1600 Candles

Template:Infobox American Dad! episode "1600 Candles" is the fourth season episode premiere of the animated series American Dad!. It premiered on September 28, 2008, and is the first episode to feature the new opening sequence. This episode is rated TV-14

Plot

As Klaus shows off his new hamster ball filled with water to enable him to move around the house, Roger is excited to see that the family is setting up for his 1,600th birthday party, a milestone for his people. But Steve runs down stairs and reveals he is going through puberty. Stan and Francine are shocked because Hayley's puberty didn't go well for them, as she had wild mood swings for every single development. Steve begins to show off his puberty to his friends and across the school. Steve later asks Lisa Silver out to meet her at Macy's. Francine, not wishing to go through the same trauma again, then goes to the CIA, bribes the lab scientists with brownies and injects Steve with a needle to stop him from aging further for at least a few more years. However, the serum makes him a toddler all over again.

This angers Steve and he asks who did it to him. Francine confesses she injected him with it, but Stan distracts Steve with cartoons. Steve goes to mall with Francine where he was supposed to meet Lisa to buy her a prom dress. Lisa is thinking that Steve's appearance is a joke and that he is Steve's nephew. That night, Stan injects him with a needle, also from the CIA, in order to settle Francine's mistake and to make Steve an adult, to skip Steve's puberty instead of holding it off. However, much like the first attempt, the new serum turns Steve into an old man. Steve is just as furious as before, saying he has pubic hair, but it is white. Stan says he will head back to lab and get an antidote, distracting Steve yet again with the television, this time with The Weather Channel.

Klaus tells Steve that Lisa called to meet him again. Steve comes up with a story that he travels back in time from 80 years into the future. He manages to meet with Lisa and tell her the story, but all it does is confuse her and cause her to leave the date as he falls asleep before Francine finds him. Stan comes home with the antidote to turn Steve back into a fourteen year old. They start talking about the bad side of puberty, and Steve, scared, runs aways. Roger drops Steve off at a bus stop and Steve leaves on a bus with an old woman and reveals he doesn't want to be put in another situation where it involves his age.

Francine is looking for Steve until she and Stan find out Roger dropped off Steve so he can celebrate his birthday party. Steve, who is now in a retirement home, gets a call from Stan to come back to the house. But Steve wants to stay because he enjoys his new life and threatens to kill himself, making Francine and Stan feel guilty for changing the most important years of his life. Francine and Stan find Steve and they give him the shot just in time for the dance. He finally dances with Lisa, but a drunk enraged Roger pulls down his pants to show he only has one pubic hair, ruining his moment. The bullies then give him a swirlie and Stan and Francine reveal that puberty isn't perfect for anyone. The pubic hair from Steve floats across town until Roger comes home from the dance. Roger is upset that Steve stole his thunder and nobody remembered his birthday. However, in a parody of the ending scene of "Sixteen Candles", Klaus is shown with a birthday cake reading, "1600" and a single candle. Roger says that his wish came true, but the pubic hair lands in the cake and Roger ends the episode by saying, "I hate Steve so much".

Cultural references

• At the Old folks home, Steve and two other old men are talking about their past regrets, ending with Steve saying, "I'm Still a Virgin". To this one of the men says, "Dude, you're a virgin?" and the other, "Roadtrip!" in a parody of The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
• The title and ending scene are references to the film Sixteen Candles.
• The final moments of the episode also lampoon one of the iconic images from the film Forrest Gump. In that movie's opening and closing scenes, a bird's feather flutters in the wind above the town as the film's musical score plays. Meanwhile, this episode of American Dad! concludes with the image of Steve's lone pubic hair floating around Langley Falls in a similar manner (and with the same music playing) before landing on Roger's birthday cake, much to the alien's chagrin.

Notes

• Starting with this episode, a new opening sequence is used. While featuring the same music, the interaction with the family has changed and Roger sings the line "Good Morning, U.S.A.!" instead of Stan. Stan ends the sequence by crashing into the C.I.A. sign. The newspaper headlines gags have been replaced by Roger wearing a different costume each episode when he surprises Stan in the SUV. In the audio commentaries for American Dad! Volume 3, there was mention of the opening sequence being changed.
• This marks the first appearance of Lisa Silver, ever since the pilot episode which implied that Lisa Silver had been deported. Also appearing is Vince Chung, who appeared in "Helping Handis".
• This is the fourth episode in which the guys from the lab have been contacted and failed to provide a working solution.