Married,.. with Aliens was the seventh episode of Season 5 of Married... with Children, also the 87th overall episode in the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen and written by Ellen L. Fogle, the episode originally aired on FOX, premiering on November 4, 1990.
Synopsis[]
After a severe head injury, Al begins to see aliens who steal his socks, which they need to fuel their ships to stop a cosmic disaster. Al's unwitting help saves many worlds from destruction... including Earth.
Plot[]
When Al realizes that aliens or little green men are stealing his used socks, nobody believes him. Especially after he hit his head at the mall, Peggy brings him home to recuperate when they start coming and taking his socks. It's one of the funniest episodes of the series. Peggy finds Al frightened and barefoot in the closet. At night, he sets up the socks to hope that the aliens would find them. When he learns that a tabloid is willing to pay a million dollars for pictures, he decides to cash in on the event. Eventually, the aliens are thrilled for their photos being taken. While we think Al has it almost set for life, it turns out tragically wrong. We find out what the socks was used for; fuel for the aliens' spaceship!
"Crazy" ending credits[]
The closing titles read: Long ago in the Galaxy Euryops, a great menacing comet was born. Colossal in size, deadly in trajectory, it hurled unstoppable through the universe on a collision course with many inhabited planets. Among them was a small green planet called Earth. But on the planet Philydion, they still sing songs about the Earthman who made it possible for the comet to be destroyed. The man that saved Philydion, Earth, and a hundred other worlds by providing fuel for the ships that diverted and destroyed the comet, and that man is: AL BUNDY.
Cast[]
- Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy
- Katey Sagal as Peggy Bundy
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy Rhoades
- Christina Applegate as Kelly Bundy
- David Faustino as Bud Bundy
Guest starring[]
- Leonard Lightfoot as Oliver
- Phil Fondacaro as Alien
- Debbie Lee Carrington as Alien
- Tony Cox as Alien
- Patty Maloney as Alien
- Felix Silla as Alien
- Susan Rossitto as Alien (as Susie Rossitto)
- Buck as Buck the dog (Uncredited)
- Kevin Curran as Buck (Uncredited/Voice)
Quotes[]
- Al: Peg! Three little green aliens came in here and stole my socks!
- Peggy: Where they green before or after they touched your socks?
- [Al enters the house in a foul mood after being left at the hospital by his family. He hangs his coat up and has a bruise on his head.]
- Peg: Hi, honey. We were just deciding who was going to pick you up.
- Al: Why don't you use the method you used on our wedding day? You know, have a couple of uncles baseball bat my knees, throw me in the trunk of the car. Or were they stuck in Wanker County, where as Einstein would put it, everyone's relative.
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a self-reference to the show as well as the fact that Al is visited by aliens.
Trivia[]
- Oliver, the cashier at Photorama is played by Leonard Lightfoot, who is best known for his role as Leonard Rollins on the 1980s sitcom, "Silver Spoons", which was produced by MWC creators Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye.
- Debbie Lee Carrington, who plays one of the aliens, was best known for role in the 1990 sci-fi film, Total Recall as Thumbelina. The film came out five months before this episode originally aired.
- The film also featured Dean Norris who later appeared on MWC as Rodent, one of Al's teammates, in the Season 9 episode, "Dud Bowl".
- This episode was nominated for a Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Costuming for a Series.
- Al slips off his shoes which were loafers in anticipation for his first encounter with the aliens scene. You can see his shoes at the bottom of the coffee after his encounter.
Cultural References[]
- Kelly mentions several sci-fi characters when joking about Al seeing aliens:
- Darth Vader
- Klingons
- Lochness Monster
- Bigfoot
- Marcy tries to scare Al since he calls her "Sargent Carter Hair" referring to Gunnery Sargent Vince Carter from the television series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
- Peggy tells Al that "Cop Rock" was on and that she and the kids would rather go to the movie theaters.
- Cop Rock was a short lived television series on ABC that merged police procedural with musical theater. It was cancelled a month after this episode originally aired.
- It would later be referenced again in "The Goodbye Girl" as part of "Steven Bochco's Hall of Failures"
- Al asks the aliens if they would come with on Geraldo, a talk show hosted by journalist Geraldo Rivera.
Music[]
- Al sings "Kumbaya" with the Aliens while Peggy is asleep.
- The song Al sings when he goes to pick up his photos is his version of "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)".
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Photorama
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Al & Peggy's Bedroom
- Photorama
Goofs[]
- Al shows his bare feet to Peggy and demands she explain his absent socks, to which Peggy replies, "Well, if we were in Russia, I'd say Chernobyl." Chernobyl is not in Russia, but in Ukraine. At the time of production (1990) one of the fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics, SSRs, that constituted the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR). Contrary to popular belief, the terms 'Russia' and 'Soviet Union' cannot be used interchangeably.
- When Al comes home from work, he has his shoes on. When he sits on the sofa, he is in his socked feet without ever taking his shoes off.
External Links[]
Married... with Aliens at the Internet Movie Database- Married... with Aliens on Bundyology
- Married... with Aliens - Final Draft Script on albundy.net
- Married... with Aliens - Transcript on albundy.net
- #88 Married... with Aliens - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
