Al Bundy Site - Forum

From 1-10 stars, how would you rate the first season of Married... With Children?

Also, if you'd like you could also give us a small review of the season.

Like most other sitcoms, the first season is not the best of the series, actually it doesn’t come close. A lot of shows suffer from this, which is understandable for several reasons. The writers may not have defined the characters yet, which makes it hard for them to write top-notch episodes, and the actors haven’t gotten settled into their roles quite yet. Both of these factors hurts the season dramatically quality wise. The fact that season 1 only had 13 episodes made it even harder for it to stand out in quality among the other seasons, this season could have needed another 10 episodes to improve the characters & writing.

One thing you’ll notice right away in this season is that Kelly is not an idiot; she’s pretty much a normal teenage girl, she’s still a bit slutty though. You’ll also notice that the love-hate relationship between Al & Peggy is not as evident in this season as it is in others, for an example, Al willingly has sex with Peg, he even suggests it! They also kiss each other on occasion, not something you regularly see after this season. These things are not necessarily a bad thing though.

Having said that, this season is (just like every other season of Married… With Children) far from bad, and has some very good episodes that are considered classics by fans of the show.

Looking at the grades I gave this season’s episodes, and divided it by the number of episodes of the season, it ended at 7.0, which I think is a fair grade for this season. I feel the need to add that the grade 7 for a Married… With Children season is a 10 compared to any other shows season since I think Married... With Children is in a league of its own.

Favorite episodes: Pilot, Have You Driven A Ford Lately, Married... Without Children & The Poker Game

Nice review there, Marcy. Someone actually gave this season a 1-star rating?? Come on, it can't be THAT bad of a season, can it? Not for a huge fan of the show anyways, at least I don't think so.

Season 1 is decent, and once you get over the inital shock of "my, how young they all look! Look at their hair!" and the sight of Peg cleaning and Al willingly initiating sex with the wife, it's pretty enjoyable. But it falls outside the golden years of MWC (seasons 2-5).

miscellaneous thoughts

Good thing about season 1: Steve!
Bad thing about season 1: Luke, and his part in the original pilot indicating that his role would have been much, much bigger.

I don't have a favourite episode, but have a couple of favourite lines:
"...and number 2, his brains are in the begonias."
"Did he have feet?"
"you're about as sharp as a bag of wet hair..."
"Are you implying that their suicides had something to do with Mother?"

Yeah, Luke always felt kind of "off" on the show, even though I didn't have a problem with the actor who played him. I like that they mentioned the character many years later in an episode.

I know I'm a little late to this party, but...I gave it an 8, I really like this season despite all the differences everyone has mentioned. I feel like this season is the turning point for how and why they all become they way they are in other seasons. It's a good foundation. And like Shoe Dick mentions, considering the year this aired, this refreshing season was SO much better than 99% (100% even?) of what was on TV at the time you can only really compare the show to itself as it was in a league of its own.

I gave it a 6. Season 1 seems like to many other sitcoms to me. Maybe because I saw most of the episodes in reruns. I only remember watching "Have You Driven a Ford Lately" and "Johnny Be Gone" when they originally aired.

Spare Tire Dixon wrote:I gave it a 6. Season 1 seems like to many other sitcoms to me. Maybe because I saw most of the episodes in reruns. I only remember watching "Have You Driven a Ford Lately" and "Johnny Be Gone" when they originally aired.

Looks like its just me, but this is my favorite season - Luke is of course an annoyance as a character, but the characters were more relatable in this season. There existed within the stories nostalgia in objects from a part etc - a 64 mustang, a hamburger joint closing down (which paralelled al/peg's youth) and the pool room.
Well, I suppose Pool room was really stretching


---------------------------------------------------------
Vive La France

8 Stars from me. I really like it, even it only has 13 episodes. The show is new, the characters are new and the actors have to "get it"...and i think they really did it superb!

Anyway: Does anyone know why Luke left the show?