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By
the eighth season of the Bundy families adventures, things are pretty
much business as usual - but it's the simplicity and familiarity of the
Married With Childrens premise which is so comforting.
Al
is an unhappy, sexist shoe salesman. Peg is the red haired "she-devil"
who knows more about Oprah than the kitchen. Bud is the lowly son who
never gets the girl... And of course, Kelly is a whore.
While many feel that Married With Children
was on it's way out by series eight (the show lasted an astonishing
eleven seasons - one of the longest running sitcoms ever on FOX after The Simpsons),
for mine, season eight offered a breath of renewed energy from everyone
involved. It's been well documented that the inclusion of the child
character "Seven" in the seventh season signaled the end of the well
worn formula - thankfully, Seven is nowhere to be seen here leaving the
Bundy's to do what they do best.
Certainly not the best season
on offer, however, there is still a lot to like about this collection
of episodes. First, and foremost - the amazingly clever writing. While
the show is often disregarded as toilet and sex humour - it is
surprising to see how genuinely witty most of the lines are here.
Snappy, witty retorts from Al. Fat jokes with intelligence - there is
more than meets the eye here and it really shouldn't be forgotten.
The
highlight has to be the episode in which Al tries desperately to try
and get his long-serving Dodge to clock up one million miles on it's
odometer - which, as always, doesn't go to plan in the most cruel way
possible.
Classic TV which will be remembered for decades to come in the company of Gilligan's Island, and Get Smart and Seinfeld
- and rightfully so - which will delight fans. Unfortunately for the
cast, it may be the embarrassing monkey on the back which will send
them all into an elderly drunken haze.
EXTRAS
Nothing
on offer here. However, after eight seasons released on DVD, you would
expect the special features to be few and far between.
What is on offer are several "Mini-Sodes" of other campy TV series. There's a five minute preview of Silver Spoons (which kind of seems pointless... and humourless) as well as a Mini-Sode from Pamela Anderson's short lived action series VIP (and, well, what Married With Children fan is going to knock back watching 5 minutes of Pam running around in next to nothing?).
Extra points for the cool DVD Box.
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 60%
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