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 Al, Bud and Steve venture on an intended "all-guys" vacation in the episode "The Camping Show" in Season 3 of MWC. | ||||
| Season 3, Episode # 4 Number (#39) in series (259 episodes) | ||||
| Guest star(s) | Amanda Bearse David Garrison | |||
| Network: | FOX | |||
| Production code: | 3.01 | |||
| Writer(s) | Sandy Sprung & Marcy Vosburgh | |||
| Director | Gerry Cohen | |||
| Taping date | October 21, 1988 | |||
| Original airdate | December 11, 1988 | |||
 IMDb
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The Camping Show | |||
| Episode chronology | ||||
| ← Previous | Next → | |||
| "Poke High" | "A Dump of My Own" | |||
The Camping Show is the fourth episode of season 3 of Married... with Children, also the 39th overall episode in the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen, and written by Sandy Sprung & Marcy Vosburgh, the episode premiered on FOX on December 11, 1988.
Synopsis
A guys-only fishing trip with Al, Bud and Steve turns sour when Steve invites Marcy who then invites Peg and Kelly on the trip — and things get worse when all three of the women have their periods simultaneously.
Episode summary
Al is planning to take Steve, who's paying, and Bud, who he appears to see as bait, on a camping trip, a manly excursion into the wilderness. Unfortunately for him, Steve won't go without Marcy, who in turn has informed the Bundy women. So the guys-only huntin', fishin', shootin' adventure becomes a co-ed experience. When the ladies all have their periods simultaneously, Al, despite the presence of a rampaging bear, is unsure where he's safer.
Recurring cast/Guest stars
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy Rhoades
- David Garrison as Steve Rhoades
- Buck as Buck Bundy the family dog
- Frank Foti Jr. as Grizzly Bear (uncredited)
Trivia
- This episode was originally titled "A Period Piece", as the episode focused on the 3 women who start to menstruate during the camping trip. But the FOX Network censors thought that women would be offended by the title, even though the episode was written by two women and the episode title never appeared on screen and requested that the title be changed.
- Early in the episode, Al and Steve celebrate their pending fishing trip by air-playing the song 'Dueling Banjos' from the 1972 film Deliverance. There has been some online debate whether or not Ed O'Neill made his acting debut in that film as a deputy. Ed O'Neill himself has said he is not in the movie, and does not know where this piece of information originated. His first movie was "Crusing" in 1980.
- TV Guide, November 12-18, 1988: Fox Delays Married "Period" Episode, by Jeff Kaye Fox Broadcasting executives have been wondering what to do with a completed but unaired episode of Married . . . with Children that appears to break new ground in sitcom subject matter. The episode, the series' first to be taped this season, has had its air date postponed. It's entitled "A Period Piece" and addresses the topic of menstruation. More specifically, it tells how the Bundy and Rhoades families go on a fishing trip together, only to find that Marcy Rhoades (Amanda Bearse), Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal), and Peggy's teenage daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) are all starting their periods simultaneously. "I'm sure [the episode] will be scheduled later in the season," says Fox spokesman Brad Turell. "Running it as the season premiere, we felt, was not necessarily the best thing to do. You have to be responsible to the viewers." Married executive producers Ron Leavitt and Michael Moye don't hesitate to opine about why Fox hasn't run the episode. Says Moye, "If your typewriter makes a clucking sound, that will tell you the story." Adds Leavitt, "They're a shade nervous [at Fox]. It's funny, Geraldo [Rivera] burns babies in prime time and we're just saying women have periods."
Goofs
- On the second morning at the cabin, the caption "Day Two...6:52 AM" is shown. No more than three minutes later, Peggy says "Al...it is 7:30 in the morning!"