Weenie Tot Lovers & Other Strangers is the 18th episode of Season 5 of Married... with Children, also the 98th overall episode of the series. Directed by Gerry Cohen and written by Kevin Curran, the episode originally aired on FOX on March 24, 1991.
Summary[]
When Kelly wins the role as a spokesmodel for Weenie Tots, the Bundys get a year's supply of the food. They soon discover that they've won a $50,000 prize, but can't claim it because a family member works for the company. So, Al and Peggy get Marcy and Jefferson involved with the scheme to claim the money—and unfortunately involve Kelly, as well.
Plot[]
Al is about to eat a single Peanut M&M, which he wrestled from a roach and then warmed in a skillet...only to have it taken by Peg. Bud informs them that he and 4 other Chicago students have been selected to visit the White House and meet the President; however, Bud needs $100 to fund the trip. Al is hesitant, as it's the last $100 the family has...but, realizing how proud he is of Bud, he decides to issue him the check.
Before Al can write Bud's check, Kelly rushes in and informs the family that she has an opportunity to be "Miss Weenie Tot". Such would let her live her childhood dream: "Going to supermarkets and holding a tray of Weenie Tots in front of a cold freezer, while a bunch of old men look up my dress!" She would also win a year's supply ofWeenie Tots - a prospect which excites Al to no end. But then Kelly reveals that she would need $100 dollars to buy a new dress.
Realizing his dilemma, Al gives Kelly the $100. He then accompanies her to the audition, held at the Weenie Tots factory. The audition is judged by the president of Weenie Tot Incorporated - and by his staff, most of whom are missing at least one hand. After answering mostly-lewd-and-suggestive questions, and after doing a series of dances and exercises, Kelly wins and becomes the new Miss Weenie Tot.
Back home, a disappointed Bud watches the news about the other 4 students - the ones who made the White House trip - being showered with gifts, and having such fun as playing Nintendo with Dan Quayle in the War Room. Al rushes in with his year's supply of Weenie Tots, ignoring a depressed Bud and his plan to take a nap in traffic (or so he claims), Then Peg notices a scratch 'n' sniff contest; the winning box-top is worth $50,000! Al stops her from opening them, pointing out that exposing Weenie Tots to air will cause them to rapidly disintegrate. He tells her to stay away from the Tots while he's at work.
Upon arriving home, Al finds out that Peg has opened all but one box...reducing his Weenie Tots to noxious dust ("It smells like rat droppings in here," he comments). While Al's getting a beer from the fridge to wash the last of the Tots, Peg opens the last box (against his direct orders, prompting him to inform her that "You've just won a trip to Disney-fist")…and finds the winning game-piece!
Al and Peg proceed to pack while deciding where to go on (separate) vacation. Then Bud walks in and notices what's going on. Sensing their plans to abandon him and Kelly, Bud demands that his parents give him whatever cash they have in their pockets; he will then call it even with them for wrecking that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Peg and Al agree...but before they can leave, Bud points out that - because Kelly is now a Weenie Tot employee - they are ineligible for the prize. Laughing hysterically, Bud retires upstairs with the cash he just got.
Al and Peg decide on how to get around this: they bring Marcy and Jefferson (because he's even dumber than Kelly) onboard to collect the prize for them. Although hesitant at first, the D'arcys agree to pick up the $50 thousand in exchange for half of the money. During the press conference held to present the prize money, Al and Peg notice that their neighbors are dressed up; Jefferson and Marcy intend to leave town with the entire $50 thousand! Being Kelly, however, she ruins everything with her sloppy efforts to convince the press that she's never met the D'arcys...and that half of the money isn't going to her parents. Suddenly the IRS rushes the podium; they tell the press that Jefferson D'arcy will make partial restitution to those he defrauded with his Lake Chicamocomico scam (previously referenced in Married with Who, Jefferson's first episode.)
Commandeering the microphone, Marcy denounces Al before the press - while the IRS take away her plane tickets, along with her grandmother's ring - just before punching Jefferson. Kelly grabs back the mic and urges Al to leave town in (predictably shoddy) pig Latin. Back home, Peg comments to a disappointed Al that it wasn't a good idea to let Kelly in on their plan...but he should be glad that it's all over now. Just then the police arrive to take Al in. He beams while getting hauled off to jail - where they serve Weenie Tots every night of the week!
Guest stars/Recurring cast[]
- Cast regulars
Guest starring[]
- Ray Girardin as Mr. Shnick
- Heather Elizabeth Parkhurst as Flopsie
- Rick Ford as Johnson (as F. Richards Ford)
- Milt Tarver as IRS Agent
- Helena Apothaker as Butter Lefkowitz
- Jennifer Braff as Rhonda Rose
- Dan Tullis, Jr. as Policeman
Quotes[]
- [Al has just hand-trucked his year-supply of Weenie Tots into the Bundy kitchen As he grabs a lunchbox to take some Weenie Tots with him for lunch, Peg grabs one of the cartons]
- Peg: Oh, look, Al! Weenie Tots is running a new "Scratch N' Sniff Sweepstakes"! [reads the label] "If your card smells like a weenie, you win $50,000!" Oh, let's open them all and see if we've won!
- Al: Peg! No! [points at the carton in her hand] Read the label first.
- Peg: [reading] "No nutritional value..."
- Al: [cutting her off] Keep reading.
- Peg: [reading on] "This is not a food..."
- Al: [cutting her off again] Noooo! No! The fine print!
- Peg: [moves the carton closer to her eyes and continues reading] "Do not expose Weenie Tots to air. Will accelerate disintegration process, Enjoy!" I wann know if we've won!?
- Al: Well, I can tell you that - We're Bundys; we didn't!
- [Al is standing next to Flopsie, the secretary at the Weenie Tot factory, flirting with her]
- Al: You might be wondering what a 25-year-old millionaire is doing with an 18-year-old daughter.
- Flopsie: [filing her nails, without paying much attention to Al] Not really...
- Al: Uhm, anyway...both her parents, especially her mother, died in a flaming car wreck.
- Flopsie: [annoyed, still filing her nails] Sir, you're spraying me!
- [Sometime later, Al is standing on the other side of Flopsie. He tells her a fantasy story, as she sits with her legs up on the desk. She reads a magazine, not paying attention to Al]
- Al: [mimes pulling a knife from his belt and waving it around] Armed with only a long knife, I slayed the beast [mimes thrusting upward and then sliding back] that crushed my wife. This left me alone in my mansion, with the world's largest diamond.
- Flopsie: [looks up in disgust] Does it smell like feet in here?!
- Al: [looks down and then slides back in embarrassment] ...I don't smell anything!
- [Later, Al is sitting on top of Flopsie's desk]
- Al: Ok, here's the truth...I'm not 25; I'm not a millionaire; and, uh [looks around], those were my feet. But, uh, here's the real story...I'm Joe Namath. '69 Super Bowl, babe! [mimes throwing a football] That was me!
- Flopsie: 1969? [scoffs] I wasn't even born yet!
- [Al bursts into tears, dropping his head on her desk]
- [Al is kneeling in prayer in the Weenie Tots reception area]
- Al: So, Lord, I know I've come to you a time or two in the past... [bitterly] Of course, you've been less than receptive. Well, you know, the wife thing, the shoe thing, the life thing... [calmly] But Lord this time I have a chance of winning a year's supply of Weenie Tots here! You know good they are! They're made up of all your creatures. So, please let Kelly win and if you do, I'll... [thinking] I'll be nice to every one I meet, forever and ever, Amen.
- [Al lower his head just as two of the contestants, Rhonda and Butter, come out of the audition room disappointed. Kelly, in a sash and tiara, then comes out and calls out to Al]
- Kelly: [excitedly] Daddy! I won! I won!
- Al: Wha... Oh! [gets up and raises his arms in victory]
- [as Al runs to Kelly, the mother of Rhonda gets in front of Al while she tries to comfort her daughter]
- Al: [frustrated as he tries to move around her] GET OUT OF THE WAY, BEHEMOTH! [smiles as he finally gets to Kelly and hugs her]
- [Peggy, Bud, and Al just finished watching Kelly reveal the plans they made with the D'Arcys]
- Peg: Gee, Al, uh, maybe I made a mistake in letting Kelly in on the plans.
- [Al clicks the television remote off and lets out a sigh as he slowly gets up and walks to the front door]
- Peg: Well, honey, at least its over.
- Al: [turns to Peg and smiles, while sounding defeated] Ah, no, Peg, its not over...
- [Al turns back to open the door, revealing Officer Dan and his partner are standing there, smiling at Al while holding up a pair of handcuffs]
- Al: [turns to Peg and smiles again] Now its over... [to the officers] What's for dinner tonight in the slammer, guys?
- Officer Dan: [smiling] Same thing every night... Weenie Tots!
- Al: [smiles as he puts his arms out] ...Book me!
Notes[]
Title[]
- The title of this episode is a reference to the 1970 film, Lovers and Other Strangers
Trivia[]
- As indicated by the production code, this was the 17th episode filmed, but aired as the 18th episode.
- Dan Tullis, Jr. appears in this episode as a Chicago Police officer...although he isn't addressed by his regular character name, Officer Dan, until Season 8.
- In this episode, it's revealed that Al earns 80 pesos - instead of U.S. Dollars - on his paycheck. By today's conversion rates, that paycheck would be just under $6 U.S..
- In season 6's "Rites of Passage," Al does give Bud his entire paycheck of $6.
- Heather Elizabeth Parkhurst, who plays Flopsie in this episode, would later return to MWC as one of Al's fantasy girls in "Route 666 (Part 2)"...and as a member of the Swedish Bikini Team in "The Gas Station Show".
- Helena Apothaker, who plays Butter Lefkowitz in this episode, appears in the next episode - Kids! Wadaya Gonna Do? - as Bud's date, Crystal...and as Butter, again, in "You Better Shop Around (Part 1) (She walks past the family with Bud and another woman).
- This episode would later be parodied on the NBC sketch comedy, The Rerun Show, with the Bundys now being played by Ozzy Osbourne and his family (in reference to their realty show The Osbournes)…and with actor Erik Estrada playing Officer Dan.
- After hearing Al's story about being Joe Namath, who won the 1969 Super Bowl, Flopsie claims that she wasn't even born yet. Heather Elizabeth Parkhurst, who played Flopsie, was actually born two years earlier (in 1967).
- As Bud points out to Al and Peg after they won, they would be considered ineligible to win the prize...as contests typically have rules that expressly prevent employees and their immediate family from being eligible to win.
- This is the first episode to mention Al's favorite food, Weenie Tots.
- Al's retirement property, Lake Chicamocomico is mentioned in this episode.
- Prior to this episode, Helena Apothaker and Milt Tarver appeared together on Beverly Hills 90210 (in the episode "The Green Room").
- In an early draft of this episode's final scene, Bud ends up with Flopsie - whose cousin, it turns out, is a Congressional Page! "Who says you can't have your Tot and eat it too?" Bud smiles, as he and Flopsie go out for dinner and a film festival...in Washington DC, compliments of her uncle's private jet.
Cultural References[]
- After Peggy reveals that Al earn only 80 pesos, she tells him to stop being like Opie and get a real job. He then points out that at least Opie came home to Aunt Bee's pies and then compares Peggy to Aunt Bee. Both characters were from the 1960s sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show.
- After Al snatches the check from Bud to give to Kelly, he sarcastically calls his parents "Gomez" and "Morticia", referring to the characters from the 1960s sitcom, The Addams Family.
- At one point, Al tells Flopsie that he is actually retired NFL player Joe Namath and how he led his team, the New York Jet, to victory at Super Bowl III in 1969.
- Super Bowl III featured Namath and the Jets playing against the Baltimore Colts, which also featured MWC guest star Bubba Smith.
- The real Joe Namath later appeared on MWC as himself working at the new sports bar Al and Jefferson go to in "Dances with Weezie".
- Al reveals that he has a lunch box featuring the women of the 1970s television series Charlie's Angels
- Marcy said that she doesn't want to end up being "Bonnie to this man's Clod", which is a reference to the American criminal couple Bonnie and Clyde. The couple was gunned down by authorities in Louisiana on May 23, 1934.
- After Peggy opens the last box of Weenie Tots despite Al's plea, he makes a fist and threatens her, saying "Congratulations, Peg. You've just won a trip to Disneyfist!", referring to the amusement park, Disneyland.
Locations[]
- Bundy Residence
- Weenie Tot Factory
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room / Kitchen
- Weenie Tot Factory Waiting Room
- Weenie Tot Factory Audition Area
External Links[]
Weenie Tot Lovers and Other Strangers at the Internet Movie Database- Weenie Tot Lovers and Other Strangers on Bundyology
- Weenie Tot Lovers and Other Strangers - Transcript on Springfield! Springfield!
- #99 Weenie Tot Lovers and Other Strangers - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
| ◄ Season 4 | Season 5 Episodes | Season 6 ► |
| We'll Follow the Sun • Al... with Kelly • Sue Casa, His Casa • The Unnatural • The Dance Show • Kelly Bounces Back • Married... with Aliens • Wabbit Season • Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? • One Down, Two to Go • And Baby Makes Money • Married... with Who? • The Godfather • Look Who's Barking • A Man's Castle • All Night Security Dude • Oldies But Young 'Uns • Weenie Tot Lovers and Other Strangers • Kids! Wadaya Gonna Do? • Top of the Heap • You Better Shop Around (Part 1) • You Better Shop Around (Part 2) • Route 666 (Part 1) • Route 666 (Part 2) • Buck the Stud | ||