Season 6 Episode 19: Psychic Avengers

March 1, 1992

Published 03/01/92

The heating bill has gone up, which means the Bundys can no longer afford a weekly TV Guide, which for Al Bundy is not an inconvenience but a crisis of faith. The family packs suitcases and prepares to leave the house before he gets home, because they remember what happened during the Great Toilet Paper Scare of ’86. When Al does find out, his reaction is as advertised. Relief arrives in the form of Jefferson, who turns out to have a side business selling lucky numbers through newspaper advertisements under the name Madame Zelda, and who is entirely unapologetic about it. Al’s response is to demand a cut, and from there the operation scales up fast: a room full of phone operators, Al in a white suit with a cane and a southern drawl, and a revenue stream consisting largely of elderly people’s pension money. The trouble is that Chicago already has an established psychic industry, organized into five families, and the west side belongs to Madame Inga. Al, having decided he wants the west side and every other side, crosses her. Madame Inga turns out to be the real thing. The curse she puts on the Bundys turns the entire family into monkeys, and in a neat inversion, turns Buck into a human being, who promptly gets himself into legal trouble that requires bail money. It is the most purely surreal episode of season 6, and the closing credits run over Al and Peg as monkeys, sharing a kiss.

Episode Facts

Original air date: March 1, 1992
Season and episode: Season 6, Episode 19
Overall episode number: 124
Written by: Calvin Brown, Jr.
Directed by: Amanda Bearse
Taped: February 7, 1992
Production note: Marcy does not appear, even though Amanda Bearse directed it.
Production note: Kevin Curran, the show’s producer and the regular voice of Buck, plays the human version of Buck on screen late in the episode.
Title note: Most likely a nod to Marvel’s Avengers.