Breaking Up Is Easy To Do (Part 1) is the 14th episode of season 11 of Married... with Children and the 252nd overall series episode. Directed by Mark K. Samuels and written by Matthew Berry & Eric Abrams, it premiered on FOX-TV on February 24, 1997.
Synopsis[]
After a game night with friends reveals just how little Al knows about Peggy, they end going to visit a marriage counselor for help. Instead, they wind up leaving separately.
Meanwhile, Kelly fights in the ring for a part in a boxing movie.
Plot Summary[]
The Bundys host a game night, inviting the D'Arcys along with Griff and his girlfriend, Nancy. The three couples play "Passion", a "Know Your Spouse" type of board game. Al plays poorly, showing that he knows nothing about his wife - not even her birthday. Even Griff and the girl he just met know more about each other. Al and Peggy get into an argument about the game, and when Al brings her an apology present, he proves that he doesn't know Peggy's dress size, either. Jefferson and Marcy convince them to go see a marriage counselor, which ends poorly, as they leave separately.
Meanwhile, Bud gets Kelly a new acting gig, in which she'll be playing a boxer. While going over her lines at the gym, she gets into a competition with Heather, her nemesis and fellow aspiring actress. They end up challenging each other to a boxing match with the loser bowing out for the part. After a lot of training with help from her brother/agent, Bud, Kelly beats Heather and is stoked to be the next face of Hollywood - revealing that her front teeth are missing after the fight.
Recurring Cast[]
Guest cast[]
- Lisa Robin Kelly as Heather Talrico
- Jake Johannsen as Dr. H. Longo
- Kellie Beals as Nancy
- Gerry del Sol as Referee
Quotes[]
- [Bud is helping Kelly prepare for her boxing match against Heather by holding up focus mitts as Kelly throws some weak punches]
- Bud: Come on, now. Come on....
- Kelly: [hitting the mitts with little power] Ugh...
- Bud: Come on, Bundy! That's all you got?! You hit like a girl!
- Kelly: [stops, annoyed] Yeah, well you pee like one!
- Bud: [embarrassed] That was a temporary medical condition.
- Peg: Al, we need to talk.
- Al: [lets out an exaggerated sigh] Ohhhhh!
- Peg: Honey, I wanna go to a marriage counsellor.
- Al: So go.
- Peg: AAAAALLLLLLL!
- Al: [annoyed] Awww, now....
- Peg: Why won't you go to therapy?!
- Al: Maybe it's you who don't know me. [gets up, slowly walks around to the back of the couch] Because if you knew me, Peg you'd know that there are certain things I do not do. I do not floss. I do not eat vegetables. I do not like French pastry. I do not like the French. I do not cry at movies. Except, of course...[pauses, becomes emotional for a moment], Old Yeller, because we know it was very sad. But most importantly, Peg I will never, EVER, under any circumstances go to a head shrinker.
- Peg: [annoyed] Tsk. But, Al....
- Al: YOU GO, PEG! There is no threat vicious enough, no torture terrible enough to ever make me change my mind.
- [Peg gets up and walks to the phone, with Al following right behind her and begins dialing.]
- Peg: Hello, Mom? Al's being mean to me again. Could you come stay for a few months?
- Al: [breaks down, drops to his knees and sobs] No, Peg. Peg, no, Peg. Peg, no, Peg. I'll go. I'll go.
Notes[]
Title[]
- The episode title is inspired by the song "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" by Neil Sedaka.
Trivia[]
- Parts 1 and 2 were originally shown as a one-hour episode.
- Peggy's birthday is given as April 12.
- The taping of this episode was delayed after an earlier, more serious draft of the script was deemed unsuitable. Earlier drafts of the script featured Al instigating the break-up after Peggy admits that she lied about being pregnant to make him commit to marrying her.
- "Breaking Up is Easy to Do" was initially planned as a two-part story.
- Lisa Robin Kelly, who plays Kelly's rival, Heather, previously appeared on MWC as Carol, one of Kelly's former schoolmates who asks her for advice in the season 7 episode, "Kelly Doesn't Live Here Anymore".
- A year after this episode aired, she would go on to star in another FOX sitcom, That '70s Show for its first five seasons.
- Coincidentally, after being fired from the show, she was replaced by actress Christina Moore, who had appeared on MWC a few episodes earlier in "Twisted" as the Gorgeous Woman.
- As revealed in the the Passion board game that the Bundys, D'Arcys and Griff with his date, Nancy play:
- Marcy's favorite song is "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone
- Nancy's ideal date would involve pepperoni pizza, a foot rub, and watching old kung fu films.
- Marcy's childhood dream was to be a princess
- Nancy's childhood dream was to be Mrs. J.J. Walker
- Peggy's childhood dream was to be a ballerina
- Peggy's birthday is April 12
- Al doesn't know Peggy's movie, birthday, or eye color
- Peggy reveals that Al and her first made love on a crate in the back of a Tastee-Freez
- If one looks closely behind Peggy when Al begs her stop calling her mom to stay with them, you can clearly see a picture frame with what appears to be a promo pictures of the cast from season 1.
Cultural References[]
- After Marcy brings over shrimp balls, Peggy is shown squeezing ketchup packets into a serving bowl. She then says that Peggy must having been taking lessons from Martha Stewart, a businesswoman and television personality, who is known for doing at home projects and cooking.
- When Griff arrives at the Bundy residence, he says "Hey, hey, hey!" in a tone similar to the cartoon character, Fat Albert Robertson from the animated series, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
- There are several references to the boxing film franchise, Rocky and the character, Rocky Balboa.
- During her rehearsal for the film, Kelly begins mimicking Balboa's accent
- The song, "Eye of the Tiger" that is featured in Rocky III, is played during Kelly's training montage and during her boxing match.
- Kelly training in the Bundy living room and consuming whole eggs in their shell in a glass parodies the training montage from the first Rocky film.
- During the match, Bud is hanging by the ring corner, dressed in a pink cardigan sweater, white turtleneck, and dark brown wool cap, similar to how Rocky's trainer, Mickey Goldmill did in the first Rocky movie.
- After Kelly expresses concern about where Lucky slept when Al said he slept in the doghouse, Bud calls her "Sugar Ray Tard" in reference to retired professional boxer, Sugar Ray Leonard.
- Sugar Ray Leonard previously appeared on MWC as himself in the season 6 episode, "Just Shoe It".
- After Peggy rejects Al's apology gift, he offers to take her to see The Great Escape at the Bijou.
- The Great Escape is a 1963 war film about a group of soldiers trying to escape from a Nazi prison camp.
- Bijou, in this case was a common name for movie theaters back when films first came out following the downfall of vaudeville entertainment. Its French name, meaning "Jewel", was meant to impress visitors as attending a movie was a more formal event with fancy interior designs.[1][2] Coincidentally, there was an actual Bijou Theater in Chicago that served as a gay adult theater/sex club.
- Peggy reveals that she and Al made love for the first time in the back of a Tastee-Freez, a fast-food restaurant specializing in soft serve ice cream.
- Although it was founded in Illinois, as of 2020, there are only 2 locations left in the entire state of Illinois and in other states, are mostly located inside the hot hog restaurant chain, Wienerschnitzel.
- Nancy mentions that she wanted to be "Mrs. Jimmy J.J. Walker", in reference to the actor Jimmy Walker who played Jimmy "J.J." Evans on the 1970s sitcom, Good Times. She also uses his catchphrase, "Dy-No-Mite!".
- Just before the match begins, Kelly takes a boxing stance with her fist upward and says " Float like a horsefly, sting like a flea! No one can touch me, I'm Kel-ly!", which is in reference to professional boxer Muhammad Ali and his famous quote, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". [3]
- During their bout, Kelly compares Heather's acting skills to actress, Brooke Shields.
- At the time this episode originally aired, the actress was starring on the NBC series, Suddenly Susan, which featured several previous MWC guest stars including Melissa Chan, Mary-Pat Green, Brian George, and Oliver Muirhead.
- Al reveals that the only film he has cried at was the 1957 Disney film, Old Yeller, due to its tragic ending.
Music[]
- A cover version of "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor is played during Kelly's training montage.
- Peggy quotes the lyrics from the Gloria Gaynor song "I Will Survive".
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Gary's Aerobics Studio
- Jim's Gym
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Gary's Aerobics Studio cardio area
- Jim's Gym boxing ring
Goofs[]
- When Al goes to the door to welcome Griff and Nancy, he doesn't have anything in his hand. After the camera shows Marcy asking who wants to play Passion, it cuts back to Al, who suddenly clutching a bottle of antacids.
- Heather tells Kelly to meet her at Gary's Aerobics Studio for their boxing match. But, on the day of the match, there are at a completely different place called "Jim's Gym"
- After Kelly knocks Heather out, when the ref begins counting out Heather, she is laying on her back. The camera cuts to an overhead shot as he finishes the count and she is suddenly on her stomach and laying in a different part of the ring.
- After celebrating her match, Kelly's front teeth are missing. Yet, Kelly only took a light jab to the face and her teeth were still intact when she tells Heather "Thanks, I already have plans!" seconds before she knocked Heather out.