Bud’s Episode Vault
Season 2 Episode 6: Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Part 2
Al discovers Peggy has been spending his money at the male strip club, and Marcy cannot explain to Steve where her wedding ring has gone. Then the dancer turns up at the D’Arcys’ door. It is also the first time Al mentions Tang by name.
Season 2 Episode 4: Buck Can Do It
Buck’s nocturnal habits have the neighbors threatening lawsuits, and the pressure is on Al to have him neutered. Al refuses, and not out of affection for the dog. It is the first episode the series built around Buck.
Season 2 Episode 3: If I Were a Rich Man
Steve’s bank is a million dollars short the morning after he and Al spent the night in the vault, and everybody assumes Al took it. The family’s reaction is uncomplicated delight. Nobody asks where the money came from, which is the episode’s actual subject.
Season 2 Episode 1: Poppy’s by the Tree, Part 1
The series’ first two-parter sends the Bundys to Dumpwater, Florida, and a motel called Poppy’s by the Tree. An axe murderer has visited every five years since 1962, and the locals are taking bets on which Bundy he gets. The episode opens in black and white.
Season 2 Episode 2: Poppy’s by the Tree, Part 2
A storm traps the Bundys at the motel and the locals will not help. Then the killer takes Peggy hostage, which forces Al to actually do something. It is also the first appearance of “Thank your father, kids” — a ritual the series kept for ten more years.
Season 1 Episode 13: Johnny Be Gone
Al and Peggy’s favorite burger joint is closing and they cannot get out of the house to reach it. Bud needs help, then Kelly, then Marcy is in their kitchen in a towel. The series’ only real-time episode until “The Desperate Half-Hour” ten years later.
Season 1 Episode 12: Where’s the Boss
Al learns the shoe store’s owner has died and is bothered only that he never got any recognition from a boss he has never met. When Gary turns out to be alive, Al pays a man to impersonate him so he can hear it said. His resignation speech follows.
Season 1 Episode 11: Nightmare on Al’s Street
Steve is away, and Marcy begins dreaming nightly about a romantic, attentive version of Al. She is appalled. The episode gives Marcy an interior life nobody around her can take seriously, and logs the first mentions of the Bundy house number and Lake Chicamocomico.
Season 1 Episode 10: Al Loses His Cherry
Al leaves home after a fight and stays with his colleague Luke Ventura. Two sisters arrive, Luke takes one to bed, and the other spends the episode working on Al. He turns her down, which is the episode’s actual point and the reason the character stayed likeable.
Season 1 Episode 9: Peggy Sue Got Work
Al refuses to buy Peggy a VCR, so she takes a job selling clocks and earns the money herself. Al discovers that her absence leaves nothing between him and the children. Then both of them decide they want her home, and neither will admit it first.