Season 7 Episode 21: Movie Show

April 11, 1993

Published 04/11/93

Kelly’s birthday has been forgotten again, and Al’s plan for discharging the family’s obligation involves arranging things so that nobody has to do anything at all. It backfires: Kelly cancels a date with her boyfriend in order to spend the evening at the movies with her family, which is the one outcome Al had not budgeted for. So all five of them go. The bulk of the episode takes place in a multiplex and a single auditorium, and it is one of the show’s best uses of a confined setting. The concession stand sequence is a small riot, with Peg and the children forcing their way to the front and then ordering comprehensively. Once the lights go down, the episode’s best device kicks in: each Bundy gets an interior monologue over the same shot of a screen, and the four of them are having four completely unrelated experiences. Bud is calculating how to be seen as a cool guy. Al is counting the minutes and considering violence. Peg has mistaken Al’s boredom for emotion and is making plans. Kelly is thinking about her hair. Al and the other men eventually sneak out to a different screening, and Al’s review of what he found there is one of his better speeches. This is also the first credited screen role of David Boreanaz, six years before Angel. It is one of the most purely enjoyable episodes of the back half of season 7, partly because almost nothing is at stake and partly because the whole family is in the same room for twenty minutes with nowhere to go.

Episode Facts

Original air date: April 11, 1993
Season and episode: Season 7, Episode 21
Overall episode number: 152
Written by: Ellen L. Fogle
Directed by: Gerry Cohen
Taped: March 19, 1993
Production note: David Boreanaz’s first credited screen role, six years before Angel. He and David Faustino finally shared a scene in 2017, on an episode of Bones in which Faustino played a version of himself.
Title note: Named for the family’s trip to the cinema.