England Show (Part 3) (aka We're Spending as Fast as We Can) is the twenty-sixth episode and season finale of Season 6 of the FOX sitcom Married... with Children, as well as the 131st overall episode in the series. Written by Kevin Curran, the episode was directed by Gerry Cohen and premiered on FOX on May 17, 1992.
Synopsis[]
With a mob of angry villagers in front of them and the gallows behind them, Al and Bud finally realize that their lives may be in danger. Kelly arrives just in time to rescue them, but the family is pursued by Lower Unctonians until they reach the border between the two towns. Caught between two competing mobs, the Bundys fate will depend on Al's ability to joust, when the Unctonians make peace concessions based on concession sales. Meanwhile, Marcy and Jefferson are finally having a good time on their vacation... in a "bondage" club.
Plot[]
Bundys on the border
The whole of Lower Uncton naturally gathers for the momentous event, the killing of the last two male Bundys, which will see the curse broken, and sunlight return to their fair village once more. Al, in blissful ignorance, is convinced his high school football glory days are back, and prepares to give an uplifting speech. Bud, as usual, spots the flaw, in the form of the nooses behind them, before his father, and Kelly, hidden among the crowd, steals a cart and turns into their getaway driver. The family, however, soon loses its wheels, and is forced to flee on foot from the pursuing villagers. When they hit the boundary marker for Upper Uncton, they suddenly find themselves in daylight, and Al works out that, on the exact border, they are temporarily safe. Upper Uncton tries to move the men by threatening the women, a ludicrous proposition that provokes laughter all around, even from Lower Uncton, who tried the same thing centuries before. Back in London, a now fetish-clad Marcy makes her farewells at the club, but has time for one last game.
On the Uncton border, Igor, last descendant of the witch, demands satisfaction from Al for the original insult, and the stage is set for a joust. Al, of course, hasn't a clue what a joust is, and gears up in his old football uniform, with a declaration of "Let's joust!" The battle goes extremely badly for him, given his lack of basic horse and sword skills, until Igor is stood poised over him for the coup de grace, at which point his football instincts kick in and he low-blows Igor. With the witch's line defeated, the curse is lifted, and Lower Uncton, in all its dilapidation, is exposed to sunlight once more. Upper Uncton has lost its tourist attraction, Lower Uncton is a collection of eyesores, so the villagers unite in a decision to still kill the Bundys, this time all of them. The family beats a very hasty retreat to London. Peggy picked up a little reminder of her own, a hotel towel, for which Al is found imprisoned in the Tower of London, looking at a diet of bread and water, and truly happy.
Marcy and Jefferson, meanwhile, stranded penniless and passport-less in London, make some new friends at a "special interests" club, Passing through Customs in the airport at London, Marcy's bag sets off the metal detector, and is found to contain numerous souvenirs from the club, on which she now offers to pay the duty.
Cast[]
Regular Cast[]
- Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy
- Katey Sagal as Peggy Bundy
- Christina Applegate as Kelly Bundy
- David Faustino as Bud Bundy
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Buck the dog as Buck Bundy
Guest Stars[]
- Bill Oddie as Winston
- Alun Armstrong as Trevor
- Steven Hartley as Igor
- Tony Steedman as Mayor Fivshaw
- Kevin Curran as Voice of Buck
- Mark Addy as Lower Uncton Local (uncredited)
- Chris Langham as Customs Officer (uncredited)
Quotes[]
- [Al and Bud are brought up to the stage, unaware that there are two nooses behind them]
- Al: [gleefully] Oh, man! Son, I could die a happy man right now!
- Winston: Al Bundy! Have you any words for the assembled villagers here?
- [Al clears his throat, while in the crowd, Kelly sneaks up behind a woman and knocks her out, then steals her shawl to disguise herself]
- Al: [smiling with pride] My people. Today I feel like the luckiest man on the face of the earth. As you know I played high school football. I was great. And you kids out there would like to be just as great as I was. But beware: there is a killer out there, a temptation. It infest your country the same as mine. It will up your money and your will to live. I know you've heard about it before, but you can't hear about it enough. Kids, please just say no to marriage!
- [The Bundys have made it to the border area between Upper Uncton and Lower Uncton, but are now surrounded by the armies from both sides]
- Peg: Uhh.. don't worry, Al! Whatever happens, I'll be by your side! [Al hugs her closely]
- Trevor: The women are free to go! We only want to kill the men!
- Peg: Have a nice life, Al! [pats him on the chest and walks off]
- Kelly: [to Bud, gleefully] I hope your death is less pain full than your life! [gives Bud a gentle pat on his head before turning to Al] Bye Daddy! [walks off]
- Winston: Hey...[taps Al on the shoulder and then gestures Al and Bud to lean forward] come over to our side, yeah? Yeah. Your death will be quicker.
- Trevor: No! Come to our side! At least we won't eat you afterwards.
- Winston: That is an ugly rumor, started by people who are jealous! Hmph! [shifting] Besides, it's dark over here. We couldn't tell. It's hard to know what we're eating, isn't it? [the townspeople nod and agree with him]
- [Winston walks up on a stage to join Mayor Fivshaw and Trevor as the people of both Upper and Lower Uncton have united to watch the joust]
- Mayor Fivshaw: Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rrrrrrr-rumble! [the crowds lets out a boisterous cheer] Welcome to "The Thumpin' in Upper Uncton" [Winston and Trevor laugh and pat the Mayor on the back]
- [The mayor directs his hand towards Igor, who is proudly looking up while on his horse, wearing chain mail and a helmet while holding a lance]
- Mayor Fivshaw: On my left, five-timed all-European undefeated jousting champion, going by the name of "Igor, the true death's sire"!
- [The crowd claps and cheers as Kelly turns to Bud with a smug smile and waves goodbye to him, as he becomes afraid. Fivshaw then turns to Al, wearing a Polk High Panthers football uniform and holding a football, and shows his contempt for him.]
- Mayor Fivshaw: [disgusted] And on my right: from the Windy City of Chicago, U.S.A., [pauses and inhales deeply]... Al... "Stinkfoot"... [angrily] BUNDY!
Notes[]
Title[]
- The three episodes are set in England.
- The working title of the episode is listed as "England Show III: We're Spending as Fast as We Can".
Trivia[]
- Peggy reveals that Al earns $3.25 per hour at his job.
- Al may broke the curse in Lower Uncton, but the Curse still lived on the Bundys.
Cultural References[]
- After Igor demonstrates his fighting skills in front of Bud and then stares him down while growling, Bud faints and Kelly calls him "Tiny Toon" in references to the cartoon series Tiny Toon Adventures.
- Mayor Fivshaw says "Let's Get Ready to Rumble", a catchphrase made popular in boxing by announcer Michael Buffer.
- Afterward, he calls the match between Al and Igor "The Thumpin in Upper Uncton!" which likely a play on the boxing match "Thrilla in Manila".
- After Igor knocks him down, Al tells him "Ok, enough Rope-a-dope", a strategy used in boxing where a fighter makes his opponent fatigue himself out by throwing punches while the first fighter remains on the defense, sometimes clinging on to the ropes of the ring. Once the opponent shows signs of fatigue the fighter then moves in and is able to strike with full power.
- Al's speech includes a variation of the phrase "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth," with "consider" being replaced with the word "feel". This speech is a reference to the one given by Lou Gehrig in 1939.
- Gehrig is best known as one of Baseball's iron men as he played 2,130 consecutive games between June 21, 1925 and April 30, 1939. His streak was eventually broken by Cal Ripken Jr. who played in 2,632 games between May 30, 1982 and September 20, 1998.
Music[]
- Al's anthem, "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers is played briefly when he is shown in his uniform before declaring "Let's Joust!"
Locations[]
- Crazy Perzigian's Budget Dog Inn
- Lower Uncton
- Upper Uncton
- Heathrow Airport
- Dungeon
Sets[]
- Dog Kennel
- Lower Uncton castle exterior
- Lower / Upper Uncton border
- Upper Uncton castle
- Upper Uncton field
- Heathrow Airport Security Checkpoint
- Dungeon
Goofs[]
- The British theater Marcy and Jefferson end up at is called "The Red Fanny" according to Jefferson's shirt ("I was a bad boy at the Red Fanny"). However, it makes little sense that a theater in England would be called this, because in British English, "fanny" refers to the female genitalia, not one's bottom as it does in US English.
- When Marcy decides to play "Bad Americans" again while waiting for the money to be wired to them, she and Jefferson walk back to the dance area with the lady from the previous episode. As the camera pans out, a red headed lady is shown in a cage on the left side of the screen and she is obviously smiling and staring directly into the camera, until Jefferson quickly waves at her.
- During the Medieval joust, Al's football jersey changes numbers from 33, to 27, back to 33.
- Its never explained how or why Al would have his complete football uniform with him in England in the first place, considering he didn't even know that he was going to participate in a jousting event until later in the trip.
- It could be likely that Al thought he was going to be presented to the Queen. In the first part of this trilogy, it is declared that Al will be the guest of honor at an quaint "Elizabethan Expiration Ceremony."
- When Al puts on his helmet after saying "Let's joust!", the studio lights are reflecting off of his helmet.
- When the camera does a close up on Al as he warn Igor about insulting an American who played high school football, the boom mic can be seen reflecting off of his helmet.
- When Al punches Igor, its very clear that he and his helmet didn't go very far and would have likely landed face down on his side, as it was a hook punch to his jaw. But the next shot implies that his helmet flew a good distance away from him. After that, Al grabs his football and walks a noticeable distance and Igor is on his back stretched out, but his helmet is very close to his head.
- Even though Igor is supposed to be unconscious, his arm keeps changing positions whenever to the camera back to him and the Bundys.
- When Peg says "Vacation's over!", she hops over Igor, whose helmet is a short distance from the very top of his head. Immediately, the camera shows a wide aerial view of the townspeople chasing the Bundys, Igor's helmet is right next to head, along with Al's football, even though it had bounced off of him a good distance after Al drove it into his chest.
External Links[]
England Show (Part 3) at the Internet Movie Database- England Show (Part 3) on Bundyology
- England Show (Part 3) - Transcript on Springfield! Springfield!
- #131 England Show (Part 3) - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
