Now, out of the two shows, I still find "Family Guy" to be the superior one. However, I find that after 9 or 10 seasons, it has become somewhat stale. There are still some funny moments, but there's a lot more crap to go through.
"American Dad!" at first I thought lacked that edge, that dark humour that "Family Guy" had. Now? It still lacks it... But at the time, I didn't realise that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I do now. "American Dad!" has a lot more creativity with their humour, though, I have found, in comparison with later seasons of "Family Guy", and in some cases, some episodes of the old "Family Guy." It still has the occasional shock humour, but not doesn't take it as far. It's humour could be compared to something like "Futurama", only not as funny, but a bit more out there... sometimes. But unlike the later "Family Guy" seasons it's not relying just on violence, gross-out humour and cutaway gags that barely go anywhere.
Because the main character is a secret agent, and in the attic they house an Alien, a lot of the plots are more ludicrous than "Family Guy." There's also a talking fish, too. And a talking koala.
The main characters themselves are generally quite funny. The three standouts are Stan Smith, Roger the alien and Klaus the fish. The other members in the family do have their funny moments, too. And the supporting cast, especially Patrick Stewart as CIA boss Avery Bullock, Jeff Fischer (Played by Jeff Fischer. No really!), and a talking Koala, have great moments. Even characters you'll only see for one episode have some very memorable gags, too. Sometimes they're funnier than the main characters themselves.
There are some emotional aspects, too, though I think "Family Guy" handles them better. Like for example, Brian and the elderly woman he looks after as part of community service, or, once again, when Brian is hit by a car and dies, and is written out of the show for three episodes or so. Even though he wasn't gone for good, that moment is heart-breaking. But when "American Dad!" does them, they are actually pretty good moments.
All in all, "American Dad!" isn't as ground-breaking as it's sister show, but the quality of it doesn't seem to have been getting worse. In fact, it seems to get better as it goes on.
"American Dad!" at first I thought lacked that edge, that dark humour that "Family Guy" had. Now? It still lacks it... But at the time, I didn't realise that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I do now. "American Dad!" has a lot more creativity with their humour, though, I have found, in comparison with later seasons of "Family Guy", and in some cases, some episodes of the old "Family Guy." It still has the occasional shock humour, but not doesn't take it as far. It's humour could be compared to something like "Futurama", only not as funny, but a bit more out there... sometimes. But unlike the later "Family Guy" seasons it's not relying just on violence, gross-out humour and cutaway gags that barely go anywhere.
Because the main character is a secret agent, and in the attic they house an Alien, a lot of the plots are more ludicrous than "Family Guy." There's also a talking fish, too. And a talking koala.
The main characters themselves are generally quite funny. The three standouts are Stan Smith, Roger the alien and Klaus the fish. The other members in the family do have their funny moments, too. And the supporting cast, especially Patrick Stewart as CIA boss Avery Bullock, Jeff Fischer (Played by Jeff Fischer. No really!), and a talking Koala, have great moments. Even characters you'll only see for one episode have some very memorable gags, too. Sometimes they're funnier than the main characters themselves.
There are some emotional aspects, too, though I think "Family Guy" handles them better. Like for example, Brian and the elderly woman he looks after as part of community service, or, once again, when Brian is hit by a car and dies, and is written out of the show for three episodes or so. Even though he wasn't gone for good, that moment is heart-breaking. But when "American Dad!" does them, they are actually pretty good moments.
All in all, "American Dad!" isn't as ground-breaking as it's sister show, but the quality of it doesn't seem to have been getting worse. In fact, it seems to get better as it goes on.