Season 7 - Episode 3
Fox (US)
American Dad was hit with an extra week of hiatus following the baseball break, and was always going to struggle to follow up the first two episodes of the season - "Hot Water", featuring Cee Loo Green as an evil hot tub, and the excellent "Hurricane!" "A Ward Show", however was a pretty good episode of animated comedy.
For the second time in three episodes, Principal Lewis is heavily featured, this time having formed an unlikely friendship with Steve, who is given the run of the school in return for sorting out Lewis' horrendus finances. This friendship is tested by the decision to let Roger act as Steve's legal guardian so Stan and Francine can bugger off on holiday to a water park for a week.
While Steve and Principal Lewis embark on a ludicrous "Fear and Loathing" style adventure, with Roger on their tail, Stan and Francine realise that a whole week at a water park is most definitely overkill. When all of their attempts to get refunds or sell their tickets on fail, they come to the conclusion to have sex on the biggest slide in the park. Everyone ends up in (for some reason the same) hospital. Funny stuff throughout.
The best part of American Dad is its total irreverence. The writing is consistently funny, and the show thrives when at its most ridiculous. "A Ward Show" highlights the Steve/Roger relationship, which is frequently the funniest part of the show's dynamic, let's Stan and Francine be silly and gives a minor character a chance to shine. The lack of Hayley and limited use of Klaus are unfortunate, but you can't cram everyone into every episode. Another strong showing.
*** 1/2
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