American Dad is the animated story centers around the domestic life of its nominal title character, Stan Smith, a staunchly conservative Republican CIA agent, and self-proclaimed patriot. He is married to Francine Smith, a fairly ditzy housewife who is trying to make up for a wild youth. Their two children are Hayley Smith, a passionately left-wing college-aged activist, and Steve, an awkward teenage nerd. The Smith family is also in possession of two bizarre nonhumans — Roger, an escaped alien from Area 51 who Stan is covertly housing in defiance of his employer, and Klaus, a goldfish whom the CIA implanted with the brain of an East German Olympic skier.
Stan arranges a plan to get a raise through a favor of U.S Senator Buckingham (Burt Reynolds). The first part of his plan is to send Steve to the private school where Buckingham's daughter, Cookie, goes to (though Steve refuses to go, so Stan uses Roger). The second part is to meet Buckingham there and talks him into playing golf with him.
Steve challenges Stan for family dominance. Meanwhile, Jeff and Hayley try marriage counseling.
Roger moves out of the house after an argument with Stan and is quickly replaced; Steve gets a new job at school.
Roger auditions for a role in a play, in which he ultimately is given the part. At the dinner table, he interrupts Stan about the news of him receiving the part in the play. Stan gets frustrated, and insists that he is better than Roger at everything. Roger gets tired of Stan's stance as the authoritarian figure of the house, and they argue at the table. Francine bursts in anger, and wonders why everything at dinner always has to end with arguments between them.
Bored with their life, Stan and Francine try to spice things up by going to a circus with tickets taken from Hayley. Unable to find anyone to go with, Stan sells the tickets to a young active couple who appear to be Stan and Francine's ticket out of boredom. Invited out the next evening to a late dinner, the new friends, Tom and Cami take them for a younger couple.