Proud to Be Your Bud is the third episode of Season 8 of Married... with Children, also the 160th overall episode of the series. Directed by Tony Singletary and writen by Stacie Lipp, the episode originally on FOX, premiering on September 19, 1993.
Synopsis[]
Bud builds a portal in the basement that summons his true self, who tells him how much of a loser he is. Meanwhile, the rest of the Bundy family worry that Bud may be going insane, except for Al, who's fighting with a voice mail system to get parts for his Dodge.
Storyline[]
The other Bundys think Bud has flipped out when they overhear his basement conversation with his 'cool' alter-ego, who arrives from another universe and tries to teach Bud the tactics for picking up women. Meanwhile, Al has a personal battle of his own with an automated phone service to order a new spare part for the Dodge.
Guest stars/Recurring[]
- Cast regulars
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Buck as Buck Bundy
Guest starring []
- Michelle Nicholas as Libby
Quotes[]
- [Bud is coming down the stairs dressed in country-western attire in the hopes of picking up women at school]
- Kelly: Let me guess, Billy Ray Bundy.
- Bud: [with a country drawl] Damn straight, missy. Country is in.
- Kelly: Well, then what country are you?
- Bud: I'm going to ignore that, human peep show, because [points to his new attire] this will work. Now, I've chewed my weight in Red Man. I've learned my country sayings like [with a country drawl] "ornery" and "I thought you was 18." So, as I live and barely breathe in these jeans, I'll be ridin' the country charts tonight. [tips his hat to Peg and Kelly and then struggles to walk outside]
- [Bud arrives back home looking injured and disheveled, with his newly bought country-western attire destroyed]
- Bud: What are the odds of running into a Native American pride parade marching half a block from our house?!
- Kelly: Bud, you're going about this all wrong. [gets up and walks over to Bud] Now, you keep trying to change the clothes that you wear. But what you really need is a new head. And while you're at it, a new body to put it on! [smiles]
- Bud: [bitterly] No! Thanks for caring, but this is it for me! I will neither seek nor accept a date from any woman for the rest of my life! Instead, I shall live out the rest of my days in the basement, as the gnome you've always said I was!... Goodbye, forever. [staggers off to the basement]
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to the popular Budweiser beer slogan the company started to use in 1993 to help promote the beer after poor sales, but it was dropped 18 months later.
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the final appearance of the Grandmaster B persona, as it can be seen hanging up along the wall in his room.
- The clips from Bud Bundy's Greatest Hits are from several past episodes including:
- "Kelly Bounces Back" - Bud flirting with Incense Berkowitz before getting slapped.
- "What I Did for Love" - Bud flirting with a mannequin and hoping that it will come to life before Peggy and Al notice him.
- "Movie Show" - Bud, calling himself "Reginald Bundy", flirting with a woman in the movie theater before getting slapped and launched across the room
- "The Dateless Amigo" - Bud taking his "date" Monique up the stairs as Teddy and Boz's dates are not happy with how they are being treated. The four of them are unaware that Monique is a mannequin that is falling apart as Bud tries to get upstairs.
Cultural References[]
- The theme of this episode, Bud dealing with a mirror image of himself, is an homage to a Twilight Zone episode entitled "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room".
- When Bud explains how he has worked on his country-western outfit, he tells Peggy and Kelly that he "chewed his weight in Red Man", referring to a brand of chewing tobacco that was renamed to "America's Best Chew" in 2022 and removed the image of a Native American on its packaging.
- The brand was previously mentioned in "Wabbit Season".
- Al believes that Bud was dressed up as cartoon character Yosemite Sam as he walked past him.
- Kelly mentions that Bud "...has as much chance of finding a date as the cast of 'Roc' does of getting served at Denny's."
- This is a reference to the FOX sitcom that ran from 1991 to 1994.
- It is also a reference to an incident at a Denny's restaurant in May of 1993 when six black U.S. Secret Service agents visited the restaurant and were forced to wait an hour for their meals while their white companions, as well as a family that arrived later in the otherwise empty restaurant, received theirs immediately. [1]
- The costumes that Bud has hanging in his room are references to various entertainment figures:
- Buderace, '88 - Liberace
- Tito Bundy, '89 - Tito Jackson
- Indiana Bundy, '90 - Indiana Jones
- Grandmaster B, '91 - Grandmaster B
- Joey Bud-Afuoco, '92 - Joey Buttafuoco
- Billy Ray Bundy - Billy Ray Cyrus
- After Bud starts hearing voices down in the basement, he mentions the "Rainbow Wig Guy", a popular fixture at sporting events during the 1970s and 1980s, known for his multicolored wig and holding up signs that read "John 3:16" to spread his message about Christianity, until his arrest during a standoff in 1992.
- The voice that tells Bud (and later, Al) "If you build it, he will come!" is a reference to the 1989 sports film Field of Dreams.
- As Bud builds his gateway in the basement, Kelly suggest that they call Janet Reno, suggesting that she would know what to do.
- Janet Reno at the time this episode first aired, was the U.S. Attorney General under President Bill Clinton from 1993 until 2001.
- Kelly's suggestion that Reno would know what to do may be a reference to the Waco siege, a 51 day standoff from February to April 1993 in which the Department of Justice, under Reno's orders sent FBI agents to the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. The siege lead to 4 federal agents and 87 Branch Davidian members dying, with the compound eventually burning to the ground after agents fired gas canisters to force out the remaining members. Reno later expressed her regret of the decision to storm the compound, and accepted full responsibility for the loss of life.
- If the Waco Siege is the reference, it means that Kelly wants to kill her brother. Of course, there is no love lost between Kelly and Bud
Music[]
- "Lonely Boy" by Paul Anka is heard during the credits of Bud Bundy's Greatest Hits.
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Bundy Basement
Goofs[]
- When the camera shows to the two Buds from the uncool Bud's backside, its obviously not David Faustino, as the person in the green shirt appears to have a chubbier face, a different haircut and thicker beard.
- Throughout the episode, it is obvious that there is another person on the phone instead of the pre-recorded voice that is suggested, as he is constantly stopping and waiting when the audience is laughing.
- Nobody except Bud can see Cool Bud, but Peggy, Marcy and Jefferson seem like they can hear him talking to Bud from the living room, but assumes Bud was just talking to himself.
References[]
- ↑ SECRET SERVICE AGENTS ALLEGE RACIAL BIAS AT DENNY'S. The Washington Post (May 24, 1993). Retrieved on June 15, 2023.