Peggy and the Pirates was the 18th episode of Season 7 of Married... with Children, also the 149th overall episode of the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen and writen by Richard Gurman, the episode originally on FOX, premiering on February 28, 1993.
Synopsis[]
Peggy tells Seven a story of love and blood on the high seas (with the Bundys, the D'Arcys, and even Marcy's ex-husband Steve as pirates).
Storyline[]
Peg narrates her own pirate fantasy to Seven as a bedtime story. In the story, Peggy plays Princess Scarlett. Al is Captain Courage, her pirate captor and Jefferson is Prince Paco, her savior. Rounding out the cast is Bud playing the hunchback first mate Fluvio; Kelly as the dim-witted ship's navigator; Marcy playing the cabin boy/girl; and in a surprise appearance, Marcy's ex-husband Steve Rhoades playing the villainous Rubio the Cruel, who's feared for his terrible singing of show tunes.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Cast regulars
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Buck as Buck Bundy
- Shane Sweet as Seven
Guest starring[]
- David Garrison as Steve Rhoades / Rubio the Cruel
- Eric Menyuk as Black Bob
- "Judo" Gene LeBell as Black Ben
- Frank Lloyd as Black Bert
- George Marshall Ruge as Pirate (uncredited)
Quotes[]
- Peg: [clutching her pillow, while sounding out of breath] Oh, Al I had the most wonderful dream! We were having sex! Ohoho... Actually, I shouldn't say "we". You weren't there!
- Al: Oh, yeah? Then why you were calling "Al"?
- Peg: I wanted you to see how it was done!
- Captain Courage: Where is the cabin boy?
- Cabin Boy-Girl: How may I serve you, sir?
- Captain Courage: You can swab the deck in my quarters, ye of cropped hair and dubious sexuality.
- Cabin Boy-Girl: Aye, aye, sir. But I seem to have misplaced my mop. May I use your nose hairs as bristles? [grins]
- Captain Courage: Mock me if you will, Cabin Boy-Girl. Now go! Before I make you walk the plank... or should I say, walk yourself?
- Cabin Boy-Girl: I sense you are threatened by my androgyny. Perhaps it is that encounter you had many years ago with your strange "uncle" pirate that hauntheth you. [grins and walks off]
- Captain Courage: I am not gay! Any man can live with his mother until he's 40.
- Black Ben: Captain, the men would like a shot at "Big Red"! [turns around]
- [Princess Scarlett is surrounded by two of Captain Courage's crewmen while hinting that she would be gladly willing to partake in sex with them]
- Princess Scarlett: [smiling, while feigning fear] Please, no...
- Captain Courage: Not now, Wilbur! Methinks that Scarlett can bring a bigger ransom... as a virgin!
- Princess Scarlett: [with a mischievous smile] Hehehe....
- [Captain Courage has brought three wenches out for his crewmen and allows his first mate, Fluvio the Handsome, to get the first choice]
- Fluvio the Handsome: Hello, me pretties! [pushes through them from behind and hobbles over next to Captain Courage] It's time to partake in a hot flagging of Fluvio! [grabs the blonde wench by the forearm and pulls her close to him] You there! How would like to play a game of "Hide the Hooters with Flavio" [smiles] Come, wenches! Kiss me or kiss the sharks!
- [Fluvio puckers up and shuts his eyes. All the wenches immediately turn around and one by one jump overboard. The crewmen then walk over and examine the waters, as Captain Courage grabs Fluvio's arm and walks him back toward the middle of the deck]
- Captain Courage: Fluvio, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't give them a choice!
- [Peggy runs into the bathroom and locks the door the behind her]
- Peg: Take me, Captain Courage!
- Al: Who?! Why?... AH PEG! NOO!!
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to the Milton Caniff comic strip Terry and the Pirates.
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the final appearance of Shane Sweet as Seven. Many speculate that he was the reason the show's ratings started to go downhill.
- Former MWC star, David Garrison, makes a guest appearance as Rubio the Cruel. This was his second guest appearance on the show following his first in season 6's "The Egg and I".
- Garrison had previously left the show during season 4 to pursue his passion in musical theater and this episode allowed him to showcase his singing repertoire.
- Eric Menyuk, who appears in this episode as Black Bob, previously appeared on MWC as Gerry in the Season 5 episode, "We'll Follow the Sun".
- Martial arts legend "Judo" Gene LeBell appears in this episode as Black Ben.
- Frank Lloyd, who played Norris in the earlier seasons of MWC, appears in this episode as Black Bert, the assistant to Prince Paco.
- During the ending credits, a still frame of Captain Courage standing victorious with Peg is shown instead the usual image of Peg and Al sitting on the couch.
- In the season 9 special, "My Favorite Married", Ted McGinley said that this was one of his favorite episodes, saying that it was best set that the show had used. He confirmed this again during a Q and A panel alongside Amanda Bearse at Niagara Falls Comic Con 2019.
- After Captain Courage calls out for his "cabin boy-girl", someone in the audience can be heard saying "It's Marcy".
- The book that Peggy reads to Seven and becomes the inspiration for the pirate scenes, A Ship Called Passion, would later be seen the Season 11 episode, "Bud on the Side", as Al's co-worker, Griff, reading it while on break.
Cultural References[]
- Peggy mentions having to for the Domino's Pizza ship and the sarcastically notes "30 days or less, my ass", a reference to their "30 Minute Guarantee" that led to lawsuits due to delivery drivers being reckless to meet the time and the guarantee being dropped the same year that this episode aired.
- The genre of Pirates and their maritime exploits is taken on as a basis for an episode. To put things into perspective: Hook (1991), Steven Spielberg's version of Peter Pan breaks even but is a critical disappointment. Cutthroat Island (1994) featuring Geena Davis as a lady pirate is a box office bomb. But more than a decade later, Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp in the lead becomes a huge success spawning several sequels, and makes Piracy a viable genre in cinema once again.
- There is also "Muppet Treasure Island" (1996) with Tim Curry as Long John Silver. It is considered a box office disappointment though total earnings allowed the movie to make a slight profit against its production budget.
- After Rubio the Cruel takes Princess Scarlet, she questions where this will be her fate, to be "...married to a man who would butcher both me and Gilbert and Sullivan". Gilbert and Sullivan is the name of writer Sir William Schwenck Gilbert and composer Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan who, together composed fourteen well known musical operas.
- Two of their operas, The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance are referenced in this episode, when Rubio sings "The Pirate King", "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" and "A Wandering Minstrel, I".
- They had also been referenced in earlier seasons of MWC, as Steve would perform various musical pieces from Gilbert and Sullivan.
Music[]
- Rubio the Cruel sings "The Pirate King" from the Gilbert and Sullivan musical, The Pirates of Penzance.
- Following "The Pirate King", Rubio the Cruel sings "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General", which is also from The Pirates of Penzance
- After the Gilbert and Sullivan songs, he sings "The Trolley Song" by Judy Garland.
- After Peggy disarms the Rubettes, Rubio the Cruel sings "A Wand'ring Minstrel, I" from the musical opera The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan.
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Ocean
Sets[]
- Al & Peggy's Bedroom
- Pirate Ship
Goofs[]
- When Black Ben informs Al that "the men would like to take a shot at Big Red", Al calls him Wilbur.
- At the beginning of the episode, the toilet in Al and Peg's bedroom gets clogged. He opens up a safe in the wall and takes out 1 of 3 plungers and shuts the safe door. Later, when he comes out of the bathroom and reveals that the plunger was destroyed the safe is somehow already opened.
- When Peg is fighting Rubio the Cruel's men, the second man pulls out a knife, but the very tip of it flexes and is noticeably shinier than the rest of the blade.
- The blade that Rubio the Cruel uses to pierce Peg's hair can be seen sitting on the rope while Al mentions "Now we know why they call him Rubio the Cruel" and then it appears that one of Rubio's henchmen hands him the blade from somewhere else when he traps Peg.
- After Captain Courage knees Rubio the Cruel in the groin, Rubio then drops and lays down at an angle with his arms and legs spread out. When Princess Scarlett breaks free and embraces the Captain, Rubio is now lined up straight with his limbs next to his body and also appears to be holding his sword across his body.
- Located on the upper deck of the pirate ship is a modern-day outdoor lantern assembly, complete with modern-day incandescent light bulbs. It can be clearly seen when a close up of the ship's navigator first notices Prince Paco's ship and again when Princess Scarlett reflects back on her thoughts of Captain Courage.
- When Captain Courage swings in after using the bathroom, part of the lower deck can be seen, which has a desk and a modern day lamp shade.
- When Peg goes into the bathroom and says "Take me Captain Courage!", Al's lines were clearly recorded in post production, as they don't have the same reverb that is heard when Peg said her lines.
- When Captain Paco talks to a tied up Princess Scarlett about finding his scarlet, her hands are close to her chest as she is fidgeting with her fingers. Then, when she says "Tis I, you hunka hunka burnin' hair!" her hands are now below her waist just before she suddenly brings them up to have Paco loosen the cuffs on them.