Season 7 Episode 4: Al on the Rocks

October 4, 1992

Published 10/04/92

Seven is sick, and Peg’s response is to seal the house against anyone who might make it worse, which in practice means putting Bud and Kelly out on the porch in the cold. Their appeal to Marcy for shelter produces the single best two-line exchange of the season. The bigger problem is the doctor’s bill, and the money that was supposed to cover it is gone, because Peg found cash sitting unused in a red envelope in the mailbox and took it. The envelope was addressed to the mortgage company. Her explanation, that she takes money from envelopes not addressed to her but never reads them because that would be an invasion of privacy, is delivered with total sincerity. The family is now several months behind and about to become considerably more behind. Al’s solution is a second job, and the job he finds is bartending at a place called Manhole, where the gimmick is that the bartender works topless. So Al Bundy spends the episode shirtless behind a bar in front of a paying audience, which the show scores to “Tuff Enuff” and treats with no mercy whatsoever. Jefferson, who has spent the series avoiding employment, eventually turns up working there too. Marcy’s reaction to Al flexing in his own living room beforehand is worth the price of admission on its own. Peg’s handling of the mortgage money is the sort of thing the series returned to again and again, and it never got old, because the show never once let her see anything wrong with it. The episode ends with the family no better off than it started, which by season 7 was the only ending available.

Episode Facts

Original air date: October 4, 1992
Season and episode: Season 7, Episode 4
Overall episode number: 135
Written by: Andrew Smith
Directed by: Gerry Cohen
Taped: September 14, 1992
Production note: From this episode the opening credits carry a new clip for Ted McGinley, showing Jefferson working at the Manhole bar and dropping a tray of bottles. Syndicated prints use it from the season premiere onward.
Title note: A double meaning on a drink served over ice and on something being in danger of collapse.