Old Insurance Dodge is the 24th episode of Season 7 of Married... with Children, and also the 155th overall episode of the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen and written by Larry Jacobson, the episode originally on FOX, premiering on May 9, 1993.
Synopsis[]
Al tries to scam the insurance company when the Dodge is stolen. He borrows cars from dealers to "check it out" and drives around cool cars for a while. Finally when the insurance money turns up, the stolen car is also found.
Storyline[]
While Al waits for the insurance company to settle on the theft of his Dodge, he test drives possible replacements: a Lincoln, a Mercedes, etc. Meanwhile, Kelly wants a car of her own. When the fast-talking salesman tells her the car's price is 50Ks she starts collecting Ks from books, newspapers, etc.
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Cast regulars
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Buck as Buck Bundy
Guest starring[]
- Rob LaBelle as Joe Orton
- Dan Tullis, Jr. as Policeman
Quotes[]
- [Jefferson and Marcy arrive at the Bundy residence with Al's 8 Track player and cassettes that were pulled out of his car]
- Jefferson: Hey, look what we found in the garbage!
- Al: NELLYBELLE, MY 8 TRACK! [grabs the player and kisses it]
- Marcy: We also found your "Born to be Wild" tape [hands each cassette individually to Al while reading the labels] "Meet the Four Seasons"... "Meet the Supremes"... and "The Four Seasons Meet The Supremes".
- Al: [nods and turns to his family] Well, now we know that this thief is not only stupid, but has not taste in music! Wait a second!... Wait a second! [ponders] I wonder where was Michael Bolton was this morning. Well, if they don't arrest him for his singing, they won't arrest him for this!
- Kelly: [looking at a newspaper] Hey! Hey, look, Daddy! We can get a Mercedes for 50 K's. You don't even need money. I happen to have some spare K's from those letters they sent home from school saying, "Kelly is an idiot". Who's the idiot now? [smiles and throws the newspaper aside]
- Al: [overwhelmed] ...Peg!
- Peggy: [to Kelly, stiffly] That's great news, Honey. Why don't you run up and get those K's?
- Kelly: [smiling proudly] You betcha! And Bud, you can help too. You can probably get one out of the paper because there's always one in there about "President Clinton" and their "cat".
- Bud: And the "current controversy over campaign contribution".
- Kelly: Wow. What a veritable cornucopia of K's.
- [The Bundys lament about losing out on their $25,000 insurance claim, after Officer Dan informed them that the Dodge was found with the trunk unopened]
- Al: I'm gonna tell ya something. I'm glad they found my Dodge, 'cause that's MY car! And I hate change! And 'ya know, it would be... [takes a seat with the rest of the family on the couch] be like losing one of you guys! Or Peg, it'd be like trading you in on a brand new blonde, with shiny, new, smooth, factory warranted hooters, 'ya know! Ah, sure the first few rides would be nice and everything, but 'ya know, in the long run... and this, Peg, is what depresses me everyday... I realize that... [hesitates, shrugs] you're the one I want.
- Peg: Oh, Al! [leans in for a hug]
- Al: [pulls away]... I wish you wouldn't touch me, though, Peg!
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of the episode refers to Al's beloved car as well as the fact that the Bundys were trying to defraud the insurance company.
Trivia[]
- Peggy reveals that Al had previously tried to claim having chickenpox to get out of their wedding.
- In the original airing of this episode, the closing credits featured Kelly talking on the phone to another car salesman, who tells her that the price of a Mercedes-Benz is 50 Gs. On the DVD release, the scene is turned into a still frame of Kelly sitting at the phone while the dialogue about the price of the car is played over it.
- Earlier, Bud told Kelly that she could get the needed K's or G's for some items by clipping them out of newspapers.
- When Kelly reminisces about the car, she tells the family that she feels like she was practically born in the car. Peggy then chimes in and says "Well you were certainly conceived in it.". In several episodes, such as "Rain Girl" and "Requiem for a Chevyweight (Part 1)", it is also mentioned that she was conceived in the Dodge, with the later episode saying it took place the night Al scored Four Touchdowns.
- Al mentions his hate for the French again after claiming that they have the real "Mona Lisa" painting, allowing the insurance company to deny them compensation. He then tells Peggy, "Ya know, its a dark day when someone will believe the French over me!"
Cultural References[]
- When Al takes a new car for a test drive and ask the driver next to him for Grey Poupon, it is a reference to the Grey Poupon Dijon mustard commercials from the 1980s, when a rich man would pull up to the car next to him and would ask "Pardon me. Do you have any Grey Poupon?"
- This was also used in the 1992 film Wayne’s World which Ed O'Neill and several other MWC guest stars appear in.
- When Al asks the man next to him for Grey Poupon, a poster for the film Groundhog Day can be clearly seen in the background.
- The film, starring Bill Murray (and also featured his brother and MWC guest star, Brian Doyle-Murray) as a man stuck in a time loop, was produced by Columbia Pictures, which also produced MWC.
- The poster was seen earlier in "Movie Show" hanging inside the movie theater the Bundys visit.
- When describing the "kidnapped" car to the police, his description leads to them thinking it was either talk show host Oprah Winfrey or actress Delta Burke.
- The first car Al test drives is a 1992 Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse while the 2nd is a 1993 Lincoln Town Car.
- When Marcy and Jefferson bring in Al's 8-Track player, they list off his 8 track cassettes as: "Born To Be Wild", "Meet The Four Seasons", "Meet The Supremes" and "The Four Seasons Meet The Supremes".
- "Born To Be Wild" is a 1968 single by the rock band Steppenwolf. It was previously heard in the season 1 episode "Have You Driven a Ford Lately?"
- The Four Seasons is an American doo-wop band who had various hits in the 1960s and 1970s such as "Sherry", "Walk Like a Man" and "Big Girls Don't Cry", though they did not release an album called "Meet the Four Seasons".
- The Supremes were an American all-female vocal group and one of the most successful groups of Motown Records from 1959 until their breakup in 1977.
- "Meet The Supremes" is their debut album, though they did not record a collaboration with The Four Seasons.
- After Marcy and Jefferson give Al his 8 track player and cassettes back, he asks out loud what kind of monster with no taste in music do this. He then briefly pauses and asks himself where was Michael Bolton that morning.
- Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter, who, after a brief stint in the hard rock / metal scene in the late 1970s became known for his pop rock ballads in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
- Bolton would be the subject of Al's hate in several other MWC episodes such as "The Worst Noel".
- Bud suggests that Kelly can find "K"s to buy a car "From the current controversy over campaign contributions".
- Kelly had previously mentioned that her boyfriend, T-Bone, got into an argument over the controversy of campaign contributions earlier in "'Til Death Do Us Part"
- Peggy tells the insurance company that their mansion was swept away during "Hurricane Andrew".
- After Peggy gets off of the phone with the insurance, she says "Boy, you file one multi million dollar claim and all that 'Good Neighbor' crap just flies out the window".
- This may be a nod to the insurance company State Farm, whose slogan is "Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There".
- While Peggy is on the phone with the insurance company, she mentions that the family had several paintings in Al's trunk.
- Peggy claims that they owned the Mona Lisa, despite it being located at the Louvre museum in Paris, France.
- Peggy also mentions that they had an unnamed painting from Pablo Picasso.
- After Al comes back home, he mentions to Peg that he actually had the Dogs Playing Poker painting.
Music[]
- "Hallelujah" the chorus from George Frideric Handel's "Messiah Part II" is heard when Al is shown driving his first rental car.
- The song that plays while the Bundys go for a test drive in the Lincoln Town Car and later at the end of the episode is "No Particular Place to Go" by Chuck Berry.
- Coincidentally, the song was recorded in Chicago, Illinois, the Bundy's hometown.
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Downtown Chicago Streets
Goofs[]
- While Al constantly refers to his Dodge, it is in fact a Plymouth Duster, a variant of the Dodge Demon. If you look closely in episodes with his car, you will notice a Duster emblem on the fenders.
- At the beginning of the episode, Al is shown being dragged downstairs by the kids and he scratches the staircase railing. Yet there is clearly no damage in the close up shot and the sound of scratching would have required Al to have very sharp nails.
- While on the phone with the police, Al says his Dodge is a 1974 model. Yet, Al had the car back in high school, graduating in 1966. It was stated that Kelly was also conceived in the car, as she was born in 1971.
- When Al tells the family that he now has a Lincoln Town Car to test drive and asks who wants to join him, Bud can be seen getting up and saying "I do! I do!" and stops at the end table, leaving Al some room between him and the rest of the family. The camera immediately does a close up of Al as he says "Then let's rock and roll" and Bud's face is now near Al's chest, as if they had just finished hugging.
- When the family starts driving through downtown Chicago as "No Particular Place to Go" plays, at one point, the camera does a close up on Al and it clearly shows a warehouse / soundstage with a California hillside nearby though his window and a guy with sunglasses walking right by them. Yet they are supposed to be in downtown Chicago, an urban city which would have lots of surrounding buildings and no hills sticking out like that.
- Auto insurance, particularly insurance with comprehensive coverage, would only cover the damage done to Al's car from a break-in, such as the broken glass or jimmied lock. It would not actually cover the personal items that were in the vehicle as the episode depicted. For Al to get insurance involved for the items stolen from his car, he would have to go through his homeowner's policy.