Matt Weitzman Movies

Created by Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame, the weekly Fox animated sitcom American Dad! peered into the home life of a dedicated but thickheaded secret agent. Jut-jawed protagonist Stan Smith was a troubleshooter for the CIA who, by his own declaration, would "stop at nothing" to protect his country -- and in proving this he invariably brought down a great deal of pain and embarrassment to his family. In an all too typical example, Stan had a cute habit of shooting first and asking questions later, which wreaked havoc on faulty household appliances and the like. The Smith family included wife Francine, who had a tough time hiding her drug-addicted past from her straight-arrow husband; daughter Hayley, a community-college coed who'd gone over to extreme left-wing liberalism just to spite her dad; and dorky son Steve, who went to great and pathetic lengths to "be cool." Also members of the household were Roger, a squid-like, Paul Lynde-sounding space alien who'd been hiding out in the family's home ever since Steve rescued him from Area 51; and Klaus the goldfish, who as a result of a misfired mutation experiment spoke in a sinister Peter Lorre-ish German accent. The first cartoon series to truly reflect the singular paranoia of the post-9/11 era, American Dad! premiered February 6, 2005, right after Fox's telecast of the Super Bowl (the same route previously traveled by MacFarlane's Family Guy). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It is not generally known that the CGI-animated NBC sitcom Father of the Pride was the second cartoon program inspired by the spectacular career of Vegas-based illusionists Siegfried and Roy. The first, a four-part miniseries titled Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible, was seen in off-network syndication in 1996. Ironically, the title of the earlier series provides the acronymic name "Sarmoti" for one of the principal characters on Father of the Pride! The NBC series took us backstage and into the private lives of two of the white lions employed in Siegfried and Roy's act: Larry (voiced by John Goodman) and his wife Kate (voiced by Cheryl Hines). Despite their fame and fortune, the two lions had to endure the usual trials and tribulations of sitcom-style domesticity. Kate's father Sarmoti (voiced by Carl Reiner) was a loudmouth who insisted upon arguing with Larry over anything and everything, while Larry's best pal, a gopher named Snack (voiced by Orlando Jones), was forever hatching idiotic schemes that got everyone in big trouble. Add to this several dashes of toilet and sex humor, and you had an animated "funny animal" series that was far better suited for grown-ups than for kids. Produced by DreamWorks SKG Animation as NBC's answer to such popular cutting-edge cartoon efforts as Fox's The Simpsons and Comedy Central's South Park, Father of the Pride was in production in late 2003 when magician Roy (aka Roy Horn) was seriously injured when he was mauled on the stage of the Mirage Inn by one of his trained lions. For a while, the network balked at introducing the CGI series, worried that it might suffer from the publicity surrounding Roy's injuries. Once the magician was off the critical list, however, Father of the Pride began its 11-week NBC run on August 31, 2004 (two of the thirteen episodes would not be seen until the series was released on DVD). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter (voice of Seth MacFarlane) takes great pride in being better than Chris (voice of Seth Green) at everything. He ignores Meg's (voice of Mila Kunis) dinner table announcement that she's joined the flag girls at school because he's too busy proving he can stick more silverware to his face than his son can. Stewie (MacFarlane) responds to Meg's announcement with a withering, "Now you can be somewhere else when the boys don't call." Meg is proud to be a flag girl, until a group of popular kids, led by cheerleader Connie (voice of Fairuza Balk), pelts her with rotten meat during a football game. Peter is so determined to maintain his victorious record over Chris that he shouts out, "Your mother and I are getting a divorce!" as Chris goes up for a critical shot in their basketball game. But during their post-game steam, Peter gets a good look at his son, and realizes, to his horror, that Chris is enormously well-endowed. Peter is bitter and resentful, and tries to compensate by buying a long red sports car and joining the local gun club. But on a father-son hunting expedition that goes awry, Peter learns a valuable lesson. Meanwhile, Lois (voice of Alex Borstein) helps Meg plot revenge against Connie and her pals. This episode features the vocal talents of Patrick Duffy. The musical number Stewie performs to demonstrate his "cool," is a note-for-note reenactment of William Shatner's notorious television performance of Elton John's "Rocket Man." ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

The Anglicized spelling of the TV series title Off Centre would seem to suggest a British influence on the property. Indeed, the series chronicled the adventures of two former Oxford University roommates: English investment banker and self-anointed ladies' man, Euan (Sean Maguire), and his nerdish American buddy, Mike (Eddie Kaye Thomas). Sharing the same posh N.Y.C. apartment, Euan and Mike endeavored to attract sexy supermodel types to their lair. The realization of this goal made difficult by Mike's seemingly permanent state of poverty -- not to mention the omnipresence of his steady girlfriend, Liz (Lauren Stamile), and the interference of an assortment of wacky neighbors, chief among them a rap star named Status Quo (Jason Winston George), an amiable fraud who strove long and hard to hide his privileged childhood from his legions of fans. Chris and Paul Weitz of American Pie fame were the guiding creative forces behind this WB Network sitcom, which after relinquishing its original October 7, 2001, debut date to a rerun from another series, finally made its network bow on October 14. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stewie (voice of Seth MacFarlane) doesn't seem to get along too well with the other kids on the playground, so Lois (voice of Alex Borstein) decides to send him to the Hugs and Kisses (The Good Kind) Daycare Center. At first, Stewie thinks it's a biogenetic experimentation facility, but soon, he falls for a little girl named Janet. He even serenades her with his rendition of "You Make Me Feel So Young." But when another boy with a cookie catches Janet's eye, Stewie finds a younger girl (two weeks younger, to be exact) and tries to make Janet jealous. Lois, meanwhile, is bored at home without Stewie there. Brian (MacFarlane) suggests they get hammered, but Lois decides to get a part-time job. Peter (MacFarlane) convinces her to take a job as a flight attendant, because he's heard that he'll get to travel for free. Lois hates her new job, but Peter has a great time, getting drunk in first class, flying to Australia, forcing the flight attendants to build him a pillow fort, etc. He persuades Lois not to quit ("What if Kurt Cobain had quit?") so he can keep flying. Things come to a head when Peter inadvertently ends up on a flight Lois is working. She takes him into the lavatory to chew him out and they get stuck as the flight is hijacked to Cuba. This episode features the vocal talents of Camryn Manheim. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Stewie (voice of Seth MacFarlane) gets his first disturbing look at the Teletubbies. Things are going well at the toy factory for Peter (MacFarlane), who tells his boss about his idea for Facts of Life Transformers. But things take an ugly turn when Peter accidentally injures the boss' "ringer" during softball practice. Peter is told that he'll lose his job if he doesn't find a replacement. New neighbors move in next door; while Lois (voice of Alex Borstein) quickly befriends Bonnie (voice of Jennifer Tilly) and Joe (voice of Patrick Warburton), Peter is decidedly un-neighborly until he sees all of Joe's college baseball trophies. He quickly convinces Joe to play for the company team, not realizing that Joe is wheelchair-bound. It turns out, though, that Joe is still a great player. "Way to earn that parking space!" Peter tells him. Joe quickly becomes a focal point of the whole town, including the Griffin family, which makes Peter very jealous. Peter decides to steal Joe's thunder by becoming a hero himself. What better way to do that than by thwarting an armed bank robbery? This episode features the voice talents of Michelle Kwan. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide