Married With Children: Adventures Of The Bundy Family
If you looked at brief descriptions of the characters of Married With Children (or MWC as it's known), you might never watch the show! That would be a shame as it's one of the sharpest, funniest sitcoms ever made. A downtrodden shoe salesman married to a couch potato, a trollop of a daughter, a son who defies classification, a neighbour who appears so straight and boring it makes your teeth ache ...
But of course, there's way more to it than that. Al Bundy may sell cheap shoes by day but he has his memories (well, a few of them) to sustain him. Peggy Bundy may lie all day on the couch watching Oprah and eating chocolates but she survives and she thrives - as far as Al's pitiful paycheck allows. Kelly (the lovely Christina Applegate) may be the dyed-blonde daughter that most of us would tremble to have but she's making her own way in the world, even if her ambition is to be Third Slut in a Bon Jovi video. Bud, youngest of the family, well he's just weird.
Still sounding like a bad soap? Well, it's one of the cleverest and funniest programmes around. Sharp scripts, at times bordering on the surreal, great acting, all make this a series that lasted for a very long time and garnered a huge and eager audience. It's a comedy about surviving without advantages but you know that the Bundy family will win in the end. Christmas dinner might be a few jellybeans found on the floor but they'll find a way to win. And they'll do it with lines that'll have you in hysterics.
Kid: I wanna sit on your lap.
Al: [Dressed as Santa] All right but make it quick. Santa has hemorrhoids.
Peggy: Who could that be?
Al: Oh, Great. With my luck, probably an elf with a knife in his back
Is this suitable for the kids? No, they wouldn't get a lot of the jokes. There are hooter and fart gags so the vicar might not like it - but anyone who's ever had a dream crushed by life will giggle along.
Peggy: You got a night job?
Al: I've already got one of those. It's called 'Getting in Bed with You.
Peggy: Well, then. You've been missing work.