Fox has greenlit 22 additional episodes of AMERICAN DAD, extending the shows run through the 2007-08 TV season, reports the trades. In the fall, the series will move to the coveted timeslot following THE SIMPSONS.
"It's definitely a good show of faith," said exec producer Mike Barker. "From a writing standpoint, we feel there's certainly a lot of things left to explore in our characters. We never realized there'd be so many layers to a right-wing, conservative father.
Fellow exec producer Matt Weitzman, who runs the show with Barker, notes that writing now for 2007-08 poses a bit of a problem when it comes to timeliness. The show dabbles in politics, yet the scribes won't even know who's running for president in 2008 for some time.
The series is wrapping up post-production on next season's episodes. The show debuted after the Super Bowl in February 2005 and has aired 23 episodes. The series first season DVD has just been released.
Barker and Weitzman exec produce the show along with Seth MacFarlane, who created the show with the duo. MacFarlane provides the voices of Stan Smith and Roger the alien, while Wendy Schaal, Rachael MacFarlane, Scott Grimes and Dee Bradley Baker also voice the show's lead characters.
AMERICAN DAD averaged a 3.6 rating/8 share among adults 18-49, and attracted 7.2 million viewers, this past season.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
