Best "American Dad" Ever!

OK, that's not much of a claim for a show that's only been on since May. But Seth MacFarlane and co. have a doozy of a season premiere scheduled for "American Dad" when it returns on Sunday. I've just viewed the episode, and it's absolutely brilliant.  It's the closest thing to a "South Park" episode you'll see on broadcast TV ... uh, until later this month, when "South Park" reruns start syndicating on broadcast TV.

The episode is rated TV-14-LDSV.  It's got everything.  There's fornication, there's swearing, there's wildly gratuitous violence, there's the breaking of the fourth wall and of bones and of at least a couple of commandments. But man, is it funny.

I believe this is the episode referred to by Seth MacFarlane in his commentary to the Stewie Griffin DVD that you illegally downloaded last month. He wanted an episode that would satirize the FCC's ridiculous indecency crackdown. And I think he's got it. (By the way, care to guess how many indecency fines have been levied in 2005? Zero.)

All the Fox shows return Sunday, along with the token non-animated comedy, "The War at Home," which to my own personal surprise I wound up enjoying.   It's the ideal hammock show, the "Yes, Dear" of Sunday nights, a show you wouldn't go out of your way to watch but smartly positioned between two favorites, "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy."

Also this weekend, "Rome" continues on HBO. About which, reader Glenn Pilcher observes, "There was an article the other day saying that the writers were not in a hurry to introduce the characters in the series. That is the understatement of the year.  The whole thing is shot in the dark and you can't see them anyway.  I thought my TV was out of adjustment until I flipped to another station and it was normal. I watched most of the first one and some of the one last night and changed the station in disgust."

On the jump page: numerous news and notes about ESPN, Link TV, "Inside 9/11," HDNet, and that mindfreak on A&E.

This just in:

• ESPN analyst Trev Alberts was fired and former ESPN sideline reporter Adrian Karsten hanged himself rather than report to federal prison.
• I should write more about LinkTV. That's the San Francisco-based service that airs video from all over the world. I call it "our al-Jazeera," and I mean that in a nice way. Anyway, they don't have a lot of money, so I was pleased to read Link TV will air a new civil-liberties series co-produced with the ACLU and "Outfoxed" producer Robert Greenwald. The ACLU Freedom Files launches on Link TV at 8 p.m. ET/PT Thursday with the premiere episode, “Beyond The Patriot Act.” Link is on Dish and DirecTV only.
• Speaking of low-budget alliances, HDNet is getting into business with USA Today. Now, we all remember "USA Today: The Television Show," which kind of was to The Nation's Newspaper what CBS Cable was to the Tiffany Network: a big fat expensive ahead-of-its-time-maybe flop. I guess USA Today learned its lesson and is setting its sights lower. Hey, nothing against HDNet -- but until high-def TV isn't just that thing a Guy You Know has in his home, there's not much money to be made, and you can bet Mark Cuban is keeping his costs down until that changes.
• And now, so you don't actually have to watch the episode (though I have to say I kinda like the whole over-the-top thing), here's the summary of tonight's "Criss Angel Mindfreak" supplied by A&E: "Determined to accomplish a stunt that would drown Aquaman, master provocateur Criss Angel takes Mandy Moore on an LA joyride ... blindfolded!  When Criss closes his eyes, he sees reality where others would see darkness. He demonstrates this power to singer / actress Mandy Moore on a joyride in her Mercedes convertible through the wild streets of Los Angeles. Blindly trusting that Criss can "see" while his vision is blocked, Mandy places silver dollars over his eyes and secures them with black tape -- with a blindfold on top for good measure. As Mandy anxiously sits in the passenger's seat, Criss drives without sight, and still manages to find one of her favorite restaurants! This World Premiere episode airs Wednesday, September 7 @ 10pm ET / 9PM CT." This is the second wink-wink media reference to Aquaman I've seen this week. Someone needs to tell the people in New York that not everyone has HBO.
• National Geographic Channel is continuing to offer "Inside 9/11" free to cable operators that don't carry the channel, i.e., unscrambled. Here are the airdates for the next two encores:Thursday, September 8, 7:00 – 11:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM – 12:00 AM PT (with Limited Interruption).Sunday, September 11, 1:00 – 5:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM PT (with Limited Interruption).