Lincoln Lover

Infobox American Dad! episode
Title =Lincoln Lover
Series =American Dad!


Caption =Stan playing David Derickson in his one-man play.
Season =2
Episode =4
Airdate =November 5, 2006
Production =2AJN11
Writer =Rick Wiener, Kenny Schwartz, Nahnatchka Khan
Director =Brent Woods
Guests =
newspaper_headline = "Bush to Voters: "Votes for Dems Kill Angels!"
Episode list =List of American Dad! episodes
Season list = Infobox_American_Dad!_Season_2
Prev =Failure is not a Factory-Installed Option
Next =Dungeons and Wagons

"Lincoln Lover" is a second season episode of the animated series "American Dad!". It had 2.97 million viewers on its first run in the U.S.

Plot

Stan is not selected by his local chapter of the Conservative Republicans, to speak at the Republican National Convention. After watching a surrealist play about Abraham Lincoln, which is composed entirely of a man who resembles Barry walking around the stage in circles wearing nothing but socks, shoes, underwear, a Lincoln hat and beard and two leather belts with meat hooks attached, walking around stage shouting advertising slogans and throwing meat off the aforementioned hooks, he decides to write and perform his own play about the first Republican president, to return to the original values of the Republican party. Stan's play, a one-man show entitled "Lincoln Lover", depicts a very close relationship between Lincoln and his most trusted guard, Captain David Derickson. The play becomes extremely successful as many homosexual men come to watch, though Stan (who wrote the play based on Derickson's notes) apparently does not notice the gay overtones of his play. The Log Cabin Republicans invite him to speak at the convention; however, it is not until during the LCR party that Stan realizes its members are gay. He is won over by an elaborate musical number ("We're Red and We're Gay") and begins acting more and more like a stereotypical homosexual male.

Greg, who is a gay and lives across the road from Stan, is a member of the LCA. Terry, his partner, is not. This causes them to break up.

Steve, who has been deeply indoctrinated by Stan in the belief that all gays are evil, tries to "save" Stan, and reveals to the LCR Stan's previous anti-gay activities (such as participating in the "7th Annual Anti-Gay Palooza" with Pat Robertson). Stan is uninvited from an LCR cruise and not allowed to speak at the RNC because he is perceived as homophobic, so he decides to sleep with a man to show "the LCR ... I'm one of them." He goes on a date with Terry (who is mad at Greg and has declared "open season"), but fails to become aroused when they reach the bedroom. Terry tells Stan that homosexuality is not a choice, contrary to Stan's belief.

At the RNC, when the Conservative Republicans' speaker is kicked out for her second car being a Toyota Prius, Stan speaks for the Republicans. When he sees the Log Cabin members not being let in, Stan states in his speech that they are not gay by choice, but nevertheless are Republicans by choice and that all Republicans should band together to direct their hatred from the gays to the Democrats, who choose to be that way.

Cultural references

* Celine Dion is referred to a few times when Stan stereotypes that only homosexuals listen to her music.
* One of the ways to "test" for gays at the Langley Conservatives is to say the first three words of The Trolley Song by Judy Garland; a man finishes the first line and is taken out, screaming "No! I just like musicals!".
* When Stan realizes the Log Cabin Republicans are gay, he yells out "I'm a pilgrim in an unholy land!" This is a reference to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", where Dr. Henry Jones, Indy's father (played by Sean Connery) tells his son the same thing; in this case, he is referring to Nazi Berlin, where Hitler's followers are burning a plethora of books (the movie takes place in 1938).
* Stan and his gay friends go to a Clay Aiken concert, implying he's gay or that he has a large gay fanbase.
* A gay man at the party mentions that Eva Longoria is "both a client and a close personal friend" of his.
* During the musical number at the Log Cabin Republicans party, the lyrics profess that Bert and Ernie are gay.
* Greg and Terry's dog is called Heath Ledger (a reference to his role in the movie "Brokeback Mountain").
* Stan is seen wearing an Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt.
* Terry refers to George W. Bush as "he who shall not be named", a reference to Voldemort in the "Harry Potter" series
* Stan's play, "Lincoln Lover", uses several inspirations from "The Bodyguard". It even uses the "I Will Always Love You" song at the end of the play, as Stan carries Lincoln out.
* Steve exclaims "Lincoln has been assassinated in the theatre twice!" (which Stan continually praises for its intelligence), referring to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre.
* When doing a "straight check" at the entrance to the cruiseship, the guard asks who was the only actor to win an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony in the same year; Stan incorrectly guesses "the guy from "Monk".
* The musical number at the Log Cabin Republicans party also appears to mirror certain parts of Aladdin's "Friend Like Me" song.

Notes

*Stan finally becomes aware of the fact that neighbors Terry Bates and Greg Corbin are gay.
*Though they are not seen reconciling in this episode, Greg and Terry are back together in their following appearances.
*Klaus is not in this episode and Hayley does not have any dialogue, so this makes Stan, Francine, Steve, and Roger the only characters to appear and speak in this episode.
*Greg is revealed to be a Log Cabin Republican, while Terry is a Democrat. Apparently, Terry was not aware of his boyfriend's political affiliation and they bicker over their ideologies. Greg also uses the "Freedom Isn't Free" Line to defend their overnight long argument.
*The licence plates on Greg and Terry's cars indicate Pitcher and Catcher, a metaphorical term used for most homosexual couples (usually male, but can sometimes be used for lesbian couples).
*It is first established that Stan believes homosexuality is a choice in the first season episode "Star Trek", during which he and Francine agree on the matter while discussing her hairdresser, who had apparently decided he was heterosexual.
*One of the lines in the "We're Red And We're Gay" song infers that the Log Cabin Republicans support the ban on same-sex marriage; however, the main principle of the LCR is that they support equality for gay couples despite their right-wing affiliation, which would include the right of marriage.