American Dream Factory

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“American Dream Factory”
American Dad! episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 34
Written by
Production no.	2AJN16
Original airdate	January 28, 2007
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List of American Dad! episodes

Newspaper Headline
GIRLFRIEND DUMPED AFTER ASKING "WHO'S IN WORLD SERIES BOWL?"

"American Dream Factory" Is the eleventh episode in the second season of the animated series American Dad!.

[edit] Plot summary

The episode begins with the CIA getting a Ping Pong table at their office, and to Stan's horror, they put it where his desk goes, causing him to have to move into the men's room. On the way home he finds a Hispanic man sneaking near his house; assuming he is a burglar, Stan beats him senseless before Hayley explains that he's the neighbor's dog-walker, Paco,an "unregistered visitor" looking for the lost animal. Stan is irked that the neighbors would hire an illegal alien, and when talking to Francine about it, she says she wouldn't want to hire illegal aliens around the house because that would be condescending to them.

Still angry about what happened at the office, Stan decides to follow the 'American Dream' of starting his own business, and revives his old dream---to create a line of teddy bears related to the various holidays, which he calls 'Cele-Bear-tions.' (As Francine notes, the name sounds somewhat like a portmanteau of 'celibate' and 'abortion.') However, Stan has a problem in that he can never make enough of his bears in time for the right holiday---by the time his Christmas bears are done, the stores are decorated for Valentine's Day, and by the time he does Valentine bears it's St. Patrick's Day. After missing Mother's Day, Stan decides to hire some help to make Father's Day bears. However, when his employee starts to demand $7 an hour minimum wage pay and benefits, Stan realizes he can't afford it.

Hayley begins to date Paco, and when Stan discovers Paco is excellent at sewing, Stan hires him for less money. His Father's Day bears are done on time, and are such a hit that Stan gets a huge Fourth of July order to fill. As a result he hires Paco's entire family, paying them in low wages and watered-down soda. Several of the women also begin to work for Francine, who becomes so dependent on them that she essentially lounges around the house all day doing nothing, and has them follow her around throwing tortilla chips ahead of her as she walks ("It makes me feel like a princess").

Meanwhile, Steve and his friends join a band, with Steve as the main singer; Roger also joins. The band gets a gig at the Fourth of July festival, but soon afterwards Roger---now the leader of the band---kicks Steve out, and their new band gets a gig as well, leaving Steve with a gig but no band to perform it with.

Stan deals with a problem with his illegal workers---while excellent workers, they get easily distracted. In particular Paco slacks on his work to go on dates with Hayley, and Stan convinces him to break up with her. Hayley is in such a rage that she calls the INS and gives them a tip about the factory Stan is running. They investigate, and while they don't find the immigrants they do find evidence that leads them to watch the house constantly. Realizing that they can't work in the house, Stan and Steve attempt to smuggle them to a warehouse where they can finish the bear order. However, the INS catches them, and Stan lies that the Mexicans are part of Steve's band and asks to allow them to perform with Steve at the Fourth of July festival. The INS leader agrees, but says that the agents will be in the audience, and will have to be deported immediately after.

At the festival, Steve and the Mexicans sing "Take Me Home, Country Roads"--the only one they know in English, a song about America they used to sing while dreaming of immigrating. Hearing it, Stan realizes that they love America so much he can't allow them to be deported; Hayley also realizes that she was hypocritical to defend illegal immigration but also use the INS for petty revenge. After the song, the two throw all the Fourth of July bears as free gifts into the audience, which causes such a mob to get them that the INS agents are temporarily unable to act as the Mexicans are smuggled away. This means, in effect, that Stan is willing to sacrifice his 'American Dream' to ensure theirs. The Smith family smuggles the large family to West Virginia.

[edit] Trivia

• This is the fourth time Hayley has slept with a man in the series: the first being her ex-boyfriend, hippie-stoner Jeff, Stan's boss Deputy Director Avery Bullock, Kasi the "suicide bomber" from "Stan of Arabia: Part 2", and finally Paco. It was heavily implied in the episode "Failure is not a Factory-Installed Option" that she slept with a number of men in order to support the family.
• When Jerry the drummer rants after a band rehearsal that he can't believe that he's in a band of 14-year olds. This would probably mean that while Francine aged from 38 to 39 in the episode "Tears of a Clooney" (and turned 40 in a jump-cut to the future at the end), Steve must still be 14.

[edit] Cultural references

• John Denver's hit song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (with "Mamacita" added near the end of the song) is sang at the end when Steve had to sing with the illegal immigrants.
• Roger, dressed up as Krispy Kreme McDonalds, says to Steve "I just saw a million faces, and I rocked them all." This is a line from the Bon Jovi song "Wanted Dead or Alive"
• Roger's get up as the drummer looks a lot like both Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and Spinal Tap's Derek Smalls.
• The song Roger and his band play at the concert is "Blue Tail Fly".
• One of the immigrants is wearing a white T-shirt depicting Prince on a purple motorcycle as seen in the movie poster for the 1984 film Purple Rain.
• The end of the episode is a parody of The Sound of Music.
• After Stan tells Hayley, "You're dead to me!" he tears his suit pocket. This is a traditional response in Judaism to learning of the death of a relative or of their apostasy, an act known as keriah.
• The drum-playing of Toshi's sister is probably a reference to the popular "drummachine" flash animation by tokyoplastic.

Preceded by "Bush Comes to Dinner"

American Dad! episodes

Followed by "A.T. The Abusive Terrestrial"