Minstrel Krampus

"Minstrel Krampus"
American Dad! episode
Episode no.	Season 10 Episode 8
Directed by	Josue Cervantes
Written by	Murray Miller Judah Miller
Production code	7AJN19
Original air date	December 15, 2013
Guest actors
Daran Norris as Jack Smith Danny Glover as Minstrel Krampus (spoken voice) Charles Bradley as Minstrel Krampus (singing voice)

"Minstrel Krampus" is the eighth episode of the tenth season and the 160th overall episode of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on December 15, 2013, and is written by Murray Miller and Judah Miller and directed by Josue Cervantes.^[1]

In the episode, a notorious Christmas demon known as Minstrel Krampus kidnaps a bratty Steve, so Stan and Roger must travel to the North Pole to save him with the help of Stan's estranged father. Meanwhile, Hayley takes a job at the airport to get her family Christmas presents.

Plot

As the holidays approach, Steve becomes a brat and Stan takes him to see his grandfather to be scared straight. Grandpa Jack tells him the story of Krampus, who punishes the naughty children at Christmas and Steve refuses to buy into it, as Jack tells how he captured the Krampus and keeps it in a copper pot in the basement. Steve starts opening his gifts early and Stan tries to hide them in the basement. There, he is called by the Krampus who talks him into being let out to punish Steve, but he kidnaps him instead and demands Jack so he can exact revenge. Stan tells his father what he did to Jack's horror as he promises to use his CIA connections to get him out. Instead, Jack takes off.

In the Krampus' Castle in Bavaria, Steve is imprisoned to his surprise and spanked. Stan talks to Roger who brings up Santa, but Stan is nervous about confronting Santa after their last encounter. Despite this, they set off to the North Pole and are captured. Santa beats Stan as he tells what happened. Santa only agrees to help if they can kill Krampus and also promises to take him off the naughty list. At the Krampus' lair, the household goods try to convince Steve that Krampus only punishes naughty children because he cares for their well-being. Steve realizes that it is the truth and discovers that the Krampus actually only intended to beat Jack to save him from being bad, but was captured in a moment of carelessness while eating strudel. Meanwhile, Hayley goes Christmas shopping but needs money.

She goes to see Roger for a loan but he refuses her and gives her the help-wanted section where she spots a job at the airport. There, she bumps into Jack trying to flee as he tries to figure out why he should help the family. She gets the message through to him and he heads to Bavaria to save Steve. Santa and Stan arrive and take on the Krampus, killing the household items. As Steve tries to stop him, Santa shoots Krampus and finishes him off before turning the gun on Stan and Steve as he reveals himself to be the true bad guy due to being a partner in the toy business. As Santa tries to shoot Stan, Jack intervenes and saves Stan, injuring Santa who flees with his elves. As Jack lays dying, his and the Krampus' blood intermingles, allowing Jack to become the new Krampus to punish naughty children.

Production

The episode was originally scheduled to air on December 16, 2012, but was replaced by a repeat of "Wheels & the Legman and the Case of Grandpa's Key" out of sensitivity for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.^[2]^[3] To compensate for this, they aired the episode "National Treasure 4: Baby Franny: She's Doing Well: The Hole Story" on December 23, 2012.^[1]

Reception

Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A-, saying "I loved pretty much every part of this. The Hayley plot provides enough simple laughs before basically trailing off into nothing. Francine has very little to do outside of getting verbally abused by Steve. But Stan’s interactions with his father and Santa, and mostly Steve growing into the Belle role and Krampus as a soulful, James Brown-esque Beast was the best part of this Christmas special. It’s not my favorite that the show has ever done, but it’s yet another example that American Dad knows how to do Christmas episodes that stand out during the season more than any other program on television."^[4] The episode was watched by a total of 5.00 million people, this made it the fourth most watched show on Animation Domination that night, losing to Bob's Burgers, Family Guy and The Simpsons with 8.48 million.^[5]

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 "American Dad! Episode Guide 2013 Season 10 - Minstrel Krampus, Episode 8". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
↑ Agard, Chancellor (2012-12-15). "Fox pulls new episodes of 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad' after shooting". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
↑ "School Shooting: 'Family Guy,' 'American Dad' Originals Replaced With Repeats". The Hollywood Reporter. 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
↑ McFarland, Kevin (2013-12-16). "American Dad: "Minstrel Krampus"". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
↑ "Sunday Final Ratings: ’60 Minutes’ Adjusted Down, No Adjustment for ‘Revenge’ or ‘Survivor’". Tvbythenumbers. 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2013-12-17.

American Dad!

Characters	Stan Smith Francine Smith Steve Smith Hayley Smith Roger Klaus

Seasons	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Related	DVD releases Night of the Hurricane Family Guy The Cleveland Show Animation Domination

American Dad! episodes

Season 1	"Pilot" "Threat Levels" "Stan Knows Best" "Francine's Flashback" "Roger Codger" "Homeland Insecurity" "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man"

Season 2	"Bullocks to Stan" "A Smith in the Hand" "All About Steve" "Con Heir" "Stan of Arabia: Part 1" "Stan of Arabia: Part 2" "Stannie Get Your Gun" "Star Trek" "Not Particularly Desperate Housewife" "Rough Trade" "Finances with Wolves" "It's Good to Be Queen" "Roger 'n' Me" "Helping Handis" "With Friends Like Steve's" "Tears of a Clooney"

Season 3	"Camp Refoogee" "The American Dad After School Special" "Failure is Not a Factory-Installed Option" "Lincoln Lover" "Dungeons and Wagons" "Iced, Iced Babies" "Of Ice and Men" "Irregarding Steve" "The Best Christmas Story Never Told" "Bush Comes to Dinner" "American Dream Factory" "A.T. the Abusive Terrestrial" "Black Mystery Month" "An Apocalypse to Remember" "Four Little Words" "When a Stan Loves a Woman" "I Can't Stan You" "The Magnificent Steven" "Joint Custody"

Season 4	"The Vacation Goo" "Meter Made" "Dope & Faith" "Big Trouble in Little Langley" "Haylias" "42-Year-Old Virgin" "Surro-Gate" "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever" "Frannie 911" "Tearjerker" "Oedipal Panties" "Widowmaker" "Red October Sky" "Office Spaceman" "Stanny Slickers II: The Legend of Ollie's Gold" "Spring Breakup"

Season 5	"1600 Candles" "The One That Got Away" "One Little Word" "Choosy Wives Choose Smith" "Escape from Pearl Bailey" "Pulling Double Booty" "Phantom of the Telethon" "Chimdale" "Stan Time" "Family Affair" "Live and Let Fry" "Roy Rogers McFreely" "Jack's Back" "Bar Mitzvah Hustle" "Wife Insurance" "Delorean Story-an" "Every Which Way But Lose" "Weiner of Our Discontent" "Daddy Queerest" "Stan's Night Out"

Season 6	"In Country...Club" "Moon Over Isla Island" "Home Adrone" "Brains, Brains and Automobiles" "Man in the Moonbounce" "Shallow Vows" "My Morning Straitjacket" "G-String Circus" "Rapture's Delight" "Don't Look a Smith Horse in the Mouth" "A Jones for a Smith" "May the Best Stan Win" "The Return of the Bling" "Cops and Roger" "Merlot Down Dirty Shame" "Bully for Steve" "An Incident at Owl Creek" "Great Space Roaster"

Season 7	"100 A.D." "Son of Stan" "Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls" "Stan's Food Restaurant" "White Rice" "There Will Be Bad Blood" "The People vs. Martin Sugar" "For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls" "Fart-Break Hotel" "Stanny Boy and Frantastic" "A Piñata Named Desire" "You Debt Your Life" "I Am the Walrus" "School Lies" "License to Till" "Jenny Fromdabloc" "Home Wrecker" "Flirting with Disaster" "Gorillas in the Mist"

Season 8	"Hot Water" "Hurricane!" "A Ward Show" "The Worst Stan" "Virtual In-Stanity" "The Scarlett Getter" "Season's Beatings" "The Unbrave One" "Stanny Tendergrass" "Wheels & the Legman and the Case of Grandpa's Key" "Old Stan in the Mountain" "The Wrestler" "Dr. Klaustus" "Stan's Best Friend" "Less Money, Mo' Problems" "The Kidney Stays in the Picture" "Ricky Spanish" "Toy Whorey"

Season 9	"Love, AD Style" "Killer Vacation" "Can I Be Frank with You" "American Stepdad" "Why Can't We Be Friends?" "Adventures in Hayleysitting" "National Treasure 4: Baby Franny: She's Doing Well: The Hole Story" "Finger Lenting Good" "The Adventures of Twill Ongenbone and His Boy Jabari" "Blood Crieth Unto Heaven" "Max Jets" "Naked to the Limit, One More Time" "For Black Eyes Only" "Spelling Bee My Baby" "The Missing Kink" "The Boring Identity" "The Full Cognitive Redaction of Avery Bullock by the Coward Stan Smith" "Lost in Space" "Da Flippity Flop"

Season 10	"Steve & Snot's Test-Tubular Adventure" "Poltergasm" "Buck, Wild" "Crotchwalkers" "Kung Pao Turkey" "Independent Movie" "Faking Bad" "Minstrel Krampus" "Vision: Impossible" "Familyland" "Cock of the Sleepwalk" "Introducing the Naughty Stewardesses" "I Ain't No Holodeck Boy" "Stan Goes on the Pill" "Honey, I'm Homeland" "She Swill Survive" "Rubberneckers" "Permanent Record Wrecker" "News Glance with Genevieve Vavance" "The Longest Distance Relationship"

Season 11	"Roger Passes the Bar" "A Boy Named Michael" "Blagsnarst, a Love Story"

Season 12	"Blonde Ambition" "CIAPOW" "Scents and Sensei-bility" "Big Stan on Campus" "Now and Gwen" "Dreaming of a White Porsche Christmas" "LGBSteve" "Morning Mimosa" "My Affair Lady" "A Star is Reborn" "Manhattan Magical Murder Mystery Tour" "The Shrink"