10 Best American Dad! Characters Only In One Episode

While American Dad! is not nearly as self-referential as its companion-slash-competitor, Family Guy, there does exist the occasional example of the writers playing about with the show's sitcom formula. Case in point, the season 13 episode, 'Top of the Steve'.

When Steve and Roger run away to Pendlingtonton Academy, a stuffy all-girls finishing school, they end up with two roommates: the charismatic Spitz, and her attractive friend known only as The Babe. As Spitz explains, she and The Babe are the only two lesbians in the school, yet are both unable to find love, despite how obviously close they are to each other (making Roger suspicious).

The headmistress tells Steve that, as a boy, he can only remain in the school if he wins the battle of the bands competition, and so he forms a band with Roger, Spitz and The Babe, which turns out to be unbelievably successful from the get-go. Roger deduces that this is the set-up for an American Dad! spin-off show, and if they win the contest, Steve can never go back home.

The self-awareness of the episode gives a kind of new pay-off to Spitz and the Babe's clichéd sitcom will-they-won't-they relationship. To top off the gag, Spitz is made the main character of the spin-off after Steve's departure, rebranding it as 'Top of the Spitz!'