Peggy Made a Little Lamb is the 20th episode of Season 4 of Married... with Children, also the 77th overall episodes of the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen, the episode was written by Ellen L. Fogle. The episode originally aired on FOX on April 15, 1990.
Synopsis[]
As Kelly is preparing to graduate from high school, a nostalgic Peggy goes through her old yearbook only to find out that she actually did not graduate due to failing her Home Economics class.
After being mocked by the rest of the family, Peggy decides to get her diploma and ends up in the same Home Economics class as Kelly. For their final exam, they have to cook a dish at home, which turns out to be extremely challenging for the duo.
Episode summary[]
Kelly Bundy is modeling in front of the living room mirror to prepare for her graduation photo. She asks her mother about getting a tattoo, but she reminds her how Grandma Wanker's tattoos turned out, especially now that she older. Feeling nostalgic, Peg then decides to pull out her old yearbook to show Kelly what a true graduation photo should look like. Kelly and Bud are shocked when they see the graduation photo of their father looking handsome with an actual smile and a fuller head of hair. After Peg shows them her photo, she suddenly finds a large envelope and opens it, believing that it was her diploma. Instead, it is a letter, informing her that she was supposed to attend summer school and earn a half credit in order to graduate.
As Al arrives home, Peg tries to convince the kids to not mention the letter to him. Al enters and celebrates pocketing some money from work and then notices the yearbook. He also becomes nostalgic and thinks about how Kelly will soon graduate, and Bud will go to college, but Kelly soon lets it slip out about Peg's letter. Later that night, as the family is about to have "Family TV Time" and bring Buck Bundy over, Al looks over the TV Guide and decides to mock Peg for not graduating by implying that she can't read. After laughing at Peg, Al decides to take the kids over to the study desk and show them his diploma, while acknowledging that Kelly and Bud will soon have their diplomas, before it ends there. Al then corrects himself and points out that even Buck has a diploma from obedience school, leaving Peg as the only Bundy without a diploma.
After learning that she did not graduate because she had failed Home Economics, Peg tells the kids that she is just too busy with her television programs to make up the credit. Just then, Al decides to mock her again by bringing a bum over to the house to show her how important she could be without a diploma. The bum then asks for some spare change, causing Al and the kids to laugh at her once again.
Sometime later at Polk High School, Kelly suddenly finds out that Peggy is transferring into her Home Economics class and due to her life experience as a mother and housewife, will only need to take the final exam in order to graduate. The final consist of making a dish randomly assigned to each student, with Kelly being assigned "JELL-O" while Peg has to make "Crowned Rack of Lamb". The two women struggle all night long to make the rather simple dishes, eventually finishing by 4 a.m.. After the two go upstairs to get some sleep, Al, upset that Peg has to be in the same bed as him, gets up and heads to the kitchen. After lamenting that there is never any food in the house, he suddenly stops and notices the trays with Kelly and Peg's final and decides to pig out on the rack of lamb.
At 7:30 a.m., Peg and Kelly head downstairs and are horrified to see Al smiling while asleep after devouring Peg's final, while Kelly's JELL-O dish was untouched. Knowing that there wouldn't be enough time to make a new one, Peg decides to be brave and turn in the remnants of the rack of lamb. Later, as the students line up and present their dishes, Peg eventually shows her’s and gets an "A-", revealing that she’s taking credit for Kelly's dish, as the teacher did not actually record who was assigned the specific dish. Kelly eventually realizes happened and becomes upset when she ends up presenting Peg's devoured rack of lamb.
After class, as the other kids leave to celebrate, Peg is finally happy that she can now graduate, while Kelly now has to attend summer school in order to graduate. Peg tries to comfort Kelly by telling that she did the switch for her sake, as Al would have made her get a summer job upon graduation, which would mean no time for her friends or doing things like vandalism. She further explains that with summer school, Kelly will only have to attend for an hour a day, leaving her the rest of the day to do things with her friends, which eventually cheers her up. After Peg leaves to join the other students for graduation photos, Kelly happily thinks about attending summer school before realizing that her mother tricked her and has now put her in the same spot she was in.
Recurring cast/Guest stars[]
- Regulars
Guest starring[]
- Marge Redmond as Mrs. Beyer
- Patrick J. Dancy as Ruben
- Zoe Trilling as Susan (as Geri Betzler)
- Keely Christian as Senior #1
- Sandi Whitten as Senior #2
- Chuck E. Weiss as Bum
Quotes[]
- Peg: Ok, I see the problem. It seems that I failed one stupid, useless class my senior year.
- Bud: What did you fail, mom?
- Peg: [hesitantly] Home economics.
- Kelly: [sarcastically] Gee... what a shock.
- Al: [enters through the front door] Peg? I want to introduce you to someone who proves you don't need a high school diploma to be important. Sir?
- [a homeless man who is shaking slowly enters with a blue cup in hand]
- Bum: Change? [Al puts his arm around him and laughs at Peggy along with the kids]
- Mrs. Beyer: Miss Bundy, why can't you be more like Ruben [Ruben is seen sitting up and smiling at the teacher]
- Kelly: Well, we both like boys!
- [Al arrives home from work and takes a seat next to Peg and Buck]
- Al: Ahh, what a day. It was, uh, "Born Before 1900 Day" at the shoe store. There were some feet that were so wrinkled you could've made a third foot out of them. [Peg grimaces and turns her head away] I truly, truly want to die... But at least I have a High School Diploma! [laughs] You staying up, Peg?
- Peg: Yes.
- Al: [shrugs] Ah, no reason for me to then.
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to the children's song " Mary Had a Little Lamb".
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the first time that viewers get to hear the inner voice of Buck.
- The recipe for Cinnamon Toast on the board reads:
- “Ingredients: Bread, 1 tbls - butter, 1 tbls - powdered cinnamon, 1 tsp - sugar”
- “Turn on Toaster, set the temperature to 125 for aprox 4 min. watch closely as not to burn it you want it to be just the right crispness. Using real butter is very important. Don't forget the butter.”
- This episode marks the final appearance of Chuck E. Weiss as the bum who would randomly appear during a Bundy's moment of depression during season 4.
- Al reveals that his diploma hangs above the work desk in the living room.
- At the beginning of the episode, Kelly asks Peggy for a tattoo or a nose ring for her senior portrait.
- Kelly had previously mentioned that she asked for a nose ring in "Tooth or Consequences".
- In the later seasons of MWC, Christina Applegate's ankle tattoo can be clearly seen in some shots.
- Peggy reveals that her mom has the words "Love" and "Hate" tattooed above her breasts, in order to discourage Kelly from getting a tattoo on her upper body.
Cultural References[]
- When Al and the kids make fun of Peg by reading the title of one of the shows in the TV Guide, the show he tells her about is Goober Goes to Town, a reference to The Andy Griffith Show character Goober Pyle.
- When Peg enters Kelly's class, she says "Of all the Home Ec classes in all the cities in all the world, she has to walk into mine". This is a reference to the line said by Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) when Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) enters Rick’s Café, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine", in the 1942 film Casablanca.
- Peg mentions a show called Battle of the Luckiest Men Alive featuring Gavin MacLeod and Joe Piscopo.
- Gavin MacLeod is an actor best known for his roles during the 1970s and 1980s on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Love Boat, which featured Ted McGinley.
- Joe Piscopo is an actor/comedian who is best known for being a member of the NBC late night comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live during the early 1980s. He would be referenced on MWC multiple times throughout its run.
- At the beginning of the episode, Peggy mentions that her mom has "Love" and "Hate" tattooed above her breasts. This may be a reference to the character Reverend Harry Powell from the film The Night of the Hunter, who has "Love" and "Hate" tattooed across his knuckles.
- This episode’s plot is identical to that of a 1984 episode of Mama's Family titled "Educating Mama”, which had "Mama" Thelma Harper return to school to earn her diploma with her son Bubba.
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Home Economics Classroom
Music[]
- The song that plays when Peg works in the kitchen to make the rack of lamb is "Working in the Coal Mine" by Lee Dorsey.
Goofs[]
- How did Peg not know she did not graduate? She didn't march with a cap and gown with her classmates? At the very least, she would have been notified multiple times beforehand about being in danger of failing. Plus, even if she chose not to march with her class, or missed graduation, Peg didn't once open the envelope to see her diploma after all those years?
- The teacher isn't good at keeping track, since Peg had the lamb, and Kelly had the Jell-O, but the next day their projects are switched and she let Peg get away with turning in another student (Kelly) assignment.
- Kelly and Peggy spend eight hours making Jell-O and rack of lamb which are significantly longer times that most people would spend on those dishes. Jell-O typically takes about 3-5 minutes to mix the water and powder together and then it is usually set 2-3 hours after refrigeration. Rack of lamb would require less than an hour of roasting in the oven. It can be argued that since both Peg and Kelly had no idea what they are doing they probably were confused by the instructions on how to cook.
- Around 3:30am, Peggy is trying to plate her rack of lamb and then faints. Meanwhile, Kelly pulls out the wet box of Jell-O floating in the mix. When 4am comes around, her Jell-O is perfectly set and cut up. As stated above, Jell-O takes about 2-3 hour of chilling in the refrigerator before it is set and ready to consume. Yet it was clearly sitting out in the warm kitchen until 3:30am.
- When Al arrives home and talks about that day being "Born before 1900 Day", he still has his coat on as he heads upstairs. Then, after Peggy punishes Bud for peeping on Marcy, as she runs to Marcy for advice on cooking, Al's coat is suddenly laying on the couch, near where Buck is laying.
External Links[]
Peggy Made a Little Lamb at the Internet Movie Database- Peggy Made a Little Lamb on Bundyology
- Peggy Made a Little Lamb - Transcript on albundy.net
- #78 Peggy Made a Little Lamb - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
