Irregarding Steve

"Irregarding Steve" is the eighth episode of the second season of the FOX animated series American Dad!.

Plot

Nonsensical Prologue

Without warning, terrorists kill everyone except Francine and Klaus. Klaus manages to save her, and reveals his name to be Professor Max Hammer. After escaping Mexican vampires, they discover the lost city of Atlantis. Klaus and Francine move in to kiss, but it is revealed to be Klaus' daydream.

Main Story

Steve's high opinion of his dad's intelligence is shattered when he receives a failing grade on a presentation about fossils that Stan helped him with (as a result of Stan's belief in a twisted version ofCreation Science). As a result, Roger convinces him that they can manipulate Stan for whatever they want. This works for a short while, but after repeatedly mocking him (such as for using the word "irregardless"), Steve is grounded by Stan for disrespect.

Steve and Roger leave home for New York City, where they think their intelligence will allow them to make it big. Francine worries about Steve, but Stan convinces her that the two are actually just hiding out in the tree house, and wants to wait for Steve to come and apologize. However, during a thunderstorm, lightning strikes the treehouse and destroys it, leading everyone to think that Steve and Roger have died.

In New York, Steve and Roger attempt to pursue their dreams, neither of which pan out. Steve tries to get a job writing sketch comedy, but is rejected by Jon Stewart as his skit package is horrible. Roger claims to be an expert in trading stocks, but loses all their money on the New York Stock Exchange, which he had mistaken for the Hollywood Stock Exchange. The two soon find themselves on the streets, with Roger pimping Steve as a prostitute. Beauregard La Fontaine, the wealthy, effeminate Southern hairstylist whom Roger and Steve had met earlier when they arrived in the city, hires Steve not for sex, but as a petty servant. Beauregard takes pleasure in mocking Steve for any mistake he makes, such as mixing up the words "lay" and "lie." Steve tolerates Beauregard's mocking until the latter comments that Steve must have an equally stupid father, which pushes Steve over the edge. He severely beats Beauregard and steals his money, which he and Roger use to return home.

Meanwhile, back at home, the Smiths had become distraught over Steve and Roger's "death." As the family begins to fall apart, Stan suggests they go on a vacation to get away from their problems and regain a sense of order. They decide to use the money they had been saving for Steve's college education to do so, and soon descend to selling nearly all of Steve's possessions for a vacation before he returns home alive. This time Steve doesn't care about his dad's use of the word "irregardless," using it himself to describe how good it is for him to be home.

Squirrel Subplot

A subplot that parodies What's Eating Gilbert Grape involves a family of squirrels that live in Steve's tree house---a morbidly obese mother with two sons, one mentally impaired and the other a mature one who must take care of both of them. When the mother dies (possibly from diabetes after eating Francine's chocolate brownies), the smarter squirrel realizes he must care for his brother alone. After the lightning destroys the treehouse (including their mother's body), the two stow away on a bus, and ride far away from their troubles.

Cultural references

• The title is a reference to the movie Regarding Henry.
• Steve mocks Stan by pointing out the ill logic behind the word irregardless.
• That's So Raven is referenced when Stan is watching television and comments "that is so Raven."
• When Steve and Roger are sitting in a restaurant in the NYC cafe, Roger is dressed as Andy Warhol and Steve as Lou Reed.
• Steve's prostituting himself while dressed as a cowboy is a reference to Midnight Cowboy, which won the 1969 Academy Awards for best film and best director. The music at the end of the episode (the guitar intro to "Everybody's Talkin'" by Harry Nilsson) is from the film, and the harmonica theme from the film is also featured as Steve and Roger leave New York. Roger's clothing and illness match those of Dustin Hoffman's character Rizzo.
• The red hunting cap that Steve wears as he and Roger head to New York is an allusion to Holden Caulfield in J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.
• When Steve and Roger announce their intent to go to New York City, Roger is dressed like Mary Richards from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
• Roger sitting in a swivel chair with Klaus dressed up as a cat is a reference to James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who can often be seen in the movies petting a white Persian cat.
• Roger utters Après moi, le déluge (after me, the flood), a quote attributed to 18th century French king Louis XV and the motto of 617 Squadron of the RAF. He instead mistakes the quote as what murderer Andrew Cunanan said in his high school yearbook.
• Roger states at one point that he shotgunned a 40 of Robitussin and everything seems kind of awesome.
• The French movie Le Dîner de cons seems to be parodied when Beauregard LaFeyettane invites Steve into his bedroom and ridicules his intelligence. The plot in "Le Diner de Cons" ("A Dinner with Morons") is the same: a group of friends find a moron to mock at their Sunday dinner party.
• In the background, when you see the New York skyline, you can hear a rendition of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
• In Klaus' dream, the car (a Ferrari Testarossa) becomes a submarine, similar to the Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me.
• There is a reference to Quantum Leap and Scott Bakula in the episode. When Steve and Roger run away to go and live in New York, and Steve tries to make it as a comedy writer, he presents a list of ideas to The Daily Show frontman Jon Stewart. One of the sketches is entitled 'Quantum Rape', in which a man who rapes Scott Bakula, is sent to jail, where he tries to explain the premise of Quantum Leap to his cellmate with no avail. In the show the sketch is based on a similar sketch one of the show's writers came up with, and presented to Jon Stewart in accordance to the commentary.
• When Stan tells a story about being in Denver, he mistakenly refers to Denver as 'The Windy City,' which is actually the nickname of Chicago. Denver's real nickname is 'The Mile-High City.' Stan also states that Denver is 2,000 miles above sea level, thus explaining the wind.
• When Steve says "Roger, it's been two days and no customers. Maybe my mouth's not as pretty as you keep saying." Steve is dressed as the character from Midnight Cowboy and this line is from Deliverance. Both of these film's stars have been Jon Voight.

Notes

• When Roger and Steve are standing against the building next to two prostitutes, the blonde girl next to Roger goes to Steve's school, and is first seen kissing her boyfriend in the hallway in the pilot episode.