Stan is the patriarch of the Smith family. As the family's breadwinner, he works for the Central Intelligence Agency. Although he once held the position of a case officer at the CIA, he is also a weapons expert for this agency.[1] Stan often makes the mistake of applying the same extreme measures suited and used for his job in his personal life and with his family.
Stan is portrayed as drastic, reckless, insensitive, competitive, racist, and very masculine. In the series he is emphasized as a conservativeRepublican. Stan has an exaggeratedly large chin, which has been described satirically as a "Jay Leno jaw".[2] He usually wears a blue suit with a lapel pin that is a simplified version of the U.S. flag, consisting of three red and white stripes and a blue square.[3] Although he has all of these traits, he is shown to deeply care for his family (despite the different traits between them). He is shown to say that "you're right" to family members to show that he cares and listens to them. In the episode "I'm Dreaming of a White Porsche Christmas" he doesn't like his alternate universe family.
Stan's age is in the vicinity of around 42 years old. In "Bullocks to Stan", he is revealed to be ten months older than Francine, whose birthday is September 26, which implies that his birthday is around late November/early December. Stan is married to Francine Smith. Like all characters, Stan doesn't have a set height but he is described as 6 feet tall as the most consistent answer like his license and in "The Shrink" when he warns Francine that if she makes him a little too big "I'll end up 6'2", and I'll have to go into modeling". However, he is depicted as a fair bit shorter than Shannon Sharpe and Barack Obama who are both around 6feet 1inch (1.85m). He is the father of Hayley and Steve Smith. In “The Kidney Stays In The Picture,” it is revealed that he may not be the biological father of Hayley, and it is not confirmed at the end of the episode. In "Cock of the Sleepwalk", Stan adopted an unnamed little girl. Also living under Stan's roof are three housemates: Roger, an alien; Klaus, the family's man-in-a-fish-body pet;[4] and Jeff Fischer, who is Hayley's boyfriend turned husband. Stan's mother is named Betty, and his father is a jewel thief (as revealed in the episode "Con Heir") named Jack Smith. He grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Personality
Stan Smith is the exaggeratedly masculine husband of Francine and father of Steve and Hayley. Though Hayley may not be Stan's biological daughter—Francine was revealed to have cheated on Stan at her bachelorette party in the episode "The Kidney Stays in the Picture"—Stan still regards her as such and refused to learn the results of a DNA test.[5] As the Smith family's breadwinner, Stan is an agent for the CIA. Tending to take extreme measures with no regard for others nor potentially disastrous consequences, Stan is portrayed as insanely drastic; endangering; rash; dog-eat-dog; and both inconsiderate and insensitive of others.[6][7] Stan's mentality is of a staunchly conservativeRepublican and self-proclaimed American patriot. His conservatism is expressed ludicrously with him often coming off as severely intolerant, self-abnegating, and wrongheaded.[8] All the same however, Stan has numerous alternate ways of taking drastic measures beyond politics. As examples—in the episode "Dope & Faith" when Stan found out one of his friends was an atheist, he tried getting him to pray by blowing up his home, spreading the bird flu at his restaurant, brainwashing his wife into thinking she was a lesbian, and taking his kids away; in the episode "I Can't Stan You", Stan evicted his entire neighborhood and his own family just for overhearing some of his neighbors gossiping about him behind his back; in the episode "Four Little Words", Stan framed his wife as a murderer all so as not to hear her say the words "I told you so"; etc.
Troublesome sides and extreme-measure taking
Insanely drastic and rashly so, Stan at times acts on his first impulses which typically result in extreme measures.[9] Often, his extreme measures are of a conspicuously destructive, disastrous, offensive, or life-threatening nature to others.[9] Very selfish and inconsiderate, Stan never stops to think about the feelings, needs, or welfare of others, even in circumstances where others obviously could be or have been negatively impacted. Moreover, Stan often proves to be insensitive, completely unfazed when fully conscious of the distresses, displeasure and sufferings brought upon and felt by others including his very own family. His intentions, generally, are good, but he is often far too irrational to ever acknowledge this or learn any lessons from it.
Masculinity
Stan is also shown to be very virile and masculine. He often bears out his chest, stands up rigidly straight, and possesses a deep, thick voice quality. Moreover, he has expressed macho beliefs. For example, he has expressed opposition to showing emotion, associating it with being a woman. He once told Steve, "Son, feelings are what women have. They come from their ovaries."
Troublesome/redeeming qualities
Though Stan typically tries to effect a masculine image and repress his feelings, his emotions, sensitivity, and endearing side still manifest themselves from time to time. For example, on several occasions, it has been revealed that even as an adult Stan has desperately desired the fatherly love and attention that he never got as a child, such as in the episode "American Stepdad" when Roger became his stepfather.
At the same time, however, his incredibly drastic, dog-eat-dog, and inconsiderate qualities tend to show through in combination with his sensitive and redeeming qualities. For example, Hayley once told Stan, "Dad, I've never seen this side of you. It's so sweet." Stan playfully replied, "Well, if you tell anybody I'll kill you." The two laughed together for a moment before Stan suddenly took a serious, browbeating manner and added, "I'm serious, I will kill you. I will reach into your chest, pull out your beating heart and eat it. All of it, every last bit!" He concluded by affectionately stating, "Well, sweet dreams, angel." As another example, in the episode "Oedipal Panties", Stan went to extremes to keep his mother, Betty, from finding a romantic partner for fear he would lose her. In the episode, Stan was revealed to have captured and detained all of Betty's former lovers to an uncharted island.
Under his initial persona, he also opposed homosexuality and gay marriage for a time. He changed his views on homosexuality, however, in the episode "Lincoln Lover", once becoming associated with the Log Cabin Republicans. Stan's stance on homosexuality further softened in the episode "Surro-Gate" when Francine acted as a surrogate mother for gay couple Greg and Terry's baby. At the end of this episode, Stan realized what a loving family Greg and Terry were.
After the first few seasons and as the series progressed, Stan was portrayed as growing out of these particular traits and they were largely dropped from his character. Branching out, he later began displaying his wrongheadedness and penchant for taking to extremes in numerous other ways beyond ultra right-wing politics.[13] He has also exhibited instances of gullibility (like his son Steve) such as when he believed he was taking cold medicine when in fact he was smoking "crack" as Roger nonchalantly points out. Hayley has also tricked him into buying mirrored sunglasses that wound up getting him kidnapped by a group of radicals. In another episode, Roger states to Stan that he has to "give" his champion racehorse "a full release", which Stan ultimately does so. Stan has also once drunk Roger's urine due to the alien telling him it was a fancy beer. The episode "Irregarding Steve" reveals that Stan believes that popcorn doesn't pop above sea level. In "Love, AD Style" when Francine points out if they added another "C" before the "K" in the acronym of the new car Stan wants to buy he says he doesn't know what she's talking about, clearly not realizing what the new acronym would spell out. In "Stanny Tendergrass" Stan thought he was able to afford a membership at Mr. Vanderhill's (Roger's) country club after working there thirty years at the cost of seven grand, completely unaware of the vast price inflation cost (two hundred grand).
Occupation
Stan's history can be traced back to 1987 when he was 24. He joined the army and quickly rose to become an Airborne Ranger, and eventually being selected to join the army's elite anti-terrorist group, Delta Force. After leaving the army, he was again elected to undergo extensive special forces training to join the CIA's ultra-secretive Special Activities Division, specifically the Special Operations Group.
When he was wounded on a top-secret mission inside North Korea, Stan returned home to a desk job. Stan is now an official officer of the CIA. Stan has shown expertise and knowledge in hand-to-hand combat, small arms, covert surveillance methods, torture, the ability to fly aircraft and the handling of assault weapons. Even though he has been arrested several times on several felony charges, such as animal cruelty, child pornography (though this was a wrongful accusation), attempted murder, drug trafficking, possession and use of crack cocaine (he almost flees to South America), transporting infected cattle to be slaughtered for food, impersonating a U.S. Marshal, and identity theft, he retains his official position.
Though it is well known he works for the CIA, very little is actually known about what exactly he does; and, as a result of this ambiguity, Stan's job in any given episode tends to be conducive of whatever CIA skill set is convenient for a given episode's plot. At various times in the series, he has been shown to work as a CIA analyst, an agency bureaucrat, a field agent, and a special forces operative; additionally, he has held a number of different titles during his time with the CIA, including (but not limited to) "Deputy-Deputy Director of the CIA ("Bullocks to Stan")" and "Deputy Under-Director of Missing Foreign Agents" ("Red October Sky"). Usually he is seen working in a small cork-walled cubicle with a few of his buddies: Jackson, Sanders, Dick Reynolds, and others. Smith's assumption of these different roles may indicate that he works as a sort of troubleshooter, taking on different responsibilities as required. However, since assuming the role of Deputy Deputy Director, his duties do not appear to have changed.
In the episode "Chimdale", it is revealed that Stan Smith has been bald since college and wears a wig (however, this episode contradicts several past episodes, including "Frannie 911", in which Roger scalped Stan while role playing as an American Indian, and "Choosy Wives Choose Smith", in which Stan's hair grew after spending months on a deserted island). He drives a black Ford Explorer but has also been seen driving a black Chrysler 300C and owns a DeLorean despite not having seen or even knowing about the movie Back to the Future. Later in the series, he buys a red C6 Chevrolet Corvette to deal with the fact that he could possibly be a grandfather, which he continues to drive when not in the Explorer. Stan is also known to have an unexplained fear of seagulls, first mentioned by Francine in "American Dream Factory", although he got over it in "Choosy Wives Choose Smith".
Despite his traditional values, he has been married to two other women. In Saudi Arabia, Stan married an Arab woman and named her "Thundercat" because he could not pronounce her name, though Stan married her mainly as a servant. At one point, Francine divorced Stan so that he could have pointless sex, and he met and married a woman named Joanna, but went back to Francine, though Stan reports that he did consummate the marriage. Both Stan and Francine admit that each married the other for what Stan describes as selfish reasons. That is, that Stan admits that he married Francine because she was attractive. Francine, for her part, says that she wants someone to take care of her financially and both go so far as to admit this during their vow renewal ceremony to a room full of people. In the episode "Stan's Food Restaurant", it is revealed that Stan is originally from Philadelphia.
Hobbies
Stan also enjoys a number of hobbies. Chief among these is collecting Franklin Mint Plates as well as a number of creative outlets such as designing and making themed stuffed bears, fly-tying, gun cleaning, wood burning, figure skating, and writing right-wing children's literature. He also enjoys reading books about the things he is doing at that very moment (i.e. he was reading a book called "Reading While Waiting",[citation needed] as he waited for someone). Other examples include "How to Do a Spit Take", "How to Furrow Your Brow", "How to Look Chastened", "How to Read With One Hand", and "Anticipating Doorbells".
Alternate versions
In "May the Best Stan Win" Stan is revealed to have signed up for the CIA's cybernetics program and intends for his body to be cryogenically frozen until the CIA develops the technology needed to turn him into an cyborg. Eventually, Stan's cybernetically enhanced self finds a way to travel back 1,000 years to the present because he missed Francine and wishes to spend time with her, however this eventually sparks friction between the present Stan and the cyborg Stan, leading to a fight in which the current Stan successfully defeats his future self.
In "The Longest Distance Relationship" one possible version of the future is shown when Jeff and Ghost Sinbad emerge from a wormhole some sixty years in the future. In this version of the future Stan is shown to have migrated into a Gorilla body due to his belief that an ape uprising will occur. As the episode draws to a close Stan's prediction proves true, but when Stan moves to side with the apes he is unexpectedly killed by them.
In "Dreaming of a White Porsche Christmas" it is revealed that the reason that Stan's family is so dysfunctional is due to Stan's failure to appreciate what he has, which resulted in his marriage to Francine, his geeky son, his liberal daughter, and his adoption of a liberal version of Roger. Initially this was supposed to be a temporary setup, but the Angel assigned to Stan's case died, and it took his Christmas wish for the situation to resolve itself. Stan is then returned to what was supposed to be his ideal family: a conservative wife named Mary, an athletic son, a conservative and mild manner daughter named Ruth, and a version of Roger who does not partake in disguises, drinking, or drug use and holds a single legitimate job as an optometrist named Gerald. Despite being described as Stan's "ideal" family Stan rejects this version of his wife, his children, and Roger, and goes to great lengths to get back to his original, dysfunctional family, which he succeeds in doing.
In "A Star is Reborn" it is established that Stan is the reincarnation of a deceased movie star named Lenard. At the time Lenard was having an affair with Gloria Delmar, an alternate version of Francine. After the affair came to light both were killed by June Rosewood, Lenard's wife at the time. After rediscovering Lenard's reincarnation in Stan in the present, June welcomed Stan to her house and showed him the old movies he had made in his past life. When Stan rejects her for Francine, June once again attempts to kill them both, only to end up dying when Stan and Francine turn the tables on her.
Stan and his family appear in Family Guy in the episode "Bigfat" and Peter Griffin also mistakes him for Joe for their large chins.
Stan and his family later appear again in Family Guy, this time as brief, silent background characters in one scene of the episode, "No Giggity, No Doubt".
Stan, Francine, and Roger also makes an appearance in the near end of the Family Guy episode, "The Movement", where Meg Griffin was traded by Peter's request to American Dad!, and during her singing the show's theme song, she is interrupted by Stan by commanding her, "Shut Up Meg!"
In the season 17 episode of The Simpsons (called "The Italian Bob"), Stan, along with Peter Griffin from Family Guy, can be glimpsed in an Italian sheriff's police book of criminal offenders. Peter Griffin is dubbed "Plagiarismo" (faux Italian for Plagiarism) and Stan is dubbed "Plagiarismo di Plagiarismo" (Plagiarism of Plagiarism).
Stan and his family appear in The Simpsons episode, "Homerland", as guests into the season 25 premiere.
Stan makes a brief cameo as a background character in one panel of the 2007 Futuramacomic, "Futurama Returns".
A bobblehead of Stan can be seen in the Mad episode "Garfield of Dreams".
Related Research Articles
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Francine Lee Smith is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom American Dad! She is married to the main character, Stan Smith and the mother of Hayley and Steve Smith. Francine is voiced by Wendy Schaal.
"Stan of Arabia: Part 2" is the sixth episode of the second season and the thirteenth overall episode of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 13, 2005, and is written by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and directed by Anthony Lioi.
Roger Smith is a fictional character in the adult animated sitcom American Dad!, created, voiced, and designed by Seth MacFarlane. Roger is a grey space alien living with the Smith family. Having lived on Earth since crashing in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, Roger came to live with the Smiths after rescuing main character Stan Smith at Area 51 four years prior to the beginning of the series. The character has also made cameo appearances in episodes of Family Guy.
"Stannie Get Your Gun" is the first episode of the second season and the fourteenth overall episode of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 20, 2005, and is written by Brian Boyle and directed by John Aoshima.
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Steven Anita "Steve" Smith is a fictional character in the animated television series American Dad!, voiced by Scott Grimes. He is Stan and Francine Smith's 14-year-old son and Hayley's younger brother as well as the youngest of the series' six main characters.
Hayley Dreamsmasher Smith-Fischer is a fictional character from the animated television series American Dad! She is voiced by Rachael MacFarlane, the younger sister of one of the series' co-creators, Seth MacFarlane. She is Stan and Francine Smith's 19-year-old daughter and Steve's older sister.
"The American Dad After School Special" is the second episode of the third season, and the twenty-fifth overall episode, of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on September 17, 2006, and is written by Dan Vebber and directed by Pam Cooke.
"The Vacation Goo" is the first episode of the fourth season of the animated series American Dad!, an episode produced for Season 3. It originally aired on September 30, 2007. This episode centers around the Smiths, whom start to develop communication issues with each other. Francine becomes aggravated that the family cannot congregate with each other during dinner. Stan later plans for a vacation in Hawaii, only to be interrupted by Roger. The family subsequently go on several virtual vacations, only to have Francine go into an emotional breakdown. The Smith family go onto a cruise, but Francine's suspicions get the best of her and the Smiths are stranded on an island.
"Pulling Double Booty" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. The episode was originally produced for Season 3. It first aired in the United States on Fox on November 16, 2008. This story centers around Hayley, who goes on a rampage shortly after Jeff breaks up with her. Stan and Francine try to help their daughter get through the grief, and Hayley begins dating Bill, Stan's body-double and doppelgänger. Meanwhile, Roger and Steve get summer jobs determining the sex of baby chicks in a factory, but Steve steals several specimens to rear in safety after learning their fate. Angered at their ruined summer, Roger steals the chickens to make money off of chicken fights.
"Don't Look a Smith Horse in the Mouth" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of American Dad!. It aired on January 3, 2010 on Fox and is the first American Dad! episode to air in 16:9 720p high-definition.
"Jenny Fromdabloc" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It first aired on Fox in the United States on April 17, 2011. This episode mainly centers around Steve, who tries to comfort his friend, Snot, after facing rejection from Hayley. Snot goes into a deep state of depression after realizing that Hayley does not have any feelings for him. Steve devises a plan that requires Roger to impersonate a teenage girl from New Jersey. Roger ends up developing a deeper relationship with Snot, much to the frustration of Steve. He begins to feel threatened, as Snot develops into a charismatic and arrogant individual that Steve's friends look up to. Meanwhile, Stan wishes to live a more urbane lifestyle and starts drinking martinis, but his low alcohol tolerance causes him to pass out on several occasions and run around Langley Falls in a drunk tangent.
"Hurricane!" is the second episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 2, 2011. The episode's plot mainly revolves around the Smith family, who prepare for evacuation in response to an oncoming hurricane. Reluctant to leave his home, Stan encourages his family to ride out the storm in their house with him. The hurricane sends a flood to the city of Langley Falls, which puts the entire family in danger.
"Home Wrecker" is the seventeenth episode of the sixth season American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on May 8, 2011. This episode mainly centers around the couple of Stan and Francine, whom become divided over the architectural style wanted for the renovation of their kitchen. Greg and Terry, the Smiths' gay neighbors, intervene in the situation. Greg and Terry criticize the strength of Stan and Francine's marriage, much to their frustration. A bet is made in regard to the Smiths' rocky relationship: if Terry and Greg were to win the bet, they would receive the marriage license of Stan and Francine. Meanwhile, Steve, his friends, and Principal Lewis take advantage of Barry's proficient ability to count cards; however things become awry when they try to remove Lewis of his cut.
"The Scarlett Getter" is the sixth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 27, 2011. The episode plot mainly revolves around Francine, who accidentally leads Roger to a dangerous alien hunter while trying to get revenge on Stan.
"The Missing Kink" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season and the 148th overall episode of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 14, 2013, and is written by Jeff Chiang and Eric Ziobrowski and directed by Pam Cooke and Valerie Fletcher.
"Da Flippity Flop" is the nineteenth episode and the season finale of the ninth season of American Dad!, as well as the 152nd episode of the series. The episode aired in the United States on May 12, 2013, on Fox's Animation Domination lineup. It was written by series co-creator Matt Weitzman and directed by Rodney Clouden.
The pilot episode of American Dad! originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 6, 2005, just after Super Bowl XXXIX. The episode was written by series co-creators Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman. The episode was leaked onto the internet before its supposed premiere on FOX. The episode features a guest appearance by Carmen Electra.
References
↑ Written by David Zuckerman. Directed by Brent Woods. "Threat Levels". American Dad!. Season 1. Episode 2. FOX.
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