The Camping Show

The Camping Show is the fourth episode of Season 3 of the FOX sitcom Married... with Children, as well as the 39th overall episode in the series. Written by Sandy Sprung and Marcy Vosburgh, the episode was directed by Gerry Cohen and premiered on FOX on December 11, 1988.

Synopsis

A guys-only fishing trip with Al, Bud and Steve turns sour when Steve invites Marcy who then invites Peggy and Kelly on the trip — and things get worse when all three of the women have their periods simultaneously.

Plot

To be added.

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 Rhoades
• David Garrison as Steve Rhoades
• Buck the dog as Buck Bundy (uncredited)

Guest stars

• Frank Foti Jr. as Grizzly Bear (uncredited)

Notes

Title

• The original title "A Period Piece" is a common phrase for a piece of fiction set at a specific time in history but in the context of the episode it refers to the 3 women who start to menstruate during the camping trip.
• However, FOX Network censors were concerned about the title and the episode as a whole to be offensive to women (even though the episode was written by two women and the episode title never appeared on screen) and requested that the title be changed.
• "The Camping Show" simply refers to the Bundys and Rhoades' going on a camping trip.

Trivia

• This episode was originally set to air as the season premiere but since the FOX censors were concerned about it being too offensive, the air date was postponed.
  • TV Guide, November 12-18, 1988: Fox Delays Married "Period" Episode, by Jeff Kaye

Fox Broadcasting executives have been wondering what to do with a completed but unaired episode of Married . . . with Children that appears to break new ground in sitcom subject matter. The episode, the series' first to be taped this season, has had its air date postponed. It's entitled "A Period Piece" and addresses the topic of menstruation. More specifically, it tells how the Bundy and Rhoades families go on a fishing trip together, only to find that Marcy Rhoades (Amanda Bearse), Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal), and Peggy's teenage daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) are all starting their periods simultaneously. "I'm sure [the episode] will be scheduled later in the season," says Fox spokesman Brad Turell. "Running it as the season premiere, we felt, was not necessarily the best thing to do. You have to be responsible to the viewers." Married executive producers Ron Leavitt and Michael Moye don't hesitate to opine about why Fox hasn't run the episode. Says Moye, "If your typewriter makes a clucking sound, that will tell you the story." Adds Leavitt, "They're a shade nervous [at Fox]. It's funny, Geraldo [Rivera] burns babies in prime time and we're just saying women have periods."

• Michael Moye has mentioned in an interview that the idea for the episode came from a newspaper article about women who spend a lot of time together synchronizing their menstrual cycles, which was brought to his attention by the female writers. He trusted them to write this episode as he was sure they would know what is offensive to women and what is not when it comes to the topic of menstruation. To this day, the process of menstrual synchrony has not been proven.
• Kelly, Peggy and Marcy experience many common PMS symptoms in this episode including irritability, abdominal cramps, fever, dizziness, headaches, mood swings, sadness, bloating, weight gain, increased sex drive, fluid retention, back pain, and food cravings. These symptoms can vary from person to person and may not necessarily occur every month.
• Peggy wears a very modest and loose nightgown that differs significantly from her usual silky and figure-accentuating nightgowns/negligees. This might indicate that the nightgown she wears in this episode is one she only wears when she is on her period, similar to many women having specific underwear that they reserve for their time of the month, as it is likely more comfortable.
• Steve mentions that wild animals can sense when women are menstruating. Moye got the inspiration for this plot point from the Silver Spoons episode "I'm Just Wild About Harry", where an orangutan was brought in and suddenly got very distracted during the shooting of a scene so the trainer said that if a woman on set is menstruating, that is what upsetting the orangutan. This is a myth that emerged in 1967 when two women, one of whom was menstruating, were attacked by grizzly bears in Glacier National Park and in response a brochure called Grizzly, Grizzly, Grizzly, advising women to "stay out of bear country during their menstrual period" was published by the National Park Service and United States Forest Service. However, it has since been stated that "there is no evidence that grizzly bears are overly attracted to menstrual odors [...] and there is no statistical evidence that known bear attacks have been related to menstruation".

Cultural References

• Kelly parodies Bette Davis' line from the 1949 film Beyond the Forest when she looks around the cabin and says "What a dump."

Music

• Al and Steve hum and air-play the song "Dueling Banjos" from the 1972 film Deliverance. There has been some online debate whether or not Ed O'Neill made his acting debut in that film as a deputy. Ed O'Neill himself has said he is not in the movie, and does not know where this piece of information originated. His first movie was Cruising in 1980.

Locations

• Bundy Residence
• Michigan Cabin

Sets

• Bundy Living Room/Kitchen
• Michigan Cabin

Goofs

• On the second morning at the cabin, the caption "Day Two...6:52 AM" is shown. No more than three minutes later, Peggy says "Al...it is 7:30 in the morning!"

External Links

• The Camping Show at the Internet Movie Database
• A Period Piece on Bundyology
• A Period Piece - First Draft Script on albundy.net
• A Period Piece - Transcript on albundy.net
• #40 The Camping Show - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia