 Daniel Solomon of "Cinema Blend" gave the episode a positive review, saying "The best of the season is early, in an episode entitled “The American Dad After-School Special.” Steve’s new girlfriend is fat, and Stan hates that so much that he becomes anorexic.The device that the writers use to display Stan’s problem is both a visual metaphor for the distorted self-image of people with anorexia, as well as a narrative twist for the audience.At the end of the episode the best of the throwaway celebrity quips is made, when Stan says he doesn’t mind who Steve dates, even if she has “Kirsten Dunst teeth.""