Field of Screams is the 19th episode of Season 8 of Married... with Children, also the 176th overall series episode. Directed by Gerry Cohen and written by Al Aidekman, it premiered on FOX-TV on February 27, 1994. The title name is a spoof of a 1988 film "Field of Dreams."
Synopsis[]
Al protests against the destruction of the Polk High football field. Meanwhile, Buck and Bud are featured in a Verminator commercial, where they get blasted with an experimental spray that leads to Bud growing breasts and Buck changing into different animals.
Storyline[]
Al opposes the proposed destruction of his old high school football field to build a new auto plant (initiated by Marcy and Kyoto Bank) by chaining himself to the goalpost. Meanwhile, Buck and Bud suffer from unusual side effects, which include Bud growing boobs, after Kelly the Verminator sprays the two with a new pesticide called "Springtime in Baghdad"! When Kelly loses track of a couple of exotic but deadly pests known as the African Ping Beetles, which she had brought in a jar while visiting Al, Al unwittingly finds them. The beetles build a colony on the site of the football field, which causes the city to abandon destroying it, but at the expense of Al, who gets hospitalized and quarantined after getting stung by the dreaded beetles! It also marks the loss of thousands of jobs as the auto plant is no longer able to build on the field. But the good news is that Marcy will remain the Bundys neighbor.
Quotes[]
- Kelly: Anyway, we've got a brand new poison, and we like to call it...Springtime in Baghdad.
- Kelly: Where's Dad?
- Peggy: Oh, he's down at the city council meeting. You know, he's all steamed up about them paving over his football field.
- Kelly: Ugh, I hope he doesn't make a testicle out of himself.
- Peggy: You mean "spectacle", honey.
- Kelly: No, I mean, "testicle". I'm used to the spectacle thing.
- Peggy: Well, let's just hope that if he's going to make a fool of himself, at least he'll do it in the privacy of his own home. [chukcles]
- [Peggy uses the remote to turn on TV set. The voice of a female news reporter is heard as she looks at the screen]
- News Reporter: [v.o.] And on the lighter more pitiful side of the news...
- [The camera then cuts to the reporter, who is now shown on screen from the Polk High School football field, with the caption, "Live" on screen]
- News Reporter: Self-proclaimed football legend Al Bundy is leading a protest against the proposed Trans-Mexican auto plant by handcuffing himself to a goal post on his old high school playing field. [the reporter turns and the camera follows, showing Al handcuffed and standing next to the goal post] He has vowed to stay chained to this post until the project is moved or quote: "Marcy has lips".
- Peggy: [shakes her head] What a testicle!
- [At the Bundy residence, as Marcy and Jefferson celebrate the Haguar deal that will make them rich and be able to move out of the neighborhood, an upset Al enters and walks into the living room]
- Al: This country sucks, Peg! [sits on the couch next to Peggy] And I'll tell you why: we're giving it away faster than we can take it from other people. I was driving by Polk High today to catch a glimpse of the scoreboard, which once proclaimed my glory and fight with the homeless for nickels, and guess what sign I saw on the school fence?
- Marcy: "Life: 50, Al: 0"? [Jefferson smiles and nods]
- Al: Hey Marcy, I see they drank a lot at "Zippy Cuts".
- [Marcy reacts and quickly checks her hair as Jefferson laughs behind her back. She then turns towards him and he tries to cover by pretending to be coughing.]
- Al: The sign said: "Future Home of the Haguar". [stands up and slowly walks towards the kitchen] Which means, Peg, that they will be building automobiles on the football field where I scored four touchdowns in a single game. [turns and faces Peggy] Where pert cheerleaders in stuffed bras and short mini skirts used to sing: "1-2-4-3, give the ball to Al Bundy". This is madness, I say! How could this have happened?
- Marcy: [walking over to Al] Two town meetings, a suitcase full of unmarked bills and it's pretty much a done deal. [smiles and claps]
- Al: You were involved?
- Marcy: I was.
- Al: Well, you're not going to get away with this. If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get. But you and your fellow "Hag-whites" should know one thing: "Al" is the first word in "Alamo".
- Peggy: [tapping the remote control on her knee] Al, we lost the Alamo.
- Al: [frustrated] Aw, Peg, nobody remembers that!
Recurring Cast/Regulars[]
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Buck the Dog as Buck Bundy
- Dan Tullis, Jr. as Officer Dan
Guest starring[]
- Hill Harper as Aaron Mitchell
- Tiiu Leek as TV Anchorwoman
- Julie Benz as Sascha
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to the 1989 sports film Field of Dreams.
- The film was previously parodied in the season 8 episode, "Proud to Be Your Bud" when a voice tells Bud (and later, Al) "If you build it, he will come!".
Trivia[]
- Julie Benz, who plays Sascha the blonde lady who is interested in Bud, would later go on to star in the Showtime series, Dexter, which also featured fellow MWC guest stars Geoff Pierson, Ian Patrick Williams, and Jesse Borrego.
- She also starred in the television series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, both of which also featured MWC guest star David Boreanaz, who played Frank in the season 7 episode, "Movie Show".
- Al reveals that he never played after halftime during his football career, as the Polk High Panthers would always be too far ahead.
Cultural References[]
- The vehicle that is being built at Polk Field is a Jaguar (with everyone pronouncing it as "Hag-wahr" as it is pronounced in Spanish). Jaguar is the name of a real luxury brand of cars from England that sells in the United States.
- Their pronunciation may also be poking fun at how the brand name is pronounced in the U.S., as commercials for the car brand use the British pronunciation (as "Jag-u-Ahr") compared to how it would normally be pronounced in American English (as "Jag-wahr").
- Following Buck's "transformation" after being sprayed with "Springtime in Bahgdad", he tells Peggy "Yeah, this is great! I look like Oprah after she dropped the weight!". This in reference to talk show host Oprah Winfrey after she had lost a significant amount of weight, as she had been know for her weight loss struggles since her talk show began.
- When Marcy reveals that the deal for the factory was made through townhall meetings and suitcases with unmarked bills, Al tells her that ""Al" is the first word in "Alamo"!". Peggy then reminds him "We lost the Alamo" and in frustration, he tells her "Peg, nobody remembers that!"
- "Alamo" refers to the Battle of the Alamo that took place during the Texas Revolution in 1836 between the Mexican and Texas Armies, with the Texas Army guarding the Alamo missions for over 13 days.
- As Peggy pointed out, the Texans eventually lost after fighting off 3 waves of Mexican soldiers who then desecrate the bodies of the Texan soldiers.
- Al mentions that nobody remembers the loss, which may be a play on "Remember the Alamo!", a quote that many of the soldiers from the Texas Army shouted as they went after the Mexican Army and slaughtered the fleeing soldiers in a surprise attack that lasted only 18 minutes during Battle of San Jacinto, essentially becoming the deceive battle in the Texas Revolution that forced the Mexican Army out of the Texas Republic.
- When Al sees only a couple of bums at his protest, he wonders out loud why no one is covering his story, "But let some moron hit an ice skater in the knee and a million reporters show up!". This is in reference to the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, who was hit with a telescopic baton in the knee while training for the 1994 Winter Olympics. Various news cameras were on scene showing Kerrigan on the ground holding her knee and screaming "Why? Why? Why?". It was later determined that the assailant was a man hired by Kerrigan's skating rival, Tonya Harding.
- At the 1994 Winter Olympics, Nancy Kerrigan finished with a silver medal while Tonya Harding finished 8th.
- There was drama during the Free Skate portion of the competition when Harding's shoelace broke and she wanted to have it replaced followed by a restart. She missed her original call to the ice for the competition.
- During Al's dream about being part of the American All Star football team, the announcer also mentions NFL players Joe Namath and Jim Brown.
- Joe Namath previous appeared as himself in "Dances with Weezie". Al had also pretended to be the famed quarterback in "Weenie Tot Lovers and Other Strangers".
- Jim Brown was later mentioned by Griff in the Season 11 episode, "T*R*A*S*H", when he tells Al that black men are always the first character to die in a movie, citing Brown's role in the film, The Dirty Dozen as an example (despite his character dying much later after several white and Hispanic characters from his team also died).
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Sound Stage
- Polk High School
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Pest Boys commercial set
- Polk High School Football Field / Goal Post
Goofs[]
- When Buck appears in the commercial, he can be heard saying "Help Me!" through the TV set. It be rather odd for his voice to come through the television when even his owners can't hear him speak.
- Aaron tells Al that the football teams usually change end zones at halftime. Al says he never played after halftime because they were too far ahead. Football teams change end zones every quarter, not only halftime as Al and Aaron stated.
- When the construction crewman cuts Al's chain, the chain is clearly cut at the very end, the closest to the post with no chain left hanging. Then in the next scene, when the news reporter is shown on television with the goalpost behind her, the chain is clearly still intact, as if it was cut closer to Al's wrist.
- The reporter seen next to Al on the field appears to wait for the audience laughter to subside, before before continuing her report, even though we see it emanating from the the screen of the Bundy's TV set. This means the scene was edited for the final release with a surround of the TV frame.