Season 8 Episode 4: Luck of the Bundys

September 26, 1993

Published 09/26/93

Good things start happening to Al Bundy, and he finds it deeply alarming. The run of luck is genuine and it keeps extending, and rather than enjoy it Al becomes convinced that it is a setup, because he has a working theory of his own life and the theory does not allow for this. He explains the Bundy Curse to Peg in detail: he was eighteen when he scored four touchdowns in a single game, which was the good luck, and the bad luck arrived in the form of meeting and marrying her, and the ledger has been balanced in one direction ever since. The more things go right, the more certain he becomes that something enormous is coming. Jefferson’s reaction to the streak is to try to monetize it before it expires, which he proposes doing by introducing Al to some well-heeled acquaintances who enjoy a game of poker. Kelly has lost her waitressing job and has moved on to work as a local mascot, which she presents as a career step. Bud has pledged a fraternity, and the initiation he describes leads Al to observe that once Bud is arrested, all four Bundys will have been booked for indecent exposure. Everything does eventually go wrong, comprehensively and at once, and Al is the only person in the house who is relieved. It is one of the more structurally interesting episodes of the early part of season 8, because the suspense comes entirely from the audience knowing Al is right.

Episode Facts

Original air date: September 26, 1993
Season and episode: Season 8, Episode 4
Overall episode number: 161
Written by: Richard Gurman
Directed by: Tony Singletary
Production note: This is the episode where Al lays out the Bundy Curse as a working theory, and the one that confirms he was eighteen at the time of the four touchdowns.
Title note: A play on “luck of the Irish.”