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TIT

'American Dad!, Vol. 6'
(Seth MacFarlane, Wendy Schaal, Scott Grimes, Rachael MacFarlane, etc / 3-Disc DVD / NR / 2011 / 20th Century Fox)

Overview: From the demented comic minds of Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane comes another hilarious volume of star-spangled insanity — including Stan battling the Antichrist in the outrageous “Rapture’s Delight” episode! Bumbling CIA operative Stan Smith will stop at nothing to defend everything that makes this country great — from strip bars to that most sacred of American institutions, The Goonies! Whether he’s trading brains with a racehorse or rescuing Roger from bloodthirsty revolutionaries, Stan will do whatever it takes to secure the blessings of liberty in this over-the-top salute to the greatest nation on Earth.

DVD Verdict: For those not-that in the know re: American Dad is another in a long line of sitcoms with a stupid, ignorant dad and his adventures with the family. The twist here is that Stan Smith is a CIA agent and extreme supporter of the then-current conservative Bush government.

It's notable, though, that while Stan comes across as stupid, he's not a jerk. It's refreshing to see that Seth McFarlane, who couldn't keep his political views out of Family Guy, takes a fairly balanced view here. Stan is offset by his extremely liberal daughter Haley, and each is wrong about as many times as they're right - very much like political extremists in real life.

Most importantly, there is still a caring core to the family, so Stan becomes a guy that you like. Unlike Peter Griffin or Homer Simpson, whose stupidity has risen to epic levels in later years of their respective shows, Stan Smith remains a guy with a ten-cent head but a million-dollar heart.

Here on Volume 6, every episode on this set is great. I honestly can't think of any that I really didn't like. The season premiere, "In Country... Club" is one of my favorites. It's a very clever episode (using golf carts as helicopters in a Vietnam War re-enactment!). "May the Best Stan Win" was also very funny. Love the futuristic cyborg version of Stan with a Canadian/Mexican accent!

But perhaps the best episode ever is "Rapture's Delight", the 2009 Christmas episode. The 2nd half of the episode where Stan and Jesus turn into B-movie action stars who journey to defeat the anti-Christ while uttering terrible puns is hilarious. One of Stan's best lines ever comes in this episode: "I guess I just picked a whole bouquet of oopsie-daisys!"

American Dad! truly contains some of the sharpest political satire this side of Steven Colbert and John Stewart. Like Colbert. it mocks the state of affairs in the nation today with an "everything is rosy!" attitude! And that's something I always enjoy! It also helps that this show can go even more over-the-top than "Family Guy" can. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.77:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Disc One Extras:
Commentary on In Country... Club featuring Matt Weitzman, Albert Calleros, Murray Miller, Judah Miller and Lauren Caltagirone
Uncensored audio/scenes on select episodes
Deleted Scenes

Disc Two Extras:
Commentary on My Morning Straightjacket featuring Mike Barker, Chris Bennett, Brent Woods and Matt Fusfeld
Commentary on Rapture's Delight featuring Mike Barker, Matt McKenna, Joe Daniello, Jeff Rebner and Kevin Thresher
Alternate Commentary on Rapture's Delight featuring The Interdisciplinary Collective for American Dad Studies
Commentary on A Jones for a Smith featuring Mike Barker, John Aoshima, Jansen Yee, Laura McCreary and Matt Fusfeld
Alternate Commentary on A Jones for a Smith featuring The Interdisciplinary Collective for American Dad Studies
The Making of Rapture's Delight
Uncensored audio/scenes for select episodes
Deleted Scenes

Disc Three Extras:
Deleted Scenes
Uncensored audio/scenes for select episodes
Commentary on Merlot Down Dirty Shame featuring Matt Weitzman, Josue Cervantes, Brian Boyle, Wendy Schaal and Dee Bradley Baker
Commentary on Great Space Roaster featuring Matt Weitzman, Jonathan Fener, Joe Daniello, Micky Rose and Jordan Blum

www.fox.com/americandad





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