God's Shoes is the 8th episode of season 6 of Married... with Children, also the 113th overall episode in the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen, and written by Ellen L. Fogle, the episode premiered on the FOX network, airing on November 3, 1991.
Synopsis[]
Al falls out of his bedroom window after seeing a $2500 painting of Peg. When he returns to consciousness, Al tells his kids that he saw God's shoes and, with Jefferson's help and Marcy's money, decides to sell God's shoes to the masses.
Plot[]
Al falls from the second floor of his house, hitting his head, and then has an out-of-body experience in this episode. Appearing at the Heavenly Gates, then sees God's Shoes, which he said were brown and gold, had socks stitched in, and the toes were custom fitted. He spent forty days and thirty-nine nights (a parody of Noah's Ark), he also spent the fortieth night watching a pornographic movie, Planet of the D-cups. He made the Shoes and Jefferson and Al tried to market them. They failed miserably. Al had another out-of-body experience, where "God" turned out to be a spirit named Sid, who had tried the same thing in life (he died in 1925) and it also failed. Sid then gives Al the idea for The Shoehorn, a restaurant/shoe store!
Recurring cast/Guest stars[]
- Regular cast
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Note: Katey Sagal, who plays the part of Peg. does not appear in this episode.
Guest starring[]
- Tim Kazurinsky as Sidney Rimhollow
- Larry Jacobson as TV Host
- Brad Blumenthal as Bob (as Brad Parker)
- Megan O'Hara as Lola
- June Foray as Scary Mary (voice)
Quotes[]
- Al: I've had a rotten day, and I'm in a foul mood. A fat woman came into the shoe store today and said that she was a size five. I shoved her hoof into a shoe, my thumb got stuck in the back of the shoe. She panicked, reared up, and galloped around the store, dragging me on the floor behind her. Thank God a stick of butter popped out of her purse, so I was able to grease my way out of there.
- Al: Kids, I now know what my mission in life is. God chose me to make the perfect shoes, God’s shoes. Kids, bring me pen and paper at once. [Bud and Kelly just sit and stare.] Thank you. Take this down quickly. Thou shalt have shoes with toes stitched in, thou shall have socks attached to yon shoes and thou shall have a lot of other stuff that will come forthwith. [he starts to walk up stairs] So it’s I, I Al Bundy who shall shod the unwashed masses, I shalt not rest until every foot sings the praises of thine shoes. Halleluiah I say, Halleluiah. [he heads up stairs]
- Kelly: I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of him.
- Bud: Well God created both of you, think of the pride he’s feelin’.
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of the episode is a reference to the shoes that Al makes and tries to sell.
Trivia[]
- Dr. Jonathan Blue, the host of People to Laugh at, is played by Larry Jacobson, a staff writer and story editor for MWC.
- The voice of Scary Mary is played by June Foray, who is probably best known as the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends.
- Near the end of the episode, Al mentions that his new shoe shoe/burger restaurant idea will be called "Shoehorn-o-Plenty". In the season 10 episode, "I Can't Believe It's Butter", Griff would go by the nickname "Shoehorn-o-Plenty" when talking to Butter over the phone.
- Katey Sagal does not appear in this episode. Due to her absence, Peggy is briefly mentioned as having left for Mardi Gras following Al's accident.
- Megan O'Hara, who plays Lola, appeared on MWC again a few of episodes later in "Kelly Does Hollywood (Part 2)" as "Girl #1", the lady in the purple dress who flirts with Bud.
Cultural References[]
- The scene where Al sees Peggy's painting and the music that accompanies it is a reference to the shower scene from the 1960 psychological horror film, Psycho.
- Bud mentions that Kelly tried to open a bottle of Coors beer with Al's teeth while he was unconscious.
- Bud mentions the children's cereal Cocoa Puffs and references it slogan when suggesting that Al can "go coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs".
- Kelly suggests that Al asks God who actually buys Dockers, a clothing brand known for business casual pants.
- When Kelly tries to convince Bud and the D'Arcys that she still believes in Al, she mentions several products that failed such as the pet rock , the mood ring and NBC's Sunday Night Lineup.
- In contrast, ABC, CBS, and FOX had relatively stable Sunday Night Schedules.
- Kelly's mentions a number of silly things while defending Al's "God shoes", one of which is NBC's Sunday night lineup. As this episode was filmed in the fall of 1991, NBC's Sunday night lineup during that time consisted of:
- The Adventures of Mark and Brian
- Eerie, Indiana (Actually lasted the whole season as all 19 episodes aired.)
- Man of The People
- Pacific Station
- NBC Sunday Night Movie
- Hot Country Nights (Midseason replacement for Man of the People and Pacific Station)
- Mann & Machine (Midseason replacement for Hot Country Nights)
- Jefferson mentions that he tried to book Al on The Oprah Winfrey Show, but he couldn't get a hold of her because it was always lunchtime, referencing the daytime talk show host and her constant weight fluctuation.
- Jefferson mentions that he'll try to book Al on Ted Koppel, in reference to the journalist who at the time was the host of the late-night news program, Nightline.
- Sid tells Al that he can't disturb God because he is watching Knots Landing and Al ponders why that show was never cancelled. Knots Landing was a CBS prime time soap opera that ran from 1979 until 1993.
- During his discussion about "Shoehorn-o-Plenty", Al mentions that his hero, John Wayne gave him the idea that the hamburger patties served there will be in the shape of a shoehorn.
- One of the callers on People to Laugh at mentions owning a 1985 Pontiac Bonneville.
Music[]
- "The Murder", the instrumental score from the shower scene in the 1960 film Psycho is heard when Al sees Peggy's painting in the bedroom.
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Scary Mary Studio
- People to Laugh at Studio
- Heaven
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room
- Scary Mary Studio
- People to Laugh at Studio
- Heaven
Goofs[]
- Kelly mentions Al's failed attempt to walk across Lake Michigan to Canada to sell shoes. However, Lake Michigan is located entirely within the U.S., so even if Al could walk on water, it wouldn't be possible to get to Canada that way.
- Note that Kelly is a Grade-A moron who likely confused Michigan with Lake Michigan. Even so, it is impossible to cross Michigan into Canada without crossing a body of water.
- When Al falls out the window the first time, you can clearly see the dummy and it lands one way, yet when the camera shows the real Al, he is in a different position.
- When Al fall out the window for the second time, its clearly a dummy again and it lands with its face looking into the camera.
- Al vision seem to be okay in this episode when he sees the painting of Peg and the price (from his point of view) even though in the previous episode he needed glasses, and could barely see without them.
- Most likely Al got contacts between the two episodes.
External Links[]
God's Shoes at the Internet Movie Database- God's Shoes on Bundyology
- God's Shoes - Transcript on albundy.net
- #113 God's Shoes - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
