Season 6 Episode 3: If Al Had a Hammer
September 22, 1991
Peggy is pregnant, and the household has instituted baby meetings, formal gatherings at which the three non-pregnant Bundys are required to participate in the pregnancy whether they want to or not. This is where “Hail baby!” enters the series: the refrain the family delivers with visible reluctance at each meeting, which recurred throughout the storyline and became one of the best-remembered bits of the sixth season.
The episode is also the first appearance of Grandmaster B, Bud’s rap persona, which went on to be one of the longest-running jokes of the middle seasons. He performs for his girlfriend Jill, and the studio audience’s response, a clearly audible “Yeah, boyyy!” from the crowd, made it into the broadcast. Bobbie Philips, who plays Jill, returned a few episodes later as a different girlfriend entirely.
It is a quieter milestone for the supporting cast: this is the last appearance of Al’s friend Norris, who had been around since the first season. Frank Lloyd, who played him, kept turning up in other parts for years afterwards, a mugger, a referee, a hot dog vendor, while also serving as the show’s stunt coordinator throughout the run.
The pregnant women at the meeting include two with connections to the production. Betsy is played by Catherine Rusoff, Ed O’Neill’s wife, who had appeared in season two’s “Just Married… with Children” as Mona Squab; Harriet is played by Sharyn Leavitt, then married to co-creator Ron Leavitt. The series cast from inside the building more during the pregnancy arc than at any other point.
Episode Facts
- Original air date: September 22, 1991
- Season 6, Episode 3, and the 108th episode of the series
- Written by Kevin Curran
- Directed by Gerry Cohen
Guest Cast
- Bobbie Phillips as Jill
- Frank Lloyd as Norris
- Anthony S. Johnson as Herb
- Catherine Rusoff as Betsy
- Jeff Michalski as Harry
- Rick Scarry as Melvin
The Garage
Al digs out his late father’s hammer and uses it to turn the garage into a room of his own, somewhere to go that is not the house and not his pregnant wife. It works for about as long as a secret like that can work. Jefferson finds it, then the rest of the husbands on the block find it, and then the wives find it.
The garage would go on to become NO MA’AM’s headquarters two seasons later, in No Ma’am, so this is where that piece of Bundy geography gets established.
Famous Quotes
- Peg: “Okay everybody. It’s time for the Weekly Bundy Baby Progress Report.” At which Al and Kelly put their heads down on the table.
- Kelly (reading the minutes): “At the beginning of the last meeting I suggested we have no more meetings. It was seconded by Bud, my brother, and Dad, my daddy. We stared dully at Mom and then were forced into a chorus of ‘We Love The Baby.'”
- Peg: “Let the record show your father is a weenie.” And later, after Al turns out his empty pockets for the treasury report: “Let the record show your father has nothing in his pants.”
- Al: “Peg, guess what I found in the attic. It’s something of my father’s that’s served him well for 20 years.” / Peg: “A pair of socks?”
- Al: “Bud, what do you think I found in the attic?” / Bud: “If it’s a rubber woman, Dad, I can explain. You send away for one Archie comic and the next thing you know they put you on a list…”
- Al: “Pumpkin?” / Kelly: “You found a pumpkin, Daddy?”
Notes
- Documentation on this episode is thin, so this page is shorter than most in the Vault. The writer, director and air date are confirmed, and the guest cast comes from the credited listing.
- Peggy is pregnant across this stretch of season 6. Buck Has a Belly Ache, three episodes later, is the last one in which she is shown pregnant.
