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by R.J. Carter Published: May 15, 2007
In the opening act of this volume (which continues the chronological presentation of the series, just not delineated by seasons), Stan tries to get closer to his daughter Hayley by taking her to a gun-themed amusement park, with fun things like Ted Nugent's "Kill 'n Grill" eat what you shoot café. Hayley's just not feeling it, though, and stages a protest. However, when a stunt to get Hayley to love guns results in Stan being paralyzed, her guilt drives her to do whatever he says -- including helping him become the national spokesperson for the National Gun Association, because he's living proof that guns work! With "Star Trek", geek king Steve turns in a creative writing assignment about a clumsy alien named Roger that earns him a publication credit. But when only seven people turn out at the book signing (which is only slightly less painful than having nobody show up), Stan decides Steve needs a hook: so he sets him out to become the bad boy of child authors, skyrocketing the boy to stardom -- and a divorce from his parents. Steve becomes the center of attention in a later episode as well, as Stan tries to help his boy escape the nerd herd and make good with the popular kids. As a last resort, Stan brings home some experimental steroids from the office, which end up with a weird side-effect: the drugs give Steve bosoms! Disturbingly, this makes him popular with the older guys, who just like looking at them. Meanwhile, Francine feels that she's not seen as accomplishing much in life, and goes offshore to get a 12-hour diploma in medicine. Not being accepted at a hospital, she winds up accidentally becoming the go-to doctor for the Handicapped Mafia. Episodes just don't get more wrong than "Helping Handis". In "Failure is Not a Factory-Installed Option", master negotiator Stan is sent to a car dealership to buy Francine a Femmewagon, but comes home with the Phallus ES instead. He continually goes back to the dealership to set things straight, but continually loses out to the salesman until he's got a whole yard full of cars, a mountain of debt, and a complete loss of his self confidence, resulting in his boss (Patrick Stewart) suspending him without pay. Meanwhile, the car lot that was formerly the Smith's front yard becomes the place for Steve to become a man, when Roger moves into the attic with a movie projector and reels of "The Breakfast Club" and other 80s flicks, creating an impromptu drive-in. My two personal favorites, however, are "Dungeons and Wagons" and "The Best Christmas Story Never". In the former, we see a wholly new style of animation used as we enter the online gaming world where Steve is revered as a god. However, when Hayley's ex-boyfriend becomes a player, the only way she can get him back from Steve is to enter the game herself -- and kill him. Meanwhile, to add excitement to their life, Stan takes up street racing to impress Francine (which leads her to express her pleasure in a hilarious remake of the Whitesnake video, "Here I Go Again".) Finally, in the Christmas episode, Stan loses his appreciation for the season when he's overwhelmed with too much liberal "Happy Holiday" greetings and the removal of the Nativity from the local public park. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Lisa Kudrow) appears to take Stan back to the past so he can appreciate the holiday, but loses track of him as he decides his new mission to de-liberalize Christmas is to kill Jane Fonda! Along the way, he drops a disco cassette which a past-Roger finds, making him rich by picking out the hot disco bands before they get discovered. However, when Stan meets Martin Scorsese and convinces him to give up drugs, the famous director never does the cocaine that makes him whacked enough to make "Taxi Driver". This means he never casts Jodi Foster, John Hinkley never obsesses over her, doesn't shoot Ronald Reagan to impress her, and Reagan doesn't become empowered enough by surviving the assassination attempt to defeat Mondale! Two month's into Mondale's term, he hands the country over to the Soviet Union! There's only one way to put things right, even though it goes against everything Stan believes in: he has to go back in time and shoot Reagan himself! And if you keep track of it, you may just find out the secret of the Golden Turd. (Insert secret sinister snicker here.) The cool thing about this three-disc set is that there's absolutely no skimping on the bonuses. Each and every episode has a commentary track with the cast and crew, and some of them even have extra side-by-side scenes with the animatics compared to the finished animation. Plus, there are deleted scenes. Make that one hundred and nine deleted scenes! These are finished artwork, too -- so why not incorporate them into the episodes? There are two featurettes: "An American Dad Like No Other" is a look at the thought processes behind "Dungeons and Wagons", and the actors discuss their favorite scenes of the series. For the artistically inclined, there's a seven-minute lesson on how to draw Roger the alien. At turns hilarious and painful, MacFarlane and company show no mercy as they swing for the fences at everything patriots hold near and dear. Sharp-eared (no, I don't know what that quite means) viewers will catch the guest voice talents of Azura Skye, Elijah Wood, Jennie Garth, and a horde of others. Audio is in English 5.1 Dolby Surround, with subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. Previews on this set include Family Guy, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and American Dad!
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