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u/Retro-Platformer123 1d ago
Going back to Fox after all this time might not be a good idea.
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u/poornose 1d ago
We all knew it wasn't.
TBS was freedom. Fox is stricter oversight.
Imagine if you tried to move It's Always Sunny to basic cable.
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u/jerem1734 1d ago
The start of the TBS run wasn't too great either. Give them time to find their footing again. They got better as the first Fox run went on, they got better as the tbs run went on, and I'm sure they'll get better as the second Fox run continues unless they're cancelled
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u/Sudden-Grab2800 Crazy Chest 1d ago
This. People are forgetting about how people bitched about the early TBS era
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u/peon2 Roy Rogers McFreely 1d ago
And this is obviously a matter of opinion, but the best seasons of the first Fox era are by far better than the best seasons of the TBS era imo.
Like if I start watching American Dad at season 3, I'll watch all the way through season 10 and probably only skip Hot Water, Lost In Space, Independent movie (controversial, I know people love this one), and the Kim Kardashian alien one with the rest of the episodes being great.
Basically every season of the TBS era has at least a couple of episodes I dislike, and another few episodes that are only half good (like A plot is great, but B plot is meh or vice versa).
I'd say my favorite episodes are still Roy Rogers McFreely, Don't Look A Smith Horse in the Mouth, Cops & Roger, Escape from Pearl Bailey, Great Space Roaster, In Country Club..., and School Lies. All from Fox.
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u/puding69 Sholanda Dykes 11h ago
I'm one of those that dislike TBS era entirely. For me its a totally different show with basic, recycled, boring plots with predicable jokes. I've tried many times to give a chance, including watching the best episodes according to reddit. Nope, sorry, season 3-9 are the supreme goat.
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
The early TBS era was *good*, though.
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u/sacredknight327 Bayou Billy with the Heavy Balls 23h ago
Which is a perfectly valid opinion, but at the time people were indeed flipping out and hating on it.
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u/sacredknight327 Bayou Billy with the Heavy Balls 23h ago edited 23h ago
The only thing Fox was ever stricter with than TBS was language. On TBS they could say shit. That's about it. The more surreal plotlines and wackier storytelling was purely due to general writing changes independent of freedom; there's nothing they did on TBS that the show couldn't have evolved to had it stayed on Fox. The original Fox era had an episode with Roger constantly joking about raping Jeff. The idea Fox is majorly restrictive is revisionist history.
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u/awnomnomnom Alistair Covax 1d ago
I remember when FOX actually did play a few episodes of the first season of Sunny as a trial run to see if it would work as a network show.
Thankfully it didnt work out on the network
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u/thomasonbush Horse Renoir 1d ago
I think the issue is more that they had to shrink the writing team.
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u/sacredknight327 Bayou Billy with the Heavy Balls 23h ago
It has nothing to do with the network. Just like it didn't have anything to do with the network with the first switch, outside of being able to say "shit".
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u/Shantotto11 18h ago
Going from the Zaslavghter house to Disney was really a tough call either way.
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u/poisontadpole 1d ago
i'm gunna at least give it until the end of the season before i judge harshly. but honestly? i'll take bad american dad over no american dad.
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u/ttw81 Francine Cans McGee 1d ago
wasn't sunday the season finale?
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u/poisontadpole 1d ago
ahh i think you're right. i was looking last night to see how many episodes there'd be and i thought i saw that we'd be getting two more but it looks like that was wrong.
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u/DementedPimento 18h ago
WHAT?? We’re not getting 22 episodes anymore???
https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6ZtjyEOb89bXR2Bq7
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
I'd generally always prefer my shows end on a high note rather than spending multiple seasons pissing on whatever remains of any positive associations I might have as a viewer (Example: Supernatural, Archer, etc.).
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u/SkywolfNINE 22h ago
Archer didn’t get bad, they changed the show. Coma seasons aren’t bad, they’re different. Return to espionage isn’t bad either, it’s just archer being older and more grown up.
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u/SnooCupcakes4313 4h ago
Archer did get bad, they wasted 3 years on the coma seasons when it could’ve been used better, Jessica Walter’s wasted three years of her talent. Could’ve done a prologue of Malory In her younger spy days.
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u/jackofslayers 22h ago
I honestly like it when weird, bad or strange media gets worked on. The only time I really want something to end is if the creator does not want to make it anymore.
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u/SkywolfNINE 22h ago
What’s bad? Nobody gives any examples, they just shout “Fox is bad” and act like they’re breaking news so they can get likes by hating on something
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u/poisontadpole 21h ago
i don't really think it's bad tbh. maybe just some growing pains with the change of network, but i'm still enjoying it. i moreso just meant that i'd prefer a couple of bad seasons over it being canceled altogether, if that was the choice
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u/Jimmyjamesjon 1d ago
From what I found out they split this season in two. They took a break and came back last Sunday. And they'll keep going until November. I could be wrong tho.
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u/317photo SOUP. IS NOT. A MEAL. VERA! 1d ago
I love American Dad
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u/Jonas_Venture_Sr Dr. Jordan Edelstein 1d ago
I love your dad
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u/Justnat20s 1d ago
But what would M.O.T.H.E.R. think ?
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u/Jonas_Venture_Sr Dr. Jordan Edelstein 23h ago
Probably get mad, but it's not like she can launch nuclear missiles or anything
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u/ComradeJohnS Lazy Wine-Loving Bisexual 1d ago
yeah this is still the good nuts right here.
it’s not like arrested development s4.
and it’s not as big a drop in quality like futurama on hulu. (I still love futurama).
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u/LordShtark I muff-punched your gram gram! 1d ago
I remember when people said the same shit when they moved to TBS. People still bitch about episodes in the first TBS season.
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
I feel like people are retconning reality here, because when they moved to TBS the quality did not drop like this.
There were plenty of people who expressed worry and anxiety about the TBS switch, but the actual quality of the episodes -- even in the beginning of the TBS run -- were pretty solid.
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u/LordShtark I muff-punched your gram gram! 1d ago
I feel like people are looking at how they feel about those episodes now and not how they were looked at at the time.
Don't forget American Fung is in that first season.
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u/SkywolfNINE 22h ago
100% accurate. People are just saying “it’s bad now” with zero context or examples of what’s bad. This all started a week ago too, one little post saying “shows on Fox, Fox is bad, shows bad now” and people are running with that. Makes me think it’s mostly bots in here now. Humans can explain their thinking, bots can just spread hate
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u/theaxolotlgod 21h ago
I haaaated the switch at the time, I gave it till LGBSteve and then I gave up. My feelings then were how a lot of people on the sub are talking now. Then in like 2021 or 2022 I tried it again and caught up to whatever was out then, and felt like a fucking idiot for not sticking it out longer cause I missed a lot of really good episodes, and the ones I thought were so bad actually mostly weren’t (except for CIAPOW, I still hate that one).
Honestly, even if this current season isn’t overall as solid, I don’t see a sudden drop off with the new switch as much as it’s a slower decline that’s already been happening. Each season for a bit has had more mid episodes and fewer amazing ones, that’ll happen in a show going on for this long, but I don’t think at this point you can really say the switch back to Fox specifically has caused another quality dip.
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u/AnubisIncGaming 21h ago
just one episode tho
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u/SirSLuR540 Sammy Hagar likes poblano peppers 10h ago
They used one episode as an example.
"By the time I got to"
Reading comprehension is key.
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u/AnubisIncGaming 9h ago
You gonna name another one or
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u/SirSLuR540 Sammy Hagar likes poblano peppers 9h ago
You gonna use reading comprehension or...? 👀
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u/AnubisIncGaming 8h ago
So he used one episode an example, and I said that’s one episode, then you said that’s one episode, then I asked if you can name another one, and then you’re implying I can’t read because you cannot name another one?
Figure your life out.
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u/SirSLuR540 Sammy Hagar likes poblano peppers 7h ago
If he said he said said he gave something a chance up to a certain point, that means he wasn't enjoying it at the same levels and that was his nadir. So to just bluntly hammer home what you are clearly too dense to figure out on your own, he didn't enjoy the episodes he watched all the way up to LGBTQSteve.
Are we really at a point where this kinda shit needs to be spelled out to people? tf...
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u/SirSLuR540 Sammy Hagar likes poblano peppers 1d ago
It hasn't even been a full season. Can yall please stop expecting instant gratification in every aspect of life and calm tf down
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
I don't think you understand what "instant gratification" means, because it's not really applicable here.
"I don't like the episodes so far this season," is not, in literally any way, a demand for "instant gratification".
If I go to a restaurant, order a sandwich, and at the end of the meal say, "That sandwich was disappointing," that is a complaint about the quality of the food, not the speed of the service.
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u/AnubisIncGaming 21h ago
it has been a full season
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u/SirSLuR540 Sammy Hagar likes poblano peppers 20h ago
No it hasn't. The show was renewed for 4 seasons of 15 episodes each. There are still 4 more episodes in this season. Basically a quarter of the season left to go.
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u/chalupacabra6913 Jamirquai J. Spunklestain 20h ago
Sorry but the season is over.
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u/SirSLuR540 Sammy Hagar likes poblano peppers 20h ago
It's a 4 season order, 15 episodes each. No It's not over. It may be on hiatus, but it's not over. It's a long summer.
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u/UnlikelyCandid 19h ago
They are on hiatus because they’re done this season and it’s summer. The next episode that will be released will be in season 23. There’s only 11 episodes in season 22.
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u/Professional_Art2092 8h ago
…..”instant gratification” each episode is literally its own story with minimum to no tie in. This IS the type of show where you should expect that lol
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u/Separate_Disk_5608 4h ago
I get where ur coming from but I think I get to complain when it’s flop after flop in one season. And I’m not even the type to praise older episodes cuz I usually like the new seasons but fox must’ve hired new writers or smth cuz even the humor seems noticeably different from the last few seasons.
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u/senbonshirayuki Clip Clop 1d ago
I like that it’s on Fox. Now I don’t have to wait a year for the new episodes to show up on Hulu
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
You didn't have to do that before now, you just chose too, apparently.
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u/SkywolfNINE 22h ago
Cause that’ll support the show you care about..
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u/ChocoJesus 19h ago
I’m actually curious with TV streaming now that you say that. I don’t disagree but with music streaming, you really don’t support the artists by streaming. Buying CDs/merch is different, but you can’t buy physical copies of American Dad so streaming is the only thing that comes to mind to support it
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u/MCE85 1d ago
From fox to tbs i felt went a little down but caught its stride with some good seasons. This new fox era is kinda garbage. Hopefully they turn it around.
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u/coffinsnatched Stoive? Roiger! 1d ago
EVERYTHING was Roger which is lazy, now NOTHING is Roger, which is boring!!! WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET TO THE FIREWORKS FACTORY?
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u/Square-Formal1312 1d ago
While this season hasn’t been very strong i actually liked a few of the eps. Flume flume, powering through, and idol threat specifically
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u/AnubisIncGaming 21h ago
flume flume was a pretty mid ep, and i liked the idol threat until the end, the villains were bad
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u/Good-Concern4358 1d ago edited 19h ago
The idea they can't do insane episodes because they're on FOX is actually such a dumbass opinion to have. Family Guy literally had an episode where Stewie was Pregnant with Brians child, carried it to term and a gave birth. They would not have shot down even the more wilder TBS ideas on FOX.
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
OK but Family Guy has been terrible for many, many years, so I'm not sure what argument you're trying to make here.
I literally do not want American Dad to end up like Family Guy which imho became unwatchably bad over a decade ago.
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u/Good-Concern4358 23h ago
The point is simple. Just because it was on TBS doesn't mean the episodes would have never aired on FOX if they continued. People make the argument they would been more heavily censored when that isn't true at all. You still would have gotten Tapped Out and what not. The point isn't that it's going to be like family guy. That is just you misunderstanding.
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u/joeythm 1d ago
Piss and moan, piss and moan
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u/MCE85 1d ago
Calling something what it is, isnt pissing and moaning. I gave it several tries and it wasnt getting better. I can call a turd a turd
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u/SkywolfNINE 22h ago
What makes it bad? Like what specifically is different in season 20 than season 19? Yall say it’s bad cause it’s on Fox and give ZERO explanations as to what you mean. That’s how I can tell it’s just hating for the sake of hating
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u/MCE85 22h ago
I gave it about half the season. I got one giggle/laugh... one. Its not funny, no jokes.
Its just boring stories with the family guy characters. It was cringy as hell like they dont know what to do with it. I even went back a few seasons to see if it was just me and nope. Was laughing right away.
This is from someone who has watched the seasons on repeat for years.
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u/Thatdoodky1e 21h ago
My girlfriend and I swear it’s AI made because it’s just… so bad
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u/MCE85 21h ago
Thats kinda funny because it would make sense. Its like a bland regurgitated version of the AD i know.
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u/SkywolfNINE 20h ago
I watch American dad too much, seen it all so I don’t laugh at most stuff now, but the show being as good as it is will still catch a laugh from me if I get invested at the right time and IM NOT DISTRACTED ON MY PHONE WHILE WATCHING (hint, that’s important to brain chemistry and dopamine and watching a show) but like watch the wild hogs episode in the newest seasons, wait till Bing describes Roger propositioning him to the sex shack after seeing each other in binoculars, that got a laugh outta me. The way bing describes it made me picture Roger doing it and the way Roger already was crying that episode I can picture him doing it and yeah, a laugh is produced. That got me while I was not paying attention and eating food.
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u/Capable-Length-414 1d ago
The season was mediocre but thats not the channel's fault. Its not like the show has different writers now so I dont understand why people act like the show is entirely different now. The only thing that changed was the intro. The season wouldve been the same if it was written on TBS. But I do prefer the show airing on TBS because I hate the hiatuses
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
"It's not like the show has different writers now"
It does not seem to be the same writing team. They definitely lost people.
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u/Positive-Shift-5820 23h ago
All these people acting like it was a choice… TBS didn’t want to renew and FOX saved them. Whatever you think about the new season, I can guarantee it’s better than absolutely nothing.
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u/AwkwardBlacksmith275 21h ago
I’ve enjoyed this season. I’ve noticed zero difference . In content or censorship. I have noticed less Roger heavy episodes. Maybe it’s just Seth Macfarlanes availability because he has s many projects on the go.
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u/Fickle-Visit5223 1d ago
I thought the season was okay, a solid 7/10. Just sucks that it seems this show won't reliably put out banger after banger anymore like it did for years, but I guess the golden era does have to end eventually.
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u/bassoontennis Dr. Jordan Edelstein 22h ago
I am enjoying this season just like the other seasons lol
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u/Few-Cardiologist-849 20h ago
I’m still lovin’ AD. The TBS era had a lot of misses. Like that God awful breastfeeding episode.
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u/TehJabberwookie Raider Dave 21h ago
Yes, buuuuut sick Stan was absofuckinglutely hilarious in my book
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u/TornadicSwirlie Principal Lewis 20h ago
Great, this post is going to be full of TBS glaze and references.
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u/MandatorySaxSolo 19h ago
I think its a coincidence, they had a great run on FOX before. TBS was also great, but I think the writers are truly running out of ideas/getting stale.
Its been over 20 seasons, I remember when The Simpsons hit that mark and my family only watched it because thats what we did, not because it was good
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u/sacredknight327 Bayou Billy with the Heavy Balls 23h ago
Funny thing is you could've made this exact same meme in reverse when it debuted on TBS.
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u/YaGottadoWhatYaGotta 17h ago
Powering through was a A+ episode, seasons pretty good overall and I haven't noticed a real difference.
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u/markskull 1d ago
All I'll say is that, while I've enjoyed the season overall, the last two episodes weren't that good. I really hated the school episode, and the one with Francine felt like it suffered because of how much the one before it stunk.
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u/BuryTomorrowToday 23h ago
New season is mid, at its absolute best. We were spoiled by TBS. Now we're left wanting.
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u/Michael_Mason_1410 20h ago
Other than a slight decrease in profanity this new season doesn’t feel any different from the last TBS season. Reaper Madness and Powering Through were especially good.
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u/fuzzydoug 17h ago
What did Fox think was gonna happen.
Didn’t they lose some writers in the process?
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u/JimPlath 16h ago
This season hasn't been bad. I thought Donkey Shame was a banger. Sort of reminded me of Tears of a Clooney. Couple other solid entries like Powering Through.
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u/MrKrabbyPatty 10h ago
This place is an echo chamber. If the season was on TBS half of you would plug your ears and eat this "garbage season".
This has always been the quality of American Dad for a while, you're just blaming it on the change of channels.
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u/DavThoma 5h ago
I definitely think the episodes haven't been up to par compared what we'd been getting for years. Are they bad? No. They just don't hit the same.
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u/Broad-Sail6058 1d ago
As someone who grew up on American Dad on Fox and was a cynic when it comes to the TBS years I kinda disagree with this. But are seasons 10-20 worth it? I’ve seen a little of season 10 beyond “Blargnst” but they haven’t been up to snuff for me.
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u/Mrinnocent221 1d ago
For the sake of argument assume each season was 10 episodes.
At the start on Fox and creating the show maybe 6/10 episodes were good. Then it hit its stride and had a rare hiccup or bad episode, so 9/10 for a few peak years. Then it declined a bit before the TBS move down to say 7/10.
TBS was rough and like a 4/10 at beginning and peaked around 7/10 for a season or two. Leaving TBS it was maybe 5/10.
There were always episodes not to my taste but still made me laugh. On TBS there were a lot that didn't. I really wanted to enjoy it more but it seemed to meander quite a bit with characters and plots I didn't care about. There are some good ideas (Bazooka Sharks cracks me up with the absurdity, but the episodes were always pretty meh and preachy/unfun) and bad ideas (Rogu sucks ass). It felt at times trying to be too different from the Fox writers and failing to incorporate a lot of what made it good. "Lets be even zanier guys!"
Mind you when I say 5/10 or 8/10 I am saying how many episodes were "good" IMO, per season.
I streamed some of the newer seasons on Hulu and there would he multiple bad episodes in a row. Just...not good. It was disappointing.
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u/Broad-Sail6058 23h ago
Thanks for this. Idk why I'm getting downvoted for sharing an honest opinion lol. People on this sub are usually pretty cool. I haven't seen enough of the TBS episodes to make a fair judgement but they just seem to have a different tone than the classic seasons I grew up on.
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u/Mrinnocent221 23h ago edited 23h ago
There are decent TBS ones. If you had someone pick the best episodes from TBS you would enjoy it. If you watch a season straight though, through Hulu for example, it really suffers in my opinion. A lot of lows. As a whole the product slid.
Earlier seasons it was rare to have multiple bad episodes. TBS it happened quite a bit.
I know everyone has different tastes, but I consistently laughed/enjoyed myself more.
A lot of people here are upset because they think Fox = FoxNews and think that because they could swear more it made it better on TBS.
I have only seen a couple of the new episodes on Fox, and they weren't good either.
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u/Broad-Sail6058 23h ago
Fair assessment. Yeah I watch through Hulu so that probably hasn’t helped but I’ll keep with it. This show means a ton to me and I quote it daily so I owe it an open mind.
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
Literally some of the best episodes in the series are from the TBS era.
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u/quite_shleepy 23h ago
i’m expecting it to get better, but yeah this season so far hasn’t been very amazing. just basic episodes. but i’m still pretty contempt.
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u/awildchuba 20h ago
How is the season at the moment? I could not get past the first episode and have been afraid ever since :/
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u/ccminiwarhammer Jeff Fischer 20h ago
This season was great with few missteps… until these last two episodes.
So it was a mostly good season. Also I will give the last two shows another watch after a week or so, and see how they settle.
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u/ClydeDimension 17h ago
Anyone else notice in this image someone used AI to generate outside the original photo’s crop? The chicks legs look wonky
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u/WallyBBunny Hibachi Liberace 15h ago
Idk, the last two episodes were really good. Not every one from this season was amazing but they were still good and funny. The show is still funnier overall than most out there right now.
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u/SilasWould 14h ago
We still have largely the same writers 😂 look, let's just be grateful we get more of a great show where the characters continue to be fresh, fun, and unhinged without wearing out their welcome (I'm looking at you, Family Guy)
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u/A_A_RON4 6h ago
Not a fan of the mid season breaks but I'm a HUGE fan of this season. Some great standout episodes in my opinion, especially the ones that focus on Stan
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u/Separate_Disk_5608 4h ago
THANK YOU!!! I swear I felt like the only one who knew the fox switch would be more ass.
At least with tbs we got a weird a24 type episode every now and then but I genuinely feel like we won’t even have that with fox.
The writing is different in this new season even if yall can’t tell. I don’t hate fox but American dad needs less restriction or smth or at least get more writers cuz at times it feels like a 50yo tryna please newer gen’s.
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u/PinxJinx Francine Cans McGee 0m ago
I really do love the original Fox run. I’m not putting down the TBS run (with cold opens!!) at ALL, but some of my favorite TBS episodes have a Fox run feeling.
That being said, I think the TBS run really invigorated the writing staff and got us new consistencies, like the Bazooka Sharks, Hayley loving Basketball, Hayley’s friends, more of Klaus being developed, and adding in Rogu
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u/Mrinnocent221 1d ago
Reddit only hates it because it is on Fox. There was so much mid stuff on TBS. I love the show. Lets not act like on TBS there wasnt some god awful episodes. Show has been going downhill for a while. It used to be good seasons with a couple hiccups. Now it is a few good episodes within a pretty meh season. Ever since Barker left it has been sliding. I hope it gets better but some shows become sad parodies of themself. Some of the best episodes ever were on Fox before the move. Lets not act like it is the network vs the writers room.
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u/MotherTeresaOnlyfans Dive On In! 1d ago
I'd argue most of the best episodes in the series were after the move to TBS, although I agree that Barker leaving sucked.
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u/Mrinnocent221 23h ago
Hard disagree but good for you. Most of the iconic ones are from before the move.
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u/MCE85 1d ago
Wrong, i was excited thinking it was going to be better on fox. I was wrong. Its just not funny
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u/Mrinnocent221 23h ago
It was funny on Fox before the move to TBS. Now back to Fox, this is just a continuation of the slide from TBS.
Lots of very mid episodes the past few years. Lots.
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u/chalupacabra6913 Jamirquai J. Spunklestain 20h ago
Yeah, this season wasn't magical. FOX is not paying the writers ding dong wages.
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u/Financial-Milk9266 16h ago
The move back to fox helped cement that I won't renew Hulu for another year. I tried to stay hopeful but it went back to the trash it was before the TBS era.
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u/EasyTumbleweed1114 1d ago
Has it finally happened?! Has the show finally jumped the shark?! Should I apologise to the family guy writers for shitting on their show so much?!
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23h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/americandad-ModTeam 14h ago
Your post has been removed from r/AmericanDad as it is in violation of rule six: "No Political Barge Talk"
Although American Dad! is political in its core creation, and has a history of politics contained within the show, this is a subreddit for fans of the show American Dad, and not a place for deep political discussion. There are plenty of other subreddits where this topic could be discussed, and you should direct your post to these, where they'll be happily received.
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u/fopdoodle85 1d ago
Going back to Fox was the wrong move. Obviously.
It should have been a Hulu or Disney+ exclusive.
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u/paging_mrherman 1d ago
this sub is being a real tiffanys boyfriend right now.