T*R*A*S*H

T*R*A*S*H is the fourteenth episode of Season 11, and the 248th overall episode of Married... with Children.

Synopsis

Jefferson convinces Al and Griff to join the National Guard Reserves and the trio is called into battle to help combat a garbage strike.

Plot Summary

Jefferson enters the Bundy house in full military uniform, revealing that he's part of the National Guard Reserves. Al and Griff make fun of him until they're told that they can get hot meals, spend the weekend partying with other guys, and get paid by their employer despite not having to go to work. Life in the National Guard isn't as easy as that, though, as their drill instructor berates them for being unfit for duty, something Al and Griff prove during basic training.

Meanwhile, there's a neighborhood garbage strike. Bud and Kelly do their part by throwing (or catapulting) their garbage into the D'Arcy's yard. Al, Jefferson and Griff are called into battle to help combat the garbage strike, but are overwhelmed by the amount of trash being thrown in their direction. When the drill instructor gets trapped under a dumpster, Al uses his basic training to help save the day and is awarded the Bronze Dumpster.

Recurring Cast

• Harold Sylvester as Griff

Guest cast

• J.J. Johnston as Drill Instructor (SSG. Fletcher)
• Gonzo Raymond as Santo
• Jerry Giles as Duwayne

Notes

Title

• The title of this episode is a reference to the 1970 movie (and later, 1972 TV series), M*A*S*H, which focused on the lives of U.S. Army doctors during the Korean War.

Trivia

• Harold Sylvester previously played a soldier (along with MWC guest star Randall "Tex" Cobb) in the 1983 film Uncommon Valor . He would later play a soldier again in the short lived WB TV series, The Army Show.
• Recurring MWC guest star J.J. Johnston makes his final guest appearance on the show as the drill instructor.
• Jefferson's rank in the National Guard is 2nd Lieutenant, which means he is an entry level commissioned officer.
• Jefferson's dress uniform indicates that he is an officer of the Infantry and also has the Army Service Ribbon, which shows he completed Advanced Individual Training.
• The shoulder sleeve insignia on SSG. Fletcher uniform indicates that he was part of the 82nd Airborne Division. He also has a Basic Parachutist and 2nd award Combat Infantryman Badge.
• After Jefferson gets Griff and Al to join the National Guard, Griff says "We'll be The Few, The Proud..." which is the slogan used by the U.S. Marine Corps, while Al says "We'll be all that we can be", which was the U.S. Army's slogan during the 1990s.
• This is the only episode was written by MWC actor David Faustino.

Cultural References

• Although the title is a reference to the television series, M*A*S*H, there are also reference to the 1982 film, An Officer and a Gentleman:
  • The working title of this episode was "An Officer and A Garbage Man".
  • Al and SSG Fletcher's confrontational relationship is based on Aviation Officer Candidate Zachary Mayo and Gunnery Sargent Foley.
  • Duwayne, the southerner who Al accused of dating Babe the Pig, is likely based on the character, AOC Sid Worley. Worley, who is from Oklahoma and speaks with a southern drawl, is accused by Foley of having sex with animals and being gay.
  • The obstacle course that Al and Griff go through as well as Al's difficulty trying to climb the wall is based on the obstacle course that the candidates run through as well as AOC Seeger and her difficulty with climbing the wall.
  • Harold Sylvester, who plays Griff, appeared in An Officer and a Gentleman as Aviation Officer Candidate Lionel Perryman.
  • The scene where Al carries SSG. Fletcher in his arms while an instrumental version of "Up Where We Belong" plays references the film's final scene with AOC Mayo picking up local townie Paula from the factory she worked at and carrying her out.
• Al accuses Duwayne of having a girlfriend who was the star of the 1995 film, Babe, implying that Duwayne is dating a literal pig.
• After Kelly sees Al in his uniform as he tells them about being deployed, she says "Oh no, daddy's going away again. Now this time, he's joined the post office.". He then reassures that he isn't going anywhere as dangerous at the post office.
  • This is in reference to multiple cases of United States Postal Workers going on mass shooting sprees since 1983, citing excessive stress from their jobs. In 1993, these types of shootings lead to the creation of a slang term called "Going Postal".
  • These incidents were previously referenced in "I Want My Psycho Dad: Second Blood (Part 2)", "Kelly Takes a Shot" and "Reverend Al".
• The book that Marcy pulls out and gives back to Kelly is Go, Dog. Go!
• Peggy tells Al that she doesn't want him standing in the way of Ricki Lake, an actress and talk show host, who at the time this originally aired, hosted a syndicated talk show, Ricki Lake.
  • Coincidentally, her talk show was created and produced by Garth Ancier who served as president of the FOX network in its early years, and also played Gig Fontaine in the season 6 MWC episode, "Kelly Does Hollywood (Part 2)".
• After Jefferson orders Griff to go outside the truck first, he refuses the order and says: "Haven't you ever seen a war movie? The black man always gets it first...Jim Brown in 'The Dirty Dozen', Laurence Fishburne in 'Apocalypse Now', Bubba in 'Forrest Gump', any black man in 'Star Trek'."
  • This is in reference to the troupe called "Black Guy Always Dies First" or "Black Dude Dies First", , in which, as Griff notes, the Black character is the first to die among his companions in the film, while the others, who are typically white, survive.

Music

• An instrumental version of "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes plays when Al rescues SSG Fletcher and carries him.

Locations

• Bundy Residence
• National Guard Base
• Auto Yard

Sets

• Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
• Bundy Backyard
• National Guard Dormitory
• National Guard Obstacle Course
• Auto Yard / Protest Area

Goofs

• When Al comes homes after the strike, he tells the family that he is Corporal Bundy. Besides not having anything to indicate his new rank, he would have had to been involved in the Army for some time before achieving that rank, yet he had been with the National Guard for a couple of days and did not even complete basic.
• When Jefferson is telling Al and Griff that with his connections, he could get them into the National Guard, he puts his right hand on the brim of his cover. Immediately the camera switches to show all three of them and Jefferson's right hand is nowhere near his cover.
• Jefferson tells the guys that he is part of the National Guard Reserve. Although both are part time military jobs with the U.S. Army, the National Guard and Army Reserves are two different things.
  • The National Guard is primarily a state based group that is activated for civil unrest, humanitarian aid and emergency relief missions usually occurring from natural disasters, domestically and abroad, as well as serving as a tactical support for Active Duty Army.
  • The Reserves are a federally funded group that acts as combat support for the Regular Army, and as such typically only respond to natural disasters that are deemed a national emergency, e.g. Hurricane Katrina.
  • Both groups involve a monthly weekend training and a two week period in the summer. Both can also be activated to serve in the regular Army
• When Kelly picks up the copy of Go, Dog, Go, it is clearly a different book altogether as the cover has a completely different dog, the side binding has a different title and font and the back has a picture of a woman holding a baby.
• When Al lifts up the dumpster to free Drill Instructor Sgt. Fletcher, the dumpster doesn't move at all.
• When Griff complains that the black character is always the first to die in war films, he cites Jim Brown in the 1967 film, The Dirty Dozen as an example. Jim Brown's character, Robert T. Jefferson, did not actually die until much later in the film, after several other members in his team (who were white or Hispanic) had already died.