The 15 Best American Dad Episodes Ranked

When "American Dad!" first aired on Fox, "Family Guy" comparisons were inevitable, especially since both shows were created by Seth MacFarlane. "Family Guy" had been through the wringer, undergoing multiple cancellations, only to come back out on top. "American Dad!" felt like a test to see if MacFarlane could get lightning to strike twice with a different show that nonetheless had many of the same qualities as "Family Guy." That includes talking animals, and the early seasons had a tendency to lean into cutaway jokes that "Family Guy" had become synonymous with.

Over the years, "American Dad!" moved to TBS and then back over to Fox, changing its style of humor along the way. The show's less about making fun of current events and more about seeing just how depraved the Smith family can become with a significant decrease in random cutaways. And for those who have followed "American Dad!" over the years, it's honestly kind of surpassed "Family Guy" in terms of quality, especially going into the later seasons. If you don't believe us, watch the best "American Dad!" episodes for yourself to see why Stan Smith (MacFarlane) outpaces Peter Griffin (also MacFarlane) at nearly every turn. 

"Persona Assistant" is the 250th "American Dad!" episode, and it goes all in with a very fun switcheroo. Roger (Seth MacFarlane) needs a break, but he can't allow his personas, characters he plays to very humorous results throughout the series, to stand idle; they're too entrenched within the community. Therefore, he gets Stan to pick up the slack, forcing him to realize that Roger's personas aren't just an annoying quirk. They're integral to this world. 

Roger's myriad personas are a highlight throughout "American Dad!" They've given him a chance to interact with the outside world, even if some of them don't make a lick of sense. Stan needing to do them provides a great fish-out-of-water story, especially as he descends into the persona of Ricky Spanish (Ricky Spaaaaaanish). This episode also introduced fans to Rogu, Roger's tumor that came to life before becoming a recurring character, popping up now and then to help the alien with his various schemes. Rogu easily could've been a total Cousin Oliver situation, but the adorable guy has been a welcome addition.

Patrick Stewart is one of the best "Family Guy" guest stars, so it's only natural that his recurring gig as CIA director Avery Bullock on "American Dad!" would be equally hilarious. And he's the centerpiece of one of the best early episodes, "Bullocks to Stan," where he gets into a relationship with Stan's daughter, Hayley (Rachael MacFarlane). Stan has to make her boyfriend, Jeff (Jeff Fischer), tougher so that she'll take him back, and all the while, Stan's son Steve (Scott Grimes) plays around with Dick Cheney's cell phone. 

It's a great early episode hinting at the larger madness the show would regularly partake in. And as astonishing as it is to write, Bullock would only become more sexually deviant as time went on, with Stewart becoming increasingly game to say whatever the "American Dad!" writers create for him. It's a standout episode for a supporting character who's always a highlight of whatever scene he's in. 

Marital conflict is a common source of tension on sitcoms. It's a fair guess that Homer and Marge Simpson have almost broken up dozens of times at this point. In fact, it's led to one of the worst "Simpsons" storylines ever. But there's something special about "Stan & Francine & Stan & Francine & Radika," where Stan and Francine (Wendy Schaal) travel back in time to watch their younger selves to solve a petty argument. In the process, Stan kisses younger Francine, gets left behind in the past by a vengeful present Francine, and kickstarts a new timeline where he marries their former roommate Radika (Punam Patel). 

The whole thing's a fun "Back to the Future" homage that does a satisfying job of really digging deep into Stan and Francine's relationship. In the later seasons, the pair definitely feel like two peas in a pod, often encouraging each other to be their zaniest selves. This episode allows them to bicker but come back into the fold stronger than before. Living a whole other alternate reality that amounts to nothing will do that to a person ...

Focusing an entire episode on Jeff, Hayley's slacker, stoner boyfriend, was a risky move, but it's one that paid off, as "Lost in Space" is one of the best "American Dad!" episodes ever. Roger had previously put Jeff on an alien spaceship, and now, this episode focuses entirely on Jeff's mission to make it back to Hayley on Earth. Jeff may have mostly been a one-dimensional character up to this point, but the episode shows how much he cares for Hayley and the lengths he'll go to to return. 

The whole thing's a really fun sci-fi romp. One might assume an episode like this would take the easy route and make all of the aliens exact duplicates of Roger. But to our delight, the designs get fairly intricate, with more alien species aboard than you'd imagine. It shows the infinite possibilities within "American Dad!" Throwing comedian Sinbad in there to become Jeff's mentor is just the icing on the cake. 

Season 8 really feels like "American Dad!" turning a corner and leaning more into experimenting with different styles, helping to set itself apart from its other animated brethren. "Blood Crieth Unto Heaven" is a send-up of plays like "August: Osage County," where the entire episode is presented as a theatre performance, complete with an introduction from a live-action Patrick Stewart. As far as the play itself, Stan is about to learn a familial secret that could threaten everything he knows. 

It's understandable if "Blood Crieth Unto Heaven" throws viewers for a loop initially. The normal frantic pacing of "American Dad!" takes a backseat to allow beats to sit with you. Characters walk from one scene to the next with soft, gentle music playing. But then Stan gets arrested for eating crab while driving for some reason, and you're back to the races. Maybe it'll take a second or third watch, but "Blood Crieth Unto Heaven" pushes the sitcom into new, exciting territory without losing any of its identity.

Stan is having a midlife crisis while Francine's away, so he decides to throw an epic spring break festivity, nearly falling for a young woman in the process. Meanwhile, Steve wants to lose his virginity to the vivacious Carmen Selectra, a legally distinct person from Carmen Electra. Bar for bar, "Spring Breakup" might have one of the highest joke counts in the entire show's run. 

This episode is filled to the brim with amazing jokes, like when Steve tells a woman coming onto him, "Unhand me, inebriated temptress! I shan't waste an ounce of weiner on you!" There's also Hayley getting a severe sunburn and subsequently being hit by a ball, which just has perfect timing. Yes, it's Stan and Francine having issues in their relationship, but you don't really have any time to dwell on that because you're too busy laughing your butt off. It's one of those perfect "Turn on and chill" episodes of "American Dad!" for when you just want to have a good time.

A show's 100th episode is a major milestone, and "American Dad!" might have the best gimmick any show has ever had. In "100 A.D.," the episode kicks off with a proclamation that it's going to kill off 100 characters throughout the runtime. Granted, most of those came in the form of a bus carrying people falling off a cliff, but it's amusing nonetheless.

The thing that makes "100 A.D." work so well is that a lot of shows would've rested on their laurels with a gimmick alone. But "100 A.D." manages to have a compelling storyline with Hayley and Jeff eloping, and Stan going to great lengths to stop them. It makes sense to use the milestone to really comment on the way Stan feels about Jeff, who's always been a punching bag. Technically, this plot line resolves itself in the following episode, "Son of Stan," but "100 A.D." honestly has the lion's share of better jokes. 

It's common for sitcoms like "Family Guy" to pay tribute to the best Agatha Christie stories with a murder mystery episode. "American Dad!" also gets in on the fun with season 15's "Death by Dinner Party," where Francine hosts a party despite a serial killer crashing these types of parties on the loose. The whole affair makes everyone paranoid, especially Roger, who wants to prove that he's not the one doing all of the creepy things. 

It's honestly an amazing parody and a genuinely inspired mystery. The inclusion of Uncle Colonel Withersby is fantastic as a red herring ... or is he? Everyone loving him and having some kind of history with him when he's never been mentioned before is a great running gag. With such a massive cast coming into the fold, there's always the worry that someone would get the short end of the stick, but everyone has a lot to do. Klaus (Dee Bradley Baker) continually messes up the actual food while Bullock's on a bender. It's a chaotic episode that's still laser-focused on the central mystery, making it fun to watch even if you know how it all plays out. 

"American Dad!" doing a James Bond parody feels like the most obvious thing in the world to do. After all, Stan works for the CIA, so his adopting the persona of a Bond-like secret agent is a natural fit. It may be obvious, but "Tearjerker" absolutely nails making fun of essential James Bond flicks like "Goldfinger" and "GoldenEye." Stan's trying to stop Roger, named Tearjerker, from replacing Hollywood actors with robots in an attempt to make the saddest film imaginable, making audiences everywhere cry to unleash his diabolical weapon of mass destruction. 

What makes this Bond parody stand out from others is that it's not even really about James Bond at a certain point. Tearjerker wanting to make the saddest movie possible is also poking fun at so-called "Oscar bait" films that seem formulated to tug at viewers' heartstrings and win awards. Bond is merely a framing device to hide a way more interesting target in the plot.

Remember that episode of "The Simpsons" where Marge becomes a cop? Well, in "Cops and Roger," Roger also becomes a police officer, except he takes it in a much darker direction. While he has good intentions initially, it doesn't take him long to become a dirty cop, which is precisely what we would've expected out of the increasingly neurotic Roger with a story like this. It's one of those things you see coming, but just strap in for the ride. 

Additionally, "Cops and Roger" may have one of the funniest visual gags in the show's history. At one point, Roger's trying to stop a bad guy and elbows him in the head. This leads to a disturbingly realistic animation of the man's head exploding, which then repeats and shows the same animation again in slow motion. It's violent, disturbing, and comes out of nowhere, which is likely why it's so funny. Honestly, we're kind of impressed they could show such a level of detail on a Fox show in 2010. 

It's easy to see why so many of the best "American Dad!" episodes center on Roger. He's unpredictable and volatile, so you never know how he's going to react. Actually, you kind of know how he'll react, but the question becomes just how far he's willing to go. "Great Space Roaster" takes this to the extreme, as Roger wants the Smith family to roast him savagely for his birthday, which they acquiesce to. The whole thing is Roger's idea, but he winds up not liking being made fun of and gets back at the Smiths by hunting them "Alien"-style. 

Amazingly, the family's zingers at Roger are actually funny. It feels tough to write a good fictional roast because there's always the concern it'll come across as not that savage. That's not the case here, as everyone lets Roger have it. The "Alien" parody doesn't even come in until halfway through and shows just how depraved Roger gets when his feelings are hurt. 

One hundred episodes was one thing, but the show managed to outdo itself upon hitting 200 episodes with "The Two Hundred." It's a non-canonical entry where Stan walks through a desolate post-apocalyptic wasteland trying to find his family, reminiscing about all the times he wasn't there for them before the world ended. It's surprisingly sweet as Stan just wants a chance to apologize, even if he has to contend with cannibals. 

But the real centerpiece comes during the episode's climax. Roger says how he started a rumor about a mythical "Two Hundred" to scare people and steal their spoons, but at the end, we learn that 200 Roger clones are actually real (as a result of a Hadron Collider mishap). They rush down a hill screaming their ridiculous names, and for anyone who's stuck with the show for all these years (as well as a change in network), it's a fun, inside joke-ridden sequence that's sure to put a smile on your face. 

"American Dad!" has truly some bonkers and amazing Christmas episodes, and "Rapture's Delight" is yet another venture into the apocalypse. Stan and Francine are left behind on Earth after many have been raptured, leading to Francine striking up a relationship with Jesus Christ. Stan finds her and teams up with them to take down the Antichrist, who's voiced incredibly by Andy Samberg,  once and for all.

Through all this, "Rapture's Delight" is still a Christmas episode, and there's still an emotional core to the absurdity that follows. Everything kicks off with Stan blaming Francine for keeping him out of heaven, only to realize that there is no heaven without her. This is the kind of thing "American Dad!" excels at with its stranger episodes. It'll take a ludicrous premise, but ground it in enough sincerity to keep audiences invested. "Rapture's Delight" also set the stage for the sitcom to explore stranger stories that could exist outside of the show's primary continuity.

"American Dad!" would take its Christmas episodes in an even wilder direction with "For Whom the Sleigh Bells Toll." It starts with a riff on "A Christmas Story" where Steve wants a gun for Christmas; Stan sneakily gets it for him, only for Steve to shoot a man who turns out to be Santa Claus. In an act of revenge, Santa descends upon the Smiths on Christmas with his elf army. 

The battle sequence is handily one of the best things the show has ever done, as a heavy metal cover of "Carol of the Bells" plays, and there's just something about the way Santa yells, "I'm coming for you, Smiths," that just scratches a mental itch. Again, all this is grounded in Jeff feeling like he doesn't belong in the family, only for him to prove his mettle by the end. Jeff would go back to being treated poorly by Stan in future episodes, but here, you really do feel like a corner has been turned. 

As you can probably ascertain from this list of the best "American Dad!" episodes, the show tends to thrive when it leans into absurd, nonsensical plots. The show randomly being set during the end of the world or sending Jeff to space separates the show from others of its ilk and away from any accusations that "American Dad!" is merely a "Family Guy" rip-off. For the life of us, no other show could've pulled off an episode as bizarre and amazing as "Rabbit Ears." 

Stan becomes obsessed with an old television set that's perpetually tuned to an old series from the '60s where sophisticated adults drink and listen to jazz. Stan wants to live inside this nostalgic world until he finally makes his way through the TV, only to find how vapid and shallow the series becomes when you have to relive it every day. The whole thing plays like one of the better "Twilight Zone" episodes, complete with an eerie tag at the end. 

"Rabbit Ears" has plenty of awesome jokes, especially when the storyline deviates to Roger being a baby, but it's genuinely disconcerting when it leans into horror. And it all gets wrapped up in a warning more people could benefit from about how you can't live in nostalgia forever. No matter how much someone wants to live in the '80s or '90s (or '60s as is the case with Stan), you have to exist in the real world. "Rabbit Ears" is "American Dad!" at its funniest, strangest, and darkest, and we want more episodes like it.