Michael G. Moye
Buck’s nocturnal habits have the neighbors threatening lawsuits, and the pressure is on Al to have him neutered. Al refuses, and not out of affection for the dog. It is the first episode the series built around Buck.
A storm traps the Bundys at the motel and the locals will not help. Then the killer takes Peggy hostage, which forces Al to actually do something. It is also the first appearance of “Thank your father, kids” — a ritual the series kept for ten more years.
The series’ first two-parter sends the Bundys to Dumpwater, Florida, and a motel called Poppy’s by the Tree. An axe murderer has visited every five years since 1962, and the locals are taking bets on which Bundy he gets. The episode opens in black and white.
Steve is away, and Marcy begins dreaming nightly about a romantic, attentive version of Al. She is appalled. The episode gives Marcy an interior life nobody around her can take seriously, and logs the first mentions of the Bundy house number and Lake Chicamocomico.
Al invites Steve to poker and Steve loses his whole paycheck to him, which Marcy wants back. It is the only episode of the series without Bud, and the first without Kelly. It also introduces Al’s friends, one of whom lasts long enough to become a NO MA’AM member.
Marcy gives Peggy a diet book meant to improve her love life, and Peggy puts the whole family on it. The episode is really about withholding, the weapon both Bundys would use on each other for eleven seasons. It is also the first time the show goes upstairs.
The episode that opened FOX’s first night of prime time, on April 5, 1987. Al has to choose between a basketball game and meeting the new neighbors, Steve and Marcy Rhoades. Nancy becomes the first of the shoe store’s oversized customers, and Kelly gets the series’ first line.
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