Shoeless Al

Shoeless Al was the 25th episode aired in Season 9 of Married... with Children and the 208th overall series episode. Directed by Amanda Bearse and written by series co-creator Ron Leavitt, the episode originally aired on FOX, premiering on May 14, 1995.

Synopsis

Al's NO MA'AM team wins the bowling game with Bud as their helper. The next night Al is robbed and left with shoes. He slaps the mall with a trumped-up lawsuit saying that he has been traumatized and can't be around shoes anymore. To provide credibility to the lawsuit, he cannot wear shoes for a week. But with the bowling finals that week, he has to choose between the lawsuit and bowling.

Summary

In this particular episode, an insurance agent, Leslie Baum, is assigned to make sure the Al is afraid to wear shoes to collaborate his lawsuit against the mall that claims that he is afraid of shoes after being tied up by a burglar while at work. But Al must decide between the money from the settlement or winning a bowling championship when he's not allowed to bowl barefoot for a week, which includes bowling shoes during the tournament.

Recurring cast/character regulars

• Buck the Dog as Buck Bundy
• Harold Sylvester as Griff
• E.E. Bell as Bob Rooney

Guest starring

• Charlie Dell as Leslie Baum
• Andrew Kavovit as Mark Campbell
• Mary-Pat Green as Mary-Pat
• Michael Rothhaar as Milt
• Susan Varon as Brenda
• Mike Finneran as Marv

Notes

Title

• The title refers to the legendary "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, one of the key figures in baseball's Black Sox Scandal and Al being unable to wear shoes.

Trivia

• It is revealed in this episode that Puggy Weaver, Al's friend / bowling rival from the Season 4 episode "Peggy Turns 300", died during a waffle eating competition sometime after that episode. The championship trophy for Al's bowling league is named after him.
• Charlie Dell, who plays Leslie in this episode, previous appeared on MWC as Roy in the season 2 episodes, "Poppy's by the Tree (Part 1)" and "Poppy's by the Tree (Part 2)".
• Mary-Pat Green, who plays the referee at the championships, previously appeared on MWC as Max in "Kelly Knows Something" and as Marge in "Business Still Sucks (Part 2) and Scared Single.
  • Mary-Pat's line to Al "You need shoes!" is a reference to her past role as Marge, the woman who walks into Gary's Shoes and says "I need shoes!" to Al or Griff.
• Of all the team members, Griff is the only one who bowls left handed. Oddly, Al, who is left handed, as seen when he writes something down when taking a phone call or signs a check, bowls right handed.

Cultural References

• After Marcy invites Peggy and Kelly to see a film with Woody Allen, Kelly tells them that he doesn't do anything for her, before saying "But then again, I'm not his step daughter, so..." causing them to all laugh.
  • Kelly's line is a reference to the actor/director, who, in 1992, starting a romantic relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the 22 year old adopted daughter of his then girlfriend, actress Mia Farrow, when he was 56 years old.
  • Allen's relationship was previously referenced by Bud in the season 7 episode, "Frat Chance".
• When Griff finds Al tied up in the back of the store and asks if he was robbed, Al sarcastically replies, "No, Kathy Ireland came in here, tied me up and we had wild sex all night".
  • Kathy Ireland is an American model and actress turned business entrepreneur. During this time, she was best known for her multiple appearances on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
• Al quips that Peggy is watching "Richard Bey running around with a condom on his head" instead of listening to his important idea, referring to the The Richard Bey Show.
• At the championship game, Leslie tries to tempt Al with "Air Earl Anthony 5000" a reference to the Air Jordan basketball shoes and Earl Anthony, a left-handed professional bowler who is credited with increasing the popularity of the sport.
• During the Championship game, the songs "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" both performed by rock group Queen can be heard.
  • The songs were replaced by a sound-alike song for US syndication and foreign versions, but the original songs are intact on the DVD sets.
• The song that plays when Al finally puts on the Air Earl Anthony 5000 is "Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30" which is best known from its appearance in the film 2001: A Space Oddessy
  • The song was previously heard in "Pump Fiction" when Sheos is shown and earlier in "Kelly Does Hollywood (Part 1)" during Bud's shirtless audition in front of Kelly.
• When Peg is watching Geraldo, the show's topic is "People who survived meeting on 'The Jenny Jones Show' ", referring to an incident where a gay man confessed his love to a straight man on the talk show and was later murdered by the man he had declared himself to.
  • Geraldo was a daytime talk show hosted by Geraldo Rivera.
• The plot is similar to the Three Stooges short "Hokus Pokus." In that short, the stooges serve Mary who pretends to be a cripple for insurance money, in much the same way Al pretends to have a fear of shoes in this episode.
  • In "Hokus Pokus," the deceit is discovered when the stooges bust a flag pole and land in the very office occupied by Mary and the insurance adjuster. Mary's reaction is to jump up out of her wheelchair and she loses $25,000 as a result.
  • In this episode, Al can't bowl without shoes which means Bud must take his place. However, Bud bowls poorly. As a result, Al bowls a frame and loses the lawsuit.

Music

• "We Will Rock You" by Queen is heard during the bowling championships
• "Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30" is heard when Al emerges from the back of the bowling alley with his new shoes.
• "We Are The Champions" by Queen is heard three times, first when Al and his team arrive at the Bundy residence, then when the team arrives at the bowling alley and later, as Al escorts Peggy to the Winner's Ball after winning the "Puggy".

Locations

• Bundy Residence
• Gary's Shoes & Accessories for Today's Woman
• Jim's Bowl-A-Rama

Sets

• Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
• Gary's Shoes Seating Area / Back Room
• Jim's Bowl-A-Rama Bowling Lanes / Arcade area

Goofs

• In one scene, Bud Bundy knocks down all the pins with one attempt. The stat sheet, however, shows neither a strike nor a nine-pin spare under his name.
• At the bowling alley, Bud throws a practice ball, and it flew backwards bouncing off the ball rack and the ground. Bowling balls don't bounce.
  • The production likely used light balls for safety reasons as they bowl toward the audience. The heavy balls would damage the filming equipment including the cameras.