Watching the Season 8 premiere episode of "American Dad" was the animated equivalent of "Silence of the Lambs," minus the quality acting and writing. "Love, AD Style" went for shocking horror and gore with minimal humor or merit.
Hot alien love
The central storyline was on Roger and his suddenly mad crush for Hayley, who he hires as a lounge singer at his failing night club. It seems that all Hayley had to do was put on a sexy red dress, ruby lipstick, and sing 'Makin' Whoopee," to turn Roger into a bumbling ball of love mush.
The alien's infatuation went from being marginally cute with awkward giggles and peculiar, boyish behavior to thoroughly psychotic and disgusting.
Roger was shown murdering a pair of sweet, dancing mice, producing the severed larynx of Christina Aguilera (because Hayley mentioned she wanted to sing like her), shooting the object of his affections, sending the poor girl to the hospital emergency room, and if all this weren't "entertaining" enough, Roger sliced and diced the skin of Hayley's beloved hubby, Mike. Ah, yes, Hannibal Lecter would surely be proud!
Most of the scenes were nauseating, devoid of humor or any real effort on the part of the writers, other than the shock factor.
More gross-out humor
Keeping the gross-out momentum going, in another story, Stan tried selling his SUV on Craig's List. This attempted sale resulted in the vicious killing of an innocent couple during a test drive, which was for no apparent reason other than they were unfortunate enough to answer the ad.
One of the few bright spots in the dismal episode came from a familiar truth with Stan complaining that the only respondents to his advertisement were people pushing porn, rather than showing any interest in his vehicle. He figured out it could have something to do with his phrasing, "Smooth ride, over-sized trunk, lubed and ready to go."
That brief ounce of levity was short-lived, because the focus returned to a horror fest when Stan decided to have an auction to unload his truck. What followed was more gratuitous violence, including a hot babe being devoured by a lion, then, an image of the beauty and beast bursting into flames. Lovely family entertainment right there, folks!
Shame on you, Mr. MacFarlane
"Love, AD Style" was a horrible way to start the new season and a slap in the face to the smart, hilarious legacy of creator Seth MacFarlane. While Mac fans understand that poor taste and cringe-worthy scenes are not uncommon in his productions, "American Dad" and "Family Guy" in particular, you still expect the writing to maintain a heart for the characters, which was nonexistent in tonight's program. The episode was dark, twisted, and painfully unfunny, but the good thing is that the rest of the year has to be an improvement over this bloody mess.
