Married... With Children: The Complete Third Season DVD: Review By B. Alan Orange

Who doesn't like Married...With Children?

A lot of people, I guess. In fact, a woman was so outraged upon sight of the show; she threw a stink that caused a peek-growth in ratings. It happened during Season 3, with the episode entitled Her Cups Runneth Over. In it, Al Bundy and Steve Rhodes travel to an out-of-the-way lingerie shop in hopes of finding Peggy's favorite bra, which had recently been discontinued. The jokes in this particular episode didn't stray too far from what had previously been seen on the program. At this point, the show was running on all four cylinders like a horny bull dyke in heat. However, this "very upset" woman in question was oblivious to the existence of the Bundy clan, and literally had a heart attack when she sat down to watch the program with her own children late one faith-filled Sunday night thinking it was a family show (the title threw her off). In a failed attempt to have the half-hour raunch-feast banned from airwaves, she did the inevitable. She single-handedly helped create a ratings (and cultural) phenomenon.

With this single episode, Married...With Children went from being Fox's little under-the-radar in-joke to one of the greatest sit-coms of all time. It still reigns as the rudest, crudest half-hour to ever grace television screens. It pioneered blue collar TV. And it still carries a wealth of rabid fans that like nothing better than to parade up and down Hollywood boulevard every April 15th wearing their N.O.M.A.M.E. shirts in honor of Al Bundy Day. They'll be happy to know that the wait is over. The most crucial Season of Married...With Children is finally available on DVD in its entirety.

Year 3 was a landmark 22 episode run for the series. Married...With Children really came into its own in 1989. It was the last of the great 80s sitcoms, and the first of the 90s. So many wonderful things happened during this particular episodic jaunt, starting with the above-mentioned Her Cups Runneth Over, which indeed started a riot and saw a cornucopia of Bundy-themed merchandise into stores.

There's also the much maligned, often talked about "Infamous Lost Episode." I'll See You in Court was considered too blue for prime-time television. The censors refused to air it; one of the first times this had every happened with a Network Series. The plot revolved around a hotel liaison between Al and Peggy that had been captured on Video by the Hotel Manager. The case is thrown out of court due to insufficient evidence. Bundy was too quick in the sack. This particular show was often shown outside the US, but only recently made its cable debut on the FX channel. Prior to showing up on this set, it had previously been released on a Most Outrageous Collection last year.

Other noteworthy items include the "Dumbing of Kelly." During the first two seasons, Kelly had her wits about her and appeared to be a fairly intelligent teenager. Watching season 3, there is a noticeable downward slope that sees the girl getting stupider and stupider (and sexier and sexier) by the half-hour, until, by that last episode of the season's run, she's the trademark dullard we've all come to know and love. The same goes for Bud. His character also matures and grows into the pathetic virgin loser which slowly added to the overall novelty of the program. The seeds of greatness are firmly planted here.

Also included in this 3 disc set is the first mention of Al Bundy's legendary 4 touchdowns in a single game. We have the celebrated "The Camping Show", which was originally titled "A Period Piece", and revolved around all three woman getting their periods at the same time. The Mighty Ferguson is introduced. And Pauly Shore gets his first big break as a Burger Trek manager in the episode "A Three Job, No Income Family."

This is, no argument needed, the best Married...With Children Season run, ever. It showcases a sit-com at the peak of its popularity, and it still has a foothold in reality, right before the whole franchise was turned into a live-action cartoon.

Here's where the disc falters. For such a classic, popular, and truly beloved show, you'd think Columbia would treat its loyal fans to something...Anything...

Nope.

The only special features here are 10 interview Easter Eggs that you have to search for. They're all pretty short, and contain nothing more than outtakes from the Fox Reunion Special that runs in its entirety on the First Season box set. How long are they going to stretch this sucker out? Some of the snippets included here aren't even outtakes. They were actually used in the special itself.

How about a cast commentary on one of the episodes? Or a mini-doc*mentary about the woman who tried to ban the show? This season is rich with history. That's not evident from this package. This sucker is fruitfully lacking.

These shows have been digitally remastered. Still, they look like an 80s sitcom. Better than my VHS tapes recorded off UHF, that's for sure, but how is this going to look any better on HD-DVD when it comes around? It's not. This is as good as these episodes are ever going to look. They are in 1.33:1 Full Screen.

Like an 80s TV show. Only, in stereo.

The Cover Art is iconic. The best of the season box sets so far. And the inside sleeve has some wonderful pictures taken from the TV Guide adverts. Strangly, some of them are not from this season. I'm okay with that. I like that Kelly is on the side binding; hopefully they continue with this thinking and line the rest of the characters up accordingly. We should see Bud on the 4th season set.

This is a must own. If you only pick up one season of Married...With Children on DVD, this set is it. Sadly, the package is not flawless. There's one nauseating problem. The theme song is absent. Frank Sinatra's rendition of Love & Marriage has been replaced with a similar sounding piece of Public Domain music that does not fit. Its jarring to watch the opening credits we love with theme music that is unfamiliar and alien to us as an audience. What happened? Was Columbia not able to secure the rights? Could they not afford it? Did the Sinatra estate finally say, "No!"? I don't know what happened. I haven't been able to track down an answer as of this moment. It's truly sad, indeed. Married...With Children loses something without its theme song. Just as any iconic sitcom would. Shame on Columbia for letting this happen. I personally think the price should be cheaper because of it. That's just me, though.

I bought it anyways, because I love Married...With Children.