Take a trip down to the metropolitan area of Washington DC’s Langley Falls, and join number one Dad and CIA Agent Stan Smith and his crazy dysfunctional family. Follow the antics of the Smiths as they entangle themselves in ever more ridiculous situations. From Stan’s sweet trophy wife Francine to his socially-awkward pre-teen son Steve; along with his ultra-liberal daughter Hayley, Roger - the alcoholic Extra Terrestrial rescued from Area 51, and let’s not forget Klaus, the lascivious German-speaking goldfish...

Volume 4 of American Dad contains another 14 episodes of the animated series created by Seth MacFarlane who also created Family Guy.

Stan Smith will stop at nothing to fight for what he thinks is right for his country and his eccentric family. He works for the CIA and is always on the alert for terrorist activity. This proud family man and undisputed "Weapons Expert" will go to any extremes to protect people. However he is often keeping the homeland secure, whilst alienating his family and terrorizing the neighbours in the process. Stan will do whatever it takes to ensure domestic tranquility and make the world safe for democracy of the ultra-right-wing variety.

This collection contains episodes from mid-Season Three to episode six of Season Four - with episode 8 of Season Three (the Christmas Special) tagged onto the end.

Stand out episodes in this collection include:

'Tearjerker' - While James Bond parodies have been done to death, this episode is probably the best American Dad episode to be produced so far. After accidentally killing a British secret agent, Stan is sent to stop the diabolical Tearjerker (Roger) from fulfilling his master plan to create a movie that is so sad it will cause everyone who watches it to cry themselves to death.

'Widowmaker' - When one of Francine's friends reveals that her CIA husband tells her everything about his job, Francine confronts Stan on why he can't open up to her emotionally. After a few sessions with Roger, whose taken on the guise of a psychiatrist, Stan gets in tune with his inner self and starts to open up to Francine. He tells her everything about his job and reveals that he was forced to kill her friend's husband because he told his wife too many CIA secrets.

'Office Spaceman' - Roger has been taking photos of himself and selling them to the local paper. He eventually gets a job at the paper, as he seems to be the only one who can catch the alien on film. When the CIA initiates an Alien Task Force, Roger ends up being the obvious choice for the job. Meanwhile Francine finally comes to terms with being left-handed.

'1600 Candles' - Roger's 1,600th birthday is looming and he's looking forward to the Smiths' throwing a huge party. But the plans are put on hold when it's revealed that Steve is about to hit puberty. Not wanting to go through the nightmare that this will undoubtedly cause, Stan and Francine have experimental medicine injected into Steve's that will see him skip those nightmare years.

'The One That Got Away' - Roger is convinced that someone has stolen his identity after he finds out that someone else seems to be using his credit card. Roger sets off to do a little investigative work and bring the criminal down.

Extras include commentaries on every episode; Deleted Scenes (38 min, 53 sec); Tearjerker: And Then They Will Cry (15 min, 47 sec featurette that goes behind the scene of the 'Tearjerker' episode); Roger: Master of Disguise (11 min, 12 sec look at the development of Roger's character and how he was originally going to just stay in the house drinking); and Comic Con 2008 (40 min table read of the episode 'Pulling Double Booty' with short Q&A afterwards).

To be honest, there isn't a bad episode in this collection, and fans of the show will be pleased to add this to their collection.

8

Darren Rea