T-R-A-Something-Something Spells Tramp

T-R-A-Something-Something Spells Tramp
Kelly gets ditched by her date in "T-R-A-Something-Something Spells Tramp", in Season 7 of MWC.
Information
Directed By	Gerry Cohen
Written By	Ron Leavitt Ellen L. Fogle
Taping Date	August 28, 1992
Air Date	September 20, 1992
Production Code	7.02
Series Designation	Married... with Children Season 7, Episode 2
Episode Number	133
IMDB	T-R-A-Something-Something Spells Tramp
Episode Guide
Previous	Magnificent Seven (Season 7 premiere)
Next	Every Bundy Has a Birthday

T-R-A-Something-Something Spells Tramp was the second episode of Season 7 of Married... with Children that aired on FOX on September 20, 1992, also the 133rd overall episode in the series. The episode, directed by Gerry Cohen, was co-written by Ron Leavitt and Ellen L. Fogle.

Synopsis

After Kelly gets ditched in the middle of nowhere by her date (played by Corey Feldman), she meets other girls who have been dropped by their dates for being tramps. Meanwhile, Al and Peg try talking to revive their waning marriage and Bud dates a girl with the measles.

Plot

It seems that on one particular day, everybody but Kelly had a good date. Seven gets a date with a little girl. Al and Peggy decide to cuddle because it is quicker than talking. Even Bud gets a date, and it's with a girl that has measles. Kelly was on a date, though her date disrespects her, leaving her out in the wilderness. She meets two other ladies, and they bond over how they are all branded tramps, as they try to get back to Chicago. They see Kelly's date and come up with a plan. They lure him out of the car into the bushes for some fun, then run out into the car and drive away, with his pants literally down. They throw him some shoes while they escape. Afterwards, Bud meets up with Kelly's date after his ends, who insults Kelly by calling her a tramp, not realizing that Bud is her brother. Bud responds by hugging the date and coughing in his face which, as Bud has measles, probably infects the date and tells him to consider the measles a gift from Kelly.

Guest stars/Recurring cast

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 as Buck Bundy
• Shane Sweet as Seven

Guest starring

• Lisa Rieffel as D.J. (as Dusty Street)
• Corey Feldman as Ralph
• Liz Vassey as Lorraine

Quotes

• [Peg sees Al sitting on the living room couch, with two cotton swabs in his ears and staring blankly at the television set]
• Peg: Honey? [sits down next to Al] Al?!
• [she leans in and removes the swabs. As Al wonders what just happened, she leans in and gives him a quick kiss on the lips]
• Al: AHHHH-HAHHHHH! [reels back in horror and wipes his lips across the back of his hand] Oh my God! Is it our anniversary again?!
• Peg: No, Al!
• Al: Well, then what gives you the right to touch me?!
• Peg: 'Cause I'm tired of touching myself!
• Al: [shrugs] Well, who could blame 'ya?

---

• [Ralph has parked his car in a secluded area and convinced Kelly that he ran out of gas]
• Ralph: Come here. [leans in and attempts to kiss Kelly]
• Kelly: Don't you wanna talk first?
• Ralph: [scoffs] No. If I wanted to talk, I'd be hanging out with the guys, and I wouldn't have had to shave. Come here. [puts his arm behind Kelly's chair and leans in again]
• Kelly: [offended] "Come here"?! If I wanted to listen to one-word sentences, I would have been out with the girls, and...I wouldn't have had to shave.
• Ralph: You know Kelly, I'm sure there's a lot more to you than meets the eye. Unfortunately, I don't really care about that part. So, why don't just you put out or get out.
• Kelly: [seductively] Well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
• Ralph: Exactly.
• [Kelly punches Ralph and exits the car]
• Kelly: [sarcastic] It was good for me. Was it good for you?
• Ralph: Have a nice walk home... tramp!
• [Ralph drives off, leaving Kelly by the side of the road]
• Kelly: Tramp? But I got out.

---

• [As Al and Peg find something to talk about, Bud, who had been building a scale model house with popsicle sticks, eagerly runs downstairs]
• Bud: Mommy! Daddy! I did it, I did it. I got a date. [smashes the popsicle stick house on the floor, then rubs his hands with satisfaction] Yep. No more sticky fingers for me.
• [Al and Peggy look at Bud oddly]
• Bud: You know, from the popsicle sticks.
• [Al and Peggy seem unconvinced]
• Bud: Anyhow, I called every girl in college, and finally, when I got to the most beautiful girl in school, she's the one who said: "Thank you, Bud. Please, please take me out". So I guess I got something special after all. So, where's a good place to take a girl with the measles?
• Al: You know, Son, you're a mighty strange young fellow. [ Peggy nods in agreement]
• Bud: Maybe so, maybe so. But a strange young fellow with a date. [pats Al's shoulder, and heads for the door] I know she's got a fever now, but, uh, wait till she feels the relief from a cool, long-necked Bud against her head.

Notes

Title

• The title of this episode is likely a reference to Kelly's attempt to spelling the word "Tramp", which she is referred to as multiple times in the episode.

Trivia

• Christina Applegate stated that this had been her favorite episode.
• It is implied that Bud may have a split personality, as he begins to debate with himself as he heads up the staircase and uses "we" multiple times.
  • In the season 8 episode, "Proud to Be Your Bud", it is revealed that he does have another personality known as Cool Bud.
• Marcy tells Al and Peggy that Jefferson suffers from temporary impotence and that he uses the phrase, "I think I can. I think I can" to encourage himself.
  • Her former husband Steve Rhoades also claimed to have temporary impotence after she dented his car in the season 2 episode, "Impo-Dent".
  • "I think I can. I think I can." is from the book The Little Engine that Could that was the focus of the season 3 episode, "He Thought He Could".

Cultural References

• Al informs Bud that F Troop is on television. F Troop was a western themed sitcom on ABC from 1965 to 1967.
  • One of the actors from the show, Larry Storch, would later appear on Married... with Children in "Something Larry This Way Comes" as himself, where he ran the "Larry Storch School of Acting" that Kelly was attending.
• After Bud heads back up stairs, Al tells Peggy "Well, there's nothing left to do Peg, except pick out the dress you want to wear when Dan Rather asks you why your son shot the president". Dan Rather is an American news reporter who at the time was known as the host of the CBS Evening News as well as a correspondent for the news show 60 Minutes.
  • Dan Rather was chief of CBS's southern news bureau, and was in Dallas on the day of the JFK assassination.
• While on the couch, one of the things Al wanted to find out when he first met Peg was "Did she actually watch 'Deep Throat'?" . Deep Throat was a 1972 pornographic film that gained public notoriety for having a plot, character development, and relatively high production values.
• After realizing that they don't have much to talk about, they realize that the only thing they agree on is that they "hate that painting behind Jay Leno". This is in reference to the the comedian and his late night talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The show aired 4 months prior to this episode's original airing and ran on NBC from 1992 until 2009.
  • Edd Hall who appeared in several episodes of MWC served as the announcer on the show from 1992 until 2004.
• When Kelly meets Lorraine and D.J. and finds out why they're walking, she says "Well, I guess we're the three POOGO-teers. Athos, Porthos, and Moe." and then tells them "There these three guys in this book based on the candy bar" after they didn't know what she was talking about.
  • The "Three Poogo-teers" is a references to the 1844 French adventure novel The Three Musketeers.
  • She then mixes up the characters from the novel, Athos, Porthos and Aramis with Moe, Larry and Curly from The Three Stooges.
  • She also mistakenly believes that the book is based on the candy, 3 Musketeers, a candy bar consisting of chocolate-covered, fluffy, whipped mousse, which was released in 1932.
• During their conversation, Jefferson asks Al "Do you think Perot will be back in '96". This is in reference to Ross Perot, who ran as an independent candidate during the 1992 U.S. Presidential election. Although he had dropped out when this episode was filmed in August of 1992, he later declared that he would re-enter and appeared on stage during the debate in October 1992 and was on the ballot in all 50 states.
  • Al then responds to Jefferson "Not a chance. Doesn't talk issues, my man!". Though he wouldn't have known at the time, Perot would later run again in the 1996 U.S. Presidential election, though as part of the newly formed "Reform Party".
• During the conversation, Al asks Jefferson if he knew that opera singer, Luciano Pavarotti was in town.
• At the deer crossing, Kelly warns the other girls that they could be tricked, saying "We could start to cross, and then a cop will throw a deer out here. And then we'll all be in the pokey sharing a cell with Mike Tyson". This is in reference to former heavyweight boxer, Mike Tyson, who at the time was convicted of rape and began serving a six year prison prison sentence 4 months before this episode was filmed.

Music

• Peggy sings "My Guy" by Mary Wells at the beginning of the episode.
• Kelly attempts to sing "99 Bottles of Beer" but manages to lose count.

Locations

• Bundy Residence
• Dirt Road

Sets

• Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
• Dirt Road

Goofs

• The studio lights can be seen on the hood of Ralph's car as the camera moves in from the overhead shot to him saying that he ran out of gas. It is seen again later when he stops near the deer crossing.
• When the Bundys and the D'Arcys are talking on the couch, a noticeable shadow moves across them as the crew repositions some equipment.