Married With Children: The Complete First Season

The first season does a good job of introducing the Bundys, as well as their neighbors, the D'Arcys, Marcy (Amanda Bearse) and Jefferson (Ted McGinley), and Al's womanizing co-worker, Steve (David Garrison). I'd like to say the season advances some over-arching storyline, but that just wouldn't be accurate. Not unlike many sitcoms that have followed in its wake, Married With Children has no pretense of an over-arching story. This is just about the Bundy family's daily life, which, in itself, is funny enough to watch again and again.

My Comments:
I remember watching this show when I was in my teens and thinking it very funny then. But watching it now, in my mid-twenties, with a little more life experience under my belt and after having been married for 4 years, I have to admit I find the series much funnier. The only humor I really got when I first watched this episode came from Kelly and Bud, who really develop their humor in later seasons. But with my new perspectives, Al and Peggy are really the best part of the show. I also had no idea there were so many sexual innuendos; boy was I naive!

As far as the acting goes, in this first season, Christina Applegate and David Faustino aren't very good. Admittedly they were very young at the beginning; the numerous years spent working on the show is probably what helped them improve over time. Also not very good in these first episodes was Amanda Bearse. I'm inclined to think she improved over the course of the series as well. Ed O'Neill and Katey Sagal are pretty good. I think they also improved, but they definitely started out several notches above everyone else. Of course, part of me being impressed with them probably has to do with the fact I understand more of their jokes now than I used to, but even so, I was impressed.

The only real problem I have with this DVD is the very poor picture quality. Whoever made the decision to put all 13 episodes (at 23+ minutes a piece, that's well over 120 minutes per disc) on 2 discs must not have taken into consideration that this would mean compressing the footage quite extensively. The result is a blocky picture - compression artifacts galore! Also, there is no attempt to improve the sound quality as the series is only in Dolby Digital 2.0. And, there are zero special features.

Even with the picture and sound problems and no special features, this isn't a bad package because of the content. It would have been nice to have remastered footage and sound and some commentaries or other extras, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

1.Pilot-Peg forces Al to forfeit his coveted basketball game to have dinner with their annoying new neighbors, Steve and Marcy.

2.Thinergy-Hoping to rekindle Al's flame, Peg takes Marcy's advice and goes on a crash diet, much to Al's dislike.

3.Sixteen Years And What Do You Get?-After Peg runs his credit card to the max, Al is forced to show up at his own wedding anniversary empty-handed.

4.But I Didn't Shoot The Deputy-Mistaking it for a burgler, Al accidentally shoots his neighbor's watchdog.

5.Have You Driven A Ford Lately?-After restoring a vintage Mustang, Al discovers the backseat isn't the only thing "hot" about his cherry ride.

6.Whose Room Is It Anyway?-A battle between Al and Peg is waged over who has the final word on the neighbor's room addition.

7.Al Loses His Cherry-After a bad fight, Al vows to teach Peg a lesson by not coming home all night. Instead he's the one who ends up getting schooled by a blonde bombshell.

8.Peggy Sue Got Work-When Al refuses to buy Peg a new VCR, Marcy convinces her to get a job herself.(laughs)

9.Married...Without Children-When Al and Peg get away for the weekend, Marcy and Steve volunteer to baby-sit Bud and Kelly-but get more than they bargained for.

10.The Poker Game-When Steve sits in on a Friday-night poker game, he loses more than his shirt to Al.

11.Where's The Boss?-Fooled into thinking his boss is dead, Al threatens to quit his job unless he gets a little respect.

12.Nightmare On Al's Street-Marcy is living a nightmare when a too-sexy Al starts popping up in her dreams.

13.Johnny B. Gone- When Al's favorite hamburger joint closes, he must choose between family and food

Remastered and avalible for the first time on DVD, this show is truly a gem, so go out and get this set today!

The first season is rarely the strongest in the series, but the first season of "Married..." has quite a few gems. The second episode, "Thinnergy", has Peggy putting the family on a crash diet, with Al obviously disapproving. The dinner scene always cracked me up, especially Al's sarcasm when he tosses out the salad. Another excellent episode was "Where's The Boss", where Al threatens to quit his job at the shoe store unless his boss meets him and commends him on his work. It has the first of the classic "fat woman" jokes ("Madame, when Shamu needs a mate...you'll be there!"). But my favorite episode is the season finale, "Johnny B. Gone", where the kid's problems prevent Al and Peggy from going to the closing of their favorite restaurant. Seeing Marcy in a towel and Al making fun of her ("Here's a mystery...what's holding that towel up?") never dulls.
The first season contained 13 episodes, which you'll go through pretty quickly. My hope is that the second and third seasons find their way onto DVD soon.

The DVD package is light on the extras (most TV show DVD sets are), but there is one main attraction. The much-lauded "Reunion" special in 2003 is included here, which is a must have for fans. While is provides nothing of real substance, it is fun to see the cast out of their element, reminiscing about their experiences on the show. The only drawback to this is that very little is touched upon about the show's cultural impact in the 80's, which was not inconsiderable for the series. It is just a fun reunion of the cast, nothing more. Sadly, they did not include the E! True Hollywood Story that was done on the show. It would have been a prize addition to the set.

While better episodes were to come in later seasons, the first season is still very solid, and should satisfy fans of the series waiting for a proper release. And with the addition of the Reunion Special, it is a must have for fans of the series. Add this to your collection along with the two "Most Outrageous Episodes" DVDs that are already out.