The Undergraduate was the 28th episode aired in Season 9 of Married... with Children and the 211th overall series episode, as well as the final episode of the season. Directed by Amanda Bearse and written by Fran E. Kaufer, the episode originally aired on FOX, premiering on May 21, 1995.
Synopsis[]
Kelly gets a secret admirer who sends food, perfumes and flowers. All but Bud are excited about this. The admirer turns out to be a 12-year-old, who wants to take her out to his Junior HS Prom! The boy turns up to be son of the guy who owns the jeans company for which Kelly works. Bud sneaks in as the DJ and plays slow songs to avenge his firing, but finally saves her when Kelly hires him back.
Summary[]
In this season-ending episode, Kelly's new secret admirer turns out to be a wealthy, spoiled, and immature 12-year-old boy, named Robby Bennett, who blackmails her into accompanying him to his junior prom at his elementary school. Bud also crashes the prom disguised as a music DJ to taunt Kelly until she finally cries out for help, and Bud saves her by contacting Robbie's father. But no one expects it when Robbie's father begins to have the eye for Kelly, too.
Recurring cast/character regulars[]
- Buck the Dog as Buck Bundy
Guest starring[]
- Noah Segan as Robby Bennett
- Billy Gallo as Stitch (as William Gallo)
- Harry S. Murphy as Mr. Bennett
- Brad Blumenthal as Refreshment Guy (as Brad Parker)
- Damien Leake as Principal Alburton
- Christopher Miranda as Tommy
- Lynsey Bartilson as Megan
- Jessica Smith as Jenny
- Krystin Moore as Julie
- Bert L. Cook as Delivery Man
- Matt Zusser as Donald
- Meghan Markle as Student Sitting on the Stage (uncredited)
Quotes[]
- Kelly: Guess what my secret admirer brought for me today! Twelve long-stemmed roses!
- Peggy: Al, how come you never send me roses?
- Al: I don't like you, Peg.
- [Kelly meets her secret admirer, Robby Bennet, who turns out to be a 12 year old boy. She takes him to the Bundy veranda and attempts to reject him, due to their age difference, but he does not take it well.]
- Robby: [upset] You think I gave you beef and roses just to get blown off?! The Bennett family motto is: "We see it, we want it, we get it".
- Kelly: Well, the Bundy family motto is: "It sees us, insults us, we kick its ass".
- [Kelly talks to Bud and Jefferson after she is forced to go to the prom with Robby in order to secure her jeans commercial.]
- Kelly: Bud, you're my manager. You're supposed to be opening doors for me. Now, what am I paying you 55% for?
- Bud: How was I supposed to know you were gonna start saying "No" to men?
- Jefferson: All right, so you dance with a guy who comes up to your navel. It'll prepare you for later on in your showbiz career when you're dancing with Stallone or Cruise or k.d. Lang.
- Kelly: Well, I guess you're right. I mean, it's obvious that this kid has some power, so I might as well go to the dance with him.
- [Jefferson and Bud nod in agreement]
- Bud: [pats her on the leg] There you go.
- Kelly: And what's the big deal, anyway? [stands up] Lots of starlets go out with younger guys, right? Cher, Madonna, Liberace. I mean, it's just a junior prom. I can do this with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back.
- Bud: That's sort of like one of your real dates then, right? [Jefferson and Bud laugh while playfully tapping each other]
- [After Kelly had gone through several slow dances with Robby, she attempts to dance by herself near the refreshment section, before Robby comes up to her again]
- Robby: [with a sly grin] You know, Kelly, I have a birthday party for when I turn 13 this summer. I think you'd look pretty hot in a swimsuit. I think I just might keep you.
- Kelly: Look, Macaulay, this is America. And nobody owns anybody in America. Well, except for maybe that guy who's married to Anna Nicole Smith, but, you certainly don't own me.
- Robby: Well, then I guess you don't care about your career.
- Kelly: Not if it means kissing your little Power Ranger butt. You know, I have a mind to tell your father about this.
- Robby: Go ahead. My father has no control over me. I'm almost 13. I do and say what I want, when I want.
- [Bud, who is dressed as "DJ Rockafella", is on the auditorium stage behind the turntables and uses the mic to make an announcement]
- Bud: And now, boys and girls, Principal Alburton. I'd like to introduce a very special guest and the power behind King Robby, his dad, Bennett J. Bennett.
- [Robby's father turns to face his son, reveling that he had been standing right behind Robby during his earlier remarks. The now scared Robby turns around slowly to face his dad]
- Bennet: [coldly] Hello, son.
- Robby: [nervously] Hi, Dad. [slowly reaches out to look at Bennet's tie] New tie?
- Bennet: Yup... Same old belt though. But we'll talk about that later. [turns around and points towards Bud] Thanks for the phone call, homey.
- Bud: [smiles] Word up.
- Bennet: I owe you.
- Bud: Hey, listen, Kelly gets that jeans gig and we'll call it even.
- Bennet: [looks over at Kelly with approval] Done. [coldly, while putting his hand on Robby's shoulder] Let's go, son.
- Robby: [frightened] Another "time- out", Dad?
- Bennet: [chuckles] Maybe.... If the belt unravels.
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of the episode is a reference to the 1967 film The Graduate in which a recent college graduate is seduced by an older woman.
- It is also a play on the term, "Undergraduate" which refers to a student in college / university who has not earned their bachelor's degree, though in this case Robbie is underage and about to graduate from middle school.
Trivia[]
- This episode was taped on March 3, 1995, which was David Faustino's 21st birthday.
- There's a large sign on the wall of the gym advertising Kim Weiskopf for Student Class President. It's an inside joke: Kim Weiskopf was the executive producer for Married with Children.
- Meghan Markle, who would later become Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, appears as an uncredited extra in the gymnasium.
- She can be seen most prominently near the end, where she is sitting on the stage as Kelly thanks Bud before he reads her diary to the students.
- Meghan's father, Thomas W. Markle, worked as the director of photography on Married... with Children.
- Bert L. Cook, a production crew member for the show, plays the delivery man at the beginning of the episode.
- Lynsey Bartilson, who plays Megan, the red headed girl in the sunflower dress who thinks Kelly's chest is fake, would later go on to star in another FOX sitcom, Grounded for Life.
- Marcy does not appear in this episode, as Amanda Bearse was directing the episode.
- After this episode, MWC co-creator Michael G. Moye left the show and retired from the entertainment industry altogether. His fellow MWC co-creator, Ron Leavitt had left at the end of season 7.
Cultural References[]
- Peggy mentions that one of the gifts that Kelly's admirer sent them is Chanel No. 5, a popular brand of perfume.
- Kelly confuses the entire continental United States with the Thirteen Colonies that eventually lead to the creation of the United States.
- After expressing concern about Kelly having a possible stalker, Bud confesses to stalking some women before saying that he only knows about stalking from watching films featuring actor Eric Roberts.
- Kelly mispronounces the name of the opera La bohème as "L.A. Boom".
- After Robbie arrives, Bud offers him "A Yoo-hoo with a Bosco back"
- Yoo-hoo is a brand of chocolate milk typically sold in glass containers.
- Bosco is the name of a chocolate syrup. It was previously referenced by Al in the season 4 episode "At the Zoo" when Steve was talking about a different Bosco, the sea turtle he wanted to save.
- Bud line about a "Yoo-hoo with a Bosco back" is a reference to a "Beer Back", more commonly known in the U.S. as a chaser, a mild drink offered after consuming a shot of a strong alcohol. In this case, Bud is implying that a Yoo-Hoo would be too strong for a young kid like Robbie.
- After Robbie takes a seat on the Bundy's couch, Kelly calls him "Opie" in reference to the character, Opie Taylor from the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show.
- Near the end of the episode, Al starts to sing and dance to "Movin' On Up", which was the theme song to the 1970s sitcom The Jeffersons.
- MWC creators Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye were producers on The Jeffersons.
- Jefferson tells Kelly "So you dance with a guy who comes up to your navel. It'll prepare you for later on in your showbiz career, when you're dancing Stallone, or Cruise, or K.D. Lang."
- This is in reference to American actors Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise and Canadian musician k.d. lang.
- It may also be a reference to the actors' heights, as Stallone is 5' 9½" (1.77 m) and Cruise is 5' 7" (1.7 m), but are typically portrayed as being much taller in their films. In contrast, the average American male's height is about 5' 9½" (1.77 m).
- After hearing Jefferson's advice, Kelly says "What's the big deal? Lots of attractive starlets go out with younger guys. To name a few: Cher... Madonna... Liberace..."
- Cher is a musician and actress. After her divorce from Sonny Bono and later, Gregg Allman, she was known for dating actors and musicians who were several years younger than her, including Tom Cruise and Michael Bolton. It was also mentioned that Jefferson had dated her at one point, because it was his turn in "The D'Arcy Files".
- Madonna is a musician and actress. Like Cher, she became known for dating men who were often several years younger than her including rapper Vanilla Ice, director Guy Ritchie and baseball player Alex Rodriguez.
- Liberace was a Las Vegas based musician who known for his rather flamboyant clothing and lifestyle. Although he never confirmed it prior to his death, he was constantly accused of being gay by the media. In 1982, a 22 year old male who was Liberace's chauffer and claimed to also be his live-in-lover of 5 years sued the singer who was already in his 60s. The case was settled out of court shortly before the singer's death in 1987.
- At the dance, Bud tells the crowd that he is dedicating the night's music to "The Walrus of Love, Barry White".
- Barry White was a singer known for his deep bass-baritone voice and singles such as "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe". He was previously mentioned in "Pump Fiction".
- After Robbie suggests that he might keep Kelly around for the summertime, she tells him "Look, Macaulay, this is America. And nobody owns anybody in America. Except for maybe that guy who's married to Anna Nicole Smith."
- Macaulay is a reference to then-child actor Macaulay Culkin who was best known at the time for his role in the film Home Alone and its sequel.
- Anna Nicole Smith was an actress and Playboy Playmate, known for her curvaceous body that was not the norm for a model. At the time this episode was filmed, she had recently married Texan billionaire, J. Howard Marshall who was 89 years old while Smith was just 26 years old. Following his death about a year into their marriage, she was criticized by the media and accused of being a gold digger and spent several years in court fighting with his heirs over his will.
- Kelly mentions that she watched the opera Madame Butterfly
- Gale Sayers Middle School, where the dance is held at, is named after Chicago Bears Half Back Gale Sayers.
- During her breakup with Bennett she tells him "I'm sorry, Bennett, but as the Chinese philosopher Unconscious once said, 'It's better to have loved and lost, than to have never seen 'Lost in Space' at all'. "
- Kelly mixes up the the Chinese philosopher Confucius with unconscious.
- Lost in Space was a sci-fi television series. It was later remade into a full length film that starred MWC guest star Matt LeBlanc in 1998.
- The quote that Kelly is trying is "It is better to have loved and loss, than to have never loved at all", which is from Alfred Tennyson’s “In Memoriam A.H.H.”, but often falsely attributed to William Shakespeare.
Music[]
- Al sings "Movin' On Up" at the end of the episode.
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Gale Sayers Middle School
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Bunch Veranda
- Gale Sayers Middle School Gymnasium
Goofs[]
- Both Christina Applegate and Noah Segan appear to chuckle and smile briefly when Bud takes photos of Kelly and Robbie through the front door's window panel.
- As Bud expresses concern over Kelly dating Robbie's father now, Al is shown cutting up the food on his plate. After Bud points out the age difference between them, the camera immediately cuts to Al, who suddenly has a mouth full of food as he says "Are you never happy?" to Bud.