A Taxing Problem is the 14th episode of Married... with Children (Season 4), also the 71st overall episodes of the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen, it is written by Paul Diamond, series creators Michael G. Moye & Ron Leavitt. The episodes both originally aired on FOX on January 14, 1990.
Synopsis[]
Al is faced with an IRS audit because of Peg. He decides to find money quick to pay of his taxes by selling Peg's hair for $5,000.
Episode summary[]
Faced with an IRS audit following some "creative accounting" done by Peg (who claimed that she could get more money for 23 kids if claiming 2 children as dependents got them $200), Al plots to sell Peggy's hair to a desperate woman in order to pay the owed tax money. However, Peg is not looking to give away her red hair anytime soon.
Recurring cast/Guest stars[]
- Regulars
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy Rhoades
- David Garrison as Steve Rhoades
- Buck the dog as Buck Bundy
Guest starring[]
- Paul Coutos as Leo Privett (as Paul Coufos)
- Coleen Maloney as Marie Privett
- A.J. Freeman as Mailman
Quotes[]
- [Peg calls out to Bud as he comes down the stairs]
- Peg: Bud, Honey, you'll never guess what your father just sold for $5,000. [Al comes up behind Peg and starts combing her hair]
- Bud: Sure I would. He sold your hair.
- Peg: [chuckles] No, silly. The lawn furniture. Right, Al?
- Al: [continues brushing Peg's hair] Hehe... Well, we'll just discuss that when you wake up in the morning.
- Peg: [panics and starts to backs up] Oh no!
- Al: [advances forward with a devilish grin] Oh yes. Oh... [suddenly doubles over with a troubled look on his face] Oh no!
- [Bud quickly gets Al a newspaper and Al hurries to the bathroom in the garage]
- [Steve stops by the Bundy residence as Al begins packing his suitcase for prison]
- Steve: [dejected] Hi, Al. Whatcha doing?
- Al: I'm headed for prison.
- Steve: [moping] Oh. Well, I got a problem. [walks past Al and sits on the couch] You're probably wondering why I'm not at work.
- Al: I'm looking at 20 years, Steve!
- Steve: Uh-huh. I'll bet you think I was fired. But I wasn't. I quit. I tell you, you wouldn't believe the politics that goes on backstage at a pet shop.
- Al: [grimacing] They're putting me in with killers, Steve!
- Steve: I mean, there I am, putting down fresh paper under the Macaw - which liked me, by the way, and don't think that wasn't noticed - when Zeke decides to make a power play. He wants Birds. Suddenly Fish isn't good enough for him. So he breaks bread with the owner; next thing I know, he's got his hands on my bird, and I'm up to my patootie in Guppy poo.
- Al: [sits next to Steve] Steve, tell you what. What say I make you a nice license plate that says "I'm A Bore"? Would that make you feel better, buddy?
- Steve: No it wouldn't, Al. You know what would make me feel better? To be the outdoorsman I was born to be. Al, I wanna be a Rodeo clown. [Al slowly nods] Y'know, something with the land. Thing is, how do I tell Marcy?
- Al: Well, now, see, that is a thorny one, Steve. Uh, what say I give that some thought while I'm making my marriage vows in a prison chapel to a guy named "Rock".
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is what Producer Ron Leavitt answered when writer Paul Diamond asked "What should I call it" after pitching and selling the episode on their shared front lawn. Nothing to do with A Taxing Woman, which is a very good film.
Trivia[]
- Although he still appears in the next episode, this was in fact the last regular episode that David Garrison shot before his departure from the series.
- Steve tells Al that he quit his pet store job claiming that he wants to move to be a rodeo clown, then gets slightly more serious by saying he should live the rest of his life in Yosemite, California. In "You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em (Part 1)", it is confirmed by Marcy that he left her and will be working as a forest ranger in Yosemite, California.
- This was the last MWC episode filmed in the 1980s.
- Kelly makes a reference to an aluminum foil wrapped package in the refrigerator later identified as "Peggy's Mystery Pack" in "My Dinner with Anthrax".
- At the beginning of the episode, Kelly is taxed with solving an algebra problem where a farmer has 50 potatoes and 6 children, and he wishes to divide half of them among one third of the children, and the rest among the others.
- Kelly doesn't realize that the problem is a trick question (25 potatoes can't be divided among 2 children evenly, and even if divided unevenly, there is no way to determine how many each of the remaining children would get).
- Marcy reveals that she had to pay $5 to her male cousin to take her to prom and promise to not tell anyone. But he told them, making her the laughing stock of the school. She had to take the bus home while he made out with a woman named Roberta
Cultural References[]
- When Al asks Peg why she wouldn't be going to jail with him, she says that she didn't sign the tax return and points out "This is what they sent Capone away for!". This is in reference to Chicago gangster Al Capone who went to prison for tax evasion.
- As Steve leaves the Bundy residence, he tells Al that if he sees James Brown in prison, to tell him that "...there is one white dude out there who thinks he got a raw deal". This is a reference to the singer, who at the time this episode was filmed was serving a six year prison sentence for a string of crimes that he was convicted of in 1988. He was eventually released on parole in 1991.
- As Al is about to leave, he asks his family, "Not even a 'Shane! Shane! Come Back!'?", in reference to the 1953 western film Shane
- Al previously mentioned that he missed watching Shane on television because of Peggy's family in season 2's "All in the Family".
- Shane was also mentioned in season 1's "Have You Driven a Ford Lately?".
- As Al prepares to leave, he tells the kids to let him know who wins the Bud Bowl, referring to the stop motion advertisement by Anheuser-Busch, using anthropomorphized Budweiser and Bud Light beer bottles playing a game of football. The ads typically ran during Super Bowl, which in 1990, took place about two weeks after this episode premiered.
- The event served as the inspiration for the MWC episodes, "Dud Bowl" and "Dud Bowl II".
- The 1990 Bud Bowl, titled "Bud Bowl II", was hosted by Terry Bradshaw who later appeared on MWC in "Dud Bowl II" and Brett Musburger, whom Al mentions during his speech in "I Want My Psycho Dad: Second Blood (Part 2)".
- When Peg asks Bud to shave his head to save her hair, he sarcastically jokes that he'll be the only bald 15 year old lady killer with no money named "Yul Bundy", alluding to the actor Yul Brynner.
Music[]
- Al hums "Wiegenlied (Brahms’s Lullaby)" by Johannes Brahms after telling Peg that he can wait for her to fall asleep.
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
Goofs[]
- Marcy states that women never lose hair. Women in fact do experience hair loss, though typically not to the severity of men. It is estimated that 25% of women do experience female pattern hair loss by the age of 50.
External Links[]
A Taxing Problem at the Internet Movie Database- A Taxing Problem on Bundyology
- A Taxing Problem - Transcript on albundy.net
- #72 A Taxing Problem - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
