Frannie 911

Infobox American Dad! episode
Title =Frannie 911
Series =American Dad!


Caption =The new nice Roger
Season =3
Episode =9
Airdate =January 6, 2008
Production =3AJN06
Writer =
Director =
Guests =
newspaper_headline = "Local Golf Pro Also Pretty Good At Gambling"
Episode list =List of American Dad! episodes
Season list = Infobox_American_Dad!_Season_3
Prev =The Most Adequate Christmas Ever
Next =Tearjerker"Frannie 911" is the ninth episode of season three of "American Dad!".

Plot summary

After Roger ruins Stan's study by turning it into a Turkish Bath, Francine comes up with an elaborate plan to reunite Stan and Roger after the big fight. She fakes Roger's kidnapping in the hopes of showing Roger, that Stan still cares about him, but Stan never shows up to pay the ransom; he simply delays and makes up excuses. Once she realizes that Stan knew she was faking it the whole time (she was calling him with her own cell phone and it showed up on his caller ID), she confronts Roger in the hotel he was staying in, telling him that either he'd be nice or he's out of the house. It forces Roger to rethink the way he treats people. For at least a year, he had been nice. However, it turns out that being nice is deadly to Roger's physiology, noted by a flower slowly dying. On his deathbed, he reveals that his species had to be jerks otherwise he'll die. He creates a big insult of Steve's dancing, something Stan says they both needed, restoring himself to health. Though Francine returns to being an enabler, she lets Stan be who he is: The guy who beats the crap out of Roger when he deserves it. She locks him in the attic with Stan, leaving Roger to be beaten off screen.

In a sub story, Hayley and Klaus constantly challenge each other to a "dare-or-dare" game. Klaus took a picture of Francine's undergarment and later filled his bowl with jell-o. Hayley had to go naked, say raccoons took her penis and dress herself as Captain Merrill Stubing from The Love Boat for fourteen months. In the end, the two learned nothing.

In another story, Steve tries out background dancing. He eventually stops after Roger tells him how terrible it was.

Notes

*This episode debuted early for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace.
*When Francine falls over while carrying Roger, Roger says, "I like being carried," but the closed captioning reads, "So, you're a no-underwear person?"
*Roger claims he knew Stockard Channing in the late fourties, and she was in her fifties, however she was born on February 13, 1944.

Cultural References

* The title of this episode is a parody of "Nanny 911".
* In a flashback scene, Roger says he is playing "Pulp Fiction" Stan complains about Roger putting a syringe in his chest, Roger explains "The bitch was O.D-ing on me" a direct reference to Uma Thurman's character having an overdose in the film "Pulp Fiction".
* When Steve is dancing Stan says that he should be outside turning his tool shed into Mordor or Endor, a reference to the land of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, and the forest moon of Endor, home of the Ewoks from the "Star Wars" saga.
*The flower plant, with Roger's slow death and coming back to life just like in E.T. "American Dad!" has been noted for comparing Roger to E.T. on several occasions, particularly the episode "A.T. The Abusive Terrestrial".
* At one point in the episode, Hayley dresses as Captain Stubing from The Love Boat.
*The crow flying into the window is a parody of Windex commercials.
*The layout of the Ice Factory is similar to the warehouse in Reservoir Dogs (mainly in the infamous ear-cutting scene).
*Stan claims that Roger knew Stockard Channing when she was in her late 40s; Roger corrects him by saying that he knew Channing in "the" late 40s, and that she was 50 years old.
*Roger, when behaving himself, dresses as Alfalfa from "The Little Rascals", down to the freckles and the cowlick.
*The effect of the flower slowly wilting over time as Roger becomes sicker and sicker resembles the enchanted rose in "Beauty and the Beast", dropping petals as the beast and the magic objects delve deeper into the curse.
*Patton Oswalt appeared in this episode as the ticket vendor at the theater Stan ran off to.