The series is a metaphor about YouTube itself.
Dad makes it clear he wants to be the best YouTuber, and works hard to rise up. However, there's a temporary hiatus on the channel at one point due to Mom "shutting down the server" after finding his magazine; a reference to creators getting banned for lewd content, perhaps. The server is also considered eternal and necessary. This makes it all seem like the series is a metaphor for trying to make it big on YouTube, while being subject to the whims and punishments of "Mom", who can supposedly destroy the entire world when mad at Dad. Mom in this case is YouTube staff.Dad and his family are aliens
Dad does keep discussing doing things "like a human", makes multiple references to mysterious areas of space, and in "ACT II PART I", he was shown in the desert wearing a space-suit, as a large unknown planet loomed overhead. Heck, Dad even claims in "Dad Bod" that he "left his planet" and is looking for some fun!- Confirmed, as of "Dad Elucidated".
Dad is actually human
As a counter to the above theory, Dad is actually a human who was influenced or corrupted in some way. He may have been an astronaut with a different family, judging by the son shown in "ACT II PART I", who is certainly not part of Dad's "normal" family. Maybe he was corrupted by whoever it was that took him from the desert?- Confirmed, as of "Dad Elucidated".
Going along with the above, "Dad" is a fake personality.
There are hints all over the series that "Dad" is actually a personality that took over a normal person, possibly named Andan, based on that name popping up every so often. The personality inside of "Dad" wants to be free, desperately, explaining the meaning behind the song "Dad Feels Golden". Who is it that's controlling him? Cheryl, of course, who seems to be actively preventing him from breaking free- as seen in "Little Towels", when she rushed over to stop him from eating pancakes and gave him the can of Food. Notably, until he ate the Food, he didn't even seem to recognize Cheryl at all.- Confirmed, as of "Dad Elucidated".
Diane's baby will be called "son"
- Jossed: Diane admits to having a girl in "We're Different".
Suspects for who shot Dadbot in "The End"
Neighbour: He was becoming increasingly jealous of Dadbot for taking Cheryl away from him and could have been worried about her mental health too. However, he seems too good-hearted to have shot him.
Cheryl: She could have been worried about the upgrades Dadbot was getting from staying outside and shot him to prevent him from becoming his own person. Evidently, the fact that Dadbot now has conflicting emotions seems to suggest that her plan didn't work if it was her, and if she's already afraid of the YouTube operatives she might not risk killing one of them.
Dad is part of the Disney Channel Live-Action Universe, and it's the Crazy Steve theory all over again
Wild Gil kidnapped Dawn Buckets and Mr. Spinks helped him. He did the exact same thing Crazy Steve did to Megan a decade ago to create iCarly.