American Dad's BAD Thanksgiving Episodes

[@TheDanTheManShow]

Thanks for watching! Wanted to give you all a small video in November (I guess small is equivalent to almost 20 minutes 😭) Be sure to stick around until the end of the video for an announcement…although some keen-eyed viewers probably already know 👀

[@Silly915]

1 day until the big 10

[@ShadyRK9]

I think I kinda know why they mostly do Halloween and Christmas specials only. One. Not only is it more marketable. And two because when you think about it Thanksgiving is kinda racist! With Halloween it's about spooky and scary things, Christmas is about gifts love and peace on earth but with Thanksgiving You CAN'T have a Thanksgiving special without talking about the Indians and it not almost going into "yikes" territory! Despite what they tried to do with Charlie Brown! Just look at Peter Pan! That movie was great but as soon as we got to the Indians part it became controversial and the worst part of the movie and WHY that scene later got cut in the live action movie!

[@viniciusgmachado1204]

@TheDanTheManShow Hey, Dan! Thanks for finally adding closed captions for me! I’m a _sucker_ for closed captions. By the way, I’m sorry I didn’t reply to you earlier.

[@Mister_Oddity]

How was this comment posted 7 days before the video came out?

[@onebradawsome4826]

Hey dude love your work! I hope you continue making videos for a long time

[@karseniberra]

McFarlane’s shows are evidently not good with Thanksgiving specials

[@GayKermit-._-.]

​@Mona-by8qqthose are the only shows seth mcfarlane has made with Thanksgiving specials. Tf are you on about?

[@Blandcaca]

​@@GayKermit-._-.That's the joke they're making.

[@KingFendi]

@@Blandcacabro is lost

[@segaseth]

Actually enjoy the Cleveland show thanksgiving episode.

[@ShadowJCreed]

⁠@@segaseth Honestly yeah, Auntie Mama is a bit of a strange character looking back but they're also one of the more notable side characters from that show. They didn't annoy me like some other ones did and while they did sleep with Freight Train the episode as a whole wasn't bad

[@ZatchZXman]

The issue with Seth and Thanksgiving episode is that there's nothing interesting that you can do with Thanksgiving aside from the tired family sitcom tropes. Family Guy and American Dad's schtick is that these are horrible people who don't exactly fit the mold of TV safe family values. They're the nuclear families who are trying to keep up with the Jones and failing at it because of how weird they are or how dysfunctional they actually are. So when they do a Thanksgiving episode, everything feels like it slows down to a grind of, guests come in, will there be a turkey, the relatives suck or they don't get along, happy ending. Because that's what Thanksgiving is all about. Very safe, family friendly, and down to earth. How should they do a Thanksgiving episode? Make everything go wrong. That's it. Just say Thanksgiving sucks and just go out for Chinese because that's all it's about, Food, TV, and getting together with people you only see maybe once every three years.

[@PloverBones]

Its not a McFarlane show, but I think the Thanksgiving episodes of Bob's Burgers are really good

[@ZyroShadowPony]

Either that or go the christmas route where theyre thankful of their family by having turkeys try to kill them each year? See how many holiday events actively hunt down the smiths for a potential climatic buildup?

[@thesorcerer5099]

​@@PloverBones probably cause Bob's burgers has a family that don't always get along but they all clearly care about one another. It's more grounded then FG or AD

[@teddyf3960]

I like There Will Be Bad Blood. I like the twist that Stan is the poor brother, and I like the reconciliation at the end with Hayley and Jeff. Also the callback to rogers wolf is funny. Love the vids Dan! Happy turkey day :)

[@KaiKrimson56]

The Spice Girl reference Roger makes is even funnier when you know the exact music video he was talking about when they're stuck in the dessert.

[@M.W.2]

The "absolutely everything" joke of roger drink in Rusty home is pure gold. Even if the episode is not that good

[@zackthorn5043]

One thing about the first episode that always kinda hit me as weird, less about the episode but more about Haley and Jeff moving in, is Stan being the one to invite them back in but IMMEDIATELY going back on the I hate Jeff mindset, like right after on the Christmas special he's so hostile towards him, like my brother in Christ you invited him in. I know it's just part of his character at this point and overall kind of doesn't matter, but it always just seemed weird to me.

[@crcoghill]

Easiest fix for a good American Dad episode: Stan tries to make the perfect Turducken, but creates mutant Turduckens, that go on a rampage through the city. And plot twist: when they kill and cook them: they are perfect.

[@manynachos]

American dad is a fever dream where you are sometimes lucid and go like "oh yeah recognize this one"

[@tbspromotions]

AD > FG

[@PhillipOnTakos]

Rusty and Gwen were both made from a one off joke in an early episode. Both of them calling about a marital issues and it's mostly for a meta joke. While I think Francine's family has there place, expands the character and can produce a decent episode. Despite how bad how there Thanksgiving episode it. Stan's family is also like that... except Rusty. It feels like someone remembered Stan had a half brother and said "Let's do an episode with him in in" Then had a decent idea for an episode but something went wrong when finalizing it. Now with how much time has passed and the current political climate there is no chance we'll ever see that side of the Smith family again.

[@dylansharp8471]

How so?

[@wakkaseta8351]

@@dylansharp8471 Twitter lefties would be up in arms about how Rusty isn't voiced by an actual Indian, would nitpick everything about him to find some sort of inaccuracy they can use to complain about "white people not knowing how to write POCs", or would just cry "Harmful"/"Stereotypical"/"Not good enough representation".

[@ivanbluecool]

I do love how American dad references Stan's brother later on sorta existing and how neighbors can die off screen without fan fare too. Wish they'd do this again and try for a better thanksgiving special

[@JMandJJ7797]

So the guy never appeared again? I mean makes sense he would want nothing to do with his brother after what he did, but it'd be interesting if there was an episode where they have financial troubles and try to go to him and are forced to do increasingly humiliating and ridiculous favors in return to get even or his brother buys ownership of his house or something.

[@ivanbluecool]

@@JMandJJ7797 actually they just reference his existence as barley canon sometimes

[@daveintheAM]

I think one of the other main issues is that, they dont really utilize other characters. There will be bad blood makes new characters (and also wastes a pretty premium guest spot) and Kung Pao Turkey uses rarely seen characters who already arent the best. Which is funny since two of the thanksgiving specials from Family Guy (one being from around this time) both make sure to bring as many fun side characters as possible, so even if the plots suck, the jokes can flow a bit (and they were still when Family Guy would use funny side characters instead of the crappy librarian, Peters bosses and wild west) The other american dad holiday specials are definitely better written, but they also make sure to go all out in both wacky plot, and depth of characters

[@justwolf3937]

Honestly I have to agree, the Boneless wings joke from Family Guy makes me actually laugh out loud while Everytime American Dad did a thanksgiving episode not a single joke rose a chuckle out of me. I can't even think of an example the episodes are so forgettable

[@thekaiserwarriors998]

I ADORE “There will be bad blood” I intended to watch it tomorrow, but now I gotta watch this

[@cloudedfilms]

i love your videos so much. i originally found you from your american dad video on rabbit ears. i was doing anything to get my american dad fix at the time. the podcast was at its most consistent and im glad i found you. can’t wait for the ranking video

[@aristotleasparaguspodcast1129]

There Will Be Bad Blood is actually one of my favorite episodes

[@hope-cat4894]

Mine too.

[@TheDanTheManShow]

Totally fair! I can see how people enjoy it!

[@kadoharp]

Same that episode slaps hard

[@hannahm420]

Congrats on 21k!!!!! i think ive been here since around 5k! you deserve it all!!!!!

[@frausteiner8615]

The Smiths trying to steal land from Native Americans was just a funny reference to how Europeans stole land, but the ending was a critique of capitalism. People feel content with their lot in life as long as theirs is better than someone else's. It's the classic case of the exploited worker going along with the system because being an exploited worker is better than being poor.

[@mathieuleader8601]

I always liked the idea of Stan's second half-brother to be Glenn Quagmire

[@teddyf3960]

Holy smokes!!! I’ve been so excited for the ranking video!!

[@L1ncore]

i wont lie when i saw that photo mid-teaser for the next video i thought you were gonna review that dreaded parody lol. i was so scared.

[@Mister_Oddity]

6:00 I just found one of my new favorite American Dad lines.

[@Dalex1910]

You really are gonna ignore the fact that there was an early episode, forgot which one and what it's about but there's a scene in it where francine talks to her sister gwen on the phone, in the bathroom, at night. The joke is that she calls her "sis" to establish that to the audience even though noone calls their siblings "sister" or "brother in real life and then comments on how it is strange that she called her that. Anyway they repeat that joke with stan later on in the same episode when he calls someone on the phone "bro" and then he explains "of course I've called you bro before, that's what we are: half-brothers" and then he tells him they won't interact again until his brother unexpectedly shows up. Now that's foreshadowing

[@dudejoe24]

The bit with stands brother is even more weird given how he was first mentioned in that metor maid episode

[@ignorant1126]

"Well maybe we should just stay astranged until you have a dramatic enough reason to show up on my doorstep unannounced" ...foreshadowing, huh

[@cyancat_idk]

2:41 hfjone reference

[@wayneigoe6722]

Has there ever been a single episode of the show where Stan just ACCEPTS things as they are without a tantrum or some stupid bunch of antics that ultimately do more harm than good?

[@BiancaProbably]

Was just discussing how much AD drops the ball on Thanksgiving episodes. I go to Bob's Burgers for this particular holiday fix (and that one Family Guy episode that I don't love but is passable)

[@stupidskullstudios8884]

There be bad blood is top favorite of mine but I respect your opinion.

[@629Ebaby]

I love the episode with Stan’s brother because Stan gets exactly what he deserves and given Stan’s treatment of Rusty, I don’t think he’s in the wrong for him using Stan to teach his family a lesson. Also the scene with the Felicity the wolf callback is one of the funniest jokes in all of American Dad

[@user-jl7cz2pe6d]

Nuh-uh. Rusty actually technically appeared in the episode where Stan became a meter maid. Stan talked to him on a phone.

[@tenebrousoul9368]

I know it's shit to comment on a speech impediment, but I really love your voice. It's unique, charismatic, and one can tell you put a lot of hard work into your content. Thank you, sir

[@williamargott398]

2:45 to be fair, like a season prior during the meter maid episode, Stan spoke with his brother on the phone. And he even specified he was his half brother. He did say he lived in Wisconsin or something which Rusty definitely dosent but that’s still like a C- on continuity

[@danielericciotti7178]

episodes like these kinda fit in a very rare category of media that I enjoy very much once I'm divorced by the concept of empathy for the characters , sometimes a story doesn't need to have likable characters it just needs assholes screwing each other over

[@paradoxtheruler7596]

in defense of Stans brother kind of being a bad person, he IS stans half brother, and his dad is also Jack smith

[@GreenBunnyTNT.]

lol the ONE reference

[@AllBlackAirpods]

3:01 the “So-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh much” joke is still hilarious to me

[@Eagleboy90210]

I still find rusty’s laugh contagious

[@gangzuluevilwizard7964]

One of the blessed few to actually watch this on November 24th 2023

[@Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1024]

People always complain about the stupidest things when there's so many worse TV shows let alone things period

[@BitestheStuff]

Yeah, when it comes to Thanksgiving specials, Bob's Burgers is my usual go to. That said, I do think there's room for a Thanksgiving special in American Dad, but it'd be more of a Black Friday special.

[@saikoormike]

Even though I don't understand Thanksgiving in the slightest, it seems interesting.

[@jameer7565]

Honestly, we that celebrate don't get it either. Just like food and family.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

basically, we just eat food with family and try to pretend it wasn't built on the backs of horrible atrocities like half the other things we did.

[@saikoormike]

@@AnAverageGoblin Makes sense for America, but interesting nonetheless

[@justinlawson1640]

​@@saikoormike could say that about anywhere really.

[@yeeoldfriend]

What i learned is that if you want a good Thanksgiving special from an adult cartoon is Bobs Burgers

[@Menoman235]

I think the problem is, I may be wrong in saying this, Thanksgiving doesn’t have any special significance in media. Like everytime someone outside the peanuts tries to make a special about this holiday it never works. With Christmas and Halloween there are other things associated with the holiday that you can make a joke about. Christmas songs and movie cliches, Halloween equals scary movies etc. Thanksgiving has literally nothing else so when you’re forced to make a special about, what can you really do with the holiday.

[@TheDanTheManShow]

You’re not wrong, although I think Bobs Burgers is the closest to pulling it off

[@Menoman235]

@@TheDanTheManShow yea their thanksgiving special did come close to being solid at least.

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

10:51and yet I question Why is Stan in his underwear all through out the episode? in the back of my mind I'm thinking Dude put some pants on already

[@TGVChicken]

I was watching this on November 24th, 2023 on 1:18am randomly. I’ll check back in ten years probably.

[@danielflanard8274]

There Will Be Bad Blood is one of my favorite episodes because of how gorgeous the mesa mansion design is.

[@deadkilla03]

there will be bad blood is one of my fav episodes when I think of american dad I think of that episode and the episode where the angle is his lawyer is like peak american dad

[@oatatas]

Gotta love the ONE reference :)

[@buglium]

The casual one refrence 😭

[@TheLongestBoy]

Watching at work and the part when you say the date at the beginning tripped me out lmfao I’m watching it a year later

[@BunniSoda]

As someone whos native and loves American Dad HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THIS

[@violinmjb52]

If there's one thing I'm gonna do it's recognize Sims 1 music.

[@Shyguygangar]

I was watching the latest rick and morty episode (s7 e6), and I watched both of these episodes. I thought nothing much on them until this video.

[@ShadyRK9]

What's worse? The American Dad! Thanksgiving specials or the Family Guy Thanksgiving specials? I think I now know why there's mostly ONLY Halloween and Christmas specials and not ones for Thanksgiving! Oof! 🦃

[@gavinpowell7019]

I thought the peter and Brian thanksgiving one wasn't horrible the Kevin storyline was unnecessary and probably could have been replaced with something else as he's still a background character anyway but other than that the episode still helped build back a little bit of the relationship peter and Brian used to have

[@nickgarraud6080]

I just noticed that in the kung pao episode of American dad just mentioned tbs. Which is coincidental because American dad just moved from fox to tbs a year after that episode aired.

[@Kiba151]

To be fair Rusty was mentioned in an eariler season the meter maid episode stan was on the phone with him. In a later secne we also were introduced to gwen via Francine talking to her on the phone.

[@KaiKrimson56]

8:58 It's even worse with the Crystals episode since Stan obsesses so much over impressing Hideki, he commits identity theft on Steve to buy things that put him in debt, and accidentally giving personal info to a loan shark that cripples Steve's legs because he was also ireesponsible enough to trust Roger alone in a car with alot of money.

[@newheights2029]

I’m not American and have learnt all I know about Thanksgiving through these kinds of specials. This is one of the only ones I’ve ever seen that actually features Native American characters so they have that going for them.

[@issacschraeder]

Rusty was never seen again but he was mentioned a few times. I think Stan was on a phone call with rusty once. He also mentioned his half brother in the episode where Francine pretends to be a CIA agent named frank.

[@luzperras728]

Thank you for your videos and bringing laughter ❤

[@andrewsarchus2625]

The first thanksgiving has one of my favorite jokes from the show when Rusty shows up and Stan says "I might be wealthier than Rusty but I don't rub it in his face" *Rusty walks in* "Rusty! Hey feel this it's cashmere" *Proceeds to rub his sweater in his face* And the bit with rogers wolf was so funny I don't know why people don't like this episode

[@Kittenfox_55]

Francine says Rusty is barely cannon but that same episode had Hayley & Jeff reenter the show after being gone for a bit so it has importance to show's continuity.

[@shizukosmoke_storm3003]

Love your videos man ❤️ keep it up!

[@ThatFizzySoda]

2:42 CHEESEY HFJ ONE REFERENCE?!?!????!

[@AgentShoelace]

Can you do a review on Gold Top Nuts? I feel like that’s the latest gem of the series

[@Killswitch22266]

Please never stop the holiday themed episodes

[@micahtapia808]

I’m glad I found your channel. I really like it! Keep up the work

[@joshuahanson6396]

That ending though.. scared me for a second lmfao

[@btrntsqsh]

Crazy how you only have 20k, the quality of your videos makes me think you'd have at least 250k by now

[@Vintege1]

klaus not knowing the lyrics to USA USA USA is objectively funny though

[@sewnmind1786]

I can forgive the Rusty episode just for the Felicity fake out and the associated mauling.

[@oscarchontrescanalabandona6132]

I love that ONE reference

[@heroabove8824]

Thank goodness I’m watching this video today!

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

when it comes to there Halloween episodes of American Dad are Spooky Strange but fun to watch and LOVED There Scooby-Doo parody episode this year

[@Kimonia6]

2:40 Was that a ONE reference?!

[@brodietabernacki2026]

That One reference hit me like a truck.

[@mathieuleader8601]

I like how Rusty laughs like a One Piece character it makes me chuckle

[@chiefavagef0x837]

As a Native American I really liked the episode.. It'd have been miles better if it was the tribes gov that was also being shitty, at least the tribe govs I've met, they're very shitty. Also I get very tired of white ppl getting upset at our behalf. Like as if I don't have a voice AND my feelings don't matter. Not saying that's what you're doing, but that is often the case..

[@eulailalady491]

Love your videos, love to see them grow

[@Glitchtrapsacrade]

You also forgot the episode when Stan is about to scalp a disguised Francine. He said his half brother being Native American.

[@thisdudehere6450]

2:40 the one reference hit me like a truck

[@scrunglee]

I actually like the second one a fair amount :3 the B-Plot with Big Wang makes me giggle everytime.

[@Vientokh]

Steve flipping the table with klaus on it 😂

[@DigiRangerScott]

Whoa, so Kung Pao Turkey aired in the same block as LIFE OF BRIAN, and you follow up talking about its air date with a Brian clip. BRIAN LOOK OUT!

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

Usually when it comes to there Christmas episodes of American Dad yes it's Strange Bizarre but weirdly entertiaing and Great

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

and I'd thought Family Guy's Thanksgiving episodes were BAD But American Dad when they did there Thanksgiving episodes are even WORSE and the Shocker is they only did two and haven't even did another ever since way back then and haven't done one since 2013

[@poikooze3112]

Great video! But I do want to point out, in literally the second episode of the show, it's all about Stan being more financially successful than his wife

[@jaidora]

i guess the only good thing about Rusty taking his family to the Smith's is to teach them humility or at least to be more humbled about what they have compared to what other people don't have. Just a tiny positive.

[@DracoFoxy_G]

They're giving Thanksgiving episodes well. The Thanksgiving treatment

[@mathieuleader8601]

I like to think that the episode West to Mexico being an adventure about Stan's 3x grandfather whose a cowboy

[@slimeeeeeeeeeeeaz]

i’m glad i can enjoy funny things and not get offended in someone else’s behalf

[@josephsigala6631]

There will be bad blood was so bad that rusty and his family never retuned even episodes you think he should have appeared like he stans half brother nope not even in camos it kind of reminds me of what happend with brian son Dillon both characters despite being related to major characters never appeared sure they do get mentioned a few times but in terms of episode appearances never returned ( rusty and his family last seen 13 years ago and Brian son dillon last seen 9 years wow I feel old )

[@ghostspider2056]

Stan’s bother was mentioned once before his debut when they were on the phone.

[@sammiepittman3130]

Haley showing up at the end of the episode was the best part

[@pained.anomaly]

The ranking still hasn't come out and it's already Valentine's. I'm guessing there was some sort of hold up or new release of episodes that delayed the video. I'm not sure.

[@samflood5631]

This whole conflict in the There Will be Bad Blood episode could have been avoided if Stan just let Hayley and Jeff join them for Thanksgiving.

[@TheDanTheManShow]

Tbf he had no idea where they were at that point

[@samflood5631]

@@TheDanTheManShow I know. But he still acted like Hayley is dead to the family for marrying Jeff.

[@pdokik4952]

02:30 you made up that term for a Joke right? There no way A.D. fans call themself ''dader'' ....right?

[@TheDanTheManShow]

😬

[@kieranraynor6405]

The show has a running bit where a narrator will come in and he calls the viewers dadders He will also sometimes announce when someone makes a joke about something and say they've been "dadded"

[@RatTailSoup4]

you can't just make a ONE joke like that YOU CANT-

[@BlitzDemonGamer3032]

11:29 and if I wanted to watch a more realistic term of a Thanksgiving episodes I'd go to Modern Family then this

[@E33art]

2:40 you didn’t seem like the kind of guy to like object shows

[@Vappyg]

2:39 HOLY SHIT A ONE REFERENCE

[@RickRichard-s6t]

Bad? It’s the best thanksgiving miracle ever made