320 replies to this topic

[kariyaki]

Bump

[WhyTheLongFace]

MWC was FOX's longest-running non-animated show. It was a real shame how the show just "ended" after 11 seasons, with no "farewell" episode. The possible futures for these characters were endless.

Anywho, this is one of the few shows I can watch in syndication over and over, and never get tired of it.

Remember "How Do I Love Thee?" with host David Leisure? The other couple (Featuring "Unhappily Ever After"'s Geoff Pierson) couldn't bear to to anything bad to each other. Peg put Al under a mattress, and loaded it with fat women. "I can taste my spleen," Al says.

The barbs between Al and Marcy were truly brilliant. "Well, it sounds like a chicken," says Al, "but the legs have been picked clean, and I don't see any breasts."

The beauty of this show is that it was like a live-action cartoon. Al could be in a full-body cast at the end of one ep, then back to normal the next.

Any show where the Bundys end up kicking another group's ass (The park at Seven's birthday, the traffic jam, Bud's first trip to the nudie bar, etc.) is classic to me.

But the most ingenious joke: The ep where Al's carpooling with the large 'n lovely Victoria's Secret models. One of them goes to Al's fridge and pulls out a milk carton with Seven's picture on it. ROFLMAO!!!!

[daniel82]

The farcical nature of the show can lead many to think of it as a live-action cartoon, but that was always part of the overall "joke". The producers thought enough of us to believe we got that this was all a farce and that we would know the physical humor and sight gags galore were as much a part of the show as T&A is a part of Baywatch.

Having missed many of the episodes of the final two seasons, I've been enjoying them now on Fx in the afternoons. The two-parter where Kelly almost gets married aired today--was this the final episode? I know there was no proper send-off, but it seemed (at the very least) to be a season-ender type of episode (which obviously was what a final episode was filmed to be if it did not know they were going to be cancelled). How cool to see Tricia Cast (Nina from Young and the Restless, among other roles) as a gun totin' ex-con!

Yes, the Al/Marcy snark was the stuff of legends, especially the "chicken" stuff. I remember Marcy getting really mad at one point, putting her hands on her hips and ranting "Why does he say I look like a chicken? Why does he do that??" as her head darted up and down and her arms appeared to be "flapping" like a chicken.

[SusannahDean]

On the MWC reunion special, Amanda Bearse said that Ed O'Neill told her to do that, "bob your head harder", to punch up the joke. Worked. That's one of my favorite Al/Marcy snarks.

[HellfireClubGuy]

I love love this show. My favorite characters were Bud(who was the smart one yet was also a looser) and Peggy who was the worst wife ever!!

What I loved about the show the most, is that even if these characters seem to hate each other a lot, when they were attacked as a group they were united and seem to really care for one another.

There are little moments through out the season where you notice this. Jefferson was great as well, I love that he seemed to fit with the Bundy's more then his wife!

To bring a discussion what is your favorite MWC season ever? I have to say season 6 with the "dream" storyline covering half the season and some great episodes afterwards and before the great "The Bundy's go to England" trilogy!!


The the show went on a rut with season 7(introducing seven!) and season 8 and 9 focusing too much on NO M'aam. Then god season 10 and 11 had very few No Maam episodes and went back to the Bundy family and the darcys.

Edited by HellfireClubGuy, Feb 14, 2004 @ 12:20 AM.

[BewareThePhog]

I think that Seasons 3, 4 and 5 are the best.

Season 3 has many great episodes including the infamous "Her Cups Runneth Over", the story about lingerie shopping that wrought the famous boycott attempt by that Michigan housewife; "The Bald and the Beautiful", where Steve feels insecure about hair loss and drags Al to a support group; "My Mom, The Mom", where Peggy goes to Kelly's class for career day and ends up subverting the whole class; "The House that Peg Lost", where Peg literally loses the Rhoades' house; and the two parter "Married...with Prom Queen" where Peggy is determined to be queen of their high school reunion.

Highlights of Season 4 include "Hot off the Grill", where the Labor Day BBQ burgers have that "special" ingredient; "Dead Men Don't Do Aerobics", where Peggy wins a battle of wills with an aerobics instructor, leading to his demise; "Desperately Seeking Miss October", where a chance encounter with a Playmate lands Al and Steve in hot water; "976 Shoe", where Al's scheme to run a shoe advice hotline is the beginning of the end of the line for Steve, and "Peggy Made A Little Lamb", where Peggy has to pass just one class - Home Ec - to get her high school diploma.

And Season 5 brought us "We'll Follow the Sun", with the Labor day gridlock; "The Dance Show", where Peggy has been going out dancing with a gay man whose partner tries to enlist Al's help in ending the relationship; "Married with Aliens", the over-the-top (even for MWC) episode where aliens need Al's socks for rocket fuel; and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", where a boost to Al's confidence leads to him becoming the envy of all the neighborhood women.

[StephenTrendy]

I used to really love this show, but I find it hard to pick a favorite season. After those last few craptacular seasons, I would have to say the first season was actually funny. I saw some of those episodes on FX this afternoon and they were hilarious.

[BewareThePhog]

Well, if you like the early ones, Season 1 is already available on DVD, and it appears that Season 2 is due out on Tuesday. I hope enough people keep buying these sets to keep them releasing seasons at a timely pace - there are some shows whose sets appear stuck on S1 for months on end.

Have to agree with HellFireClubGuy that the show got into too much of a No Ma'am rut for a while - I actually think that the club was a funny idea, but it should have been much more of a sideline - the kind of thing where, rather than see their antics, you tend to see more their aftermath. I can just imagine Peggy having conversations with Marcy about how No Ma'am was off on another Quixotic quest, only to have the door open and a disheveled Al and Jefferson come home having been beaten down once again.

[HellfireClubGuy]

Hey, does anybody know the name of the episode where Peggy is chased by gangs and break the door of the house open and fall on the floor?

[The Pez]

Watching Season 2 on DVD as we speak. *grins with delight* Oh the good ol' days

[giebergoldfarb2]

I know the two-timing guy Al beats up for Kelly at the movies was played by David Boreanaz.

"And that's why home video will never replace the theatergoing experience."

[Eris Rising]

I quite enjoyed the NO MAAM years, but agree that they could have spent a bit more time on the Bundy/D'Arcy dynamic.

A question: The college radio station episode with (I think) Keri Russell. This was a pretty obvious attempt to set up a spinoff series. Does anyone know what became of that? Did they shoot a pilot? Did they drop the idea altogether?

I'm not saying that it would have been successful, but I would have loved to have seen Steve in a bad guy role on another series. Honestly, he was far more interesting whenever he returned in his smarmy roles than he was as a regular.

[kariyaki]

I believe that radio station episode with Keri Russell WAS the pilot shot. Shooting pilots within the confines of an established show is done quite often. There was also that one with Matt LeBlanc and his dad on this very show and off the top of my head, The Nanny and CSI (for the Miami one) also did this.

[Kel Varnsen]

I know the two-timing guy Al beats up for Kelly at the movies was played by David Boreanaz.

"And that's why home video will never replace the theatergoing experience."

I was going through some video tapes I have over the weekend and I came across a tape of the reunion show. That was one of the first clips on it. I watched the whole thing on a Sunday morning. Man what a great series, pretty much all of the clips were hilarious.

[under the el]

Too many favorite moments! One of my absolute favorites was the Labor Day barbecue, and Peggy's gagging up the burger made with the dead aunt's ashes.

Several Kelly moments- Loved the 2-parter with Kelly's public access show, especially the bad perm girl (this could happen to you!), the band with the one-word songs, the "get a yeast infection" and Bud auditioning to be on her show and running after her. Haven't seen the one with the horrible trip to Florida in a long time, but that one was good, especially the whole thing with Kelly's hair color.

The "I'm too Sexy" moment while shopping in London, and Anthrax performing were the best musical moments to me.

Edited by under the el, Jun 1, 2004 @ 9:35 AM.

[Eris Rising]

I believe that radio station episode with Keri Russell WAS the pilot shot. Shooting pilots within the confines of an established show is done quite often. There was also that one with Matt LeBlanc and his dad on this very show and off the top of my head, The Nanny and CSI (for the Miami one) also did this

Also with The Golden Girls and Empty Nest, with Burt from Soap and Crystal whatsername, the female Ted McGinley. Of course, the in-show "pilot" was an entirely different cast with characters who were cut before the actual show aired.

Now, does anyone know what became of this would-be spinoff? The title? Anything?

[kariyaki]

The name of the episode was called "Radio Free Trumaine." I have no idea if this was the proposed name of the spin-off but it's quite likely, seeing as how the Matt LeBlanc spin-off episode was called what the show was called, "Top of the Heap."

[SusannahDean]

All those spin-offs bit, and I resented them taking time away from the Bundys to showcase them. Maybe everyone did and that's why they didn't take off. Heh.

[The Stick]

When an established series shoots an episode as a pilot for a spinoff, it's called a "one-off". Recently, the CSI: Miami pilot was a one-off of CSI, and CSI: New York's pilot was a one-off of CSI: Miami.

MWC had 3 such episodes:

'Top of the Heap' with Matt LeBlanc and Joey Lauren Adams. Six episodes outside of the one-off were produced as a separate series 'Top of the Heap', which aired in 1991. After airing a few episodes, the name was changed to 'Vinnie & Bobby', but it was cancelled not long after.

'Radio Free Trumaine', with David Garrison as the college dean and Keri Russell as April. This never made it to a full series.

'Enemies' with Nicole Eggert as Shannon. This episode also featured Alan Thicke. It never made it to a full series.

[WhyTheLongFace]

Loved the 2-parter with Kelly's public access show, especially the bad perm girl (this could happen to you!), the band with the one-word songs

Yeah, the band. (Hard rock guitar riff, then...) "SLUT!"
What was funny was when Kelly's show got made over to be more "wholesome." The band put on pretty dresses, and changed their lyrics.
(Cheesy accordion music, then....) "Milk."

Fortunately our local indie station airs MWC every weeknight. Along with Seinfeld, the only syndicated shows I can watch ad infinitum, and still laugh my ass off.

The "My dinner with Anthrax" ep has one of my all time fave lines. When the guys eat Mom's mystery pack. One guy says, "If it came out of the fridge, why is it hot?"

Hee!

Edited by WhyTheLongFace, Jun 2, 2004 @ 11:39 AM.

[The Pez]

Just saw "Ship Happens" again, the one with Gilbert Gotfreid, and that is classic Married with Children. "Look, it's sweeps and if that dolphin is not Micheal Jackson's love child, we have no story." And Jefferson cracking up at Gilbert's impressions, and the overweight woman on the boat, "Cookies?!" That is a great episode (s).

[daniel82]

Here's a question out of left field:

If Marcy, Steve, Jefferson, etc. are so much better-mannered than the Bundys, why did they never, ever knock before walking into the Bundys' living room?

It drives me bonkers!

[The Pez]

I'm guessing since they look so down upon the Bundy's they just thought they could just come right in and insult them, or show off in front of them.

But they did ring the door bell a lot. Because I have a lot of memories of Peg walking on her high heels to the door to open for the Darcy's.

[SusannahDean]

Jefferson is the one that would barge in without knocking. I remember watching an episode where he just marched right in without so much as a how-do-you-do and thinking "what the hell? Knock first, you buffoon!" I think Marcy would do it too but when Steve was on the show they would ring the doorbell first.

[BewareThePhog]

There are a lot of times in the early episodes where Steve & Marcy ring the doorbell first - it was often a setup for jokes from Al. I remember once the doorbell rang and Al said "Please let that be a bullet with my name on it!". He opened the door to find Steve, and quipped "Never what I want..."

Yeah, the band. (Hard rock guitar riff, then...) "SLUT!"
What was funny was when Kelly's show got made over to be more "wholesome." The band put on pretty dresses, and changed their lyrics.
(Cheesy accordion music, then....) "Milk."

That episode was a classic. MWC was often dancing on the line of sharp satire vs going too far over-the-top, but when they got it right, it was great.

I was watching my Season 2 DVDs recently and came across a great line I'd forgotten. It comes from the episode where Al & Steve sell Marcy's Barbie doll to get baseball cards, and then have to get it back. Before Marcy notices that her Barbie is missing, she and Peggy are playing with some of Kelly's old Barbie & Ken dolls...predictably, Peggy sets things up so that all of the Kens are tending to Barbie's needs, and she's shown using a Ken to give Barbie a massage. Marcy gets upset and chastises Peggy with:

"Barbie was meant to be dressed beautifully and properly accessorized...not to be lying around being rubbed by a bunch of horny Kens!"

[JYR]

F/X just changed their morning schedule so now Married With Children has replaced 90210. After watching two eps this morning, I now remember why I watched this show religiously every night before bedtime when I was in high school.

[anaisn]

The show is running at a local channel and at Sony. I've liked since the first time I saw it. It's just hilarious.

[Meedis]

Bump.

[Philip Carey]

I watched this show religiously every night before bedtime when I was in high school.

Me too! I'm still very bitter that there never was a proper series finale. You know, a two hour special, where we would learn all about the fates, not only of the Bundys, but also of Steve, Seven, Grandmaster B (my role model), Jefferson...