Children of the Corns

Children of the Corns is the second episode of Season 11 and the 237th overall episode of Married... with Children. The episode was a lampoon of the Kathie Lee Gifford sweatshop controversy, which was going on at the time of this episode.

Synopsis

Gary declares a sales contest between Al and Griff - the winner gets a raise. However, an appearance of an immigrant child who works in Gary's illegal sweatshop gives Al a better idea than selling shoes...blackmail. Meanwhile, Peggy wins a microwave and learns what it does.

Plot

With business struggling and her workers lethargic, Gary enters her shoe store and comes up with an idea - a sales contest between Al and Griff. Al, previously under the assumption that he was getting a raise, vows to win the contest, but his horrendous people skills result in a landslide victory for Griff. Al suggests that they split the raise, but gets a better idea when an immigrant child with a hook enters the store with a supply of shoes from Gary's sweat shop. The duo plan to extort Gary and come out ahead.

With help from Bud, Al and Jefferson get the information they need from the sweat shop - and leave Bud behind to become another worker. They present the evidence to Gary and promise to remain silent if Gary meets their demands: $250 each. Marcy, however, gets wind of Al's plan and foils him once again on live television. Gary admits her faults and instead gives the money to the immigrant children, while Marcy laughs victoriously in Al's face.

Meanwhile, Peggy wins a microwave for being the Home Shopping shopper of the month. Unfortunately, she has no idea what a microwave is or what it does. After learning its purpose, she spends her time microwaving food and hiding the microwave from Al, who only smells food upon entering the house.

Recurring Cast

• Harold Sylvester as Griff
• Janet Carroll as Gary
• Teresa Parente as Miranda Veracruz de la Hoya Cardinal

Guest cast

• Lee Arnone-Briggs as Woman Customer
• Louisa Abernathy as Christy
• Christopher Elwood as Delivery Guy
• Patrick T. O'Brien as Bob Thompson
• Erick Vasques as Immigrant Child #1
• Cherisse Ligot as Immigrant Child #2
• Richard Ornelas as Thug

Notes

Title

• The title is a reference to the Stephen King short story and 1984 horror film Children of the Corn and "Corns", which refer to the thickening of the outer layer of skin around the foot or toes that is usually caused by poor fitting shoes.

Trivia

• Patrick T. O'Brien who plays Bob Thompson, the man that runs the sweatshop factor, previously appeared on MWC in the season 2 episode "Build a Better Mousetrap" as Wally, the pest exterminator.
• In this episode, it revealed that Kelly had a pet turtle named Timmy that Bud found in the freezer. Peggy then reveals that they froze the turtle because he had no head. Bud then accidentally microwaves it believing that it was a meatball.
  • A similar story happened in the season 3 episode, Married... with Queen (Part 1), when Bud and Kelly look in the freezer for food and find Bud's goldfish, Freddy, from when he was 5 years old. They try to eat him, but then decide to throw him into an oncoming car instead for insurance money.

Cultural References

• The topic of children working in sweatshops is based on an incident in 1996 involving talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford and her clothing line that was sold at Wal-Mart. A whistleblower revealed that they were being made at the time in Honduras by children in sweatshops. More accusations came later when sweatshops in the U.S. were also making her line of clothing. Gifford denied having direct involvement in the sweatshops, expressing her disgusts at how they operate and went on to encourage the U.S. government to change how they run. She also stated that some of the profits that were made were given to children's charities.
  • Gary's line when she is recorded on video, " You can say I'm ugly. You can say I'm untalented. But don't you dare say I don't care about the children!" is a direct reference to the line that Kathy Lee said while on her talk show, Live with Regis and Kathy Lee when expressing her anger about accusations that she was directly responsible for the sweat shops.
  • After Gary gives the blackmail money to the kids, a young girl in the group says "Frank Gifford gave us more!". This is in reference to Kathy Lee's husband, former NFL player and sports commentator, Frank Gifford, who was seen giving out envelopes with money to the sweatshop employees in New York who said they were not paid, after it had been revealed that her clothing line was also made in sweatshops in the U.S..
    • In a way, Kathie Lee Gifford is cleared of all charges given that Wal-Mart likely contracted the clothing line to various factories.
• During Al and Peggy's talk about what will be for breakfast, she sarcastically tells him that she was concerned about his cholesterol and switched to Nothing Beaters.
  • This is in reference to Egg Beaters a liquid egg substitute that was is often recommended by doctors to patients with high cholesterol and heart issues.
• When Peggy and Kelly notice the microwave, they circle it in amazement as "Also sprach Zarathustra" plays. This is in reference to a scene from the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, when the apes circled the monolith in amazement.
• Bud calls Kelly and Peggy "Betty and Moronica" when they try to figure out the microwave.
  • This is a reference to the comic book characters Betty and Veronica from the comic book series, Archie.
• The kid who brought the shoes to Gary's mentions that he will be tortured by being forced to watch Caroline in the City if he is late to the sweatshop.
  • Caroline in the City was a NBC sitcom starring Lea Thompson about a New York based cartoonist and her dating life. It ran from 1995 to 1999.
  • One of the recurring actresses on that show was Candice Azzara who played Madame Inga in the season 6 MWC episode, "Psychic Avengers".
  • Jonathan Wolff, who worked as the music composer for MWC from season 7 onward, also composed music on Caroline in the City.
• After noticing the kid's hook for a hand, Griff suggests that they have Long John Silver's for lunch.
  • Long John Silver's is a fast food chain that specializes in deep fried battered seafood.

Music

• "Also sprach Zarathustra" is heard when Peggy and Kelly first examine the new microwave in the living room.

Locations

• Bundy Residence
• Gary's Shoes & Accessories for Today's Woman
• Happy Soles Footwear Factory

Sets

• Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
• Gary's Shoe Seating Area / Cash Register
• Happy Soles Footwear Factory Lobby / Assembly Line Area

Goofs

• When Kelly is in the closet with the microwave, the ping of the microwave is heard. However, it is unlikely that there would be power in the closet for the microwave to operate.
• As Marcy pushes Jefferson out the door and promises that he'll be slaving away in his own sweatshop, a red light from either an exit door or "recording in Progress" sign can be seen reflecting off of the glass on the Bundy's front door.