Of all the Seth MacFarlane animated comedies, “American Dad” is my favorite and the only one that I watch regularly. I love the characters and sing along to “Good Morning USA” every time I hear it. This is odd. Normally, I am not a fan of adult animation; however, I enjoy “American Dad” completely and thoroughly, except for when they go too far with offensive jokes or animal deaths. I decided to write this article to explore why.

First, while most episodes are comedy-based, it occasionally handles important issues in interesting and unexpected ways. For example, in “American Dad After School Special,” Steve meets Debbie, an overweight Goth girl, and falls for her. Image-obsessed Stan is unhappy because he feels that Steve should be with a cheerleader. Francine and Hayley point out that he, too, is overweight. This spurs him to start exercising and stop eating. However, the more he exercises, the more Francine and Hayley try to feed him and the more weight he seems to gain.

This finally comes to a head when he goes to confront his family about tampering with his food to make him fat. The audience discovers that he has not been gaining weight, but is actually anorexic and has lost so much weight that he has become skeletal. The family sends him to therapy, but he does not get better until he learns for himself that appearances aren't important. This is an interesting way to open a dialogue about anorexia; it teaches audiences about it in a way that is palatable to audiences expecting comedy.

Second, the characterization is round and interesting. Stan is a right wing Republican whose views are constantly being challenged. As the seasons progress, he becomes a more accepting person. He also has parental issues, fears of inadequacy, and a job at the C.I.A..

Francine is a homemaker who is every bit as badass as Stan. She was a hilarious comedian before she met Stan, casually becomes a marine biologist at one point in the series, and is more intelligent than she gets credit for.

Hayley, their oldest child, is a liberal, pot-smoking college student who wants to save the world and its living creatures, craves the approval of her father, and marries a guy who constantly wears a fishing hat and lives out of a van.

Steve, their youngest, is in many ways the anti-Stan, but he still makes an effort to live up to his father’s expectations. His most interesting story lines occur when he makes the conscious decision to defy Stan.

Klaus is a German man in the body of a gold fish. He often makes quips in the background that no one pays attention to and seems to be in a constant state of despair and lust. In one episode, he marries a normal fish and is horrified when she eats their babies.

Roger is an alien who saves Stan’s life in Area 51, thus earning protection from the C.I.A.. He lives in the attic and has a costume for every occasion and theatrical bit. He totally commits to these bits and has been known to do questionable things (like destroying property) if that’s what his character of the moment calls for. You can never be quite sure what he is going to do next.

I also love "American Dad" because Sir Patrick Stewart plays Avery Bullock, Stan’s boss. I repeat: Sir. Patrick. Stewart. Need I say more?

Finally, it is weird show. They clone people, Stan has a body double who briefly dates Hayley, Roger exists, there is a man in the body of a koala who almost dates Hayley, Steve goes off into the woods for a year to raise two fawns, and people honestly believe Roger’s disguises. I appreciate weird things, so this makes me pretty happy.