The Scarlett Getter

Production

The writing duties for this episode fell to Matt Fusfeld and Alex Cuthbertson, with Josue Cervantes directing. Overseeing production as executive producers were series creator Seth MacFarlane—also the mind behind Family Guy and The Cleveland Show—alongside Mike Barker, Rick Wiener, Matt Weitzman, and Kenny Schwartz. Beyond the main voice cast, guest stars Sharon Lawrence and Shannon Sharpe appeared. Minor roles were filled by recurring voice actors Curtis Armstrong, Elizabeth Banks, Mike Barker, Mike Henry, David Koechner, Teri Lyn Rodriguez, Patrick Stewart, Alec Sulkin, Daisuke Suzuki, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and John Viener.

Reception

Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club awarded the episode an A, noting that the biggest surprise was how well guest star Shannon Sharpe blended into the story. Initially, the idea of a football player in the role felt awkward, but that quickly gave way to a terrible pun-based joke. Ultimately, Sharpe’s outgoing personality was a natural fit for an absurd alien bounty hunter, and he pulled it off. Kaiser also commented on the confusing production and airing schedule for American Dad, making it hard to tell if the show was on a hot streak or just getting lucky.

The fact that Hayley appeared without Jeff suggests the episode was made before the Season 6 wedding, meaning it might have been produced two years earlier while a recent great episode might have been made just two months ago—or the opposite. Kaiser wished they could declare the season fantastic, but suspected Fox might be burning off episodes it considers weak, which would be ridiculous because the show is genuinely strong right now regardless of production order.

Dyanamaria Leifsson of TV Equals gave a positive review, praising the abundance of great moments and absurd lines throughout the episode. While there was plenty of typical slapstick comedy, she found the writing subtle enough that rewatching would reveal many missed gags. The episode drew 4.82 million viewers, ranking third on Animation Domination that night. It outperformed Allen Gregory and The Cleveland Show but fell behind Family Guy and The Simpsons, which had 5.61 million viewers.