I Want My Psycho Dad (Part 2) was the 196th overall series episode of Married... with Children also the 13th episode of Season 9 of the series. Directed and Gerry Cohen and written by David Castro, the episode originally aired on FOX-TV on December 18, 1994.
Synopsis[]
Part two of two episode story and conclusion. Al and NO MA'AM take their case to have Psycho Dad put back on the air to Washington, D.C. They lie to their wives, but Peg and Marcy find them. Through Jefferson's connection they address the senate, but the Psycho Dad ban is not lifted. The kids party hard back home and it makes to the national news.
Storyline[]
Al and NO MA'AM take their case to have Psycho Dad put back on the air to Washington, D.C.. They lie to their wives, but Peg and Marcy find them. Through Jefferson's inexplicable intelligence community connections they address the senate, but the Psycho Dad ban is not lifted. The kids party hard back home and it makes to the national news.
Recurring Cast/Regulars[]
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Buck the Dog as Buck Bundy
- E.E. Bell as Bob Rooney
- Dan Tullis, Jr. as Officer Dan
Guest starring[]
- Tom McCleister as Ike
- J. Patrick McCormack as Senator Furman
- T.C. Warner as Pam
- Barry Wiggins as Geronimo
- Michael Philip as Chopper
- Joseph D. Reitman as Tom (as Joseph Reitman)
Quotes[]
- [Al, dressed in fishing attire, is about to head out to meet up with his NO MA'AM brothers and fly to Washington D.C., but is stopped by Peggy]
- Peg: Al, it is 5 in the morning. Where are you going?
- Al: Fishing, Peg. Ice fishing, to be exact.
- Peg: You never used to like ice fishing.
- Al: Am I not permitted to grow as a human being, Peg?
- Peg: Well, I don't know, Al.
- [the sound of someone knocking on the front door is heard]
- Al: Well, if you don't believe me, here's one of my ice-fishing friends.
- [Al goes to open the door to find Jefferson, who is dressed in deer hunting attire and carrying a rifle over his shoulder.]
- Jefferson: Hey, buddy. You ready to go deer hunting?
- Al: You mean ice fishing, don't you, Jefferson?
- Jefferson: [in a hushed tone] I voted "no" on ice... [Al immediately stomps on Jefferson's foot] OWWWHOOO... Oh ho, Did I say deer hunting? [looks at Al] I meant ice fishing.
- Al: Yeah, Peg. See, Jefferson forgot that a big part of ice fishing is getting the bait and in this case it's... [awkward pause] deer.
- Jefferson: [stiffly] Fish love deer. [another knock is heard at the door] Well, let's go.
- [Jefferson opens the door to find Griff, dressed in skiing attire and carrying a pair of skis with him]
- Griff: Hey, guys, ready to go skiing?
- Al: [turns to Peg with a forced grin] Excuse us one minute, Peg.
- [sometime later, the rest of the group are there and are in a huddle]
- Al: Ready, break! [claps and turns to Peg, revealing that all of the men are in different outfits] So you see, Peg, after Jefferson gets the deer bait [Jefferson steps forward and mimics shooting a rifle], Griff has to ski it down to the lake [Griff steps forward and nods] where Ike has set up camp [Ike, dressed in hiking attire, steps forward and shrugs]. And Bob Rooney scuba dives it [Bob Rooney, dressed in scuba gear, mimics diving into water] into the lake to see which fish are the hungriest, telling Officer Dan [Officer Dan, dressed as a Native American, smiles and waves to Peg] so he in turn can smoke signal the information back to me so I can ice fish with utmost confidence.
- Peggy: Of course. Have a nice time, Boys. Catch a big one, Al.
- Al: Oh I already have, Peg.
- [At the Senate hearing, Officer Dan makes a request to Senator Furman to speak]
- Officer Dan: Sir? [raises his hand to get Senator Furman's attention, then adjusts his ski mask to face the audience] As a peace officer who's proud to be a NO MA'AMer, I think we have to distinguish between real violence and cartoon violence.
- Ike: [walks over and stands next to Dan] Yeah, like last night when Dan here [Ike puts his arm around Officer Dan, who now has a horrified look on his face] emptied his .38 into a crowd of punks? They knew this man and his hot lead were for real. Now, a cartoon Dan, in the first place, [pulls off Officer Dan's mask, revealing the horrified look on his face to the audience. Dan then slowly turns to face Ike.] would have to be much better looking. [pulls out a drawing] I submit this sketch.
- Officer Dan: You...!! [begins to attack Ike as the other NO MA'AM members try to break up the fight]
- [after the other members failed to make a solid argument for bringing back Psycho Dad and downplay violent television shows, Al tries to drive his point home]
- Al: But our point here is we know where real violence comes from. And it's not from that magic box I like to call TV. Oh sure, the tube can be blamed for a lot of things: Brent Musberger, Full House, any show where overweight female cop dress up as hookers. But violence? That's too easy. We've all been brought up on Roadrunner cartoons and The Three Stooges, but how many of us have run a saw across a bald guy's head? How many of us have drawn a tunnel on the side of a mountain, only to watch our loved ones smash themselves into it? Because we had parents, ladies and gentlemen. Parents who said "Don't do what TV tells you to do, do what we tell you to do, or it's 'five across the eyes!'" Anyway, I say if there's a problem with TV today, it's because parents aren't saying that anymore. Take my kids... Please.
- [Al's joke is met with dead silence from the audience]
- Al: [turns to Jefferson, in a bitter tone] Thanks for the joke, Jefferson.
- Jefferson: [giddy] Kennedy's on the floor.
- Al: Kennedy's always on the floor. [adjust his pants and resumes his talk] Anyway, my kids may not be angels, but when they screw up, I don't blame TV. I put the blame squarely where it belongs... on their mother. [the NO MA'AM members nod in agreement]
- Ike...And rap music.
- Al:...And rap music.
- Griff: [offended] I like rap music! [the other members turns and argue with him]
- Al: So in conclusion, I'd like to say the next time you want to find the source of violence, try looking on the other side of the screen.
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to the slogan used by cable music channel MTV during the early 1980s.
- The second part of the title, "Second Blood (Part 2)" is a reference to the 1982 film Rambo: First Blood Part II, which is the second film of the Rambo film franchise.
Trivia[]
- In 1993, MWC co-creator and producer Michael G. Moye got into a dispute with FOX over this two part episode (which was still in the early writing stage at the time and had been slated to be released during season 8), claiming that the network was trying to censor it. He believed that they did this as an attempt to appease Congress, following Attorney General Janet Reno who wanted to crack down on television violence.[1][2]
- Joseph D. Reitman who plays Tom, the guy that Kelly makes out with before Al beats up, previously appeared as Kelly's boyfriend, Genghis in "Naughty but Niece".
- The clothes that he is wearing is the same exact outfit he wears when he played Genghis again in the season 10 episode "The Weaker Sex", which could imply that Tom and Genghis are the same character.
- Peggy reveals that Al never liked ice fishing.
- It is also revealed that Griff never liked Psycho Dad.
Cultural References[]
- After Al mistakes Philadelphia's nickname "The City of Brotherly Love" for Washington D.C., he asks what is Washington. Officer Dan then tells him "A team without a quarterback!" causing the group to laugh.
- This is reference to the Washington Commanders, which at the time this episode was filmed, was known as the Washington Redskins. During their 1994 NFL season, the Redskins had one of the worst records in the league, with only 3 wins to 13 losses and having no wins at their home stadium, RFK Stadium.
- Sadly for Washington, every other team in the league has won at least one home game in 1994.
- The actual answer to Al's question, what is Washington known as, would be either "D.C." or "The District".
- This is reference to the Washington Commanders, which at the time this episode was filmed, was known as the Washington Redskins. During their 1994 NFL season, the Redskins had one of the worst records in the league, with only 3 wins to 13 losses and having no wins at their home stadium, RFK Stadium.
- After the first drive by shooting at the motel occurs, Griff sarcastically asks them if the "John Hinckley Arms" was booked?
- John Hinckley Jr. is an American man who became known for his attempt to assassinate then-U.S. President, Ronald Reagan in 1981 and prior to that, stalking actress Jodie Foster.
- Ike asks the group how can get into Congress without credentials and Bob Rooney mentions singer Sonny Bono was able to do that.
- Sonny Bono was a singer, actor, politician and former husband to singer/actress Cher. He became involved with politics in the late 1980s, serving first as Mayor of Palm Springs, California and then as a representative of California's 44th district until his death in 1998.
- Officer Dan mentions that Jefferson was named after a U.S. President, but Ike tells Jefferson that he thought he was named after Sherman Hemsley.
- Officer Dan is referring to U.S. President Thomas Jefferson
- Ike is referring to actor Sherman Hemsley, who was best known for his role as George Jefferson from the 1970s sitcom, The Jeffersons.
- MWC co-creators Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt as well as several MWC staff members were writers for The Jeffersons and several MWC episodes had referenced the show, most notable "Dances with Weezie".
- After the second shooting at the hotel room, Officer Dan yells "Damn postal workers!".
- This is in reference to multiple cases of United States Postal Workers going on mass shooting sprees since 1983, citing excessive stress from their jobs. In 1993, these types of shootings lead to the creation of a slang term called "Going Postal".
- After Officer Dan fires several shots at the postal workers, he yells out "Hey, we're from Chicago! Don't you know we invented random violence!". The city of Chicago has had a long history of violent crimes, with 83% of homicides in the city involving gunfire as of 2011.
- During his speech, Al mentions that a few things television could be blamed for include:
- Brent Musberger - American sportscaster who was known at the time this episode aired for providing coverage for sporting events on ESPN and ABC before his retirement in 2017. He also worked at CBS from 1975 to 1990 with his most notable assignment being host of "The NFL Today."
- Full House - Family sitcom that ran on ABC from 1987 to 1995
- Any show where overweight female cop dress up as hookers... - Likely referring to the 1980s police drama, Cagney & Lacy, which focused on the lives of two female NYPD detectives. In the pilot tv movie and 1st episode series, the two detectives, who are in their 40s, go undercover as prostitutes.
- After Al tells the Senate "Take my kids...please" and no one laughs, Jefferson tells him "Kennedy's on the floor", which Al tells him "Kennedy's always on the floor!".
- This is in reference to Ted Kennedy who was a long serving Senator and brother of former U.S. President, John F. Kennedy. He was often known for his heavy drinking even while on the Senate floor, as Al alluded to.
- Al's joke is a reference to Henny Youngman's signature joke, "Now take my wife... Please!", which was also referenced in the title of the Season 8 episode, "Take My Wife, Please".
- After saving Senator Fuhrman, Al suggests that he should cancel Blossom and implies that the robber got the idea to wear a hat from the show.
- Blossom was an NBC sitcom that aired from 1991 until 1995. The show focused on a girl named Blossom who often wore quirky and unique hats.
- At the time this episode originally, Blossom was already entering its final season.
- Michael Stoyanov, who played Blossom's oldest brother, previously guest starred on MWC as the pizza deliveryman who takes back the pizza Al ordered after his card was rejected in "You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em (Part 1)".
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Washington D.C. Hotel
- U.S. Capital Building
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Hotel Room
- U.S. Senate Chamber floor / hallways
Goofs[]
- After Officer Dan mentions that Jefferson was named after a U.S. President, Ike tells Jefferson that he thought he was named after Sherman Hemsley, who played the character George Jefferson on the sitcom The Jeffersons. Jefferson didn't deny Ike's statement, but simply shrugged. However, Ted McGinley was born in 1958, nearly 17 years BEFORE the pilot episode of The Jeffersons was filmed. Therefore, his character Jefferson D'Arcy, who is approximately the same age, could not possibly be named after George Jefferson.
- Though it is possible that he chose "Jefferson" based on the character as part of his new identity. He had previously stated in "The D'Arcy Files" that Jefferson D'Arcy is not his real name due to his work for the CIA.
- This could also be an instance of breaking the fourth wall, as the producers, who as previously mentioned worked on The Jeffersons, may have had the series in mind when naming Ted McGinley's character. Jefferson, however, could be a reference to Jefferson High School, the fictional institution on Happy Days where Roger Phillips (played by McGinley) taught.
- Al and Griff go to Washington DC, which is at least a 2 day event; they get a hotel room with the other NO MA'AM members. Given this had to be a week day in order to see the Senate (Senate doesn't work on the weekends), one would think who is running the shoe store while they are gone?
- Al punches a guy who brought a knife on Capital Hill. A knife would not get through security or the metal detectors as they were installed prior to this time period.
References[]
- ↑ ‘Married’ exec PO’d at spiking. Variety.
- ↑ "I Want My Psycho Dad (Part 1)" (0913). Bundyology.