Review: American Dad “Cheek to Cheek: A Stripper’s Story”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Roger and Jeff find themselves on an unusual path together when the two become partners in Roger’s latest sexual-based scheme. The two end up championing a very unusual art form that leads to much more than simply Roger’s heart and soul being bared to the world. Roger and Jeff go through the trials and tribulations of launching their new strip club and learn plenty about one another along the way. Right when it looks like the two may have locked into success, their fledgling business experiences a major setback that could be its doom….

The rest of the Smith family also changes in unexpected ways when the simple shift of moving Klaus into Steve’s room has serious reverberations throughout the entire household.

 

Our Take:

When a series like American Dad goes on for over fifteen seasons and nearly 300 episodes it’d be irresponsible if it didn’t get creative and experiment around with different character pairings and relationships among the show’s expansive cast. American Dad never really struggled in this department, but it’s an area that they’ve grown even better at and more adventurous towards in their more recent seasons. In spite of the growth that the series has made there are still certain blindspots that have occurred. For instance, Jeff and Roger is one of the least common pairings that American Dad turns to (Jeff and Klaus may be one of the only rarer character combinations), so it’s somewhat exciting when these characters do get an excuse to be paired together. “Cheek to Cheek: A Stripper’s Story” is an episode that plays to the characters’ and American Dad’s strengths, yet it still manages to feature a number of surprises and go to some emotional places over some ridiculous subject matter.

The major conflict that kicks off “Cheek to Cheek: A Stripper’s Story” is Roger’s feelings of being undervalued and unappreciated at his current stripping job. Roger appears to have been unhappy under these circumstances for a while and the latest blow up is finally what pushes him to set off on his own and have confidence in his controversial style of dance. The best detail about this storyline, and possibly the reason why all of this works in the first place, is that the version of stripping that Roger wants to champion is “chivalric dancing.” It’s a style of stripping that’s so tame that it makes burlesque look illegal and it unsurprisingly frustrates many of Roger’s patrons and doesn’t seem to have much of an audience at all.

Roger is such an extremely sexual character that the prospect of an episode that centers around him as an adult dancer almost seems like it will be too much to handle. The fact that he instead is impassioned towards such a tame style of dance that’s more about the artistry and storytelling than the nudity is a wonderful bait and switch here. Chivalric cabaret is also exactly the sort of niche nonsense that one of Roger’s personae would be interested in. Roger’s chivalric cabaret performances are very entertaining in their mild nature and the audience’s disdain and cries of how their arousal is actively lowering over the course of his act is also a nice detail.

Roger experiences a rather unglamorous exodus from his stripping gig which includes him losing part of his spine and becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Roger has set his sights towards his own strip chivalric cabaret club. Gentleman Jesse’s is envisioned as a place where women can enjoy the male form at their own pace, without being threatened, and with a flair of artistry. However, since Roger can’t strip anymore he needs someone to step in and rise to the occasion and it’s strangely Jeff that fills this role.

Admittedly, Jeff initially enters Roger’s orbit due to how he’s the only one in the family with a van, but he’s soon willing to aid Roger in his niche style of adult entertainment. Roger and Jeff face an uphill battle here and there’s a good deal of tension present over how Roger repeatedly bills this as his ultimate dream, and Jeff is out of his comfort zone as he trains as Roger’s protégé in these erotic arts. Before they can even figure out if their business is going to be a success they need to first take top place in an extravagant stripping competition so they can secure the necessary funds to get Gentleman Jesse’s up and running—and stripping.

Chivalric cabaret continues to be an unmitigated disaster, but Jeff learns that he actually performs really well as a normal stripper. The episode takes an entertaining turn where Jeff has to moonlight as a stripper to secretly feed his unsuccessful job as a chivalric cabaret dancer. It’s just ridiculous enough and it all stems from how Jeff doesn’t want to let Roger down and taint the purity of what he believes in. This isn’t an episode about Jeff and Roger warring over what’s included in their routine, but rather an exercise in guilt as Jeff tries to keep his friend’s dream alive.

As silly as all of this is, what makes it work as well as it does is Jeff’s commitment to helping others. As soon as he hears that he has the opportunity to assist someone fulfill a dream, he jumps into action. That’s what Jeff’s all about and this episode is one of his better episodes. It’s also appreciated that he at least has a line of dialogue that addresses that Hayley should probably be informed that he’s been taking his clothes off on stages for an audience. Jeff’s tenuous grasp on what’s real with Roger is also a fun touch, too.

Sometimes the best American Dad storylines are the ones that can barely qualify as stories at all. It’s getting to the point where the lowest of stakes plots are the ones that I now get the most excited over (especially when Roger is the one that’s at the center of them). Accordingly, the B-story in “Cheek to Cheek: A Stripper’s Story” involves Klaus feeling displaced in his little alcove within the Smith house and requiring more space. The fact that Klaus’ entire predicament stems from an entirely avoidable selfish act from Francine is the icing on the cake here. This is a situation that doesn’t need to turn volatile, but it’s a great example of how a simple change in routine and normalcy enough to throw everything off its axis. The world never knew that so much chaos could grow out of Klaus moving into Steve’s room.

The past few seasons of American Dad have done particularly strong work with Klaus as a character and he’s really come into his own and grown from more than just an odd punchline for some jokes (although he’s still delightful in that regard). His storyline in “Cheek to Cheek” is another satisfying example of how to get the most out of Klaus as a character and why he can be so entertaining. It also helps that Klaus and Steve aren’t usually put together in situations where they can be at each other’s throats, much like how Roger and Jeff aren’t a typical pairing for American Dad. It’s hardly rocket science, but Klaus getting high while Steve tries to study is more than enough for me. Klaus has zero respect for his new roommate. It’s a lot of fun to slowly see him completely lose control of his territory.

I actually wish that the episode had ended with Klaus remaining in Steve’s room and the two of them becoming roommates for the foreseeable future. It’d make for an interesting development for the season and it’d really amount to little consequence in the greater scheme of the series. It’d allow for Steve and Klaus to bond in an unusual way that could lead to some really rich material. It’d be amazing to get a “Legs and Wheelman” style episode, only with Klaus stepping in for Roger and pushing their friendship to that extreme. Klaus has had more of a sense of displacement lately after Rogu has entered the Smith family and so digging deeper into this dynamic by banding him together with Steve actually makes sense.

This is a particularly funny episode of American Dad and even outside of the primary storylines there are some very enjoyable non-sequiturs, such as Stan’s paranoid reading material, Roger’s super muscular legs in his fantasy sequence, or how the whole world turns against Steve. It’s a good installment that’s confident enough to not over pack itself with jokes so the story gets a chance to breathe.

“Cheek to Cheek: A Stripper’s Story” is a fulfilling episode of American Dad that manages to use Roger and his ultra-sexuality in a somewhat surprising way. Roger storylines are always a treat, but this one breaks relatively new ground for the character and lets Jeff run the show for a bit, too. This episode finds a lot of success by going against the grain with its character pairings and it’s one of the better examples of how there’s so much life still left in American Dad due to the characters alone. And if American Dad is truly doing its job then this won’t be the last time that we see Roger performing in a strip club.