originally was supposed to focus much more on the political differences between conservative Stan and Liberal daughter Hayley. After a few years the writers felt the well of jokes for that subject was empty, and decided to branch out the silliness and plots of the show.
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Top Image: Turner Broadcast System
