Birthday Boy Toy

Birthday Boy Toy was the 19th episode of Married... with Children, also the 254th overall series episode. Directed by and Gerry Cohen, the episode, which was co-written by Valerie Terry Maloney Morgenstern, premiered on FOX-TV, airing on March 31, 1997.

Synopsis

As Jefferson's worries about getting old Marcy forces him into taking a job, Al tries to cure Peggy's shopping addiction.

Storyline/Summary

Al cuts off Peggy from shopping by taking his credit card away from her, and also electrifying the phone so that she can't place any orders. Meanwhile, Jefferson, who is approaching his 40th birthday, is becoming very insecure about his looks and turns to Peggy for help. Peggy hooks him to shopping. When Marcy objects, he gets a job as exercise coach at a new health club that Peggy wins a free membership pass at. (Well, Marcy actually forces him to apply for the job which he does... as the new aerobics instructor, where all the girls begin to ogle him!) Marcy, becoming jealous at all the amorous female attention he's getting from others at the health club, forces him to resign. Meanwhile, Bud, who, along with Kelly, was enlisted by Gary, directs a commercial for Gary's Shoes with Kelly and Al, who appears as a shoe salesman, and forced Bud to hire him for the shoot! After a bad performance, Griff replaces Al and Al tries his best to sabotage the shoot!

Cast

Main cast

• Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy
• Katey Sagal as Peggy Bundy
• Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
• Christina Applegate as Kelly Bundy
• David Faustino as Bud Bundy
• Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy

Recurring cast/Guest stars

• Harold Sylvester as Griff
• Lucky as Lucky the Dog
• Sonya Eddy as Betty
• Stephanie Spruill as Gloria (as Stefani Spruill)
• Kevin Spirtas as Instructor
• Susan Isaacs as Ist Woman
• Michelle Mitchell as 2nd Woman (as Michelle Mitchel)

Scene exceprts

Quotes from scenes

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• Kelly: [Playing a shoe store customer] Excuse me, Sir, do you have any purple pumps?
• Al: ...Certainly we have purple pimps. At Gary's Shoes, we feet your treat.

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• Griff: Bud, did I ever tell you that I was Dorothy in my high school production of The Wiz?
• Bud: All male school?
• Griff: No.

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• Jefferson: How am I going to pay for this?
• Marcy: Three words.
• Jefferson: I love you?
• Marcy: Try again.
• Jefferson: Hop on Pop?
• Marcy: Get a job!
• (Peg and Jefferson both gape in horror)

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• Al: I hope one of these bills is for a coffin, because your shopping is killing me.

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• Peg: Al, don't make me stop shopping. You'll destroy my life!
• Al: Good, then we'll be even!

Notes

Title

• The title of this episode is a play on the terms "Birthday Boy" referring to a male (regardless of age) celebrating his birthday and "Boy Toy", which refers to a young man who is used by an older woman purely for sexual gratification,

Trivia

• It is revealed that Jefferson is turning 40 years old in this episode.
• Although Jefferson is portrayed to be several years younger than Marcy, in real life, their actors Amanda Bearse and Ted McGinley, are the same age.

Cultural References

• Peggy uses a "Don Knotts Hologram" to distract Kelly. Kelly then admires it as it alternates between an image of Mr. Furley and Barney Fife
  • Don Knotts was an actor and comedian whose most notable acting roles include the goofy landlord, Ralph Furley on Three's Company and as Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.
• Griff tells the kids that he played Dorothy in The Wiz, which is a retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz through contemporary African-American culture.
  • Later, Griff sings "Ease on Down The Road" from The Wiz as he prepares to be in the commercial that Bud and Kelly are filming.
• After Al complains about Peggy's shopping habits, she gives him a "Ginger / Mary Ann Hologram" to distract him like she did with Kelly.
  • Ginger and Mary Ann are references to the characters, Ginger Grant and Mary Ann Summers from the 1960s sitcom, Gilligan's Island.
    • Tina Louise, who played Ginger Grant, previously guested starred on MWC as Miss Beck.
• Al mentions the dine-in restaurant chain IHOP and their "Rooty Tooty Fresh-n-Fruity" breakfast meals.
  • Cliff Bemis, who played Al's father a few episodes earlier, also played the spokesman for IHOP in their commercials around the time this episode originally aired.
• Jefferson mentions that one the sexual games that he and Marcy play in is "Hop on Pop" which is the name of a children's book by Dr. Seuss.
• At one point Peggy tries to buy a locket with the chest hair of British singer, Tom Jones.
  • As the announcer mentions that the locket has Jones' real chest hair, Peggy says "Well, if that's not unusual", alluding to one of his most popular songs, "It's Not Unusual".
• As Bud fires Al and belittles him, at one point, he tells his dad "You're 'Must Flee TV'!". This is in reference to NBC's advertising slogan for its Thursday night primetime programming, Must See TV. This included Friends as the lead-in show, as well as Christina Applegate's post-MWC sitcom, Jesse in the late 1990s.

Music

• Griff sings "Ease on Down The Road" from The Wiz as he puts on make up and prepares to replace Al in the commercial.

Locations

• Bundy Residence
• Gary's Shoes & Accessories for Today's Woman
• Rhoades/D'Arcy Residence
• Buff N' Tuff Gym

Sets

• Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
• Gary's Shoe Store Seating Area
• Marcy & Jefferson's Bedroom
• Buff N' Tuff Aerobics Area

Goofs

• Griff tells Bud that he was in his high school's production of The Wiz, but it didn't official debut on stage to the public until 1974. Also, his given birth year is 1949, making him about a year younger than Al and likely would have graduated in the late 1960s, several years before The Wiz debuted to the public.