Thinnergy is the second episode of Season 1 of the FOX sitcom Married... with Children, as well as the 2nd overall episode in the series. Written by Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye, the episode was directed by Linda Day and premiered on FOX on April 12, 1987.
Synopsis[]
Inspired by a diet book from Marcy to improve her sex life, Peggy decides the entire family should be eating healthier and starts them on a diet, much to the dismay of the family, especially Al.
Plot[]
Al is on the couch watching TV and eating a bag of chips while in the soon to be trademarked Bundy pose, with one hand down his pants, while Peggy comes downstairs and heads toward the kitchen to prepare some coffee. On the TV is a show that is total smut. It is titled "Patsy: Portrait of a Stewardess in Training" and features women in short skirts. Peggy sits next to Al and asks him why he watches these things. Al claims that the show is educational because it teaches viewers what young women go through to become stewardesses.
The doorbell rings and Peggy gets up to answer it. It is Steve and Marcy and she reports that Al is watching "Gullible Girls Week" on Channel Three. She then reports to Al that they have company with no response. Peggy notes that that "if a maniac broke into this house right now and shot her dead, Al wouldn't even know." But Al says that he would know. Marcy then calls Al's program a "mindless exploitation of women" which Al defends.
While Steve joins Al on the couch, the women head to the kitchen for coffee and cake. Steve asks Al if it bothers him that he is watching this smut in front of his wife, but Al states that it is a man's God given right to watch sports and smut. In the kitchen Marcy asks Peggy if it bothers her that Al watches smut saying that men shouldn't look at women like they are pieces of meat. But Peggy responds by saying that Al doesn't look at her like a piece of meat. Marcy responds by saying that there is a couple in her women's group that is married for 47 years and still play around in bed 4 times a week.
They sit at the table and Marcy tells Peggy about a book called "Thinnergy- For Thinness and Energy." She says that the book is more than just a diet, it is a way of life. "Certain foods add to your energy, while other bad foods can actually drain your energy." Marcy even adds the fact that people on the diet wake up and go to bed with energy.
After an exchange where Peggy discovers that chips are energy draining, Marcy tells Peggy that it is worth a try because it equals an aura of energy and sexuality that even Al can't resist. She then requests that she and Steve head for bed. They do but not before Steve requests the channel number for PBS.
Soon is its time for the Bundys to head to bed. Peggy is already in the bedroom singing while fixing her hair. After asking Al if he is coming up, she finds a pair of striped socks on Al's side of the bed, puts them away and then sprays perfume all over herself and the bed. She then drapes herself on the bed hoping for sex, but Al ignores her and heads to the bathroom with one hand down his pants and reading a newspaper.
The next evening, Peggy is making a salad while Bud and Kelly are reading the Thinnergy book. While Kelly mourns the possible end of her life as she knows it, Bud is confident that Dad would not put up with the new diet. They then head to the door when they hear Al pulling up. Bud opens the door and greets him by asking if he is hungry. Not only is Al hungry, it turns out that he didn't even have time for lunch. When Al sits by the table, Peggy slips him a plate full of salad. He thinks the salad is a joke but Peggy is serious because it has your riboflavin, folacin, iron, and magnesium with the award being a Granola Bar for dessert if he finishes the food.
Al asks Peggy what he did, and she continues to sell the diet saying that it would make the Bundys much healthier and much more energetic. This causes Al to try a piece of salad. As a result, he says he feels a burst of energy which leads him to throw away his entire plate and then turn toward Peggy.
"What are you doing to me? I work, I want food. You know what food is? It's hot stuff that you put in your mouth, it smells good, you swallow it, and you want more. That is what food is."
Al throws Bud and Kelly's plates in the garbage and then sits down to watch the news with the ultimatum being that he wants some form of dead animal on his plate and wants it to be succulent before hearing that Peggy threw out the food. An argument ensues over the Thinnergy diet with Peggy wanting Al to go on the diet while he resists.
The next morning, breakfast is a study of contrasts as Al and Kelly are having cereal with heaps of sugar, Bud eats a slice of bread with heaps of jam and cereal which also gets the sugar treatment, and Peggy is eating a carrot which she tries to sell as having a natural sweetness while the water she is drinking comes from a natural spring. But nobody is listening to her. Instead, Al and the kids plan dinner which is to be Pizza with meatballs while Peggy says that she will be having a grapefruit with more natural spring water.
At the shoe store, Luke adjusts a chair by putting two wedges underneath to cause it to tilt at an angle. He asks if Al would be upset if he found Peggy in bed with another guy. Needless to say, Al would be upset enough to kill the guy before telling Luke about how Peggy is on some stupid diet.
After Luke goes to serve a young woman named Sandy, Steve enters the store to ask Al about the movie they were watching the other night. Then Steve convinces Al to try the diet for one week saying that Peggy needs his support saying that if they were on the diet together, they could get off it together.
Al decides to take Steve's advice to the puzzlement of the kids. They tally up the total fights which equal ten over two days with radish day yet to come. Bud convinces Kelly to talk some sense into them only to get grounded while Bud gets to go out. After the kids leave, Peggy tells Al that whenever they feel a grouchy period while on this diet, they are to share a nice memory. In this case, Al remembers a walk on Oak Street Beach at sunset while they were dating.
Later, it is once again time for bed with Al wanting to watch Johnny Carson even though it is a repeat of his "Salute to Charles Nelson Reilly." But the answer he gets is that the sound of his voice irritates the hell out of her, which Al agrees to shut up "Because if she's irritated, then I'm irritated, then if she's unhappy, I'm unhappy!"
This causes Peggy to sing Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" which Al hates. In response, he grabs a pair of nail clippers, waves it in her face, and begins to cut his toenails while Peggy continues singing. He then grabs one of her shoes and puts his toenail clippings in that shoe and in front of Peggy's face. This causes Peggy to change the song to Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman." This causes Al to give up his argument, but Peggy continues singing by switching the song to the Flying Nun's "Dominique" before Al cuts her off saying that she has been acting very snippy lately.
Al says that he knows what she needs and tells Peggy to make herself comfortable. When he leaves, Peggy leaps out of bed, takes off her robe, pulls back the bed covers to find another one of Al's socks which is thrown over her head, and finally sprays the bed and herself with some perfume. Al returns while hiding something around his back as Peggy again drapes herself on the bed. He tells Peggy to close her eyes and then force feeds her a cream-filled chocolate eclair. Though she says that she doesn't like it while saying that he ruined everything, she eats the eclair even telling Al to gets his own when he tries to move in for a bite.
Peggy confesses that the reason for the diet was because Al no longer finds her attractive. Of course that is a lie even though he would still ignore her because she is his wife, but he still loves her. Al then uses a small baseball glove he got from his dad as an example. Even though it is old and the webbing is loose, it is special to him just like his wife. Al then turns off the light and embraces Peggy.
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 as Buck Bundy
Recurring Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
- Elizabeth Edwards as Sandy
- Gita Isak as Patsy (uncredited/voice)
Quotes[]
- Peggy: You know, if a maniac broke in this house right now and shot me dead, Al wouldn't even know.
- Al: I'd know.
- Marcy: Peggy, what would you say if I told you I had the answers to all of your problems?
- Peggy: I don't know. I bought one of those and it's just not the same.
- Al: Your wife gave my wife a book. Now my life is hell.
- Steve: Ah... Thinnergy.
- Al: Yeah, that's the one. Does Marcy hate me that much?
- Steve: Well, yes Al, she does.
- Al: Let me tell you something. Now just 'cause I don't go to bed with you, doesn't mean I don't love ya! I mean, let's face it, even if you were beautiful, like that girl on TV, I'd still ignore ya. 'Cause you're my wife!
Notes[]
Title[]
- Thinnergy is the title of the diet book Marcy gives to Peggy and a combination of the words "thinness" and "energy".
Trivia[]
- Steve mentions to Al that he got him into trouble with Marcy before, referencing the previous episode.
- Bud mentions that Kelly was held back a grade in school.
- This is the first time Al's classic alone-on-the-couch posture begins to show itself.
- This is the first time Peggy makes a vibrator/masturbation joke.
- This is the first time Al and Peggy's bedroom is shown.
- Oak Street Beach is an actual beach located on North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, IL, on the shore of Lake Michigan.
- The title of the episode and the book that Marcy and Peggy read, Thinnergy may also be a play on the term "Synergy", which is defined as a combined action or operation between two or more parties.
- The spelling of the episode on Hulu is accidentally spelled as "Thinergy" instead of "Thinnergy".
Cultural References[]
- Al asks Peggy if she wants to watch "Carson", in reference to Johnny Carson, who was a famous American late night show host from 1962 to 1992.
- Al says that the Johnny Carson episode is a repeat of the "Salute to Charles Nelson Riley" special.
- Charles Nelson Reilly was an American comedic actor, who was a regular panelist on the game show, Match Game from 1973 to 1991.
Music[]
- Peggy sings "I'm in the Mood for Love" by Frances Langford after she and Al finish watching ""Patsy: Portrait of a Stewardess in Training"
- Peggy sings "Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro to torture Al after he suggests that they could watch Johnny Carson.
- Peggy sings "I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy after Al cuts his toenails and dumps them into her shoe.
- Peggy sings "Dominique" by The Singing Nun after Al admits defeat.
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room/Kitchen
- Al & Peggy's Bedroom
- Shoe Store
Goofs[]
- Peggy says "it's been 16 years" referring to her marriage with Al (since they certainly dated for longer than a year before they got married) but they do not celebrate their 16th anniversary until a few episodes later in "Sixteen Years and What Do You Get?".
- Peg is pulling back the sheets of the bed and finds one of Al's socks. She picks it up and throws it up in the air, but we never see the sock come back down. She likely threw it over the wall of the set.
- Peggy has to laugh when Al feeds her in bed.
- Peggy tells Al that it has been a long time since they last slept with each other but they only just had sex the episode before.
Gallery[]
Episode stills[]
External Links[]
Thinnergy at the Internet Movie Database- Thinnergy on Bundyology
- Thinnergy - Illustrated Transcript on albundy.net
- #02 Thinnergy - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
