Since American Dad has a massive cast of characters, some of the show’s best supporting stars have gone missing for years, only to return without explanation after these long absences. The Simpsons has a lot to answer for. The most successful adult animation series of all time did a lot to set the norms for the genre, from focusing on a dysfunctional family to utilising a floating timeline where none of the main characters age or transition into a new life stage despite decades passing offscreen.
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While recent serialized hits like BoJack Horseman and Big Mouth may have challenged this approach, a lot of successful adult animated comedies borrowed it. Rick and Morty focuses on a dysfunctional family that never ages, as do Family Guy, American Dad, King of the Hill, and Bob’s Burgers. As the many disappearing characters from Bob’s Burgers prove, this approach allows the show’s creators to forget about supporting stars for years, only to bring them back later with no explanation or justification.
Debbie Hyman
Since the show is even more surreal and bizarre than Family Guy or the more timely animated satire South Park, American Dad has been able to take some particularly notable liberties with its recurring guest stars. The show first introduced Steve’s girlfriend, Debbie Hyman, voiced by Mean Girls star Lizzy Caplan, in season 2 episode 12, “The American Dad After School Special.” Despite its goofy title, this outing’s exploration of eating disorders was unexpectedly effective and handled with more grace than the risqué show usually manages. However, after playing a relatively major role in seasons 3—4, Debbie became a voiceless background character for a whopping 17 years until Caplan returned in season 22, episode 1, “Aw Rats, A Pool Party.” Even though almost two decades had passed offscreen, Steve and Debbie were still locked in the same “Will they, won’t they” dynamic as ever when Steve’s Goth former love interest returned for a pool party in the premiere.
Jack Smith
Even though Debbie was a pretty pivotal character in a handful of early episodes, her absence from the show was never explained in-universe. Like many characters from The Simpsons who returned after an absence of over a decade, her comeback effectively retconned her missing years, treating it like as if she never left the series in the first place. In contrast, since Stan’s con man father Jack plays a central role in the show’s lore, his frequent lengthy absences have been explained in-universe. Initially, Jack returned twice in the episodes “Con Heir” and “Jack’s Back,” but both outings ended with him leaving Stan behind once more. Then, after a multiple-year absence, he came back for the delayed Christmas special “Minstrel Krampus” and dropped in around once per season after that, before he was finally killed off for good in season 15, episode 12, “Ghost Dad.” Of course, this being American Dad, there is no reason to think he won’t reappear once more.
Jeff Fischer
Notably played by a real-life actor of the same name, Jeff Fischer has been Hayley’s gormless but good-natured love interest since American Dad season 1. His first major storyline, the season 3 finale “Joint Custody,” remains one of the best American Dad episodes ever, but the show has never hidden the fact that it isn’t entirely sure what to do with him. This explains why, even though Jeff and Hayley got married in the show’s 100th outing, he was exiled into space in season 9, episode 13, “Naked to the Limit, One More Time.” He wouldn’t return to the show until three years later, in season 12, episode 13, appropriately titled “Holy ****, Jeff’s Back!” Since then, Jeff has remained a constant in the Smith family, making his multiple-year absence from American Dad one of the show’s weirdest digressions in a series that, it is fair to say, was already famous for bizarre tangents.
