FOX Reelects 'American Dad'

By Daniel Fienberg, Zap2It.com | November 3, 2008

'American Dad'

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Animated comedy would face changes if Democrats take the White House

FOX has ordered up another season of the animated comedy " American Dad."

Through the first three episodes of its fourth season, "American Dad" has averaged just under 7 million viewers while anchoring FOX's Animation Domination Sunday.

"American Dad" focuses on Stan Smith (voiced by series co-creator Seth MacFarlane), a CIA agent and Republican stalwart. The show's producers have acknowledged that a possible regime change in Washington would impact the series' creative landscape.

"I think we gotta put the country ahead of the show," co-creator and executive producer Mike Barker joked at the summer's Television Critics Association press tour.

"[I]t's going to be really interesting," Barker continued. "Stan has ... been on the winning side for so long. To see him deal with what is, you know, hopefully going to be the other side, it's going to be an opportunity. It's actually really cool for the show because it gives us a chance to see him kind of vulnerable and kind of more, you know..."

"Frustrated," concluded Matt Weitzman, another co-creator, executive producer on the show.

FOX's formal announcement of the "American Dad" renewal comes just days after the network essentially pulled the plug on Sunday's long-running "King of the Hill" after 13 seasons. The network has a pair of animated comedies set for midseason in " The Cleveland Show" and "Sit Down, Shut Up."