Get Outta Dodge

Get Outta Dodge is the 18th episode of Season 8 of Married... with Children, also the 175th overall series episode. Directed by Sam W. Orender and written by Mark Driscoll, it premiered on FOX-TV on February 20, 1994.

Synopsis

Peg forces Al to sell the Dodge and he places an ad. The Dodge Company offers a new Dodge Viper for his Dodge if he lets people film a video of the Dodge crossing the one million mile mark. Kelly tries to find Waldo, while Bud tries to make out with a girl.

Storyline

When Al decides to sell his old car, the people at the Dodge Corporation inform him that if he can get his Dodge's odometer up to all 9's, the car will take part in a commercial, breaking the 1,000,000 miles and Al will be awarded a brand Dodge Viper. But can Al and his Dodge survive 24 hours until the film crew can arrive? Meanwhile, Bud sends the dim-witted Kelly out to find "Waldo" from "The Little Rascals".

Recurring Cast/Regulars

• Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy (credit only)
• Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
• Buck the Dog as Buck Bundy
• Dan Tullis, Jr. as Officer Dan

Guest starring

• Todd Susman as Bill Ellis
• Stefanie Ridel as Lisa Pruner
• Richard Assad as Islamic Fanatic #1
• Michael Hagiwara as Japanese Businessman
• Bert L. Cook as Criminal
• David Graubard as Mobster #1
• William Bookston as Wino Guy
• Maray Ayres as Wino Gal

Quotes

Peggy: She's not important right now, Al. Now look, what is wrong with getting a slightly newer car? I hear they're coming with all these fancy options these days. You know, like dashboards and paint...

Al: Just more things to go wrong. Listen to me, Peg: you can nag, you can cry, you can whinny, bleat and moo, but I will never sell the Dodge.

---

Al: Nothing like a little music to help pass the time.

Radio: And that's when my hound dog started looking good to me.

Al: Ah, who was the genius that let West Virginia become a state?

---

Peggy: (answers phone) Hello, Al? Is that you?

Al: (driving through the desert in the Dodge) Hello, Peg. I'm here in Burnt Scrotum, New Mexico. And guess what: I'm over a thousand miles, babe. I'm gonna drive till I hit another million.

Peggy: Then you'll be home, Al?

Al: Then I'll be home, and the Viper will be mine. Do you hear me? Mine, I tell you. Mine. Mine.

Notes

Title

• The title of this episode is a reference to the saying "Get the Hell outta Dodge", meaning to get out as quickly as possible. It superficially refers the town of Dodge City, Kansas, which was a wild frontier town of the Old West and featured in many cowboy / western themed films.
  • it is also a reference to Al getting out of his old Dodge for a new one once he hits the milestone.

Trivia

• In the original airing, during the end credits, Al is shown continuing on his drive through Burnt Scrotum, New Mexico. On the DVD release, a still frame of the desert is shown while "Love and Marriage" plays.
• Bud reveal that Al's Dodge is a "Dodge-enstein", as it made up of parts from old Dodges.
• Al reveals that he wasn't there for Bud's birth as he took the Dodge to the pool hall.
  • It was previously mentioned in several episodes that Al wasn't there for the birth of Kelly or Bud.
• MWC production crew member Bert L. Cook appears in this episode as the criminal that Officer Dan drags into the Bundy residence and then lets go.
• Stephnie Ridel, who played Bud's date, Lisa Pruner, was a member of the pop trio, Wild Orchid, when the episode originally aired. One of her other bandmates, Fergie, would appear on MWC a few episodes later as Ann in "Nooner or Later".
  • Ridel had also been dating David Faustino around this time as well.

Cultural References

• When Bud brings Lisa Pruner home, he says that the Bundy residence is also known as "The Home of the Whopper" which is the slogan for fast food restaurant, Burger King and its Whopper Sandwich.
• Bud tells Lisa that his parents are on an Oprah fatapolozza tour to showcase how much weight she lost, referring to talk show host Oprah Winfrey and her battle to lose weight.
  • Fatapolooza is a likely reference to Lollapalooza a four day music concert that takes place in Chicago and covers a wide range of genres.
• In the original airing of the episode, two Arabs with a ticking time bomb come to the door, telling Al to give them the keys to the Dodge and directions to the Sears tower as they have no time to haggle. The scene was removed from the US syndicated episodes of this episode after 2001, due to the September 11 attacks. The scene does appear fully intact on the DVD releases.
  • Ironically, this scene referenced the Friday February 26, 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. That attack involved a terrorist driving a Ryder Truck into the parking garage under the North Tower. The planned explosion would cause the North Tower to fall into the South Tower which did not happen. It is very likely that the terrorists in this scene planned a similar scenario with the Sears Tower.
  • This episode's airdate was six days before the 1st anniversary of the 1993 WTC bombing proving that nothing is off limits to MWC's writing staff.
• When Al tells the Dodge staff that Peg hated the Dodge, he says that "She shot the Dodge, but she didn't shoot the Deputy", a reference to the Bob Marley song "I Shot The Sheriff"
  • There is also a season one episode that references the song, so this could be an episode reference as well.
  • In the other episode (titled, "But I Didn't Shoot the Deputy"), Al shoots Steve and Marcy's dog, Bella.
• Kelly is constantly holding a "Where's Waldo" book throughout the episode and attempts to find Waldo in real life.
  • Near the end of the episode, a real person is dressed like Waldo and sits at the Bundy dinner table.
• Lisa reveals that after she was caught by her dad, the football team couldn't go to the Rose Bowl Game, the annual college football game held at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.
• Al tells the kids that they should help him guard the Dodge because they're family, but Bud tells him "So are the Jacksons" and then leaves. This in reference to the Jackson family of musicians and entertainers. More specifically, this is in reference to the family having various problems that made people view them as rather dysfunctional.
• During Al's game to stay awake, he lists off several celebrities and imitates their body type:
  • Marlon Brando - Actor
  • Alfred Hitchcock - Director
  • Elvis - Musician / Actor
  • Refrigerator Perry - Defensive Lineman, Chicago Bears
  • Elizabeth Taylor - Actress

Music

• The song that plays while Bud flirts with Lisa Pruner is "Lonely Boy" by Paul Anka.

Locations

• Bundy Residence
• Sound Stage
• Burnt Scrotum, New Mexico

Sets

• Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
• Bundy Garage
• Sound Stage / Dodge Viper Display
• Burnt Scrotum, New Mexico Desert

Goofs

• When Bill Ellis presents the new Dodge Viper to Al and Peg, a microphone can be clearly seen above Al's head.
• When the alarm clock in Al's garage goes off at "6:00 AM," he presses the button to stop its buzzing almost immediately after it starts. After he takes his finger off the button, the clock almost immediately, changes to 6:01.
• Al's Dodge manages to travel a million miles and the odometer reads 000000.0, which will get Al a free Dodge. It rolls to the end of the driveway and Peg says the odometer now reads 000000.9 so they no longer get the free car. The Bundy's driveway is not nine-tenths of a mile long.