“Francine's Flashback”
American Dad! episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 4
Written by	Rick Wiener
Directed by	Caleb Meurer Brent Woods
Production no.	1AJN05
Original airdate	May 15, 2005
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Stan Knows Best" "Roger Codger"
List of American Dad! episodes

"Francine's Flashback" is the fourth episode produced in the TV animated series American Dad!. Image File history File links AmericanDad104. ... Brent Woods is the name of: Brent Woods (director), American television show director Brent Woods (Medal of Honor recipient), American Indian Wars soldier Category: ... is the 135th day of the year (136th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Oh, my god! What is she doing?! Pretending to ride a horse. ... Roger Codger is an episode of the tv animated series American Dad!. It first aired (in the United States) on June 6, 2005 on FOX. The episode was written by Dan Vebber and directed by Albert Calleros. ... This is a list of episodes for the Fox animated television series American Dad!. // Spoiler warning: While the first season is only 19 episodes production-wise, episodes from the second season were added to the first since the season started in May, much earlier than is common for a television... American Dad! is a satirical American animated television series produced by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions for 20th Century Fox. ... American Dad! is a satirical American animated television series produced by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions for 20th Century Fox. ...

It features the special voice participation of Billy West (as Elmo/Big Bird), Jeff Fischer (as Jeff), Patrick Stewart (as Bullock), Debra Wilson (as Whitney Houston), Marissa Jaret Winokur (as Jewel), Mike Barker (as Terry), Mike Henry (as Jackson/Charlie), Daisuke Suzuki (as Toshi), Eddie Kaye Thomas (as Barry) and Curtis Armstrong (as Snot). Billy West (born William Richard West on April 16, 1952 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American voice actor, known for roles on shows such as The Ren and Stimpy Show and Futurama. ... American Dad! is a satirical American animated television series produced by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions for 20th Century Fox. ... Patrick Stewart OBE (born July 13, 1940) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated English film, television and stage actor. ... Debra Renee Wilson Skelton (born April 26, 1962) is an American comedian and actress. ... Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is an American pop and R&B singer, songwriter, actress, film producer, and former model. ... Marissa Jaret Winokur in Stacked Marissa Jaret Winokur, born February 2, 1973 in New York, is a American actress best known for her performance as Tracy Turnblad in the highly successful Broadway musical, Hairspray. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Mike Henry is a writer, executive producer and voice actor for the animated comedy Family Guy. ... Eddie Kaye Thomas (born on October 31, 1980 in New York City) is an American film (and stage) actor who rose to prominence in 1999 as Paul Finch in American Pie, which spawned two sequels and a direct-to-video spin-off. ... Curtis Armstrong (born November 27, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan, USA) is an American actor. ...

Plot

Despite Francine's early tips, Stan completely forgets their anniversary, only remembering that it was time for the CIA's annual fishing trip. He leaves in a hurry, dropping food on the bed and soiling the stairway, since he didn't have the time to go to the bathroom, all left for Francine to clean. An anniversary (from the Latin anniversarius, from the words for year and to turn, meaning (re)turning yearly; known in English since c. ... Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish by hooking, trapping, or gathering. ...

During the day, Francine still has hopes that Stan will remember and do something romantic for her, something that Klaus the goldfish and Roger highly doubt, as they watch a taped episode of COPS from the previous year, when police had to be called as Francine was beating Stan to a pulp for having forgotten their anniversary. Francine remains confident, since she figures Stan has until midnight to come up with something. Meanwhile, Hayley gets invited by her boyfriend to go to Burning Man, something that she is less than enthusiastic about doing. COPS / CoPs / Cops are: mean a slang for police or police officers (Cops) an acronym for Communities of Practice (CoPs) the title of both a film and a television series. ... Burning Man is a project best known for an eight-day-long annual festival that takes place in Black Rock City, a temporary city on the playa of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, 90 miles (150 km) north-northeast of Reno, ending on the American Labor Day holiday in...

While midnight fishing with his friends, Stan eventually mentions that he's glad not to be at home on that day, since it is the anniversary of a "huge fight" he and Francine had the previous year. When his friends ask the reason, he says it was because he forgot their anniversary, but he never makes the connection. His friends wait for a while, until Stan realizes, in horror, that he had again forgotten the anniversary. He shows up home looking to make amends, with an excuse that he did not forget and had just been trying to throw Francine off; and brings with him singer Whitney Houston for a private performance, in exchange for a fix of cocaine. Francine is not impressed, and vows that she will never forget what Stan did. He then hands her a card that is supposed to make everything better. When Francine opens it, gas comes out and knocks her unconscious. Stan then takes her to the CIA secret lab to have the last 20 hours of her life erased from her memory, but the scientist performing the procedure gets the dials for years and hours confused and ends up erasing the last 20 years of Francine life, as she now believes that it is 1985. He also finds out that the procedure is irreversible, and he will have to make do and just hope that Francine eventually recovers her memory. Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ...

After bringing an uncounscious Francine back home, Stan remains confident that she will remember their love as soon as she wakes up, but when she does, she doesn't recognize anyone, and freaks out about Roger the alien and Klaus the talking fish, so Stan is forced to gas her again. Then, a video presentation by "forgettable actor" Bill Pullman convinces Stan that the best way to handle the situation is to have Francine believe that she is indeed still 18 years old. He has her moved back to her old apartment and Hayley is to be her roommate. After getting rid of the old lady that was living in Francine's old place, Stan and Hayley fix up the place so that it looks like it's still 1985. While Francine wakes up to her fake youth, Stan, back home, reminisces with Roger the day when he met Francine and they fell in love: he gave her a ride on the road, then ran over a raccoon, who was then dying in agony. Stan shot it in the eye, and Francine thought that it was a high act of compassion. Roger then suggests that Stan reenact this to try and bring back Francine's memory. He then has Hayley abandon Francine by the road, picks her up and tries to run over the racoon that Steve sets free by the road. This time, however, he misses the target, the racoon is unharmed and Francine won't let Stan execute it. He then drags Francine along as he tries to shoot the animal dead. It is all to no avail, as the racoon escapes and Francine now views Stan as psychopathic. William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American film and television actor. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Common Raccoon. ... See Also: Antisocial Personality Disorder Theoretically, psychopathy is a three-faceted disorder involving interpersonal, affective and behavioral characteristics. ...

Back to the apartment, Francine throws a party. During this, Jeff, Hayley's boyfriend, tries to drag her to the Burning Man event again, but she is unwilling. Back home, Stan comes up with another plan to get Francine to remember their life together. He finds a dried flower that he gave her on the day of their wedding, and goes to the apartment to show it to Francine. When he gets there, he and Hayley discover that Francine and Jeff ran off together to the Burning Man event. They follow them there, and are joined in the trip by Klaus, who was hiding in Stan's thermos and peed in his coffee. At the concert, Stan eventually finds Francine as she prepares to go on tour with a band. He shows her the flower, but she confuses it with some sort of drug and eats it. When Stan is about to give up, after hearing from Francine that she would never "hook up with a stiff like him", the Burning Man gets accidentally ignited by a smoking paraglider, and Stan saves Francine from a fiery death. He brings her to a recovering tent, and pledges his love to her as she vomits repeatedly on his shoes. All this brings Francine's memory back. A thermos is a Vacuum flask ; Thermos is an ancient greek city, the capital city of the Aetolian League. ... Paragliding (known in France, Spain and Portugal as parapente) is a recreational and competitive flying sport. ...

On another front, Steve asks out a girl from school, Lindsay Coolidge, and is surprised when she accepts, on the condition that he can get a date for her friend, Jewel. The girl, however, is as ugly as can be, and no human being will date her. So Steve gets Roger to take on the job. Disguised as a Jamaican, Roger, who had been bitter about never being able to leave the house, joins Steve and the girls at a dinner for a double date. All goes well, as Steve is successful in getting Lindsay to go back to his house, but all the while Jewel is getting quite hands-on with Roger. While trying to escape Jewel's advances, Roger's costume comes off, and she sees him as the alien he is. When Jewel runs to tell her friend the truth, Roger is forced to clobber her in the head with a frying pan. Lindsay sees what happens, and Roger, and tries to run, but Roger hits her on the head by throwing the pan at her. As Roger and Steve stand over the two unconscious girls, Roger suggests that they should pin the assault on "black guys". An amount of formality may be present at a dinner Dinner is the main meal of the day, consisting normally of a combination of cooked animal proteins (meat or fish), vegetables, and starch products like rice, noodles, or potatoes. ... A stainless steel frying pan. ...

Stan and Francine come home only to find Roger and Steve with two girls tied up and gagged. The solution is obvious: take them to the CIA secret lab and have the last 24 hous erased from their memories. While this is done, Stan is relieved to find out that Steve was hanging out with the cute girl.

Cultural references

• Stan says "Remember the deal, Whitney. First you sing, then you get your precious cocaine." In this scene, Stan is making fun of Whitney Houston's crack cocaine addiction, which was posted in all the tabloids in the late '90s.
• The song Stan makes Whitney Houston sing, Greatest Love of All, is revealed to be Francine's favourite song. However, in the future episode It's Good To Be Queen her favourite song is said to be Little Red Corvette.
• Toshi refers to Jewel as Godzilla.
• There is an AC/DC poster on a wall in Francine's old apartment.
• Glen Quagmire from Family Guy makes a brief cameo as the Truck driver who picks up Francine from the side of the road after she escapes from Stan.
• Upon suspecting Stan has forgotten his anniversary, Roger views a tape of last year's incident which was aired on COPS, another FOX series in which camera crews follow real life police officers on the beat. Domestic disputes such as Stan's and Francine's fight account for almost 50% of what is shown on TV.
• Bullock's quote "Reverse brain erasing? Now, that's just science fiction" may be a subtle reference to Patrick Stewart's old show, Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the episode "Conundrum," the entire crew lost their memory, but got them back by the end of the episode.
• Francine's quote "Not if you're gonna spend the weekend tinkling on Bob Guccione!" is a reference to Bob Guccione, who directed the controversial 1979 film Caligula. The movie featured, among other perversions, the actresses playing the Emperor's sisters urinating on the corpse of a recently executed soldier.
• The scene where the raccoon dances to the music after surviving the explosion is reminiscent of the movie, Caddyshack.
• When Steve says that no human being could date a girl that ugly, Roger walks into the room saying "Hello." This is Squiggy's famous line from Laverne & Shirley, which he used whenever Laverne or Shirley would make a reference to something creepy or disgusting.
• Stan runs into the port-a-potty and instantly goes out fully-dressed, in much the same manner Superman does in phone booths.
• After watching a video starring actor Bill Pullman, Stan calls him Jeff Daniels. Something very similar happened in The Simpsons episode "HOMЯ," when a newly-intelligent Homer points out the plotholes in a Julia Roberts movie and The Sea Captain mistakes Bill Pullman with Bill Paxton.
• Bill Pullman also mimicks Troy McClure's famous "you might remember of such films as" quote. this might be a tribute to Phil Hartman.
• While fishing, Stan finds Ariel, the mermaid from the Disney movie The Little Mermaid.
• When Francine is on stage, the band playing is Queens of the Stone Age, and their frontman Josh Homme guest starred in this episode. Nick Oliveri also appears to be onstage, even though Homme fired Oliveri from the band in February 2004, well over a year before this episode aired. Furthermore, the song "Never Say Never" which plays in the background of the party scene at Hayley and Francine's apartment has been covered by Queens, although that is not the version played here.
• The name of the tent where Stan takes Francine to after she fell unconscious at the Burning Man festival is called the "Dave Chappelle Freakout Tent", either playing on Dave Chappelle's marijuana use from the movie "Half Baked" or the rumors that he had a mental breakdown and moved to Africa after turning down $50 million from Comedy Central for "Chappelle's Show".

A pile of crack cocaine ‘rocks’. Crack cocaine is a form of cocaine. ... Greatest Love of All is the fourth and final single from Whitney Houstons self-titled first album, Whitney Houston, released in April 1986. ... Image:AmericanDad210. ... Little Red Corvette is one of Princes most well-known songs and a defining point in his rise to superstar status. ... For other uses, see Godzilla (disambiguation). ... AC/DC is a hard rock band formed in Sydney, Australia in 1973 by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young. ... Family Guy is an Emmy award winning American animated television series about a nuclear family in the fictional town of Quahog (IPA or ), Rhode Island. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ... The crew attempt to discover their identities. ... Bob Guccione and friend Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione (b. ... Caligula is a 1979 film directed by Tinto Brass, with additional scenes filmed by Bob Guccione and Giancarlo Lui, about the Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar Germanicus also known as Caligula. Caligula was written by Gore Vidal and co-financed by Penthouse magazine, though the script underwent several re-writes after... Caddyshack is a 1980 U.S. comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and Douglas Kenney. ... Laverne & Shirley was a popular American television situation comedy which ran on ABC from 1976 to 1983. ... Superman is a fictional character and comic book superhero , originally created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. ... Jeff Daniels and Patricia Heaton in a scene from the TNT cable network remake of The Goodbye Girl Jeff Daniels (born February 19, 1955 in Athens, Georgia) is an American actor. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... HOMЯ is the ninth episode of the twelfth season of The Simpsons. ... Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning American film actress and former fashion model. ... William Paxton (born May 17, 1955) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actor and film director. ... Princess Ariel in The Little Mermaid Princess Ariel is a fictional character, a mermaid who appeared in Disneys popular 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid, direct-to-video sequels The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea & The Little Mermaid III. The youngest of King Tritons seven daughters... The Little Mermaid is a 1989 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and first released on November 15, 1989 by Walt Disney Pictures. ... Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA or simply Queens) are a hard rock band[2][1] from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. ... Joshua Michael Homme (born May 17, 1973 in Palm Springs, California) is an American Rock musician. ... Nick Stephen Oliveri (born October 21, 1971 in Los Angeles) is an American musician from Palm Desert, California. ... David Khari Webber Chappelle (born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian, satirist and actor. ...

Notes

• Langley Falls Post front page headline: "Hooker Killed for Heart of Gold", a reference to the common stereotype.
• Cookie Monster is drawn differently on this show than on Family Guy. He was given a human-like body on Family Guy, while in this episode he looks closer to his real appearance.
• The song "Never Say Never" plays in the background of the party scene at Hayley and Francine's apartment. Queens of the Stone Age covered this song. However, the Queens of the Stone Age version isn't the version playing in this episode, which is odd, considering that lead singer Josh Homme guest starred.
• Right in the beginning, when Stan and Francine were talking in the bedroom, they're just standing there when the audio skips and their positions move slightly.
• This episode originally aired out of production order.
• This episode had a parental discretion for animated nudity and sexual dialogue before the beginning of the episode on FOX.
• The original broadcast of this episode on FOX scored a 5.6/8 rating, bringing the total viewers for the episode to 8.08 million.
• Adult Swim airdate: May 26, 2005.

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cookie Monster (right) and his mother in a season 33 Letter of the Day segment, 2002. ... Family Guy is an Emmy award winning American animated television series about a nuclear family in the fictional town of Quahog (IPA or ), Rhode Island. ...

Goofs

• Stan describes a flashback of how he met Francine, but in the Pilot Francine says that she didn't meet Stan until college.

Deleted/Alternate Scenes

The American Dad season 1 DVD has several scenes and different takes of scenes that never made it to the final cut, including:

• An alternate scene after Hayley reads Francine's note on the refrigerator and exclaims, "My mother stole my boyfriend!" and Stan exclaims, "Your boyfriend stole my wife!" Originally, the scene cut to an old woman with a beer bong and several frat boys standing around her as she says, "You know, these guys just asked me to have sex with them--and I just might do it!" The final cut version replaces this with Stan suggesting that he and Hayley date each other as revenge for Jeff running off with Francine, then concludes with, "Wait a minute. Daddy didn't think that through."

• A scene where an unnamed girl with piercings at Burning Man flirts with Klaus and thinks Klaus's fish body is a hallucination.

• A scene after Hayley and Jeff make out where Stan encounters a strange man in a butterfly costume who tells him what he's seen. Stan then rips the man's wings off and the man curls into a fetal position, whimpering as two men in cat costumes bat him around.

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Francine's Flashback