Grime and Punishment is the 12th episode of Season 11 of Married... with Children and the 250th overall series episode. Directed by Sam W. Orender and written by Steve Faber & Bob Fisher, it premiered on FOX-TV on January 20, 1997.
Synopsis[]
After Al starts charging Bud rent, his tenant starts making certain demands over his accommodations. Al refuses to co-operate, and is horrified when a building inspector labels him a slumlord and confines him to Bud's basement room until he agrees to make the required repairs.
Meanwhile Kelly takes an improv class and Al takes advantage of her by asking her to act (work) like him.
Plot Summary[]
Bud arrives home and informs Al that he got one of his clients an informercial gig, which means he'll be earning more income now. Since Bud is actually earning money, Al decides that it is time for him to charge Bud rent for living in the basement. Initially, he refused to pay, since Al doesn't charge Kelly rent. But Al quickly points out that Kelly hasn't slept in the house in years and if he charged Peg, then she would expect sex from him. Bud is then left with no other option but to live out on the street while finding a new place to live.
Meanwhile, Kelly begins taking an improv class to improve her acting skills. After asking Al for help, she ends up improvising as Al, which soon leads him to convince Kelly to start mowing the backyard.
Sometime later, a defeated Bud returns home and finally agrees to pay Al rent. Bud and Al sign a lease and Bud pays his rent, after which he claims that the "apartment" is in need of repair and threatens to report Al to the housing authority. A month later, the inspector declares the basement condemned, noting the raw sewage, shoddy wiring and rats. After making excuses for the poor quality, Al then makes the mistake of insulting her weight. Annoyed, the health inspector forces Al to wear an electronic neck band that prevents him from leaving the basement. She then tells him that he will continue to remain there until he has finally made the appropriate repairs.
With Al is locked inside, Bud begins to torture him by conducting a science experiment. Al then tries to bribe Bud with money, but Bud quickly points out that it is "Kinko's Money" (i.e. fake money that Al made copies of at a Kinko's print shop). Later that day, Jefferson tries to break him out of the basement, but Al refuses to leave. He points out that since he was condemned to living in the basement, he had been free from Peg's overbearing needs for sex. Al tells Jefferson that he doesn't have to worry about needing to deal with her at all.
Al's movement of freedom from the wife and kids is soon cut short, as Bud decides to continue torturing Al by bringing in several people from the neighborhood would like to torture him, starting with Marcy. Marcy proceeds to tell Al stories of how she discovered feminism and then reads a poem that causes Al to literally bite through a wrench. Next, Kelly is brought in and uses her improve skills to act out the history of America. Yet, despite the injuries and pain, Al remains steadfast in not doing the repairs and remains in the basement.
Later that night, Bud is annoyed by Al's resistance that he talks to Kelly and Peg about it. They discuss what to do in regards to him. Peg mentions that since Marcy and Kelly failed, they need to think outside the box and figure out a way to scare Al into compliance. Bud and Kelly then get an idea in how to make him repair the basement. Peg notices that they're staring directly at her and asks about it. Since Al is scared of her, Bud and Kelly decide to use her to their advantage.
In the basement, Al is cleaning his ears with a drill and reading Big 'Uns. Relishing his freedom in the basement, Al decides that he could start making improvement in it so he can stay there all the time. That is until Peg shows up and she horrifies him by forcing him to have sex with her. The following morning, Bud comes downstairs to the basement seeing Al in a horrible position from Peg's forced sex. Al promises to make the repairs if Bud turns off the tracking device and release him. Although Bud is afraid that Al will now retaliate, Al reveals that he is not mad and in fact is proud of Bud for doing what male Bundys do best: getting mad AND getting even. After sharing a father-son moment, the two decide that they will fix up the basement together, but will first go have a hamburger. Unfortunately, just as they make their way up the staircase, Bud still holding the collar, ends up getting both him and Al shocked.
Guest Stars[]
- Marianne Muellereile as Health Inspector
Quotes[]
- [Kelly comes downstairs as Al is watching television]
- Kelly: Hey, Daddy? I need to do some homework for my "improve" class, so give me a situation.
- Al: [focused on the game] Daddy's watching the baseball game.
- Kelly: [snaps fingers] Got it.
- [Kelly slouches her shoulders and has a defeated look on her face, then takes a seat next to Al on the couch.]
- Kelly: Ehhh.... [begins to put her hand down her pants and tilts her head to the side, as Al gives her an odd look]
- Al: [stroking his chin] Now daddy's mowing the lawn.
- Kelly: [struggles to get up, bitterly] Damn lawn. Damn kid. Damn wife. [As Kelly approaches the stairs, Peggy is coming down] Forget it, Peg, no sex tonight.
- Peg: [awkwardly] Okay, honey. Just as well. [sits next to Al] Improv class?
- Al: [chuckling] Yes, best money I ever spent, with all due respect to the My Three Sons Holy Trinity serving tray.
- Peg: [in a seductive tone] Oh, Al, it's time for your conjugal visit.
- Al: [horrified] Pumpkin! Bud! Help me!
- [Al gets up and attempts to run away, but gets electrocuted. He then screams as Peggy grabs him]
- Al: Ahhhh! Ahhh-ahh!
- Peg: [grinning] Shut up, Al! You're my bitch now!
- [Al continues to scream in horror as they both go down to the floor]
Notes[]
Title[]
- The episode title was influenced by the novel, Crime And Punishment.
Trivia[]
- This episode does not end with an epilogue scene.
- Al reveals that he enlisted his father in the U.S. Army and got him sent in to fight during the Korean War.
- According to Bud's Baby Book, his first words were "Bud need food. Bud want food. Ouch!".
- In the season 7 episode "Christmas," there is a flashback scene where Bud's first words were "Playboys, Hooters."
- Al says that Bud has the traits of a Wanker, which include a slopping forehead, laziness, and the ability to catch flies with his tongue.
- Marianne Muellereile, who plays the inspector, previously appeared on the MWC spin-offTop of the Heap as Mrs. O'Malley in the episode "The Last Temptation of Charlie".
Cultural References[]
- At the beginning of the episode, Al complains about Peggy and her collection of "The Little Rascal's Last Supper Commemorative Plates".
- This is in reference to the Our Gang (a.k.a. The Little Rascals) series of short films and the Leonardo da Vinci painting, "The Last Supper", which depicts the final meal between Jesus Christ and his disciples.
- The Little Rascals were previously mentioned in the Season 5 episode "And Baby Makes Money", when Al and the family keep mixing up Stymie Bundy's name with characters from the films and the Season 6 episode, "The Egg and I", when Al mentions the actor who played Alfalfa in the films could have played Steve Rhoades if they made a movie about him.
- Bud points out that Al makes money by photocopying dollar bills at Kinko's (now known as FedEx Office), a retail chain that does copying, printing, marketing and shipping.
- Peggy's shadow on the wall was inspired by the movie Nosferatu.
- Jefferson hides behind a poster of model and actress Brooke Burke for Venus Swimwear.
- During Kelly's American history re-enactment, she is dressed up as a woman from the 1700s and claims that she will name her newborn son "Bob Dole".
- Bob Dole was an attorney and former U.S. Senator from Kansas. At the time this episode was filmed in September 1996, Dole was running as the Republican nominee in the 1996 U.S. presidential election against incumbent Democratic president Bill Clinton as well as Independent candidate Ross Perot. By the time this episode aired in January 1997, Clinton had been re-elected to a second presidential term, remaining in office until he was term-limited out in January 2001, when Republican George W. Bush (who defeated Clinton’s vice president Al Gore in the 2000 election) took office.
- Kelly's line was likely meant to mock Dole's age, as he was about 73 years old in 1996 compared to Clinton, who had just turned 50, but was often touted by the media as being hip and cool and relatable to the 20-something year-olds of Generation X. Their age difference was also highlighted by the media during their campaigns.
- Bob Dole was an attorney and former U.S. Senator from Kansas. At the time this episode was filmed in September 1996, Dole was running as the Republican nominee in the 1996 U.S. presidential election against incumbent Democratic president Bill Clinton as well as Independent candidate Ross Perot. By the time this episode aired in January 1997, Clinton had been re-elected to a second presidential term, remaining in office until he was term-limited out in January 2001, when Republican George W. Bush (who defeated Clinton’s vice president Al Gore in the 2000 election) took office.
- Al mentions that he got a "My Three Sons Holy Trinity serving tray", in reference to the 1960s television sitcom My Three Sons.
Location[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Bud's Room / Bundy Basement
Goofs[]
- Marcy giggles after she throws the hammer at the moving nipples.
- The health inspector is shown putting a restraint collar on Al to detain him to the basement until he makes the required upgrades. Despite working for the city government, she would actually have no legal authority to imprison Al within his own property, especially with a device such as a restraint collar.
- While in the basement, the inspector claims that she is standing in raw sewage. Yet, just as the scene started, a wider shot of her and the male Bundys standing in the basement shows that the floor is completely clean and dry.
- During Kelly's improvisation of American history, she throws a tomahawk and it hits Al. Yet, Kelly throws it straight forward, and Al was sitting off to the side, clearly away from the trajectory path, so it would be rather impossible for it to hit him unless it somehow changed its trajectory in mid flight and then made a sharp turn towards Al.
- When Al uses a power drill to clean his ear, it sounds like it's on, but the bit clearly isn't rotating. Also, it appears to be flexing until Al finally pulls it away from his ear.
- According to Bud's Baby Book, his first words were "Bud need food. Bud want food. Ouch!". But in the season 7 episode, "Christmas", Peggy said that his first words were "Playboys! Hooters!" when she is shown wiping his mouth.
- When Al reveals that he can now use a scanner to keep track of Bud's expenses, he only scanned the image of the can instead of an actual barcode.