Al Bundy
Al Bundy is a family man and a shoe salesman a fictional character from the US - sitcom Married with Children .
The character was portrayed by the American actor Ed O'Neill . Their enormous popularity can be explained by the great success of the series in the early 1990s outside the United States and the portrayal of O'Neill as a simple employee from the lower middle class .
Except for one scene in the episode The Journey into the Past , in which the elementary school librarian Alphonse Bundy calls him, he is only briefly called Al in the German dubbing (different in the English original, for example, Peg speaks him in the episode Stepford Peg with his full name "Albert" to underline the seriousness of the situation). He's a rather sloppy character and is always in a bad mood. Furthermore, he never tires of regretting the twists and turns in his life that have accompanied him since leaving high school when he was unable to play college football because of marriage .
biography
Al Bundy, living in Chicago and was born on November 7, 1948 (hereinafter With stewardesses not humor is, however, mentioned that he was born on 23 a month not mentioned), was a highly successful high school - Footballer , of a scholarship from a college received. When he met Peggy Wanker at a party and got her pregnant, he was forced to make his summer job as a shoe seller his main occupation and to give up his career as an athlete.
In his time with the fictional Polk High Panthers he scored in the decisive city championship game of 1966 against the also fictional Andrew Johnson High School four touchdowns in a game - including the crucial just before the end when he compared his rival "spare tire" Dixon prevail could. Dixon was played by Bubba Smith in The Night Watchman .
With this story, the scriptwriters added a slightly different episode from O'Neill's youth to the series. In his youth he got an offer from the Pittsburgh Steelers , but an injury and no woman prevented him from a professional career.
family
Al Bundy lives with his family on the outskirts of Chicago and is married to the lazy, red-haired Margaret "Peggy" Wanker . He mistakenly asked her to be his wife after getting drunk .
Together with his wife, he has two children, son Budrick Franklin, called Bud , named by Al after a beer , and daughter Kelly , who he often referred to as "dull cheeks" due to her low intelligence. However, this only applies to the synchronized version. In the original he affectionately calls it “pumpkin” (for example “little mouse”, “treasure”, literally “pumpkin”).
Al's mother-in-law never appears in the series, but there are several references to her obesity and alcoholism .
Although every opportunity is used to insult or harass wife and children, there is clearly a loving relationship with his family. For example, he is - especially in earlier seasons of the series - constantly concerned about Kelly's academic performance and her risky transfer. He also pays attention to which male partners she has sex with. Not infrequently, in his eyes, he lets dubious people run into walls or the front door. In father-son conversations, he warns Bud not to make the same mistakes as he does, and Peg, too - as far as possible for him - gets her wishes fulfilled, be it sex, money or material things. He also has a picture of his family in the trunk of his car.
Job and finances
Al Bundy is a shoe salesman at Gary's Shoes and Accessories for Today's Woman shoe store in the New Market Mall in Chicago . Al hates his job and loses it several times due to various circumstances, but his absence is always short-lived and he ends up back in the shoe store at the end of the episode.
There are many references in the series to the fact that he has a very low salary. However, the Bundys live in a comparatively presentable house, which would be impossible for a low-wage earner to pay. As a result, if he retires early, he is offered the prospect of an annual bonus - $ 12,000 .
Also noteworthy are the many allusions in the series to the debts caused by his wife's excessive shopping trips (and less often that of his children) and other misfortunes. However, Al Bundy finds it easy to pay the mortgage on the house on time.
He is the proud owner of a Dodge Dart Sport (in fact, this is a 1972 Plymouth Duster , represented as a Dodge). In one episode, Bud mentions that the Dodge was built from parts from other old and broken vehicles of the same brand.
Relationship to the neighborhood
Al Bundy is relatively unpopular in its neighborhood. When the rumor got around in the neighborhood that he had died, the neighbors put on a party with the song Ding Dong, the shoe man's dead ; but when Al reappears, they call it a cruel, cruel joke (episode gold rush part 2 ).
Especially in earlier seasons of the series, Al is insulted and teased by his neighbors when he comes home because of his professional and family situation. However, these sayings bounce off him and he is not afraid to give biting comments and answers.
His favorite victim, however, is the direct neighbor Marcy Rhoades / D'Arcy . Because of her very slim legs, but above all because of her very weak chest, she is often called "chicken" by Al.
personality
Al has an aversion to overweight women bordering on hatred and does not miss any suitable situation to express his disgust through insults. The customers in his shop are particularly often victims of the sayings.
His purpose in life is the world of sport. Over the years he has accumulated an enormous amount of knowledge about almost every more or less known sport. When the game show Sports Trivia is looking for candidates for its show, he can switch off the competitors in the trial show without any effort and qualify for the "real" show. However, the producers forbid him to take part because his personality values are "somewhere between the national coach and a strong sip of lukewarm water".
He is particularly interested in watching baseball and football games as well as competitions such as "Bikini Girls Wrestling in Oil" from the sofa at home. However, he also has talents as an active athlete, for example as a bowler. He's often with his friends at the bowling alley, where he takes part in tournaments (which he usually wins) or just plays for fun. He's very confident about himself in that regard, saying "Strike" before the bowling ball even hits the pins. Ultimately, it will be a 99% strike. If not, he notices it beforehand and cancels his "strike" call. To win and thus maintain his honor is much more important to him than large sums of money or the well-being of his wife, which he often says or shows. When there were no games in the national baseball league due to a lockout , he quickly founded his own league with a few friends: the "National Nude Bar League". Contrary to expectations - especially Peg makes fun of these plans - the league is a great success. However, as in the real league, players and owners of the teams cannot agree on a bonus, and so the crucial championship game for which Al and his friends qualified does not take place, and the fame that he has gained quickly fades.
Al Bundy is a passionate grill , loves beer and is a passionate collector of his favorite " boob magazine" Big'uns . His favorite series was the fictional program Psycho Dad until it was canceled because of too much violence , and his favorite film is Hondo .
In the series, Al Bundy is portrayed as a patriot . When visiting England , he takes every opportunity to show off his US citizenship. He's also a huge fan of John Wayne and a proud supporter of Dwight D. Eisenhower . Furthermore, he likes to blaspheme the French .
NO MA'AM
NO MA'AM is the organization founded by Al Bundy and his friends to combat the seizure of power by women in society. The abbreviation stands for N ational O rganisation of M en A gainst A mazonian M asterhood ( German national organization of men against the exercise of power by the Amazons ). It was founded spontaneously when Jerry Springer came out as a male feminist on his talk show .
In his function as president of the organization, his great speaker talent becomes clear. As a representative of the group, for example, he speaks to the US Senate in Washington, DC to protest against the removal of his favorite series Psycho Dad .
When the government wanted to raise the beer tax, Al tried to portray NO MA'AM as a church association and thus escape the tax increase. However, the attempt failed.
Relation to the other characters
Peggy Bundy
His wife (played by Katey Sagal ) is considered to be the reason for all the misfortunes that have befallen him since high school. But she herself rejects any guilt. Both like to insult each other. Al likes to refer to her as the “big red machine” or “couch monster”, but Peg quickly counters these slogans and describes Al as the “sultan of sweat” and in a cartoon as the “man with empty pants”. While both partners willingly sleep together, especially in earlier seasons of the sitcom, an aversion to these marital duties becomes clear in later episodes. In the sitcom, there are various allusions to a sex addiction from Peggy and As a weak male force .
Despite these insults and other obvious, not only verbal disregards, there is a subconscious, intimate relationship between the two. This becomes particularly clear in the triple episode Scheiden is hurt from the 11th season when the two split up briefly.
Kelly Bundy
His mentally challenged daughter Kelly ( Christina Applegate he calls) in the German dubbing often harshly as " Dumpfbacke (but in the original as" pumpkin , literally pumpkin , which symbolically translates rather "fly on the wall" means). Their admirers, mostly immoral, decrepit rockers or punks , are usually beaten up by Al for fear of Kelly's moral neglect and he lets them run against various walls and door frames. The only exceptions are partners who are financially well off and therefore could enable Al to lead a better life. In a flashback, Kelly is a clever little girl who only turns into a stupid blonde after a car accident caused by Al, where she bumps her head. Kelly's outfits are often very sexy or almost slutty, mostly she wears mini skirts or mini dresses. Kelly dreams of a career as an actress, speaks about it every now and then, but never gets the job. Every now and then she has success as a sexy advertising character for local products or companies.
Bud Bundy
There is no typical father-son relationship with his son ( David Faustino ). Whenever Bud needs paternal advice, Al is busy doing things that he thinks are more important, like watching college football on TV or reading his tit magazines. The only advice Al Bud gives on a regular basis is never to get married. Bud's mother once spoke of Bud's great stress as a baby, because she had to change his diapers every 2-3 days. Bud thus learned of necessity to change diapers himself. Bud's first word was "boobs". Sexually, he is inexperienced for a long time, as he does not come across to real women. Therefore, he uses rubber dolls and practices masturbation extensively, which Kelly brings up very often in later episodes. He had his first sexual experience with a French exchange student who was enthusiastic about his abilities as a sex partner. Bud learns early on that he is on his own and he has no problems with sabotaging any business models his father may have for his own benefit. For example, he sells pictures of Kelly and her elderly lover, a married city representative, to the press, knowing full well that this will ruin the relationship and end the benefit gained from it. But if it comes to a showdown at some point, he is firmly committed to a family member.
Steve Rhoades
There is a very friendly relationship with his former neighbor Steve ( David Garrison ), but in many episodes Steve's hardly pronounced self-confidence is evident. Al realizes this and tries to manipulate Steve in many one-on-one conversations on the Bundy's couch and incite him against his own wife, Marcy. Steve has a comparatively high intelligence, but in conversations with Al he allows himself to be influenced by Al in an almost naive way when Al explains his point of view to him. For example, he can convince Steve to buy a 1965 Ford Mustang without first consulting his wife .
Steve Rhoades loses his job due to a hasty loan deal he deals with Al Bundy. The credit is for As a business idea and is only granted by Steve, because he ignores any risk of the credit to burst through an internal competition. The shoe emergency call is not a success, the credit bursts. Steve loses his job and tries to become a ranger , which his wife doesn't like. So Al is, more or less, indirectly responsible for Steve and Marcy's divorce.
Steve hasn't completely disappeared from the screen, however. He turns up occasionally, be it at accidental meetings in town (Steve meets Marcy at a gas station and tries to convince her that he is now a successful, wealthy businessman, even though he only works as a chauffeur) at the university who he later works as dean and meets Marcy again, in a pirate story, as "Rubius the Terrible", which Peggy reads to little seven as a bedtime story, or after a long time in the Bundy's house, because he stole a rare egg, now has to go into hiding and to win back his ex-wife Marcy, who is already married to Jefferson.
Marcy Rhoades / D'Arcy
The relationship between Al and his long-time neighbor Marcy ( Amanda Bearse ) is characterized by deep dislike and constant, diverse conflicts, especially in later seasons. This is mainly due to the development of the character "Marcy", who transforms from the staid banker into a strong feminist in the course of the sitcom . Because of Marcy's thin legs and weak chest , Al very often just calls her “chicken” or “chicken”. Nevertheless, there are also individual episodes where both stick together and are of one opinion, u. a. when Kelly and Jefferson are supposed to kiss in a commercial for "Romantic Coffee" and both go against it. Marcy is friends with Peggy, which explains her frequent presence at the Bundys house. With Al, however, she mostly only exchanges bite or ridicule, which is mutual. She especially likes to gossip about Als Salary, and she tries constantly, but always unsuccessfully, to get her husband Jefferson to look for a job. He can always distract her from the topic with sex.
Jefferson D'Arcy
With the second husband of his neighbor, Jefferson ( Ted McGinley ), Al has a strong friendship because of the many similarities. In contrast to Steve, Jefferson is not influenced by Al. Furthermore, Jefferson is not averse to smaller illegal businesses. He organizes illegal poker rounds at Al several times , which the police also discover from time to time, but which always has no consequences for him, since most of the time there are also police officers at the poker table. Jefferson was in jail for selling unusable land at overpriced prices. Among other things, he sells land on the contaminated fictional "Lake Chicamocomico" to Al, which he will acquire for his retirement. However, because of its contamination, the area will be uninhabitable for many centuries. When Al and Bud go there anyway, they mutate and grow reptilian tails. Jefferson has worked for (or against) the CIA after repeated hints. He has a very friendly (business) relationship with Fidel Castro , who gives him spare parts for Als Schrottauto. Jefferson successfully shirked any regular work and let his wife put up with him. He spends a lot of time in beauty salons and attaches great importance to a well-groomed appearance. He is a member of NO MA'AM, but always wears a YES MA'AM t-shirt under the t-shirt with this inscription in case Marcy finds the troupe. Basically he always agrees with Marcy as long as she is present, but changes her immediately if Marcy is gone or not yet there. Jefferson makes no secret of the fact that he can only be held up by Marcy, but he never wants to endanger this position.
seven
Seven is a young boy who is actually abandoned at Al by Peggy's relatives, who are never mentioned before. With him, the producers tried in vain to spice up the series again, as Kelly and Bud now seemed worn out as characters. This trick of introducing new characters with new character traits failed. Seven disappeared after a few episodes without further mention. Only on the eternal milk carton, which is in the fridge and is only ever filled with water by the family members, one scene now shows seven instead of the Lindbergh baby that is otherwise shown there .
Jobs
Al Bundy had taken on several jobs as a part-time job - often due to his wife's desire to buy and the resulting financial hardship. Most jobs, however, were low-level jobs and not very lucrative. Here is a selection:
- Shoe seller
- Bartender in a topless bar
- Santa Claus in the mall
- Guard at Bud and Kelly's high school
- Kelly's agent
- Burger fryer
- Gas station attendant
- Garbage man
- facility manager
- Medium ("Madame Zelda")
- Inventor of a "shoe emergency call" ("Dr. Schuh")
- Hotel Clerk / Room Service (S02E16)
- Actor in the advertisement for "ZEUS shoes"
- Bud's chauffeur (to make his expired driver's license valid again)
- Supreme head (Reverend Al) of his self-founded men's church
- Train driver of the "Elfen-Eisenbahn" in the shopping center
Quotes
“So you think I'm a loser? Because I have a stinking job that I hate, a family that doesn't respect me, and a whole city that curses the day I was born? Well, that may mean loser to you, but let me tell you something. Every morning when I wake up, I know it's not going to get any better until I go back to sleep. So I get up. I have my watered-down Tang and my still-frozen Pop Tart. I get in my car with no upholstery, no gas, and six more payments. To fight traffic just for the privilege of putting cheap shoes onto the cloven hooves of people like you. I'll never play football like I thought I would. I'll never know the touch of a beautiful woman. And I'll never again know the joy of driving without a bag on my head. But I'm not a loser. Because, despite it all, me and every other guy who'll never be what he wanted to be, is out there, being what we don't want to be, forty hours a week, for life. And the fact that I haven't put a gun in my mouth, you pudding of a woman, makes me a winner! "
“Do you think I'm a loser? Just because I got a fucking job that I hate? A family that doesn't respect me? A city that curses the day I was born? Well, that might be a loser for you, but I want to tell you something: Every morning when I get up I know it can't get any better until I go back to sleep. So I get up, take my watered-down seaweed [US orange juice powder] and my still-frozen toaster cakes [roughly, also an US brand name] with me, get into my car with sagging seats, six payments outstanding and no gas. I throw myself into traffic just to have the pleasure of putting a pair of cheap shoes on the hooves of people like you. I'll never play football the way I imagined. I will never know what it is like to be caressed by a beautiful woman. Actually, I should never drive a car again without a mask over my head. But I'm not a loser Because in spite of all that, just like everyone else who will never be what they once wanted to be, I'm out there and that's what I didn't want to be, forty hours a week, for life. And the fact that I don't put a cannon in my mouth, you pudding from a woman, makes me a winner! "
“Never wanted to get married - I'm married, never wanted to have kids - I got two of 'em. How the hell did this happen? "
“I never wanted to get married - I'm married, I never wanted children - I have two. How could that happen? "
“Insurance is like marriage. You pay and pay but you never get anything back. "
“Insurance is like marriage. You pay and you pay and you never get anything back. "
"It is also the case that someone who drives a VW now and then closes their eyes and imagines it is a Ferrari (after Marcy found a leaflet with Miss October over the bed that Steve looked at during sex, instead of his wife) "
External impact
The person Al Bundy has an impact on the television series even many years after the series ended. So are T-shirts with Al Bundy available in shops and (Internet) mail order houses also, 2015. In 2005, an actor chose the stage name Al Bundy for his role in the film Tinsel Town . "Al Bundy" is also mentioned in the American comedy " American Pie 2 ", where Michelle ( Alyson Hannigan ) asks Jim ( Jason Biggs ) to think of "Al Bundy's smelly socks" so that he does not get an erection. The person Al Bundy had various television appearances by different actors. In 2002 Paul Vogt appeared as Al Bundy in The Rerun Show and Ed O'Neill himself appeared in 1991 in the television series Top of the Heap and in 2003 in Married… with Children Reunion .
Al Bundy is shown on television in two Simpsons episodes (s04e21 and s05e15). In the first one, Ned Flanders sees himself as a sinner for laughing at a sketch.
literature
- Al Bundy - a terribly nice family. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-89602-118-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.imdb.de/title/tt0328546/fullcredits#cast
- ↑ http://www.imdb.de/character/ch0016726/ ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://simpsonspedia.net/index.php?title=Eine_schrecklich_nette_Familie
