Married...With Who was the 12th episode of Season 5 of Married... with Children, also the 92nd overall episode of the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen and written by Ellen L. Fogle, the episode originally aired on FOX, premiering on January 6, 1991.
Synopsis[]
After a wild night at a banker convention, Marcy wakes up and discovers that she's married to a strange man named Jefferson D'Arcy (Ted McGinley) with a shady past. Al offers to arrange another marriage for them, in his back yard no less.
Plot[]
Almost a year after Steve left, Marcy is married again, albeit by accident. She wakes up with a ring on her finger, and a strange man in her bed, but when he turns out to be younger, taller and much better looking than Steve, it doesn't seem like such a terrible mistake. After a drinking binge at a bankers party, Marcy finds herself wed to the mysterious hunk named Jefferson D'Arcy. To make Marcy feel better to this unexpected change in her life, Peggy decides to throw a formal wedding ceremony for Marcy and Jefferson in the Bundy's back yard, in which nothing goes a planned.
So, in order to remember this event with Jefferson, Marcy is persuaded to give Al two thousand dollars to run the impromtu wedding in his backyard. However, he cuts costs at every corner, arranging for a sea captain to be the minister over the radio (who is paid with a bottle of rum), inviting Bud's soccer team and Kelly's fashion school friends over inviting Marcy's relatives to hide their tracks, and having Bud "draw" the wedding photos. However, whilst preparing, Al discovers that Jefferson is an ex-con, telling Al not to tell Marcy. The ceremony ends with Marcy and Jefferson growing suspicious of the wedding setup, and Al drops Jefferson's secret on Marcy in order to cover Al's getaway. Al uses his part of the money to invest in a Lake that turns out to be the same Lake that Jefferson used to defraud people out of money, due to the lake not being habitable until the year 5 million. Al is left to his thoughts - fishing with Bud, the two of them mutated with tails.
Cast[]
- Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy
- Katey Sagal as Peggy Bundy
- Christina Applegate as Kelly Bundy
- David Faustino as Bud Bundy
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Buck the dog as Buck Bundy
Guest starring[]
- Sean Christiansen as Soccer Player (uncredited)
- Edd Hall as Announcer (uncredited)
Quotes[]
- Al: [looking off into the distance, smiling with his clasped hands in his lap and ignoring the kids as they talk over each other]
- Kelly: Dad, all my friends are have a graduation party. Why can't I have a graduation party? I mean I deserve one! I graduated, didn't I?! I want a party too!
- Bud: All the other parents are throwing a party for my soccer team! Can we throw a party for my soccer team?! My soccer team says you suck! I want a party and I want one now!
- Bud & Kelly: [yelling] Money! Money! Money! Money!
- Kelly: Mom, daddy's gone away again
- Peg: Ah, he's just visiting his retirement property.
- Kelly: Well, how are we suppose to know? He's always a veg!
- Bud: Just as well, I'm sick of looking at him anyway!
- Jefferson: Listen, Al. I just stopped by to thank you for utterly betraying my trust. It was malicious and foul, but I think it's going to turn out to be a blessing. I mean it helps get our marriage off to a honest, healthy, harmonious start.
- Marcy: [offscreen] JEFFERSON D'ARCY! GET YOUR LYING IMMATE ASS OVER HERE NOW!
- Jefferson: [sighs] Ah, no. You know, in prison, I could have had her silenced for three cigarettes.
- Marcy: Anyway, all I know is I woke up this morning with a man in my bed. I don't even know who he is!
- Al: Well that's easy. He slept with you, he's the stupidest man on Earth. [chuckles]
- Peg: Al, we're talking about sex. Leave it to those who do it!
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to the show's title.
Trivia[]
- Ted McGinley returns as Marcy's new and lazy husband, Jefferson D'Arcy. He was last seen as Norman Jablonsky in the season 4 episode "It's a Bundyful Life (Part 2)".
- Although Ted McGinley joined the cast in this episode, his billing is relegated to the closing credits for the remainder of the season. Producers weren't sure if his character would work thus he was considered a guest star for his first season which in effect could allow the writers to write him out if need be. Fortunately, for McGinley his character worked and starting in Season 6, his second season, he would get billing in the opening credits.
- Bud's recreational soccer team, the Reepers, is shown for the first time in the episode, as Bud and his teammates wear their uniform at Marcy's wedding.
- According to Peggy, the average Man-Woman relationship has, at best, a maximum of three weeks of happiness.
- Al's lakeside retirement property, Lake Chicamocomico is shown for the first and only time at the end of the episode. He eventually paid it off with the money from the wedding.
- Al previously mentioned owning property at Lake Chicamocomico in the Season 1 episode, "Nightmare on Al's Street".
- In Peggy's fantasy, Al dies falling into a volcano while they vacationed in Hawaii, while in Al's fantasy, Peggy dies by falling head first into the quarry at Lake Chicamocomico.
- Al mentions that a rain cloud hangs over just the Bundy residence that was formed after the children were born.
- The guests that Al cut from the wedding include:
- Marcy's mom
- Marcy's sister
- Marcy's Aunt Mary
- Reverend Applebee
Cultural References[]
- The final black and white segment of the episode, with Al and Bud walking to Lake Chicamocomico to go fishing, is a parody of the opening for the 1960s TV show, The Andy Griffith Show.
- After Marcy and Jefferson introduce themselves once again, Al joins in and says "Yeah, I'm Al, so now that the Beatles have been reunited, you can get the hell out of here!", in reference to the British rock band and various attempts to reunite following their breakup in 1970.
- Al's advice to Jefferson, "Run! Run silent, run deep" refers to the 1958 Clark Gable movie with the same title.
- While playing charades with Peggy, Al asks her "What do Jefferson, Pete Rose and your cousin have in common?". Pete Rose is a retired baseball player and manager who was banned from Major League Baseball in 1989 for betting on games while still a professional player and coach. At the time this episode was filmed, he was serving time in prison for tax evasion and was released a few weeks after this episode aired.
Music[]
- The whistling song that is heard in Al's head after he and Peg dream about what $2000 will get them is "The Fishing Hole", the opening theme song to the 1960s show The Andy Griffith Show.
- It is heard again at the end of the episode as Bud and Al walk to Lake Chicamocomico.
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Bundy Backyard
- Lake Chicamocomico
Goofs[]
- As Al and Bud walk to Lake Chicamocomico, its quite obvious that Ed O'Neill is wearing a stiff, fake arm that is about to fall off.
- Al was fully aware Lake Chicamocomico was a toxic waste dump on Nightmare on Al's Street but in this episode, it's apparently news to him.
- When Al and Peg play "Charades" and gets the first part right, Al throws his hands in the air shouting "Right!" and a thump can be heard, indicating that Ed O'Neill may have hit a boom mic.
- When Marcy says to Al: "You're a cheat, a thief and a liar!", her flower-veil-arrangement around the bottom of her hair falls off. As the camera moves to the back of Marcy as Al tries to calm her down, the veil is clearly gone. The next shot goes back to the front of Marcy and Jefferson and the veil has magically reappeared.
External Links[]
Married... with Who? at the Internet Movie Database- Married... with Who? on Bundyology
- Married... with Who? - Transcript on albundy.net
- #93 Married... with Who? - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
