Pilot (American Dad!)
| "Pilot" | |
|---|---|
| American Dad! episode | |
The promotional image for the episode, featuring Lisa Silver (Carmen Electra) and Steve Smith.
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Ron Hughart |
| Written by |
Seth MacFarlane Mike Barker Matt Weitzman |
| Production code | 1AJN01 |
| Original air date | February 6, 2005 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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The pilot episode of American Dad! originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 6, 2005, just after Super Bowl XXXIX. It follows Stan, who rigs a school election to make his son Steve popular; but he becomes drunk with power and ends up going crazy. The episode was written by series co-creators Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman. The episode features a guest appearance by Carmen Electra.
Seth MacFarlane, who his best known for creating Family Guy, stated that he and Weitzman came up with the series after the 2000 United States presidential election. Initially, the series was to replace Family Guy after its cancellation but it was revived after the pilot episode aired. Because of this, MacFarlane left the show and handed creative control other to Barker and Weitzman. After the pilot aired, the rest of the first season began on May 1, 2005, on Fox's Animation Domination lineup which had its debut on that date.
The pilot received mixed reviews from critics and fans; with many people calling American Dad! a rip off of Family Guy. Despite the mixed reviews, it was a ratings success. According to the Nielsen ratings, it was viewed by 15.10 million people in the United States, and required a 7.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
In the pilot, Steve is upset about his lack of popularity. He notices that girls seem attracted to guys with dogs, so he asks his parents for one. Stan gets Steve a 19-year-old dog, because it was alive during the Reagan administration. One night, Roger the Alien makes a noise and Stan goes downstairs, thinking it is an intruder. Stan shoots the intruder, only to find out that he just accidentally killed Steve's dog.
They bury the dog, and Stan tries to make up for it by rigging the school election and discrediting his opponent by showing an altered photo of her in bed with the Jack in the Box Man (who Stan tells Steve, and Roger later discovers, is still in their basement) so that Steve wins and becomes the school president. Once elected, Steve uses his attribution as student body president to impress the head cheerleader. He gets drunk with power, but believes that he is succeeding, until she dumps him when he first tries to kiss her. Steve goes crazy and holds the school hostage. Stan sneaks into the school and gets Steve to stop by revealing that he was unpopular in high school as well.
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