Steve > Jefferson, but Steve not as great on MWC as he was on It's Your Move.

Steve was monster great compared to Jefferson IMO.

Steve's good, but Jefferson is much better. I think those that doubt need to watch along.

Season 1, Episode 2: Thinnergy

synposis: Peggy is feeling like Al doesn't find her attractive any more, so Marcy lends her a diet book called 'Thinnergy', which is meant to make you more energetic. Al doesn't want to go on it, but is talked into it by Steve, who says it'll easier to come off of it together. Peg and Al get VERY snippy once they're both eating like rabbits. Peg and Al make up at the end when Al stuffs a cream cake in her mouth and the diet is off.

I'd rate this one: 5/10


This is a very early one obviously, and it's pretty good at building the Bundy dynamic, but it's not particularly funny compared to many other episodes. Here, the show is still about the squabbling between Al and Peg as the main topic, rather being the magnificent canvas against which other stories take place. It was okay, but not outstanding, and Peg still doesn't look like the final Peg. Still more a brunette than a red, and no beehive thing she went on to get. The picture Katy posted earlier in this thread of Al and Peg at a table is from this episode.

Luke Ventura, Al's sidekick in the shoeshop is in this episode (he's in the pilot too), and he's my second least favourite semi-regular character in the entire 11-season run (can anyone guess the least favourite?). I never felt he really fitted properly into the Bundy universe, and really wasn't that great, funny or sympathetic.

Al gave a quite cool and sweet closing speech about what Peg means to him, equating her to his old baseball glove that he never uses. And like the pilot, the end the episode with them about to get it on.


Episode First: Peg singing specific songs, Peg in a nightdress, and it's clearly stated for the first time that Marcy hates Al.

And some dialogue:
Al: Oh honey, that again. Come here a second will ya, let me tell you something. Now just 'cause I don't go to bed with you, doesn't mean I don't love ya. I mean, let's face it, even if you were beautiful - like that girl on TV.. I'd still ignore ya. 'Cause you're my wife.

So...where do I find the porn version?

Agree.

And jumping the gun a little, one of my favorite Jefferson episodes is the one where people think they've seen him on TV before. He denies it but at one point says to Al "Yes Fonzie I mean Captain I mean Al"

Steve and Al worked because Steve was rthe sensible grownup who tried to show Al the error of his ways, and sometimes fell under Al's influence or got suckered by Al.


Jefferson and Al was kind of like a 6 year old being managed by an eight year old. His ageing lothario antics and quest to leech off of Marcy were priceless.

When does Al first call Marcy a scrawny (?) chicken?

Er, no need. I've seen years worth of this stuff. We just have differing opinions.

I think Steve is a much stronger character AND better actor. I could see Jefferson coming a mile away and his role was basically simply that of a clown. Steve always had a little something extra in reserve to pop out at you, and was more likely to have his own story going on rather than punctuate someone else's.

I think you like the broader (and to me flabbier) aspects of MWC more than I do. The No Ma'am, stuff, for instance, which was played extremely broadly even with the world of a sitcom. People were fairly flapping their arms.

I'm more into the library speech, the three hour talk, and Al's resigned, ironic misery.

Can we get a running count on Kelly's boyfriends beaten up by Al?

Yeah, how about first time Al run's one of Kelly's admirers into a wall or door?

I used to watch this show when I was a youngin' in grade school. I was allowed to watch one episode per night with my father before I went to bed. Needless to say, I thought it was fantastic.

Spending time with my dad watching a show that I was probably a bit too young to be watching was something I looked forward to daily. It brings back good memories.

My favorite show of the 80s, with Seinfeld and Lost highlighting subsequent decades.

I think I've seen every episode too since I had no life as a kid and pretty much watched every rerun of the show from elementary school through college.

Favorite episode is where Bubba Smith and Al duke it out in the Polk High gym. The pacing and joke setups were perfect. Favorite moment was when Al shows Bubba pictures of his mother in law to get that extra inch.

Favorite cameo: Petra Verkaik.

I bought the DVDs of this for my parents. There's something special about a family that watches M:WC together.

I have seasons 1+2 on the way. I cannot wait to rewatch them. That is Al...errr all.

I found Thinergy on You Tube and watched it last night. Thought it was very good. It's been a long time since I watched this show!


- Is that really Christina Applegate or is it another actress? She looks nothing like CA if you ask me. She's totally different acting. Very sweet and smart.

(ok I just read that Kelly's character gets progressively more stupid)


- Peg is very much the way I remember her. Katey Sagal is a hoot. I love her attitude! She has some great lines. I'm going to see if I can find a transcript of this episode.

- Marcy, omg. where did they find this actress. Men hate women like her.

- Steve is much more normal than Jefferson and a great addition to the show (though I prefer Jefferson. Jefferson is sooo lazy, lol). I read on wiki that Steve feels superior to the Bundy family but as time progresses he finds himself becoming more like them and turns to Al for male bonding. I never realized that Steve reappears later in the series.


- Al, omg. I think I am living with that guy . That scene where she is singing and he is clipping his toenails, hehehe. Why must men be so crude. Honest to god I think I am living with someone who grew up with Al as his role model (feel sorry for me people)


P: Oh Al. This is not what I wanted. You ruined everything.
A: What do you mean "ruined everything?" Our lives are already ruined.


A: Remember that baseball glove my dad gave me when I was a little kid? I loved that glove. Yeah it's old and the web's lose. But it's special to me. That's how I feel about you Peg.

I watched this show from the beginning...My wife and I were were Peggy and Al for Halloween one year (I wore a "Shoot Me, I'm Married" T-Shirt), wifey does a great Peg... MWC is one of only two non-sports shows to be shown on a regular basis in my bar (The Man Show is the other)...Steve > Jefferson...Kelly > chick on rip off show with the talking rabbit...I definitely enjoyed the earlier shows...if I had to guess I would say Diebitter's least favorite character was Seven...did ANYBODY like Seven?...Love this thread.

Bingo! Seven is by far my least favourite character.

Actually there's only 2 'regulars' I disliked - Seven and Luke Ventura.

Never even heard of the last guy there. I stopped watching a few years before the end.

Didn't like Seven either. I also didn't like the character played by the Joey guy from Friends and the guy who played his father on MWC. Who were they on the show and why were they on?

oh yeah....they were on the show as an introduction to a short-lived TV show starring Matt LeBlanc before Friends....i remember them now.

oh, I thought they were okay. They somehow had Al's TV was the very tenuous link. I think they were in season 2 or 3. They were only in 1 episode, IIRR. I think they were called Verducci or something like that. We'll get to is eventually

Season 1, Episode 3: 16 years, and what do you get?



Here, the Bundys have hit their 16th anniversary, and Al decides to get Peg a really nice watch, which she hears about. So Al won't beat her in the 'good present' race, she goes nuts with catering, a violinist, and gifts for him. Meanwhile, he fails to get the watch because his credit card is rejected, so has to turn up at the surprise Anniversary party giftless, and being made to feel a louse...



Rating: 7/10

Well, this is pretty good, giving some more insights into long-term marriage, and Peg now looks right. The clothes are right, the makeup is right, and the hair, while still brunette rather than red, is correct. There's some great lines here, and explanations of how you change during marriage.

In addition, there's a violinist in this one (who turns out to have been to the Bundy house before as Bozo the Clown), who reappears - I think as a different character - in a later season in the episode where Santa is supposed to parachute into a mall but actually crashes to his death in the Bundy back yard. In that, he's a cop.


Another thing to note is that this was actually broadcast 6th in the initial TV broadcasts, rather than 3rd, and it's often shown in that order when on TV. Also, we see Peg's car, which I don't think is ever mentioned again. Also, we find out Peg hates Luke Ventura (I don't blame her).



1st: We find out that Peg and Al's Song is 'War', by Edwin Starr.

Some dialogue:


(watching Caterer put frosting on cake)
Bud: Man, I wish I could make stuff like that.
Caterer: Maybe you can, would you to be a Chef?
Bud: Nah, I'd rather be a man.
-----------------------------------------------
Peg: Would you like me to make you some soup tomorrow for lunch?
Al: No thanks. Last time I cut my hand on the can.
-----------------------------------------------
Al: Oh God, the world is ugly in the morning.

argh! I watched the first 2/3 but can't seem to find the last part on You Tube. I don't know what happens in the end.


P: why don't we uh just forget about presents this year.
A: fine with me
P: I mean after all, anniversaries are about being together.
A: yeah you're right. I'll come home tonight, how's that?


Does this sound familiar or what.

Isn't episode 3 the one about the dog? I have this one as #6. Well, I'll just watch ahead, maybe mine are out of order.