| "Stanny Boy and Frantastic" | |||
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| American Dad! episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 7 Episode 10 | ||
| Directed by | Pam Cooke & Valerie Fletcher | ||
| Written by | Laura McCreary | ||
| Production code | 5AJN13 | ||
| Original air date | January 23, 2011 (2011-01-23) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| American Dad!season 7 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Stanny Boy and Frantastic" is the tenth episode of theseventh season ofAmerican Dad!. It aired onFox in the United States on January 23, 2011.[1] This episode centers around the couple ofStan andFrancine, who are bored with their lives. In a desperate attempt to get out of the house, Stan and Francine takeHayley's tickets to a circus in order to invite and bond with a couple. While at the show, they both meet Tom and Cami, a young couple. All four go out on various outings, and Stan and Francine begin to have trouble keeping up with the fast-paced lifestyle of Cami and Tom.
This episode was written by Laura McCreary, and directed by Pam Cooke and Valerie Fletcher. It received mostly positive reception upon its release, with much of the praise stemming from the main storyline. It was watched by 4.80 million homes during its original airing. It featured guest appearances fromPaget Brewster,Sarah Chalke,Anthony Michael Hall,Kevin Michael Richardson, andElmarie Wendel.
Concerned that their lives are becoming boring,Stan andFrancine set out to make some new friends. They run into a young couple named Tom and Cami who have an active, child-free lifestyle, and to maintain the friendship Stan and Francine pretend to be young and childless as well. However, Tom and Cami engage in such activities asrock climbing,free running (which is parodied offDistrict 13), and much drinking, which begins to take its toll on the Smiths. Unable to keep up but not wanting to lose their friends, theysabotage the couple'sbirth control in the hopes that having a baby will slow them down. Unfortunately, the unexpectedpregnancy ruins Tom and Cami's relationship. When Stan and Francine try to patch it up they accidentally confess to the sabotage and to being in their 40s, ending the friendship. After having been through all this, however, Stan and Francine decide that they like being "slow" and relaxed.
Meanwhile,Roger andSteve see an advertisement for acotton candy shooting gun and decide to buy it usingGreg Corbin's credit card.Klaus asks to get in on the action, but the pair insults him, saying that fish can't enjoy portable things or cotton candy. When the gun turns out to be a dud, they decide to get a refund but start to reconsider when they hear the projected wait time is 2 weeks, only for Klaus to convince them to stick it out. After 2 weeks of frustration and getting transferred to the wrong person, they finally get through to a real person and are told how to get a refund. Klaus observes that the money will return to Greg, not them. Roger and Steve then realize this and ask Klaus why he had them stay on hold; Klaus explains it was revenge for the two saying he couldn't enjoy portable things, then adds that while he can't enjoy cotton candy, he can enjoy making them suffer, as they'll never get back the 2 weeks they wasted. After he leaves laughing hysterically, Roger asks Steve if they are stupid, as Roger has amaster's degree in city planning fromHoward University, but can't tell when "a fish is giving me the business."
"Stanny Boy and Frantastic" was written by Laura McCreary, and directed by Pam Cooke and Valerie Fletcher. In addition to the main cast,Sarah Chalke guest starred in the episode as Cami, andAnthony Michael Hall would play the role of Tom.Paget Brewster andElmarie Wendel would guest star as uncredited roles. This would be the first time Brewster would make a guest appearance onAmerican Dad since theseason 6 episode "Rapture's Delight." Along with reprising her role as Hayley,Rachael MacFarlane would voice various recurring characters. Recurring voice actorKevin Michael Richardson also made a minor appearance as well.
"Stanny Boy and Frantastic" was broadcast on January 23, 2011, as part of the animated television line-up on Fox. It was the first show on the block, the second consecutive week that it started the "Animation Domination" line-up. It was followed byThe Simpsons,Bob's Burgers, and its sister showsFamily Guy andThe Cleveland Show. It was viewed by 4.80 million households, despite airing simultaneously withAmerica's Funniest Home Videos onABC, the AFC Championship game onCBS, andDateline NBC.[2] The episode acquired a 2.2/5 rating in the 18-49 demographic, a significant increase from the previous episode, as well as a 34% increase in total viewership from the previous episode "Fart-break Hotel", which was viewed by 3.58 million households during its initial airing.[2][3]
"Stanny Boy and Frantastic" was met with generally positive reviews from television critics. Rowan Kaiser ofThe A.V. Club wrote, "After a somewhat dull episode last week,American Dad moved back into form with a decent episode about Stan and Francine making friends with a younger couple."[4] However, he would criticize the subplot of the episode, saying that the rest of the episode was a "distraction". He went on to give the episode a B, the highest grade of the night tying withThe Cleveland Show episode "Like a Boss", andBob's Burgers episode "Sacred Cow", while scoring higher thanThe Simpsons episode "Homer the Father". Jason Hughes ofTV Squad wrote, "I like when a comedy speaks to me on something I can relate to. And I thinkAmerican Dad was clever enough in approaching how our lives change as we get older in a way that both sides of the situation can relate to."[5]
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