Turning Japanese

Turning Japanese is the 20th episode of season 10 of Married... with Children and the 229th overall series episode. Directed by Sam W. Orender and written by Fran E. Kaufer, it premiered on FOX-TV on March 17, 1996.

Synopsis

Marcy gets a chance to get promoted, but she has to impress her Japanese boss (Pat Morita). He sets his eyes on Al's Dodge. Marcy tries to convince Al to sell his Dodge by offering a lot of money & taking him to the nudie bar, where she meets her boss too.

Plot Summary

Marcy is up for a promotion that will send her to Japan once a month, but to get promoted she needs to impress her Japanese boss, Mr. Shimokawa, who's both the owner and president of Kyoto National Bank, the largest bank in Japan, by serving him dinner. Of course, she needs to bribe the real Bundys to stay out of sight for the duration of the visit, bribing them with money to pay for all-you-can eat clam buffet at the Hobo Motor Lounge. Midway through a dinner involving invoking Japanese culture and karaoke that bores Mr. Shimokawa, Al's Dodge 1971 is heard entering the driveway - a car missing from Shimokawa American junk collection, due to the Lounge kicking the Bundys out.

To ensure her promotion, Marcy needs to secure the car for Mr. Shimokawa to buy from Al. Marcy, desperate to secure the sale of Al's Dodge to her boss, pulls out all the the stops to do so even, of all things, in compromising her principles -- appearing at one of the places she most despises, she being a staunch feminist, and the head of FANG -- The Jiggly Room -- Al and Jefferson's favorite hangout spot -- trying to get Al to agree to a sale price, which eventually goes up to $50,000! Al agrees to sell, but only on one condition, echoing what Mr. Shimokawa said in seeking to buy the Dodge, "Every man has his price!", as he says the ssme about Marcy "every woman has her's!", as she agrees to appear on stage, readying to dance for Shimokawa!

When Shimokawa says that Marcy has the job, though not for her negotiation skills, but, "for the way she shakes it", it irritates Marcy to the point where she angrily responds "consider this my resignation!" as she punches him out into the rows, causing a big bar fight! Shimokawa is arrested for inciting a riot, as the Bundys enjoy their clams from the buffet. However, it is revealed that a rare form of botchalism had been found in clams used at the Motor Lounge - which just happen to have been stolen by the Bundys. They disregard the info and eat the clams anyway.

Recurring Cast/Regulars

• Dan Tullis, Jr. as Officer Dan
• Iqbal Theba as Iqbal

Guest Stars

• Pat Morita as Mr. Shimokawa
• Todd Parker as Officer Stan
• Darrell Kunitomi as Japanese Al
• Angela Spangler as Bambi

Trivia

• The title of this episode is a reference to the 1980 song of the same name by The Vapors
• Guest star Pat Morita. who plays Mr. Shimokawa, is best known for his role as "Mr. Miyagi" in the Karate Kid movies.
• Both Pat Morita and Ted McGinley appeared on the ABC sitcom "Happy Days"
• At the beginning of the episode, The Bundys mention Steve Urkel and the ABC sitcom, Family Matters. Pat Morita guest starred on that series.
• At the beginning of the episode, Bud mentions that he is about to graduate from college shortly. He would graduate from Trumaine University 3 episodes later, in "Bud Hits The Books"
• When Al mentions that he wants Marcy to pay for him and the kids to stay a Howard Bowman's Motor lodge, or HoBos, it maybe a reference to the Howard Johnson's chain of hotels, motels and motor lodges, sometimes refered to as HoJos.
• The first song that Marcy and Jefferson sing for karaoke is "Fame" from the 1980 movie and TV series of the same name
• The song Jefferson sings when Marcy goes to speak to Al about the Dodge is "I'm So Excited" by the Pointer Sisters
• The second song Jefferson sings to Mr. Shimokawa is "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" by Culture Club.
• The last song Jefferson sings to Mr. Shimokawa and Marcy is "I Think I Love You" by the Partridge Family for the TV series of the same name.
  • Two of the cast members from the Partridge Family,  Danny Bonaduce and Dave Madden previously appeared on MWC in the season 8 episode "How Green was my Apple"
• Marcy tells the Bundys that everything was going fine until they "Mothra'd" on home", refering to the kaiju (strange beast) from Japanese tokusatsu films
• Starting with this episode, Katey Sagal does not appear on MWC at all, until the season finale " The Joke's on Al"

Goofs

• Mr. Shimokawa is not told that Al is a shoe salesman. However, late in the show he refers to Al being a shoe salesman.