American Dad - "Stan's Food Restaurant" - Talkback [11/14]

No, I don't. I'm smart enough to know that I don't.

Yes, Peter can be heartless and cruel. But most of the horrible things he does is because he's an ignorant, impulsive, overgrown child. Peter doesn't plan to be nasty and calculating, unlike Roger who goes out of his way to plan ways to bring other characters down and sometimes torture them. Yes, every so often the writers throw the viewers and curve ball and show Roger in a different light, but the majority of the time he's just an unfortunately hateful and spiteful little cretin who you just wish would be beaten within an inch of his life.

There are many reasons why American Dad (despite it's longevity) hasn't caught on. But the absence of likable and/or relatable characters is I believe one of it's biggest faults. Peter Griffin, Homer Simpson and Bender are obviously not role models, but they're saints compared to Roger.
 
sorta disagree here. comedy is subjective I suppose, but I think this was the stronger showing vs. family guy which was essentially an homage to Rocky and very little else unlike lethal weapons..

I say that because the episode had me from start to finish because it showed stan in a role he doesn't usually show at the start of an episode. Vulnerable and human and have an adequate explanation of why he dislikes eating out. I think in that vein, his character was fleshed out quite a bit. Now granted, Family Guy did have an episode like that, but the execution was...mediocre because it was hypocritical of Peter to just say no to wheel chaired people despite him temporarily being in a wheel chair and coming to a mutual understanding of Joe's situation.

Roger was mean in this episode and it was weird to see Roger extremely mean to Stan. Though it hasn't happened super often, it was a unique contrast of ideas of success vs. failure.

I didn't quite understand the steve subplot for a few reasons. Snot was the wingman granted, but with a doll!? I almost want to say whether or not that is the girl's transference of her innate psychotic tendencies expressed in the doll. While deep, I just felt the subplot felt a bit...flat.

However, despite both family guy and American Dad having themed episodes of restaurant, I prefer yesterday's episode as a relatively enjoyable experience. It wasn't hilarious on all cylinders but it made me go huh that was interesting
 
Well I'm not trying to insult your intelligence, but if you ask someone who doesn't have a pre-disposed tendency to favor Family Guy (like someone who hasn't seen either show), and showed them episodes and Peter's worst vs. episodes at Roger's worst, 9/10 times they'd agree with me. Ratings are irrelevant, people watch Family Guy because it's known and it's familiar, AD isn't.

The calculating nature of Roger's character is also irrelevant, again that same logic implies that characters like Bender and Cartman aren't likable, which obviously isn't true. In fact, I would argue that Peter's obliviousness actually makes it worse - he does hurtful things and is too stupid to appreciate any kind of negative consequence, thus removing any source of sympathy. Couple that with the fact that his meanness towards the uncool characters is celebrated by the cooler characters and you basically have a high-school bully being egged on by his cronies, with no sympathetic twist (either in favor of Peter or his victim). With characters like Roger, Cartman, Bender, etc, at least you're never confused about whether or not you should root for them when they act that way.
 
What seriously was up with all of the explosions? Stan has a traumatic past.

Yeah, Roger is a jerk, but I like how over-the-top he is. Sure, if he was someone I knew in real life, I'd hate him with every fiber of my being. But here... Roger's just hilarious to me.

As for Steve and Snot and their problems... yeah. If you see a hot girl and she's not taken, that means she's crazy beyond belief. Avoid at all costs. ;) (+1 point for hilarity of misunderstandings)
 
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