History AmericanDad / TropesKToO

** The last season on FOX is noticeably lighter and softer than the show's previous several seasons as the foul language and even gore are significantly toned down. There's hasn't even been a PrecisionFStrike at all in these episodes.

* MassiveMultiplayerScam: {{Parodied}}. When Bullock is finally enough of an ass that Stan assaults him and comes within a hair's breadth of shooting him, Bullock weasels out of it by claiming everything that happened in the episode was a SecretTestOfCharacter, with all the other characters helping him pull off an elaborate charade to see if Stan would be able to stand up for himself. He's ''clearly'' [[BlatantLies pulling this out of his ass]], but if it doesn't convince Stan, it at least befuddles him long enough for Bullock to make his exit.

** In "100 A.D.", Roger injects amphetamines into his eyes while driving (much to passengers Steve and Klaus' horror); in "Son of Stan" when Roger uses a bong in order to "think like a stoner" so that he can track down the eloped Hayley and Jeff (when his trip ends, he discovers it took him straight to them, much to his surprise).

** Men (particularly Stan) being clueless about pleasuring women is used as a throwaway joke in the two-parter "Stan of Arabia". Francine sings a Torch Song about how much it sucks being a woman in a Muslim nation, at one point listing off various parts of the female anatomy. When she mentions the clitoris, one of Stan's Arab friends asks him what that is; Stan just shrugs.

* OneWePreparedEarlier: ''American Dad!'' premiered with one of these. Subsequent episodes would show the origins of various character relationships in {{Flashback}} (such as the fifth episode, "Roger Codger", which flashed back to how Roger came to live with the Smiths).

* OffModel: In the opening of season 1 through 3, Stan doesn't have eyebrows half the time, making his face look [[http://postimg.org/image/firwstw73/ weirdly goofy]].

** Francine is often subject to this with major focus during her SexyWalk in "My Morning Straitjacket" and "Rubberneckers" where she wear skimpy outfit and catches the eye of many men.

---> '''Stan:''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext And the robot and piercings are gone by tomorrow]] or this pit becomes your grave.

---> '''Francine:''' ''[happily]'' Nutty bars! They sell nutty bars now! I asked the man and he got them!

-->'''Stan''': This is the very soundstage where we faked the moon landing... and the JFK assassination. No, I'm sorry, this is where we ''planned'' [[WhoShotJFK the JFK assassination]].

** Francine's friend Kelly in "The Kidney Stays in the Picture". It was partially because of her that Hayley needed a new kidney. She was also the one who convinced Francine to cheat on Stan some 20-odd years before the show's timeline, yet at the end of the episode she gets no comeuppance.

-->'''Terry:''' This recession is affecting everyone; even we're cutting back. Last night we only [[{{Pun}} sixty-eighted]].
-->'''Greg:''' Really? ... that's terrible.
-->'''Terry:''' ''[smug smile]'' Oh well.

* TheKrampus: Krampus, the Christmas demon, turns out to be NotEvilJustMisunderstood. [[spoiler:Santa Claus is the real "bad guy"., since hee's a CorruptCorporateExecutive who makes all his money in toy shares. "Bad" children buy the most toys, and the Krampus is only trying to set them on the path to being good. Hilariously, ''Roger'' points out at the total lunacy of the situation, especially at the reveal of Santa]].

-->'''Stan''': Yeah, I'm, uh, laying low. Today is the anniversary of a huge fight me and Francine had last year.
-->'''Jackson''': Yeah? What about?
-->'''Stan''': Oh, I [[ForgottenAnniversary forgot our anniversary]]. Huh, I'm never going to do that again.
-->''[Jackson tries to speak up, but Bullock raises his hand to silence him]''
-->''[long, awkward {{beat}}]''
-->'''Stan''': ''[realizing]'' AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
-->'''Bullock''': There it is.

-->'''Stan''': No, Roger, you cannot borrow the car! If my superiors at the C.I.A. found out you were living here, we'd all have our memories erased! Did ya see ''Film/{{Memento}}''? It's not as good the second time... the point is you are not allowed to leave the house!

--->'''Hayley:''' Hello, father! Wondering how I escaped from the basement?\\

-->'''Klaus''': You're really gonna kill five people ''over twenty dollars?!''\\

--> '''Barry''': Mine's not working!
--> '''Stan''': Have three more!

** Con Heir drags the same lengthy gag into the episode three times.
-->''[Francine tells Stan that his family's love makes him the richest man in the world]''\\

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Parodied in "Indie Movie" when Steve meets and falls for quirky girl with dyed hair played by Creator/ZooeyDeschanel while on a RoadTrip taking Snot to his estranged father's funeral. He even invokes the trope by name.

* NoSympathy: Stan has had a ridiculously traumatic childhood which is the cause his AmbiguousDisorder yet his family show no sympathy for this. Steve has even so far as to [[YoureNotMyFather disown]] Stan for not instantly forgiving his father.

* MagicFeather: In "The Scarlett Getter" Steve believes wearing a pair of Hayley's panties gives him good luck. After Snot steals them Hayley explains to Steve using an old episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' as an example, that it was really his confidence that gave him luck, not the panties. This trope is subverted when it is revealed Hayley does believe they're magic and beats up Snot and takes back the panties from him.

* KidsPlayMatchBreaker: Stan takes this UpToEleven in the episode “Oedipal Panties”. Since his early childhood, he’s been kidnapping his mom’s boyfriends and leaving them to rot on an uncharted desert island to prevent them from breaking her heart like his father did when he left them. Forget that she’s already heartbroken from thinking her dates just up and abandoned her.

** Taken UpToEleven for [[PlayedForLaughs comedic effect]] in "A Ward Show." After Steve gets beaten up, Roger (acting as Steve's guardian) reacts with unmitigated despair, to the point where he rips his shirt off in angst and does a SkywardScream, complete with dramatic music and rain starting to fall ''inside the house''.

* NiceHat: Hayley (bandana) and Jeff (fishing hat). In a flashback, we see that Jeff once took Hayley on a date to a store that specializes in fishing hats. Also, there's a nice bit of continuity during the episode "Honey, I'm Homeland", in which Hayley wears one of Jeff's hats to avoid being recognized while spying on her father (even though Jeff is in no way part of the episode).

** Stan says this frequently after finding out his actions have caused near-irrepairable damage to his family or life, to the point of qualifying as a catchphrase.

-->'''Roger:''' You wouldn't kill me; you love me too much!
-->'''Stan:''' ''[sighs, calmly grabs Roger's neck and lifts him off the ground]''
-->'''Roger:''' ''[gasps for breath and attempts, unsuccessfully, to wriggle free]''
-->'''Stan:''' ''[checks watch as Roger turns blue and goes limp, then lets him go]''

---> '''Terry:''' Looking forward to your party tonight.
---> '''Stan:''' It'll scare you straight!
---> '''Terry:''' ''[dryly]'' Every year...

--->''[Hayley appears holding bloody pickaxe, wearing torn clothing and a shackle on her ankle]''
--->'''Stan:''' ''[gasp]'' You escaped the pit of no return?! How'd you get past my-
--->'''Hayley:''' They're all dead, Dad.
--->'''Stan:''' [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Even the younglings]]?
--->'''Hayley:''' [[GenuineHumanHide I made you a wallet out of their hides]]. ''[casually tosses wallet to Stan]''

--->'''Hayley:''' Hello, father! Wondering how I escaped from the basement?
--->'''Stan:''' No, not really.
--->'''Hayley:''' Oh. ''[beat]'' ... but it involved training rats.

* {{Mondegreen}}: In the episode "Bush Comes to Dinner", Roger lures then-President Bush to the attic [[CashLure with an autographed George Brett baseball tied to a string]]. When Stan can't find the President, he yells to the other room for Francine, but she somehow thinks he's asking for Klaus.

* KidnappersKFC: In [[Recap/AmericanDadS4E7SurroGate "Surro-Gate"]], Stan kidnaps Greg and Terry's newborn baby to "save" her from being raised by a gay couple. While on the run, he buys the baby a cheeseburger and thinks something is wrong with her because she doesn't eat it.