…Or, has “Dad” had it?
We’ve been a little tardy in reporting things of late, such
as our post on THIS WONDERFUL ITEM, and here’s another bit of late and
unfortunate news.
FOX has cancelled Seth MacFarlane’s AMERICAN DAD, during
2013 which, along with the previously reported cancellations of FUTURAMA and
THE CLEVELAND SHOW, will leave 2013 as “The Year of the Prime Time Animation
Massacre”!
 |
| FOX Sunday "Animation Domination" in its Glory Days. |
I can’t honestly say I warmed up to AMERICAN DAD until
relatively recently. But, the saga of
zealously over-the-top patriotic CIA operative Stan Smith, his spacey wife
Francine, peace-nik teen daughter Haley, and nerdy son Steve finally worked its
way into my personal “Animation Likes” place.
 |
| Good morning, USA! |
Admittedly, some of the characters were a tad hard to take, like the German-speaking mutant fish “Klaus” and flamboyant, multiple-personality disordered alien “Roger”. FAMILY GUY, by contrast, merely asked that I accept a talking dog and a malevolent genius toddler. EASY STUFF!
But, the basic MacFarlane humor template, of an
out-of-control “dad character” in a bizarre world of funny-weird co-stars and incessant
non-sequiturs, that I so enjoy in FAMILY GUY and THE CLEVELAND SHOW, eventually
shined through the more I auto-pilot-zombie-kinda-viewed AMERICAN DAD to end my Sunday evenings –
and, consistent with my traditionally bad sense of timing, I decide to “like it”
at pretty much the very time it gets cancelled.
Unlike FUTURAMA and THE CLEVELAND SHOW, however, I can’t truly apply the word “cancelled”, because TBS (the network that salvaged Conan O’Brien) has picked up AMERICAN DAD for an order of 15 new episodes. …And, perhaps there will be still more than that. Let’s hope.
 |
| He LIKES us! ...A bit TOO LATE, but he LIKES US! |
Unlike FUTURAMA and THE CLEVELAND SHOW, however, I can’t truly apply the word “cancelled”, because TBS (the network that salvaged Conan O’Brien) has picked up AMERICAN DAD for an order of 15 new episodes. …And, perhaps there will be still more than that. Let’s hope.
 |
| Never give up on America, and never give up on Stan Smith! |
 |
| Can Stan hold off the competition? Guess not! |
And, with the dual tent-poles of THE SIMPSONS and FAMILY GUY, I expect it to be around for some time to come.
 |
| "Hey, I was only wondering which one of us had the bigger tent-pole... that's all!" |
Still, given the loss of both AMERICAN DAD and THE CLEVELAND SHOW in 2013, we can’t deny that the “Domination” of FOX animation has at least been dented.
 |
| Time for Stan to do a little FOX hunting! His future, though, is no longer "TBA", but "TBS"! |
Whatever the future, I’ll be content to recall both departed Seth MacFarlane series at their combined height, as component parts of the “Hurricane Flozell” event!
This was a Sunday night in Fall 2011 where FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD and THE CLEVELAND SHOW were subject to the ravages of fictional “Hurricane Flozell”, which blew through ALL THREE SHOWS.
And, oddly enough both AMERICAN
DAD and especially THE CLEVELAND SHOW (the two cancelled series, I must point out) outshone FAMILY GUY, and offered-up two
of the best episodes of their respective series!
 |
| "Life is like a hurr-i-caane, here in Duck-burg... er, Stoolbend, Langley Falls, and Quahog! |
…And, should AMERICAN DAD ultimately go the way of FUTURAMA
and THE CLEVELAND SHOW, there’s always DVD sets to keep the good times
coming!
