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"That must be her now. A half hour early I might add, well who could blame her? Sometimes I can't wait to touch myself either."

—Bud Bundy


Bud Franklin Bundy is the son of Al and Peggy Bundy, besides being the younger brother of Kelly Bundy. He is considered the "brains" of the Bundy household, though they rarely give him credit for this. Unlike many in his family tree, Bud finished high school...and near the top of his class. He is also a university graduate, whereas few of the Bundy clan have even made it to college.

Biography[]

He was born on January 22, 1974 to Al and Peggy Bundy, making him about a year younger than Kelly. Though notably in Seasons 1 and 2, it is implied that Bud was born closer to 1977, as he told Al that he was currently in 5th grade in "Have You Driven a Ford Lately?" which would have put him around 10-11 years old, while Kelly was already in high school and around 15-16 years old. But in Season 3, Bud is already a high school student and by Season 4, he is shown to be high school junior, placing him one grade behind Kelly, who was a senior at that point.

In the season seven episode, Christmas Bud's first words as a baby were "Playboys! Hooters!". After Kelly makes fun of him, Peg reminds her that he only knows those words, but he quickly mutters "Like hell". He was also able to say "The dog's been eating your slippers" as Al tempts them with giving only one of them a nice gift for Christmas. Though, in "Grime and Punishment", his first words were "Bud need food. Bud want food. Ouch!" according to his baby book. It was also revealed by Al in the same episode that they didn't put any pictures of Bud in the baby book because he was an ugly baby.

Growing up, he has been a straight A student and showed that he has more intelligence than the rest of the Bundys. He ended up attending James K. Polk High the same high school as his parents and sister. During season 3 and 4, he is shown talking with Kelly in the hallway when they were attending at the same time. He continued to earn good grades, even being among a select few to have a chance to meet U.S. President George H.W. Bush, but lost out when Al gave the money he needed for the trip to Kelly, so she could buy a new dress in Weenie Tot Lovers and Other Strangers.

It appeared that he was bullied by some of the students, such as Heather McCoy, who tricked him into going skinny dipping before stealing his clothes and hanging his underwear on a flag pole in 6th grade and then did something similar to him again at the dance in season 4's What Goes Around Came Around. In season 10's Blonde and Blonder, he was suppose to attend prom with Kelly's friend, Ashley, but she stood him up and left him a note that said "Bite Me, Nerd Boy!" when arrived at her house. He also mentions getting dunked face first into the toilets at school by other students.

Besides the lack of a real girlfriend during most of high school, he also seems to lack friends, though in the early seasons, he brings home his friends Teddy and Boz and refers to the group as "The Amigos", even having their own salute. He also mentions having a friend named Joey from season 1 through season 5, though he is never seen except for a brief moment in "The Agony of De-Feet".

Even though he had played sports growing up, he was never as talented or athletic as his father and usually played on recreational teams rather than the high school team. Some of the sports he's played:

After graduating from Polk High in 1992, he informs the family that he has gotten a scholarship and chooses to go to a junior college across town.[39] At the same time, he also brings up his new persona, Grandmaster B. Although he had revealed this information during Peggy's pregnancy, after it was revealed that it was all a dream in Al Bundy, Shoe Dick, he continues his Grandmaster B persona and is still a junior college student. He also begins a relationship a briefly relationship with his English teacher Miss McGowen and his classmate, Darlene. After trying to get his sister fired from her job at TV World, he ends up getting a summer job there by accident, becoming a theme park character called the "Roach King", the nemesis of Kelly's character, The Verminator.

At the beginning of season 7, he is a sophomore and still attending the unnamed junior college with intention to graduate with an associates degree, as noted in "Frat Chance". Yet, a few episodes later, in "The Old College Try" he receives a $25,000 grant and transfers to Trumaine University, living in the dorms with three attractive ladies on campus. Though, his parent were able to get ahold of his grant (as it was somehow deposited in Al and Peg's account instead of the one Bud had just opened) and accidentally spent it on food and expensive items. Because of that, he ended up unintentionally writing bad checks to the school, which got him kicked out of the dorms and forced him to take up various jobs to pay for school. He also starts a short lived fraternity called "Alpha Gonna Get'um". In "Luck of the Bundys", he tells the family that he was accepted into another fraternity, "Gamma Gamma Sigma Pi", before the frat house was destroyed by Kelly in a stunt that went wrong. He eventually makes the Dean's List and applies to attend Oxford University, but lost the opportunity to have sex with Amber. He finally graduates from Trumaine University in 1996, while working at the Illinois DMV, before being fired due to being too efficient at his job. He then briefly worked as a chimney sweep apprentice in A Shoe Room with a View, before settling on being a talent agent the remainder of the series.

Besides his job with the DMV, he has done other jobs, most notably as Kelly's agent (in addition to being an agent for actresses Tina Yothers and Delta Burke and the short lived mother-daughter duo, The Juggs) who takes a significant portion of her paycheck. Other jobs include an operator for the Virgin Hotline, running a lemonade stand in the middle of winter, and selling maps of the stars homes.

Personality[]

Bud was your typical girl-crazy teenage boy, desperate for any female contact (and we do mean contact). The problem was twofold: being on the shallow side, Bud tended to overlook girls' personalities; worse, his own personality tended to be less than magnetic. (Nonetheless, comparisons with Al made Bud seem like Richard Gere.) However, he demonstrated some character growth when Amber's nature proved repulsive even by Bundy standards. This inspired him to invent several new identities, as a cover for his shortcomings. Additional growth was shown by Bud's reaction when Gary insulted both Kelly and Peg.

Although he is often ridiculed for being a virgin, a careful examination of the episodes shows he has had sex with at least nine women. A few of the women include:

  • Marcy's niece, Amber
  • Janey, the former fiancée of Cousin Jimmy.
  • Dee Anna, the current fiancée of Cousin Jimmy.
  • Gary, Al's feminine boss and owner of Gary's Shoes.
  • Rita, a fat woman who would force any male standing outside her hotel door to have sex with her
  • Heidi, an attractive German lady who Bud took to Oktoberfest then had sex with him to thank him.
  • An unnamed attractive blonde woman who came to his door asking him to “wine me, dine me , and have your way with me”
  • Esmeralda, the cousin of Kelly's boyfriend, Carlos, who is visiting from the old country.
  • Fawn, one of Kelly's friends who Bud has a crush on, and who forces him to sleep with her (He wasn’t in the mood because he had just slept with Esmeralda)
  • Ashley, one of Kelly's friends, who he tricked into having sex with him by getting her into a very dark area in the middle of the the night, and making her think that he is a man she has a crush on, at the five year high school reunion for the Polk High School class of 1990.
  • Ariel
  • It was implied he did have sex with two girls, Kristi and Paula, after he gave them televisions using Buck's credit card in "Master the Possibilities".
  • It was also implied that he had sex with Crystal after getting her front row tickets for the Vanilla Ice concert in "Kids! Wadaya Gonna Do?"
  • Bud may have also slept with some of Kelly’s model friends in Buck the Stud

Bud is, however, very intelligent, and was the only one in the family to go to college. He worked hard on his grades, and Peggy once said he got straight A's. So it is possible that Bud would be able to make something of his life. At the same time however he still manages to be just as morally depraved as the rest of his family (See Ashley above)

Gallery[]

Grandmaster B[]

When Bud began Junior College across town from his home, he determined that the college girls would go for him if he took on the personality of a "bad-boy rapper from the streets of New York." Thus was born Bud's alternate personality - Grandmaster B. Naturally, the rest of the family refused to play along - especially in front of the girls he brought home. Instead, they referred to him as:

Episode 6.03 - If Al Had A Hammer[]

  • Ghostbuster B - Kelly
  • Mixmaster B - Jill (Blonde girl he met at junior college)
  • Grandma B - Kelly
  • Grand Marshall B - Peg
  • Bed Wetter B - Kelly
  • Court Jester B - Peg
  • Bushwhacker - Kelly
  • Burgermeister - Peg
  • Buckminster - Al
  • Grand Flasher  - Jill
  • Dustbuster - Jill

Episode 6.04 - Cheese, Cues, and Blood[]

  • Grasshopper - Al
  • Gas Passer - Al
  • Bass Hefter - Al
  • Grandfather B - Al

Episode 6.07 - If I Could See Me Now[]

  • Cross-dresser B - Kelly
  • Grandpappy B - Kelly
  • Bellringer B - Kelly

Episode 6.14 - The Mystery of Skull Island[]

  • Grand Bastard - Kelly
  • Thumb Sucker B - Kelly
  • Grandmaster One - Bud

Episode 6.16 - Rites Of Passage[]

  • Butt-wagger B - Kelly
  • Grandmaster Virgin - Kelly

Episode 6.18 - My Dinner with Anthrax[]

  • Thighmaster - Kelly
  • Grinchmaster B - VJ on The Video Channel

Episode 7.23 - 'Tis Time To Smell The Roses[]

  • Abdominizer B - Bud

Appendices[]

Background[]

Bud Bundy (David Faustino), was originally to be played by a different actor, (and was for the original pilot), but this was changed after audiences did not like the original actor, Hunter Carson. Bud was originally portrayed to be around ten or eleven years old, but his age was advanced to be roughly a year younger than Kelly.

It is unclear is "Bud" was his given first name or if it was short for something else. A comment made by him in "How Do You Spell Revenge?", and agreed upon by Al, was that his first name comes from a beer (Budweiser, which is often shortened to "Bud" or "Bud Light" when referring to its lower calorie version).

However, Kelly has addressed Bud as "Budrick", though often in a somewhat mockingly manner. It is uncertain if it means Bud's first full name is in fact Budrick, or if Budrick is simply a nickname that Kelly uses for him, as neither of his parent has used that name with him. Kelly has called him Budrick in several episodes:

  • "Alley of the Dolls" after he reveals to her that he isn't really a bowler,
  • "The Great Escape", when Kelly explains to Bud how she will escape to go to a concert,
  • "Buck the Stud" as she introduces Bud's new look to her classmates,
  • "Sofa So Good" when she explained how she was going to be in an anti-illiteracy program commercial.
  • "It's a Bundyful Life (Part 2)" , as Al sees the alternative future where he wasn't born and his family became the Jablonskys, Kelly Jablonsky cheerfully greets her brother as "Budrick" after she returned home from college and tells him that he looks fabulous.

Kelly once made a puppet modeled after Bud and called him "Budrick" in a clear shot at him in the season 11 episode, "A Babe in Toyland".

Bud's full name was made clear at the end of season 10 episode 15, "The Hood, The Bud, and the Kelly, part 2"; where the news anchor man states his full name as, 'Bud Franklin Bundy' as part of another related crime story being reported. Though, earlier in the Season 8 episode, No Chicken, No Check Kelly mentioned that Bud's middle name is "Franklin".

Trivia[]

  • In season 6, Bud goes by the name Grandmaster B, but the family kept mangling it.
  • During season 3, Bud wears a mullet style haircut, before changing it to a slick-back style from season 4 and then a shorter style by season 10.
  • Bud's starts growing a beard in season 7's "Old College Try", which the family as well as the D'Arcy's mistake for dirt on his face. Though he doesn't grow a noticeable beard until a few episodes later in "It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This" which he kept till the end of the series.
  • Bud's Grandmaster B persona was based on actor David Faustino's infatuation with rap music as well as his attempt at a rap career in the early 90s. His grandmaster B was successful with women.
  • Bud's bedroom is shown for the first time in season 7's "Magnificent Seven" and is located directly across from Al and Peg's bedroom.
  • In Bud's bedroom, a poster for Ice Cube's 1991 album, "Death Certificate" can be seen above his bed. This was done at David Faustino's request due to his love for rap music.
  • He was more successful getting hot women in later seasons.
  • In "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Kelly reveals that Bud has been using the alias, "Señor Pablo, U.N. Diplomat" to call date hotlines with Al's credit card.
  • In "The Great Escape", Kelly reveals that she know he is "The Masked Lover's Lane Peeper"
  • David Faustino and Christina Applegate, as their "MWC" characters, appeared together in an anti-drug spot which took place in the Bundy living room...
    BUD: The way I see it, there are two kinds of Dope in the world. Exhibit A - My sister, Kelly. She's attractive, means well, and holds a record for most years spent in the 10th grade at her school.
    KELLY: What can I say? It's a gift.
    BUD: Then there's Exhibit B. The other kind of Dope is dangerously addictive, and it destroys thousands of lives every year...physically, mentally, and financially. It also sticks you with some of the last people on Earth you want to associate with, like fellow addicts - unless it's in rehab - or, worse, dealers and suppliers. And, unlike Kelly, there's nothing funny about that sort of Dope.
    KELLY: Even I've got enough sense to know that drugs are a sinking ship, and that whoever goes onboard in spite of statistics is the real Dope.

Appearances[]

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