Build a Better Mousetrap is the fifteenth episode of Season 2 of the FOX sitcom Married... with Children, as well as the 28th overall episode in the series. Written by Michael G. Moye, Ron Leavitt and J. Stanford Parker, the episode was directed by Linda Day and premiered on FOX on January 24, 1988.
Synopsis[]
A mouse is running loose in the Bundy house, prompting Peg to face her childhood fear of mice and Al to wreck the house in his attempt to catch the pest.
Plot[]
To be added.
Cast[]
Regular 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 Rhoades
- David Garrison as Steve Rhoades
- Buck the dog as Buck Bundy (uncredited)
Guest Stars[]
- Patrick Thomas O'Brien as Wally (as Patrick T. O'Brien)
Quotes[]
- Bud: Did you hear any noises last night, Kel?
- [Kelly shakes her head for "no"]
- Bud: I mean, for a while I thought they were coming from your room, but they weren't the usual noises. You know, the whispers, "Quiet. You'll wake up my parents." Then the muffled sound of eight footsteps heading for the window. Then the sound of loose change hitting the pillow.
- Kelly: You know, Bud, with your good looks I think that you should be a model. I mean, I could see it now, your face on a poster with the caption: "My daddy didn't use a condom."
- [Al comes up from the basement, holding his bowling shoes, after believing the mouse was killed by the mousetrap]
- Peggy: Is he down there? Did you get him? What happened, Al?
- Al: He doodied on the trap... and in my bowling shoes. [lifts the tongue of his left bowling shoe to show Peg what the mouse left behind]
- Peggy: Oh, my god! He was in your shoes and he lived?! This is no ordinary mouse.
- Kelly: Can we call the exterminator now?
- Al: No, no, it's personal now. [begins walking to the kitchen while contemplating his next plan] Not only will I kill this mouse, I'll torture it. I'll smack him around. I'll throw it against the wall. And if there's one spark of life left in its twitching little body, I'll strap it to a chair, tape its eyelids open and make it watch Thirtysomething. [turns around to face his family] No one doodies in Al Bundy's shoes and lives!
- [Al and Peg are in their bedroom, with Al believing the one remaining trap he set will finally work]
- Al: Wait a sec, Peg! I hear something!
- [the sound of the trap is heard, followed by the sound of Buck yelping in pain. Al then grimaces after realizing what just happened]
- Al: YOU STUPID DOG!
- Peg: Al, honey, listen, you tried! You did your best, but you're just not smart enough! [Al lowers his head in shame] Now please, call an exterminator! [leans in and talks sweetly to him] No one has to know. You know, we can tell everybody that you caught it. How would that be?
- Al: [disappointed] Well...
- [the sound of rapid chewing is heard offscreen]
- Al: What is that?
- Peg: [frustrated] He's chewing, Al! He's always chewing! Now, what do you say?!
- [the lights in the house suddenly go off]
- Bud: [offscreen] Dad! Dad, the mouse chewed through the wires!
- Al: What do I say, Peg?! [clenches his fists] I say stand back, 'cause I'm kicking some mouse ass!
Notes[]
Title[]
- The episode title is influenced by the inventor's saying "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door".
Trivia[]
- Bud reads a book called "Know Your Mouse" by Mike Semon. Michael Semon was the prop master of Sony Studios, where Married... with Children was filmed.
- Steve mentions how he finds it irritating when he is out driving with Marcy and she wants to ask for directions. In The Camping Show Marcy tells Peggy how she hates it when he refuses to ask for directions.
- Patrick Thomas O'Brian, who plays Wally, would later appear on MWC again as Bob Thompson, the owner of the Happy Soles Shoe Factory in Season 11's "Children of the Corns".
- Al mentions that he might have killed Bud's goldfish after setting off some smoke traps in the upper floor. In the Season 3 episode, "Married... with Queen (Part 1)", it was mentioned that he did have a goldfish named Freddy that they kept in the freezer.
Cultural References[]
- During Al's plan on how to torture the mouse after defecating in his shoes, he says "And if there's one spark of life left in its twitching little body, I'll strap it to a chair, tape its eyelids open and make it watch 'Thirtysomething'!".
- Thirtysomething was an ABC television drama series that aired from 1987 to 1991. It was about the lives of several Baby boomers, who are now in their 30s, as they deal with marriage, parenthood and careers during the 1980s.
- Peggy mentions Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, a duo of cartoon characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. In each episode, the Coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, a fast-running ground bird, but is never successful. Peggy also mentions a running gag which involves the Coyote falling from a high cliff and the Road Runner's signature sound "Beep, Beep".
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room/Kitchen
- Al & Peggy's Bedroom
Goofs[]
- Al sees the mouse in the hole in the wall. When he smacks at it with a hammer, he "hits" himself but it is obvious that he deliberately misses his hand. Also the sound when he hits is that of him hitting the wall and not flesh.
- Al smacks his left thumb with a hammer trying to hit the mouse but in the next scene Peg is bandaging his right thumb.
- When the mouse is heard chewing through the wires while Al and Peg are in their bedroom, Peg's right hand is on Al's shoulder as she is leaning against him and his left arm is extended behind him, pressing on the pillow as if he's reclining back. Then, when the camera does a wide show as the lights suddenly go out, both of Al's arms are tucked in, as if he was bracing for something and Peg's right hand is laying on the bed,
- Wally mentions that he was able to catch the mouse as it was "..trapped on a piece of wood in the rising water down there", yet his clothes are completely dry
External Links[]
Build a Better Mousetrap at the Internet Movie Database- Build a Better Mousetrap on Bundyology
- Build a Better Mousetrap - Transcript on albundy.net
- #28 Build a Better Mousetrap - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
