Cops and Roger

"Cops and Roger" is the fourteenth episode of the sixth season and the ninety second overall episode of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 11, 2010, and is written by Erik Durbin and directed by Tim Parsons.^[1]

In the episode, after Roger and Francine are mugged, Roger enters the police academy and falls in with a corrupt cop. Meanwhile, Hayley makes a new friend, which might disrupt a long-standing relationship.

Plot

Roger and Francine plan a day of shopping while Stan is doing a stakeout. When they are mugged, Roger feels insecure about his manhood and joins the Langley Falls Police Academy. Things go poorly at first, but when Roger receives advice from Stan to not give up, Roger admits he wishes he could be a real man like Stan and he helps him succeed in becoming a police officer. Roger does so well, he comes under the eye of crooked cop Chaz Migliaccio who soon teaches Roger how to take advantage of his position. Stan quickly observes Roger's actions and confronts him, telling him that Roger is acting dishonorably.

Roger responds that he now feels like he has all the power he lacked before and likes it. Stan decides to turn Roger in as a dirty cop but Chaz gets word and orders Roger to take out Stan. He turns to find Stan he responds that he didn't give away the tape of Roger's activities because of Roger's original intention to be a good cop. Later with Chaz, Roger tries to break away but finds Chaz has captured Stan and orders Roger to kill him. Roger tries to turn the tables but Chaz was ready for him and shoots Roger. Roger leads him on a chase, climbing up a rope, and then in an act of desperation, jumps down and pile drives Chaz on the head with his elbow, causing Chaz's head to explode from the impact, killing him (which Roger notes was unexpected).

Meanwhile, Hayley apologizes to Reginald for coming on to him in The Return of the Bling and suggests a double date with Ian and Rhonda. On their date, Hayley and Reginald flirt much to their date's annoyance. Later at a movie theater, Hayley and Reginald share secret thoughts of being together despite their separate love lives. When Reginald reveals he broke up with Rhonda, Hayley responds that she also broke up with Ian and Reginald suggests a date that Hayley accepts. After Reginald leaves, Hayley calls Ian and breaks up with him.

Reception

Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C, saying "I had some mild laughs at the story of Reginald and Haley trying to fight their attraction for each other, but this storyline still feels like the show's attempts to do a continuing storyline in the background of everything else. And while that might be admirable, I'm not sure this is the continuing storyline the show should be focusing on. It wasn't a terrible episode, just a disappointing one, from a show I hold to a higher standard than any of the other three, and I hope the show shakes it off quickly."^[2] The episode was watched by a total of 5.09 million people, this made it the third most watched show on Animation Domination that night, beating The Cleveland Show but losing to The Simpsons and Family Guy with 6.93 million.^[3]

Media watchdog group the Parents Television Council, a frequent critic of American Dad! and other Seth MacFarlane-produced television programs, named "Cops and Roger" its "Worst TV Show of the Week" for the week ending April 16, 2010. In its review, the PTC recognized the comedic value of slapstick in comedy, but said the scene where Roger kills Chaz, and the graphic depiction therein — the explosion of Chaz's head is replayed five times — "crossed that line" between hilarious and gratuitous.^[4]

References