The Worst Noel is the 13th episode of season 8 of Married... with Children, also the 170th overall series episode. Directed by cast member Amanda Bearse and written by Larry Jacobson, it premiered on FOX-TV on December 19, 1993.
Synopsis[]
On Christmas Eve, Kelly and Bud struggle to get a jukebox into the house without Al and Peg (who spend the entire episode arguing over what to watch on TV) seeing them.
Storyline[]
On Christmas Eve, Kelly and Bud try to sneak in a jukebox to give to their parents who spend the entire show sitting in front of their TV set arguing with each other over the proper speed for channel switching. Also, Marcy and Jefferson throw a wild Christmas party next door and do not tell Al about it!
Recurring Cast/Regulars[]
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy D'Arcy
- Ted McGinley as Jefferson D'Arcy
- Buck the Dog as Buck Bundy
Quotes[]
- Al: What's on now?
- Peg: I Love Lucy.
- Al: Well I hate Lucy. The real star was Fred. They should've killed off Ethel, Lucy and that illegal alien... Made Fred a single man and called it Mertz's World, but oh well.
- Announcer: For those of you who missed the first 53 airings, NBC is proud to present Cheers, the final episode.
- Peg: What does Cheers have to do with Christmas?
- Al: What does NBC have to do with television?
- Peg: You're going too fast, I can't... what was that? What was that? What was that?
- Al: A Bewitched with Dick York, not Dick Sargent, as Darrin; a Gilligan where the gorilla comes to the island; a Full House Christmas special where they get snowed in at the airport; and the mating habits of the Amazonian catfish with Phillipe, not Jacques Cousteau.
- Peg: You can see all that, but you can't see the rim around the toilet?
- Al: I see what I want to see.
- Peg: Oooh, look, It's A Wonderful Life.
- Al: Peg, I hate this movie.
- Peg: How can you hate It's A Wonderful Life?
- Al: Because it's a horrible life. You know the reason they never made a sequel? Because when the guy came back he killed himself. And this time he took that angel with him. This must be written by a woman. This stinks, it bites, it blows. But if you wanna watch it, Peg...
- Kelly: [about a juke box] Well, we can take it upstairs and hide it in one of our rooms?
- Bud: Oh, no problem. Just let me eats me spinach first.
- Al: You know, Marcy, it's a damn shame you're not having a Christmas party this year. I had a really good time at the last one. Remember, I got 95 cocktail weenies stuffed in my mouth? I would have gotten 96 in if I didn't have to sneeze. Hey, you remember the look on your boss's face? It's a shame you're not having a Christmas party for a got a whole new batch of dwarf jokes to tell this year.
- Announcer: And now the Black Entertainment channel presents: It's a Malcolm X-mas.
- Announcer: A&E is proud to present: It's a Hitler Christmas.
- Al: A&E? I thought we had that blocked!
- Al: Oh, no. Not Sally Struthers feeds the Third World channel. Hey, Sally, open your purse up! I'm sure there's enough Ding-Dong's and Ho-Ho's in there to open a new Seven-Eleven! That's that every starving kid needs, someone like Sally standing their while they're eating saying, "are you gonna finish that?"
- Kelly: We wouldn't be having this problem if we had used a see-saw.
- Bud: We wouldn't be having this problem if Dad had used a condom.
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to the traditional Christmas carol, "The First Noel".
Trivia[]
- The events of this episode take place in real time, set entirely within the grounds of the Bundy residence.
- This is one of the few times that a character on MWC breaks the fourth wall, as Al looks directly into the camera just before the commercial break and says "And I really hate this commercial".
- At one point Marcy can be seen wearing a red Christmas dress. Katey Sagal wore a very similar dress (if not the same) when she appeared as Peg on the cover of the December 12, 1992 issue of TV Guide.
Cultural References[]
- Throughout the episode, the 1946 classic Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life is mentioned multiple times, either being shown on television or Al mentioning how much he hates the film.
- The film was previously parodied in the season 4 episode "It's a Bundyful Life (Parts 1 and 2)".
- Al mentions Michael Bolton, a musician known for his pop ballads, after hearing him sing "Silent Night" on the television.
- Al has previously mentioned his dislike for the singer in "Take My Wife, Please" and "Old Insurance Dodge".
- A poster for rapper Ice Cube's 1991 album Death Certificate can be clearly seen through Bud's bedroom window.
- While channel surfing, Al becomes excited when the announcer mentions the 1966 spaghetti western film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, will be played shortly.
- When Al and Peg receive the Nat King Cole record from Bud and Kelly, Peg mentions that "It's been so long since I've heard Nat without Natalie".
- This is a reference to singer and actress Natalie Cole, the daughter of Nat King Cole, who re-recorded her father's classic hit, Unforgettable, as a virtual duet in 1991.
- After Peggy complains that Al is rapidly changing the channels and asks what those programs were, he quickly lists off several real-world shows and characters:
- "A Bewitched with Dick York, not Dick Sargent, as Darrin" - In reference to the 1960s ABC sitcom Bewitched, and its leading male character, Darrin Stephens. Actor Dick York originally played Darrin from its premiere in 1964 until 1969. York left the show due to health issues, and was replaced with Dick Sargent, who continued in the role until the series ended in 1972.
- "a Gilligan where the gorilla came to the island"- Referring to one of two episodes of the 1964–67 CBS sitcom Gilligan's Island, in which the main plot involved a gorilla causing mischief for the castaways: the Season 1 episode “Diamonds Are an Ape's Best Friend” or the Season 2 episode “Forward March”.
- "a Full House family Christmas story where they were snowed in at the airport" - Referring to "Our Very First Christmas Show", the season 2 Christmas episode of the 1987–95 ABC sitcom Full House.
- "and a study of the mating habits of the Amazonian catfish with Phillipe, not Jacques, Cousteau." - Referring to French underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau and his son, Philippe Cousteau, who made films about the exploration of the world's oceans.
- Bud sarcastically mentioning that he needs to eat spinach to lift the jukebox is a reference to the cartoon character, Popeye the Sailorman, who gained strength when he ate canned spinach.
- When talking about the jukebox, Kelly mentions that it has a record "...from way back when Cher used to sing with her son.". This is a reference to singer Cher and her then-husband Sonny Bono.
- Al and Peggy sing their signature song, "I Got You Babe", in the season 3 episode "The Gypsy Cried."
- At one point, Al sarcastically quips that he is watching a program on the American political affairs cable channel C-SPAN featuring U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor wrestling to settle their differences.
- Al says that he hates the 1951–57 CBS sitcom I Love Lucy, as he calls Lucy's husband, Ricky Ricardo, an "illegal alien" and suggests that the show should have just been about Lucy and Ricky's landlord, Fred Mertz, as a new bachelor with Lucy, Ricky and Fred’s wife, Ethel, being killed off.
- Contrary to Al's belief, Ricky was actually a naturalized U.S. citizen who also served in the U.S. Army, sharing a similar background story to Desi Arnaz, who portrayed Ricky on the show.
- The interesting thing about Arnaz is that there is no way that Married… with Children would have existed in its format because he, along with cinematographer Karl Freund, pioneered the multi-camera setup used by MWC and other sitcoms that made it possible to film a show before a studio audience.
- Al was also right to single out Fred Mertz because the character was sometimes written as a scene stealer. William Frawley, who played Fred, had a background in vaudeville, which only helped the show.
- Actress Sally Struthers is mocked again in this episode, with Al pointing out that she has lots of food while standing next to starving children.
- This is in reference to the actress, who was overweight at the time, appearing in commercials for Christian Children's Fund, pleading with viewers to donate to help starving children in developing countries. Her size while standing next to starving children made it the perfect excuse for shows such as MWC and South Park to mock her.
- During Al and Peggy's search, they come across NBC and the 54th rerun of the series finale of the sitcom Cheers. However, the actual TV listings for the night reveal that Cheers is nowhere near NBC's schedule as December 24, 1993 was on a Friday. (Considering the Cheers finale originally aired during the 1992–93 season, it would have recently been added to the show’s syndication package at the time this episode aired.)
- At one point, Peggy points out that they are watching the TV movie version of It's A Wonderful Life starring actress Suzanne Pleshette.
- Nearly a decade after this episode, Pleshette would guest star on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules, playing the mother of Katey Sagal’s character, Cate Hennessy.
- The D"Arcy's Christmas Party references the Looney Tunes short "Rabbit Every Monday”. The short involved Bugs repeatedly stepping out of the oven and grabbing things such as a fan, chairs, a pitcher of water, and party favors while music is playing in the background. Marcy and Jefferson grab similar things throughout the episode.
Music[]
- The traditional Christmas song "Deck The Halls" can be heard throughout the episode whenever Marcy and Jefferson open the Bundy's front door.
- An off key rendition of "Silent Night" by Michael Bolton can be heard which causes Al to cringe.
- The "Psycho Dad Theme" is heard when Al watches the Christmas episode of Psycho Dad.
- Several country songs are heard during the informercial for It's a Country Christmas.
- "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole is played at the end of the episode.
Goofs[]
- Whenever Marcy opens the front door, the music from the Christmas party she is hosting can clearly be heard; however, when it cuts to Bud and Kelly outside no music can be heard at all even though their backyard is right next to the D'Arcy's'.
- Al tells Peggy that there was never a sequel to the film It's a Wonderful Life. In fact, there actual was a made-for-tv sequel called Clarence, which takes place in 1989 and continues with the original guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, coming back to earth help a woman while assuming the form of a young man.
- At around the 2:40 mark, when Al is beginning to watch Christmas Oil Wrestling, you can see behind Bud, near where the computer table is, a shadow of a person walking off.