Fair Exchange is the sixth episode of season 4 of Married...With Children, also the 63rd overall series episode. The episode originally aired on FOX on October 29, 1989. Directed by Gerry Cohen, the episode was written by Al Aidekman.
Synopsis[]
The Bundy's host a French foreign exchange student simply because it means $500 per month which goes for food for the family. She fits in at first, but soon overshadows Kelly.
Storyline[]
The Bundys can feast on the $500 a month they receive for hosting a French foreign exchange student. But the beautiful French girl, Yvette, soon turns Kelly's social life into famine, which prompts Kelly to take action to get her own social life back. Milla Jovovich plays a French foreign exchange student who is staying in the Bundys' garage and burning wood for warmth. By having a foreign exchange student, the Bundys get $500 a month. Now, they can eat in style. Al has never been happier neither has Bud. The problem with the foreign exchange student is Kelly who is now replaced at school as the popular date among the men. She is now dating geeks especially one into pencils. Bud loves having her stay in the garage where he can peep and she doesn't mind. Steve and Marcy think she's Al's mistress and give out information for Peggy to get a good divorce attorney.
Recurring cast/Guest stars[]
Regulars[]
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy Rhoades
- David Garrison as Steve Rhoades
- Buck the Dog as Buck Bundy
Guest starring[]
- Milla Jovovich as Yvette
- Richard Israel as Myron
- Gregg Thomsen as Hank
- Douglas Bryant Johnson as Bob
Quotes[]
- [Kelly is sitting at the study desk, upset at Yvette becoming more popular than her at school. Peggy then asks Marcy and Steve to talk to Kelly, as the rest of the Bundys are busy eating dinner]
- Marcy: [gets up and walks over to Kelly] Ohh, now Kelly. You mustn't worry over this. You may find this hard to believe, but I myself wasn't popular in school.
- Kelly: [sarcastically] The Hell you say.
- Marcy: [laughs] No. It's true.
- [Marcy takes Kelly by the arm and walks with her to the couch]
- Marcy: I couldn't get a date with a cool guy no matter how much I put out. [suddenly changes her tone as she notices Steve looking at her] I mean, "tried". [with a sheepish grin] So I finally started dating a nerd.
- [The two women take a seat on the couch next to Steve as he lets out a loud, mocking, nerdy laugh]
- Steve: Hehehe, You dated a nerd?!
- Marcy: [looks back at Steve, annoyed] Yes. [to Kelly, smiling] His name was.. [pauses, side glances at Steve] ...Well, his name isn't important. My friends couldn't believe I had sunk so low. Boy, did they laugh when I let him take me to the homecoming dance.
- Steve: Wait a second. [pauses, has a realization] I took you to the homecoming dance.
- Marcy: [looks back at Steve, with a mocking smile] That's right. You did. [to Kelly, smiling] Anyway, we went on dating and I endured the laughter and the ridicule, and I came to marry... [pauses, as an upset Steve sits up and folds his arm] ...Well, his name isn't important. The point is, yesterday's nerd can grow up to be a wonderful and giving man. So if all you can get is a nerd, I say, try one. [leans back and proudly smiles, as she puts her arm around Steve] I did.
- [Bud is coming down the staircase with a bag in his arms and humming to himself as Yvette starts to go up, following her most recent date]
- Bud: Dum-de-dum-dum-dum.... [stops and sees a depressed Kelly sitting on the couch] Hi, Grandma! Dum-de-dum-dum-dum... [stops and jokingly pretends to be shocked at calling Kelly "Grandma"] Oops! Sorry, Kell. Must've been the way the light hit your crow's feet.
- [Kelly gives him a dirty look as he walks over to the wall by the garage door while quietly singing to himself. He begins marking off a specific point, then pulls out a drill and safety goggles from the bag and starts to drill some holes]
- Kelly: [walking towards Bud] Bud, what are you doing?
- Bud: Building a home entertainment center. [continues drilling into the wall]
- Kelly: Bud... [hesitantly] I need your help. I'm desperate.
- Bud: [stops drilling, turns to Kelly] No, you're not. Desperate still implies hope, heh! [resumes drilling]
- Kelly: You wouldn't want to help me get rid of Yvette, would you?
- Bud: Pffff! [laughs, then continues drilling]
- Kelly: Well, I can't take this anymore. I'll have to do it myself.
- [Kelly turns and folds her arms in frustration, causing Bud to stop drilling and remove his goggles]
- Bud: [walks up to Kelly, in a serious tone] Kelly, I say this with all sincerity. If you truly, truly want to get rid of her... I'll kill you. I really will. This is not a joke. Dead.
- [Bud puts the goggles back on and resumes drilling, as a frustrated Kelly walks back to the couch. Yvette, now wearing a short leather mini-skirt, comes downstairs and walks up to Bud.]
- Yvette: Uh, Bud, what are you doing?
- Bud: [sheepishly, as he starts to quickly pack up and leave] Uhh... I'm...uh, I'm... I'm giving you some... some ventilation, you know, so... so, the heat can get through.
- Yvette: [smiling] Oh, it's all right, Bud. I don't mind if you peep.
- Bud: [smiles, then leans in towards Kelly] Yeah. I'll give that up! The day they pry her from my cold, dead hand!
- [The Bundys are sitting at the kitchen table with leftover pizza crust and lament about what happened to Yvette]
- Al: I can't believe it. Yvette flunked every subject. She even flunked French. She must be the stupidest girl in the world.
- Kelly: [boastfully] Well, I'm the stupidest girl in America!
- Al: We know you are, pumpkin. But we're talking about something important now.
- Peg: [to Kelly] Honey, you're important too... Just not as important as five hundred bucks. [laughs]
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is based on the 1960s television series of the same name as well as the Bundys participating in a Student exchange program.
Trivia[]
- Yvette is played by actress Milla Jovovich, who is best known for her roles in "The Fifth Element" and the live action "Resident Evil" movies.
- Despite Yvette and Kelly being similar ages in the episode, Milla Jovovich was just shy of 14 when this episode aired, while Christina Applegate was just about a month shy of her 18th birthday.
- Milla Jovovich and Christina Applegate attended high school together in real life.
- Besides playing a French exchange student, in real life, Milla Jovovich is fluent in French, as well as Russian and English.
- Richard Israel, who plays Myron, Kelly's nerdy date, later appeared appeared on MWC as the court jester that Princess Kelly argues with over purple M&M's in the Season 11 episode, "A Babe in Toyland".
- Although this episode originally aired in late October, Al points out at the beginning of the episode that it is the day after Thanksgiving.
- The Bundys are shown eating pizza as their Thanksgiving meal instead of the traditional turkey meal. They are so poor, that they ate the toppings and cheese first on Thanksgiving and saved the remaining dough for the next day.
- Peggy reveals that she had her engagement ring appraised the day after their wedding and that it is made out of glass.
- Steve implies that he may have been been setting up his way out of his marriage with Marcy.
- Marcy reveals that Steve took her to homecoming only because she chose to settle with a nerd after no one else would go out with her and was ridiculed for it by her friends.
- At the end of the episode, Kelly is wearing the same exact outfit (tan jacket, black top and miniskirt, brown belt and pantyhose) that she wore in the previous episode, when Peg asked her for advice about how men cover their tracks when they're with Kelly. The only the difference is that she's not not wearing a cross necklace in this episode.
- Starting with this episode, Marcy has a shorter, somewhat curly haircut that she would keep for the rest of the season.
Cultural References[]
- Kelly mentions that Myron's family took a tour of the Ticonderoga Pencil factory and that the no. 2 pencil is the backbone of the industry.
- Ticonderoga is a real brand of pencils with its yellow-green no.2 pencils being commonly associated with school classrooms.
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Polk High School Hallway / Lockers
Goofs[]
- There are some mistakes regarding student exchange:
- Foreign exchange students do not provide the money (especially cash) directly to the host. It would come from the exchange program in the form of a mailed in check.
- Even if the Bundys were not able to pick her up from the airport, the exchange program coordinator would have made some sort of transportation arrangement for Yvette to get to the Bundy residence from the airport.
- The Bundy's house would have been inspected by the exchange program beforehand and they definitely would not have been allowed to host a student with the garage and a cot serving as her bedroom.
- After the rest of the family took Kelly's dinner while she complained about being washed up, the fries on her plate keep changing. After her family cleans her plate, there are some fries left on her plate. Then when she calls Yvette a "French Poodle", her plate is almost empty with a few fries on the table. After she asks Peggy for advice, the fries are back on her plate. After she becomes depressed and Bud suggests some options for her future, the fries are off of her plate again. Finally, they are on her plate again when Al tells her to open the door for Steve and Marcy.
- When Steve and Marcy enter and Peggy tucks the bread loaf under her arm, it changes positions in different shots. When she first tucks it under her arm, the bottom side of the loaf is facing the camera until she sits down. Then, when Steve and Marcy start talking about seeing Yvette and offer the number of a divorce attorney, the top of the loaf is now visible. Finally, after Peggy reveals that she knows about Yvette, the loafs bottom side is visible to the camera again and additionally, her plate of food now has a larger amount of food than when she first got up from the dinner table.
- A silver boom mic is visible for a brief moment in the wide shot of Kelly getting up after sarcastically telling Yvette that she has her eye on the big fat tuba player.
- As Kelly heads up the stairs and Yvette pleads with her to help her with school, the moving shadow of someone (likely Ed O'Neill and Katey Sagal) can be seen on the wall at the top of the stairs.
External Links[]
Fair Exchange at the Internet Movie Database- Fair Exchange on Bundyology
- Fair Exchange - Final Draft Script on albundy.net
- Fair Exchange - Transcript on albundy.net
- #64 Fair Exchange - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
