Plot

Peter jokes about eating his annual salad while texting the guys, but notices that Joe merely likes his texts whereas Cleveland and Quagmire always laugh. Peter confronts Joe about it and is told that he has never found him funny. Meanwhile, after worrying about the lack of proper supervision on Chris and Meg’s field trip to Washington D.C., Lois decides to chaperone the trip, only to embarrass her children and earn scorn from their friends. She bonds with Principal Shepherd over their shared sadness and he opens up about his first love Shellie Barnes (Casey Wilson) whom he broke up with over a disagreement whether to combine Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in their proposed franchise. Peter tries sneaking into Joe’s room at night and leaving a “Ha Ha” on his joke for him, but sets off the traps by his bed and gets injured falling down the stairs while running away. In the hospital, Peter apologizes for overreacting. Upon describing the injuries he’s received, Joe finally laughs at him as he sheds a tear of joy. Lois discovers that Shellie lives near the hotel and convinces Shepherd to talk to her, only for them to discover that her dream failed, she has let herself go, and an ill uncle is living with her. Although Shepherd’s time is ultimately wasted, Lois tells him to take heart in the fact that his life ended up better than hers.