American Dad! Volume 6

In its sixth season, American Dad (the obese, mentally challenged cousin of Family Guy) has started to take on more of its predecessor's roots, often structuring episodes around familiar movie plots and following mid-episode tangents for the sake of random humour. It's still very rarely laugh-out-loud funny, but there are enough obscure references and wildly inappropriate political juxtapositions to keep higher cognitive functions engaged, if slightly apathetic. Since the series revolves around a staunch, rightwing, military-enforcing CIA agent and his mostly liberal family, the comedy often stems from the mixing of his solipsism with conflicting ideologues, such as homosexual advances, social welfare systems and his weak, dorky son. Exacerbating this bigotry is the inclusion of the flamboyant and sociopathic alien Roger, whose frequent racist jokes and drunken tendency to make sloppy sexual advances round out the gamut of possible responses to whatever scenario the weekly episode formula brings forth. Along with coy odes to Almost Famous and Sideways, this volume of sixth season episodes features the "Rapture's Delight" episode, wherein Stan and Francine are left behind after the rapture, forced to help Jesus with his battle against the Antichrist in a post-apocalyptic world. The set features a "Making of" supplement on this episode where they discuss the different, comic book approach to animation in creating satanic figures, along with the early '80s Tangerine Dream score and pseudo-John Carpenter template. And while this episode does stand out, visually, it's the public embarrassment one where Stan accidentally poops in the pool during a pool party that is the most hilarious, following him around the country as he concocts a plan to make Barack Obama poop in a pool to help ameliorate his folly. The DVD set also includes a brief supplement on the many animal deaths that have occurred on the show, along with the usual deleted scenes and an uncensored viewing option so that we can hear the F-bomb once or twice every episode. There are also a handful of commentary tracks where the cast and crew make endless self-deprecating comments and allude to being drunk.