As Stan gets some alone time with this new television, he stumbles across “Nitehawk’s Hideaway,” an old fashioned program that’s hosted by Alistair Covax and features the hottest spot for sophisticates and jazz musicians alike. Stan’s not exactly a fan of the show, but its existence confounds him, especially when he learns that there’s no record of “Nitehawk’s Hideaway” ever existing. When Stan goes to a newspaper editor for answers, he’s told much of the same thing, but gets pointed towards the Ukrainian Cultural Center for help.

It turns out that there’s only one other person who’s experienced this “Nitehawk’s” phenomenon that Stan can turn to for support and who do you think it is? That’s right, Tuttle. Tuttle’s fine for an ally here, but can we seriously discuss how he’s being crammed down our throats? It’s almost become a running joke at this point. I’m starting to believe that Richard Kind just lives in the recording studio and so the writers have become forced to incorporate him because he’s not going anywhere.

further reading: 25 Best American Dad Episodes

Rather than team up with Tuttle, Stan responds how the audience would and abandons him in favor of tackling all of this on his own. Stan may turn his back on Tuttle, but when he sees a suave version of him pop up in “Nitehawk’s Hideaway,” his interest in this television leaps to new heights. “Rabbit Ears” taps into a bit of a Shining energy with the haunting atmosphere that this television generates. The way in which it takes ahold of Stan is really well done and the best thing about this episode. There’s a lot of repeated footage of soothing jazz being played on the piano and it honestly gives the installment a hypnotic effect, which mirrors Stan’s dilemma. There’s even a little bit of a Body Snatchers vibe to this mystery with how everyone who gets sucked into “Nitehawk’s Hideaway” has the same giant television set. It’s fascinating to see Stan throw himself into every detail of “Nitehawk’s Hideaway” as he tries to crack this mystery. At the same time, his growing bed bug infestation is a nice physical manifestation of his unhealthy obsession.

Now, the second act of “Rabbit Ears” to an incredibly crazy place that may lose some viewers. Some people may prefer if this had all been some hallucination that Stan experienced when the television originally falls on him rather than a fantastical trip where Stan gets trapped in a haunted television show, but the episode’s Serling-esque atmosphere is what holds this together. It never plays this as broad and instead embraces the fear in it. Besides, this is a show where there were sentient alien jeans only a few weeks back, so this is hardly a blip on the radar.