Psycho Dad is a fictitious character and television show on PBS that Al Bundy and the members of "NO MA'AM" (except for Griff) idolize. The show was later brought to Fox as The New Adventures of Psycho Dad (Kelly Knows Something).
Background[]
Andrew Prine plays the unnamed actor who played "Psycho Dad" during its run. The actor describes the show as "a simple saga of a guy run amok in the Old West". It becomes Al's favorite show since it simply portrays a man who violently kills his ex-wives.
As seen in "Teacher Pets", there was also a spin-off series that Peg liked, called Psycho Mom.
The show was abruptly cancelled after complaints from women's group due to its high content of violence. Although Al and his friends had hoped that they could get the show back on the air by protesting at a local station, WHBZ, that carried the show, it didn't work.
Following the failed protest, Al sent a letter directly to the actor who played the character. Al and his friends were hopefully when they found out later that the actor was holding a press conference with two middle-aged women by his side. Unfortunately for them, they soon find out that the actor had sold out his fans.
Although the actor admitted that he was truly hurt and depressed by the cancellation, after receiving Al's letter and reading it on-air, he changes his attitude by apologizing and renouncing the character and what he stood for, stating that he didn't want to continue being involved on a show that created fans like Al. He then brags that because the network has offered him a nice sum of money, that viewers can see him star in Lefkowitz: Special Education Teacher's Aid. He then concludes by suggesting to Al that he should get some psychological help.
Although their efforts got them nowhere and the actor turning against the fans, Al proposes that the only solution left is to take it all the way to Washington D.C. and get the government to bring the show back. Because of Jefferson's government connection (as he had worked as C.I.A. agent), he and the fellow NO MA'AM are able to interrupt a Senate meeting in progress. They are then introduced to Senator Furman, Chairman of the Presidential Sub-committee for Taste in Television. The members of NO MA'AM try their best to present their argument, that parents are the ones responsible for their children's upbringing, not the television and that its a parent's job to help them understand what their kids happen to see on television and teach them right from wrong.
After a moment, Senator Furman simply states that violence is not acceptable in modern day society and rules that Psycho Dad will remain cancelled. While Al laments about the loss in the hallway, he happens to see Senator Furman being mugged and decides to come to his aid and knock the thief out. The grateful Senator then asks if there is a way he can repay Al, to which he replies that the Senators should focus more on putting criminals in prison or to cancel the television sitcom, Blossom.
Description[]
As there is no footage of the actual show, it can be inferred from the show's lyrics, the few brief audio clips heard in some episodes, and what Al has said about the character that he:
- Is tall, has an icy stare and is insane.
- Has a son that he loves
- Killed the pig that his son raised and wanted to keep as a pet.
- Has killed (or has attempted to kill) multiple ex-wives for various reasons:
- Killed one of his wives because she weighed a ton.
- Killed another wife because she had a cold.
- Killed one of his wives and a schoolmarm simultaneously, after finding out that they were teaching his son how to do housework and he had only one cartridge left in his rifle.
- Attempted to kill one of his wives, but she managed to duck after he tried to shoot her at a theatre. The bullet then hit U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
- Has the scalp of one of his ex-wives.
- Kidnapped a circuit judge to prevent a wedding from happening.
- Has the heads of eight reindeer on his cabin wall
- Fights bums on Christmas.
- Massacred a village filled with unarmed Native American women and children.
- In the The New Adventures of Psycho Dad, it is stated that it has "less violence but more kinky sex and nudity for a cleaner and saner America".
- He wore the same suit for several years.
- Each episode runs about an hour long and on average has about 84 killings per episode.
- It is unclear how many episodes of Psycho Dad were produced, but the title Dad is likely responsible for about 8,000 killings through the life of the series.
- A good educated guess puts the total number of episodes at around 100.
- The only show that can possibly compare to Psycho Dad is the FOX TV Series Twenty-Four. Through the life of that series (216 episodes), there were a total of 16.380 deaths and a whopping 76 deaths per episode. However, the numbers are incredibly skewed due to a nuclear explosion in Day 3 (season 3.)
As it has been noted that the show took place in the Old West and that he was responsible for the death of Abraham Lincoln, it can be assumed that the show takes place in or near the year 1865.
Appearances[]
- Al... with Kelly
- Teacher Pets
- Kelly Knows Something
- The Worst Noel
- I Want My Psycho Dad (Part 1)
- I Want My Psycho Dad: Second Blood (Part 2)
Now Comics[]
In the third issue of the short lived Married with Children comic book series (1991), titled Psychodad, Al is seen watching a rerun episode of Psycho Dad (before going crazy himself). In the comic, Psycho Dad is depicted as a middle aged balding man with crazed red eyes, a menacing grin, yellowing teeth and is either drooling or foaming at the mouth. Based on his clothing, the series takes place in modern times rather than in the Old West as the original version did. He also has two children, a son named Bobby and an unnamed daughter, who appear to be between 5 to 7 years old.
In the short scene we see, he shoots his two children, because one of them was about to hide his gun before asking for a raise in his allowance. Feeling no remorse or guilt, Psycho Dad brags that his offspring has just "mysteriously croaked" and immediately resorts to adoption.
Later, after Al goes crazy and walks to the basement to get his gun, he sings a variation of the Psycho Dad theme to himself that claims Psycho Dad escaped from an asylum, did time in the pen, and kills for fun. In a style similar to Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol, the ghost of Psycho Dad haunts Al and reminds him that due to his countless repeated crimes, he got the electric chair in the final episode, and that Al will have to endure that same fate if he kills his family. He then tells Al that instead of killing his family, he needs to man up and find a way to get even.