"Daddy, it is so hot out here you could lay an egg on the sidewalk!"
—Kelly Bundy
Kelly Bundy is the daughter of Al and Peggy Bundy; she is also the elder sister of Bud Bundy. She is notorious for her stupidity (which may or may not have been inherited from her father) and extreme promiscuity (which may or may not have been inherited from her mother), much to the dismay of Al. In early seasons, Kelly was anything but fond of her family; she thought nothing of expressing her shame of them, and got into at least one fistfight over being called a Bundy. Yet Kelly has no qualms about disregarding her own safety, popularity, and opinions - if need be - in order to defend or avenge Bud and/or their parents. Kelly is also a big fan of Garfield, especially the original comic strips, and loves to read aloud (she has a tendency toward horrendous-if-hilarious mispronunciations).
Biography[]
Kelly Bundy was born to Al Bundy and Peggy Wanker on November 27th of 1971. It has been mentioned in several episode that she was conceived in Al's Dodge[27][31], and in one particular episode, conceived the night Al scored his Four Touchdowns while celebrating with his then girlfriend, Peggy at a drive-in theater. [32] (Though if she was conceived on the night Al scored four touchdowns, that would mean she was born closer to August 1967).
But in one case, Al clearly stated that Kelly was conceived at home while he was watching the television series, Get Smart and had to put his forearm in Peggy's mouth so he could hear the show's dialogue.[33] (though the series had already ended in May of 1970, more than a year before Kelly's listed birthdate)
In the MWC comic book special, "Father Knows Worst", the flashback to Kelly's birth states that she was born in 1973 at Chicago Memorial Hospital.
When Al finally took Kelly home from the hospital, he had accidentally left her on top of the car roof and was also about to drive off without Peggy. [34]
Kelly used to be highly intelligent until she bumped her head during a car ride with her parents in Al’s Dodge. Her high intelligence and goodness went to Bud.
High School[]
She already appeared to be a student at Polk High School at the beginning of the series. She graduated from the school in 1990, though it was mentioned in several episode that she was held back. She also graduated late due to her mother (who was also taking the class as she failed it and didn't officially graduate in the 1960s) swapping out Kelly's final project (a plate of Jell-O) with hers (crown rack of lamb that was ruined due to Al) for their Home Economics class. This allowed Peggy to officially graduate from Polk High with the others, while Kelly was forced to take a summer remedial class.[35]
During her senior year, Kelly found work as a "Rock Video Slut" in a music video for the rock group, The Guttercats. She later interned as a "Weather Bunny" for Channel 83 news.
After High School[]
After graduating from Polk High in 1990, Kelly was hardly cut out for college. She then convinced her father to enroll her at a local modeling school[36]. This led to her being hired as "the Allante Girl" (thanks to her patented move, "The Bundy Bounce") and, after that, being crowned Miss Weenie Tots. Eventually, Kelly's modelling school was shut down (after they moved upstairs from their original location, with Bud noting that Kelly and the other models were too dumb to find it[26]). Upon learning of the closure, Kelly visited the local theme park, TV World and took the advice from a janitor to apply for a job there. Kelly originally starting as a greeter at entrance/exit, but after nearly getting fired by Bud and the neighbors, Marcy and Jefferson D'Arcy, she convinced her boss to let her have a different job there. She eventually got the role of playing "The Verminator". The role was considered a success (with Bud also landing a role there as her nemesis, "The Roach King") and both siblings worked there presumably during the summer.
In "Kelly Doesn't Live Here Anymore" it appeared that she was no longer working as the Verminator and took a job as a waitress, working for local diner owned and operated by Wayne. Along with screwing up orders, she is later bullied by her former teacher, Miss Parker who brought several female students to see how far Kelly had fallen from being the school's most popular girl who could have any boy she wanted, to now being an incompetent waitress. Though, by end of the episode, she became proficient with her job and even made amends with Miss Parker (as Kelly had previously stolen Miss Parker's husband as well as the student that she was having sex with), as she gave life advice to her and the other girls. Kelly would continue working as a waitress for several more episodes.
In "Luck of the Bundys" Kelly reveals that the diner where she worked at was being shut down for major health code violations. As she was being decontaminated, one of the people there recognized her from her past role as The Verminator and got her a new job, playing The Verminator once again, but this time for Pep Boys Exterminator. She would appear in ads alongside its found Billy Ray Wetnap. After learning that her boss wanted to change her superhero outfit into just a bikini, she took the advice that Jefferson gave her, which was to stand up for herself and demand better treatment. Although it was obvious that Jefferson meant well, his advice backfired as Kelly was fired, causing her to lament that she was now an unemployed 23 year old living at home.[37]. Marcy, upset that Jefferson would give out that kind of advice, decided to help Kelly out and get her a job at her bank, Kyoto National Bank. Though it turned out that the job was to be a window model, wearing only a bikini. It also was a short lived job, as Kelly mistook a valuable client as a terrorist and reported it to Marcy.
In "Kelly Breaks Out", she begins to pursue an acting career, starting as a spokesmodel for Ice Hole Beer. She also appeared in an ad for Khalil's False Eye Emporium in "Business Sucks (Part 1)". She then tried to audition for a television show called Pease in a Pod but did not get the role. Instead, the show's creator Ronald N. Michaels stole the story about the Bundy family and turned into the show's premise, without giving proper credit to her or her family and neighbors.
Later on, Kelly studied at The Larry Storch School of Acting to further improve her acting skills.
By the end of the show, she had several acting credits under her slim belt, most notably: Lila, the Romantic Roast woman; the title role on the short-lived Princess Kelly Show. Kelly also studied massage therapy, but ended up injuring Bud due to her very-limited training.
About Kelly[]
Kelly is known for her stupidity and promiscuity, both of which are routinely mocked by her family (particularly Bud). She has had a prodigious amount of male companions throughout the series. Both Kelly and Bud use her extreme beauty to their often-separate, but sometimes-mutual, advantage. Her choice in men is dubious; most of her boyfriends get beaten up and/or ejected from the house by Al.
Her intelligence is also the topic for insult, although the extent of her stupidity appears to be fluid, varying from episode to episode, season to season. She originally appeared to be of fairly average intelligence, albeit not very keen to put it to use, though later seasons amped this up to her being unable to grasp common concepts, let alone read properly.
According to Bundyology.com, the exact point where Kelly is first shown to have been dumbed down is in the season 2 episode, "Guys and Dolls", when Bud was able to make her believe that the story Robinson Caruso takes place on the same island as the television show Gilligan's Island and later, Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven with the television show, The Addams Family. Although for the rest of season 2, she seemed to be back to having average intelligence, from season 3 onward, her stupidity would be amplified in various episodes, as Kellyisms were introduced and she would be seen accidentally bumping into the wall or tripping and falling onto the floor, or even forgetting what was she was just thinking about.
It is implied in the show that she was fairly intelligent as a young girl, as well as a voracious reader, but that a head injury during a car trip reduced her intelligence. Despite this, Kelly does show moments of very high intelligence, or at least street smarts on rare occasions.
Although she is usually portrayed as dumb, she does show that she is actually knowledgeable in math and physics, such as in T*R*A*S*H, when she is able to precisely calculate the trajectory to launch trash in to the D'Arcy's attic with a catapult and in Cheese, Cues and Blood when she is demonstrates her knowledge of angles in a game of billiards.
It was also pointed out by Bud that her memory is rather limited, meaning that for every new fact she learned, she would completely forget another fact that she had previously learned. This was first mentioned in season 3's "Here's Lookin' at You, Kid" when Bud tried to help her study. It was brought up again in the season 8 episode, "Kelly Knows Something", which proved fatal to her Dad's hopes for a new TV when Kelly appeared on a sports trivia quiz show.
Kelly was portrayed to be fairly popular in high school, and also appeared to be a bully and a "mean girl", similar to Al, who himself was both popular and a bully in his youth. She did not take school seriously, as she was often portrayed as ditching classes to hang out with friends or hide her report card since they often had low grades.
Relationships[]
Al Bundy[]
Kelly seems to be close to her father and even as an adult, she still addresses him as "Daddy" instead of "Dad", although at times, she wishes that he was not her father.
Likewise, as much as Al wishes that he wasn't married or had kids, he cares about her, as he usually calls her "Pumpkin" and is willing to do whatever it takes to make her happy.
Peggy Bundy[]
Kelly also appear to be close to her mother, though she is often willing to point out the times that hasn't been a good mother. The two of them have multiple things to bond over such as talking about and ogling men, not wanting to work, and even going to the strip club together.
Bud Bundy[]
Like many brothers and sisters, Bud and Kelly constantly bicker with each other. Kelly teases Bud for being an unattractive virgin with acne, and for keeping an inflatable sex-doll. At the same time, Bud mocks Kelly for being (or at least acting) incredibly dumb and promiscuous, often implying that she has been prostituting herself since childhood.
Despite their arguments and fights, both siblings are always ready and willing to defend the other (much like George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men). For example: In "What Goes Around Came Around", when popular Heather McCoy pranked Bud at Polk High's Homecoming by hanging his underwear up onstage, Kelly got revenge on her brother's behalf the next day by leaving a nearly-nude Heather tied up in the school hallway, with a sign that read "Don't Mess with a Bundy".
Similarly, in "Hi I.Q.", after Kelly is about to cry and run away after realizing that she is at an "Idiot Party", Bud reminds her that the "Bundy Way" is to get swift revenge on those who have wronged her. He then encourages to beat up the nerds who organized the party and helps her fight until the siblings are the only ones left standing in the room.
Physical appearance[]
Kelly is a very beautiful young woman, with long blonde hair and a penchant for revealing clothes (particularly miniskirts and short dresses). Eventually, however, she displays relative maturity by dressing more modestly and taking on a real job.
During seasons 1 and 2, she had a shoulder length bob hairstyle, that grows out past her shoulders midway through season 2. Notably, her hair was bleached to the point where it was considered more white than blonde (as noted by Roy and Beany in "Poppy's by the Tree (Part 1)" and "Poppy's by the Tree (Part 2)"). During season 1 and the first half of season 2, her fashion was more conservative, often wearing denim jeans and loose fitting t-shirts or button down shirts. The couple of times that she has a skirt on, it is long and goes below her knees. The first time she wears something more revealing is near the end of "Alley of the Dolls" when she appears at the bowling alley and opens her trench coat to reveal a leather mini skirt and a top with her shoulders bare. A few episodes later, in "Earth Angel", she begins to wear more form fitting clothes and mini skirts.
Trivia[]
- Besides actress Tina Caspary playing Kelly in the original pilot episode, the actress who eventually lost the role to Christina Applegate was Charlotte Ross, who was the producers' second choice.
- Coincidentally, in 1991, Ross would star opposite Katey Sagal in the film Violation of Trust, playing her teenage daughter and then in 1992, Ross made a guest appearance on MWC as Darlene, a classmate of Bud Bundy who goes out with him after learning about his relationship with their teacher, Miss McGowen, in the season 6 episode, "Teacher Pets".
- It's implied that one of the several jobs that Kelly had before being an actress, may have been as a prostitute, though this is more likely an insult directed at her promiscuity.
- Christina Applegate actually played a prostitute in the 1990 film Streets, however.
- Kelly shares the first line and the last line of the entire show, as well as being the last character seen entirely (Peggy was the first to be seen). Kelly's first line was in the pilot: "Let go of my hair you little psychopath!", and the last was "Them...hahahaha!" in "How to Marry a Moron (Part 2)".
- At first glance, the extent of Kelly's promiscuity appears incalculable. However, in the last episode of the show, Kelly reveals her "little" black book. A quick glance at the size of the Binder relative to Kelly and her friends suggests that it is medium sized- perhaps in the realm of 300-400 pages. Kelly's friend traces her finger across the page as she examines the names. She reads out five names when she is about halfway down the page. Therefore, each page has about 10 names meaning that in total, Kelly has slept with approximately 3,000 to 4,000 men.
- The same episode implies that Kelly lost her virginity at age 8 (or 11 if she was conceived in 1967)
- Despite Kelly being portrayed as a rather promiscuous girl, in a 2019 interview on NPR, Christina Applegate stated that Kelly was actually a virgin and also a genius.[38]
- However, this did not match what was presented on the show, which at times showed Kelly even being held back in school grades, mispronouncing and misspelling words and, in the final season, mistaking a turkey for a "fat chicken." Only on occasion would Kelly show signs of creativity. In fact, 20th Century Fox has a long history with the dumb blonde stereotype, with late Fox actress Marilyn Monroe being credited as revolutionizing the stereotype in popular culture,[39][40] Marilyn Monroe's blonde bombshell rival Jayne Mansfeld was also at one point under contract to 20th Century Fox as well.[41]
- The main inspiration for Kelly's her glam/hair metal fashion in the early seasons was real life rock groupie Cindy Birmisa, who was also featured in the 1987 rockumentary, The Decline Of Western Civilization, Part II - The Metal Years. While doing an interview on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, she showed a clip from the film and noted how Kelly changed from being a tough girl in Season 1 to a ditzy girl wearing Lycra after seeing the film.[42][43]
- She may have been the inspiration for Disney's 1991 Beauty and the Beast "dumb blonde" characters the Bimbettes. Unlike 20th Century Fox, which previously also frequently employed Marilyn Monroe to play dumb blonde characters, Disney had rarely experimented with the dumb blonde stereotype. In fact, Disney would use blonde female heroines in Cinderella, Peter Pan's Tinkerbell and Sleeping Beauty, the latter two of which were even released after Marilyn Monroe gained fame for playing comical dumb blonde characters. Then Disney head Michael Eisner and then Fox head Barry Diller were well acquainted with each other when they previously worked at ABC and when they both ran Paramount Pictures.
Appearances on the show[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kelly Doesn't Live Here Anymore
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rock and Roll Girl"
- ↑ The All American Family or Just Act Natural
- ↑ It's a Bundyful Life (Part 2)
- ↑ NO MA'AM (episode)
- ↑ 976-SHOE
- ↑ Al Goes to the Dogs
- ↑ Fair Exchange
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Weenie Tot Lovers and Other Strangers
- ↑ Cheese, Cues and Blood
- ↑ You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em (Part 1)
- ↑ The Stepford Peg
- ↑ The Unnatural
- ↑ Peggy Sue Got Work
- ↑ Al Loses His Cherry
- ↑ How Do You Spell Revenge?
- ↑ Where's the Boss?
- ↑ The House That Peg Lost
- ↑ Rain Girl
- ↑ One Down, Two to Go
- ↑ Driving Mr. Boondy
- ↑ Kelly's Gotta Habit
- ↑ Kelly Does Hollywood (Part 1)
- ↑ Kids! Wadaya Gonna Do?
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Luck of the Bundys"
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 The Goodbye Girl
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Rain Girl
- ↑ My Mom, the Mom
- ↑ Johnny Be Gone
- ↑ Al Loses His Cherry
- ↑ Old Insurance Dodge
- ↑ Requiem for a Chevyweight (Part 1)
- ↑ Top of the Heap (episode)
- ↑ Al... with Kelly
- ↑ Peggy Made a Little Lamb
- ↑ Kelly Bounces Back
- ↑ Driving Mr. Boondy
- ↑ Christina Applegate Has Revealed A ‘Secret’ About Kelly Bundy From ‘Married… With Children’. UPROXX.
- ↑ https://footeandfriendsonfilm.com/2019/06/03/the-20th-century-fox-blondes-marilyn-monroe/
- ↑ https://www.mensxp.com/entertainment/gossip/9006-top-10-hollywood-actresses-playing-dumb-blondes.html
- ↑ https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/collectibles/_contract-with-jane-mansfield-and-twentieth-century-fox-6f1b
- ↑ Applegate reveals real-life Kelly Bundy. Hollywood.com.
- ↑ Married With Children: 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Kelly Bundy. Screen Rant.