Television. One DVD at a Time.

Married with Children: The Complete Third Season DVD Review

By A.J. Carson

On April 5, 1987, the Fox network unveiled its first-ever primetime lineup with the premiere of The Tracey Ullman Show and Married with Children. The two shows couldn't have been more different, but they shared one thing in common: they were both unlike anything else on TV. Brit chameleon Tracey Ullman's series was a sketch comedy show featuring Ullman and a small group of regular players, including Julie Kavner (Rhoda), Dan Castellaneta, and Sam McMurray (Freaks and Geeks). The sketches were funny, but unlike shows like Saturday Night Live, the emphasis was often on poignant observational humor rather than outrageous laughs.

With Frank Sinatra's version of "Love and Marriage" as its theme song, at first glance Married with Children may have seemed like a normal sitcom to viewers who tuned in that night. Then we met the Bundy family. Working stiff Al (Ed O'Neill) likes nothing more than sitting on the sofa with his hand halfway down his pants, thinking about this favorite member of the family - his toilet. Housewife Peggy (Katey Sagal) is a master of the put-down, but can't bring herself to even make toast. Daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) is sweet, dumb, and kinda easy. Son Bud (David Faustino) is a nerdy horndog. When not battling and berating each other, the family snipes with their yuppie neighbors, the Rhoades: Steve (David Garrison) and Marcy (Amanda Bearse). Father Knows Best it ain't.

Fans of the series will notice a huge change when they pop Married with Children: The Complete Third Season into their DVD players: Because of the prohibitive cost of licensing "Love and Marriage," the theme song has been replaced for this release. The new song is a perky instrumental that is somewhat reminiscent of "Love and Marriage." It is odd to see the series' opening credits without its familiar musical accompaniment, but the new music - which sounds like a perky homage/satire of '50s sitcom theme songs - sort of works. Besides, if the replacement is intolerable to you, simple press the skip button on your remote control since each episode conveniently includes a chapter stop immediately following the credits.

The twenty-two episodes that make up Married with Children's third season are divided onto three discs. The DVDs are housed in a foldout digipak. The digipak is decorated with framed publicity shots and production stills. A booklet (housed in its own pocket) provides an episode guide, including brief episode summaries. The digipak slides into an outer cardboard sleeve.

The menus are simple and functional. Viewers can choose to watch all of the disc's episodes, or can choose an individual one. The episodes are divided into chapters (including one after the opening credits).

Video and Audio

Based on a spot check of selected episodes, Married with Children looks and sounds fine. The picture isn't exactly perfect, but it does look better than the series' TV broadcasts.

The episodes are closed captioned.

Extras

Married with Children always pushed the envelope. Sometimes, apparently, it pushed too hard. Disc three's "I'll See You in Court: The Lost Episode" was deemed too risqué by Fox and the network refused to air it. Desperate to rev up her sex life, Peggy follows Marcy's advice and takes Al to a cheap no-tell motel for a tryst. After discovering that the motel's management uses hidden cameras to videotape its guests having sex, the two couples decide to sue. Peggy and Marcy are thrilled by the idea of getting a million dollar verdict...until they realize that Steve has decided to handle the case on his own rather than hire a lawyer. Although it is easy to see why "I'll See You in Court" caused a fuss at the time it was made, the episode is quite tame by today's standards. Even though this episode was rejected by Fox, it eventually aired on cable, and has already been released on DVD.

Scattered throughout the menus are ten hidden "Easter Eggs" - brief interview clips with the show's cast from the "Married with Children Reunion Special" that aired on Fox. Four are included on disc one, three on disc two, and three on disc three. The clips are relatively easy to find - a special screen on disc one even explains the process to the uninitiated and they are numbered so that fans won't miss any of them - and range in length from thirty seconds to one minute, fifty seconds. The first eight clips feature the entire cast sitting around on the Married with Children set reminiscing about their time working on the series. In the final two clips, Christina Applegate discusses Kelly Bundy. The clips are too short to provide much information, but it is fun to see the cast interact while out of character.

Disc one also includes commercials for other Sony TV DVD releases: one for Seinfeld, a general commercial for their sitcom releases, and a general commercial for their action show releases.

Summary

So Married with Children: The Complete Third Season doesn't include the original theme song - pop Sinatra's greatest hits into your CD player for a do-it-yourself quick fix. Or, better yet, just hit the skip button.

1/24/05