Al Bundy, Shoe Dick is the 11th episode of Season 6 of Married... with Children, also the 116th overall episode in the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen, and written by Larry Jacobson, the episode premiered on the FOX network, airing on November 24, 1991.
Synopsis[]
With no money to pay the electric bill, Al is forced to take a second job as a nighttime janitor for a private investigator. When an attractive woman comes in looking the detective, Al decides to pretend that he is an assistant detective and takes her case. Upon arriving at the estate and meeting the woman's family, things suddenly go bad for Al when he is accused of killing the attractive woman's uncle and stealing the family's diamond.
Al soon finds himself on the run from the law, before deciding to head back to the scene of the crime and find the real culprit. But things not may appear as they seem to be.
Plot[]
As Peg and Al lay in bed, she decides to wake him up, accusing him of turning down a job from Lee Iacocca, (the then-CEO of Chrysler-Dodge motor corporation). She then suggest that he should get a second job noting how modern families are now a two-income household. But Al quickly points out that it means both spouses are working and then suggests that he would kill himself if he has to take on another job. Peg suggest that he should do it for the kids, but after seeing Bud and Kelly, he still refuses, until the power suddenly goes out after Peg forgot to pay the bill.
Sometime later, Al, dressed in a suit and tie, arrives at the office of private investigator, Jack Dallas, revealing that he is there for a job. After Al reassures the detective that he can handle the job, as he played high school football, the detective gets up and looks him over. He confirms that Al has the job by handing him the mop and telling him where the bathroom is, before heading out the night. Al begins to marvel at the life of a private investigator and the dangers that come with it, before realizing that he is now working as a janitor and breaks down.
As Al continues to sob on the desk, an attractive femme fatale named Vanessa Van Pelt walks in, looking for the detective. Suddenly renewed with hope after seeing the attractive women in front of him, Al decides to tell her that he is Jack Dallas' new partner and asks to hear about her case. The young temptress explains that her uncle, an explorer named Colonel Franklin Van Pelt, is about to bequeath a priceless diamond, known as "The Pharaoh's Eye" to one of her family members. She is confident that she will be the one to receive the diamond, but fears that her family members may interfere with her expected bequest and needs Al to protect her.
On a rainy night at the Van Pelt mansion, Al stands by and observes as the family eats dinner, with the diamond serving as a table centerpiece, and await the announcement from their beloved uncle. Though it is apparent that the Colonel does not trust of any of them. Vanessa excuses herself to get her coat from her car, while Al observes the other Van Pelts and introduces himself to the Colonel. Just before the Colonel finally reveals who will inherit the diamond, the lights suddenly go out, turning the room pitch black. After they come back on, the Colonel is found dead on the table with several knife wounds in his back. Al tries to calm down the family members, but suddenly notices that there is a knife in his hand, while one of the family members points out that the diamond is missing and accuses Al of taking it. Al, now in a state of panic flees the mansion.
Sometime later, Al arrives back at the Bundy Residence and tells the kids about what's going on. Bud is more concerned about getting his allowance in advance in case Al goes to prison. Kelly tries to help him with something she saw on television, which is to dig a hole from Chicago to China. Just then, their neighbor, Marcy, arrives and informs him that there is a $50,000 bounty on him. She then tries to trick Al into getting himself arrested as the police arrive on their street, but he quickly escapes and soon finds himself wandering the streets of Chicago.
Realizing that he needs to clear his name, he manages to convince the remaining Van Pelt family to get together and let him solve the case. With no real knowledge on crime solving or evidence to back him up, Al begins to accuse each member of being the killer. Though, each member seems to have a solid alibi. As Vanessa stands up and tells Al that she wants to believe him, he suddenly notices her shoes and begins to question her. He is soon able to deduct that she was in fact the murderer and used the excuse to get a coat to instead stay inside, turn off the lights, stab her uncle and then return and pretend as if she did not know what happened. To further prove his point, he tells them that her particular pair of heels are so notoriously cheap and of poor quality, they would have fallen apart the moment she would stepped into the rain, before throwing them into the nearby fish tank and watching them break apart in mere seconds.
As Vanessa finally confesses to the murder, the police arrive and take her away. Just then, a man named Sandy, who is a curator at the local museum thanks Al for his help with reclaiming the diamond and gives him a check for $50,000. As Al is thanked by the rest of the family and brags about the money, Peg wakes him up, revealing that the entire scenario with him working as a detective and the Van Pelts was just a dream. Al proceeds to search the room for the check and then calls out to Bud and Kelly to verify if him being a detective was a dream as well as Bud calling himself a street rapper named "Grandmaster B".
While Peg decides to go downstairs to get some aspirin, he then asks the kids if it was also true that Peg and Marcy were pregnant, causing the kids to give him a disgusted look (revealing that all of the previous episodes from Season 6 were just part of Al's dream) Peg returns and decides to kiss him, pointing out that despite getting $50,000 in his dream, he was still willing to come home to her, which shows how much he loves her. After reluctantly agreeing that he does love her in his own way, the two gleefully look at each other and decide to celebrate by ordering some pizza.
Recurring cast/Guest stars[]
- Cast Regulars
Guest starring[]
- Traci Lords as Vanessa Van Pelt
- David Sederholm as Bruce Van Pelt
- Anthony James as Adolph Van Pelt
- Nicole Chamberlain as Tonya Van Pelt
- Frank Lloyd as Leonard Van Pelt
- David Wells as Sandy (museum curator)
- Ron Leavitt as Jack Dallas
- John Randolph as Colonel Van Pelt
Quotes[]
- Peg: Why don't you get a second job? You know, lots of families are two-income families.
- Al: Uh, you see, Peg, two incomes means that two people, you know, in the same family work!
- Peg: Well I don't have two husbands in this family. Oh, come on, Al, it would just mean you have to work eight hours more a day. I mean you waste more time than that sleeping.
- Al: [stares at Peg in frustration] Peg, see my face [points to his face]. This is the face of a man who sells shoes all day long! Now, look at my face the way that it would look if I had another job [moves his pointing finger up to the side of his head and pretends it is a gun to kill himself]
- Peg: Well, I can live with that [Al immediately drops his arms in disbelief] Oh, come on honey! If you won't do it for me, just think of Kelly and Bud! Aren't they worth another eight hours?!
- Al: Kids!
- [Bud and Kelly come into their parents bedroom, with Bud wearing a nightcap and a "First In Line for Lovin'" t-shirt while Kelly has a "Property of Chicago Jail" t-shirt]
- Al: The defense rest... [turns to the kids, coldly] Get out!
- [Al is hiding out at the Bundy residence and talking to the kids after being accused of killing Colonel Van Pelt and stealing the Pharaoh's Eye.]
- Bud: So let me get this straight: Now you went for a job as a janitor, you took a case as a private detective and now you're wanted for murder?
- Al: ...Essentially.
- Bud: [puts his hand on Al's back] ...Well then, can I have my allowance now? [Bud and Kelly put their hands out for money]
- Al: I'm wanted for murder, you dolts! Any second now, the cops are going to track me down and send me to the hoosegow. I could use a little help!
- Kelly: I have a plan, Daddy.
- Al: [defeated] It would be you, Pumpkin.
- Kelly: Now Daddy, the cops are probably watching the airports and the train stations and the bus stations, right? [looks around the room] Well, there is one way out. [Al leans in] You could dig a hole to China. I saw Bugs Bunny do it once. Daffy never found him.
- Al: Pumpkin, if Daddy gets the chair, would you sit in his lap one last time?
- Kelly: [smiles proudly] I'd be honored. [leans over and sticks her tongue out at Bud]
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to Al Bundy playing a private investigator and nicknames commonly associated with private investigators ("Dick" and "Gumshoe").
Trivia[]
- Ted McGinley does not appear in this episode.
- This episode marks the return of Katey Sagal after taking about a month off from work due to experiencing a miscarriage.
- At the end of this episode, it is revealed that all major events from the beginning of season 6, such as Peg and Marcy's pregnancies, Kelly's talk show, and Bud's alternate persona, Grandmaster B, were all just part of Al's dream.
- Traci Lords, who played Vanessa Van Pelt, previously appeared on the show in season 4's "Tooth or Consequences" as T.C. and in the previous episode as the blonde in The Homeless Detective poster at NBS studios.
- The poster also features MWC co-creator Ron Leavitt, who also plays Jack Dallas in this episode, as The Homeless Detective.
- David Sederholm, who played Bruce Van Pelt, would later appear on the show again in season 10's "Love Conquers Al" as Philip.
- Frank Lloyd, who usually plays Al's friend Norris, plays Leonard Van Pelt in this episode.
- Ed O'Neill had previously played a detective during the 1980s in films such as Cruising, Farrel for the People and Popeye Doyle. He would also play a detective after MWC had ended, in shows and films such as Big Apple, L.A. Dragnet and The Bone Collector.
- This is the second episode to air in 1991 where Al has a second side job (even though it was a dream). The first one was "All Night Security Dude", which kind of bookends with this episode. "All Night Security Dude" originally aired on February 24, 1991, while this episode originally aired on November 24 of that year.
- It is also the second episode in 1991 where Al is shown out at night in the city looking for a bathroom. The first one was "A Man's Castle" from the previous season.
- This episode was aired on the same day that the British rock band Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury passed away at age 45 from AIDS, and the KISS drummer Eric Carr also passed away at age 41 from a brain hemorrhage traced to an aneurysm related to his heart cancer.
Cultural Reference[]
- Peggy says that she had a dream that Lee Iacocca came into Gary's Shoes & Accessories for Today's Woman to offer Al a job, but he declined.
- Iacocca, at the time, was the CEO of Chrysler Corporation, the maker of Dodge cars and responsible for reviving the brand during the 1980s.
- When Jack Dallas' door opens, you can see the office across from the detective agency is the Acme Rocket Company, a reference to the Acme Corporation, a fictional store in the Looney Tunes Road Runner cartoons that sells outlandish products that end up backfiring on Wile E Coyote.
- When Peg is talking to Al about getting another job, he grabs a book from the nightstand titled Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying, which is an actual book published in 1991.
- Another man is seen reading the book while standing in line at the movie theater in season 10's "The Weaker Sex".
- The Van Pelt family's surname may be a reference to the Peanuts comic strip characters Lucy and Linus Van Pelt.
- During Al's monologue as Vanessa talks to him, he mentions the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland.
- While observing the family, Al says that the uncle "was as tight as the skin on Joan Rivers' face".
- Joan Rivers was a comedian, actress and television host, who was known for her self-deprecating humor and multiple plastic surgery procedures.
- Al refers to the uncle as "Colonel Van Sanders", mixing his name up with Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of the fast food chain KFC.
- The plot device used to retcon several of Season 6’s events as part of Al’s dream borrows from "Blast From the Past", the ninth season finale of the 1978–91 CBS drama series Dallas, which ended with the return of Bobby Ewing and the revelation that his death (which occurred during the Season 8 finale) and all the events that took place thereafter occurred in wife Pamela Barnes Ewing's dream, and thus did not happen canonically.
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Office complex
- Van Pelt Residence
- Chicago
Sets[]
- Al & Peggy's Bedroom
- Jack Dallas's office
- Van Pelt Dining Room
- Van Pelt Living Room
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Downtown Chicago skyline
Goofs[]
- When Al drops Vanessa Van Pelt's dress shoe into a fish tank to show how it would fall apart when wet, the shoe sinks to the bottom of the tank. In the next shot, a close up of Al (wearing a suit jacket) reaches into the tank to retrieve the shoe, but when he pulls it out, neither his hand nor jacket are wet.
- When Al turns off the lights to see if Tonya Van Pelt is the culprit, you can see her arms move up to her chest before she starts to scream, as she is sitting next to the fireplace and not fully hidden in the dark like the other actors.
- It is not clear how the curator would be able to walk right in during the arrest when it would be an active crime scene, having already known Al's name and that he had solved the crime (as the police had just arrive less than a minute before the curator), or given him a personalized check on the spot when the Pharaoh's Eye would likely be taken in as evidence.
External Links[]
Al Bundy, Shoe Dick at the Internet Movie Database- Al Bundy, Shoe Dick on Bundyology
- Al Bundy, Shoe Dick - Transcript on Springfield! Springfield!
- #116 Al Bundy, Shoe Dick - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
