Love and marriage.
There’s certain TV characters that become so engrained in pop-culture that they seem to take on a life of their own.
This week we’re focusing on an icon who says what he thinks, doesn’t give a damn about other people but is still doomed to be forever broke, miserable and selling women’s shoes.
It could only be Polk High hero, Al Bundy.
In three words, he’s: Tragic, rude, funny.
Why he’s a TV great : Yes, the show has dated badly but there was a certain charm to Married With Children which I’d argue has only stronger because of the PC friendly age that we’re living in.
The show was juvenile and a relic of its time but this is fitting because Al is a relic of the stone-age. You still have to love him though.
There’s nothing better than seeing him beat the living crap out of Kelly’s boyfriends and anyone that worked in retail will easily relate to his outbursts at those customers he deemed to be annoying.
Al just embodied that feckless caveman spirit that people can relate to because he’s rude, cheap, unsuccessful, unhappy and devious but he gets his comeuppance.
Just look at his life. Forced to work a dead-end job, he married Peg while drunk and his two kids hate him.
Also, those moments when he tries DIY around the house has provided more laughs than most other shows combined.
Despite Al’s many flaws, the show was skilled at revealing just enough of his decency and heart which reminded us that he was just a man that was devoted to his family.
All this without even mentioning  ‘The Dodge’, NO MA’AM, Hondo, his touchdown record or his love for the nudie bar.
His best quote:` There’s so many that it’s almost impossible to just choose one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZCmLrnXsqo
If we could put him in another show : I’m very tempted to see what Al would be like in Gilmore Girls.
His best scene : This sums him up perfectly.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
