Comic-Con@Home 2021: What We Learned from TBS’s “American Dad!” Panel with the Cast and Creators

Comic-Con@Home 2021 continued yesterday evening with a panel discussion of the TBS animated sitcom American Dad!, which is produced by the Disney-owned 20th Television Animation. Participants in the panel included series co-creator Matt Weitzman voice cast members Rachael MacFarlane (Hayley Smith), Wendy Schaal (Francine Smith), Scott Grimes (Steve Smith), Dee Bradley Baker (Klaus), and Jeff Fischer (Jeff Fischer), plus co-executive producers Joe Chandler, Nic Wegener, and Parker Deay.

In the bullet-point list below, I’ve enumerated the most interesting tidbits and factoids to come out of the American Dad! panel during Comic-Con@Home 2021.

Watch American Dad | Comic-Con@Home 2021:

  • Matt Weitzman opened the panel to say welcome and introduce the concept of the panel. A new episode will be presented in three parts: table read, animatic, and color.
  • Weitzman also addressed several common questions before the panel began: There will not be a Family Guy / American Dad crossover episode this year. He doesn’t know if there will be another “Golden Turd” episode. And the writers are not high while they’re writing the show.
  • He jokes that Seth MacFarlane (voice of Stan Smith and Roger the alien) does not participate in table reads because of his semi-professional backgammon league.
  • The episode featured in the table read is called “The Sinister Fate,” a new installment which set to air on TBS on August 9.
  • As advertised, the first third of the presentation is a table read of the episode, recorded over Zoom with the cast except for Seth MacFarlane.
  • Weitzman introduced the second segment, which is in animatic form, and explained how the show will change when it finally airs.
  • Lastly, they played the third act as a “color screening,” which Weitzman clarified is not the final version of the show. Temporary sound effects will be replaced and music will be added before the episode airs on TBS.

American Dad! is currently in the middle of its 17th season, airing Mondays on TBS.

Mike Celestino
Mike serves as Laughing Place's lead Southern California reporter, Editorial Director for Star Wars content, and host of the weekly "Who's the Bossk?" Star Wars podcast. He's been fascinated by Disney theme parks and storytelling in general all his life and resides in Burbank, California with his beloved wife and cats.