Customer Reviews

Married...with Children: The Complete Third Season

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Married with Children is not only one of my all time favorite shows, but if I were to make a list of the top five sitcoms ever made, Married with Children would definately be on that list. The story behind the show never gets old. You have an aging and bitter shoe salesman named Al Bundy who was a big football star in high school that was forced to give everything up to marry his high school sweetheart Peggy. The premise of the show is to focus on the daily life of the Bundy family including an extremely attractive but unintelligent daughter Kelly, a sex crazed son named Bud that never gets the girl, and a lazy dog named Buck. The funniest thing about the Bundy family, is that despite the misery they put each other through, they always seem to band together when times are tough and others are going against them. Despite the fact that they live in a dumpy house and Al has one of the worst jobs imaginable, the Bundy's really do show at times that they are a family. The show combines top notch writing and great acting from Ed O Neil and company, as well as non-stop laughs.

The third season of Married with Children is when the show really started to hit its stride. The first two seasons were very good, but you could tell in the third season that the show was heading for bigger and better things. The storylines in the third season are somehow funnier and more entertaining than the last two seasons. A few examples of this are - "He Thought He Could" in which Al finds an extremely overdue library book from 1957 and is forced to confront the elementary school librarian that made his life hell; "The Camping Show" in which The Bundy's and Steve and Marcy all go on a camping trip and unfortunately for the men, Peggy, Kelly, and Marcy all get their period; "A Dump of My Own" in which Al sets out to build his own bathroom in the garage; "The Gypsy Cried" in which a psychic tells Marcy that she is going to die in a plane crash, and Al, Peggy, and Steve are all forced to go along because she is covinced that they all have good luck; and "Here's Lookin' at You, Kid" in which every woman in the neighboorhood gets spied on by an annoymous peeping tom, except for Peggy and she begins to try and do anything to attract the peeper's attention. The third season DVD set also features the episode "I'll See You In Court" that was never allowed to air on TV as an added bonus.

Overall, the third season of Married with Children is when the show really did hit its stride, and some of the series' best episodes are in the third season. Personally, I feel that if you are a fan of the show, it would be a shame not to buy the third season for a few reasons. One, if sales on the DVD sets suffer, then the rest of the seasons won't be released. Secondly, since the third season is so good, does it really matter that the original theme is not included? Most of the time, when watching a show on DVD, don't you usually just skip past the theme to watch the episode? The episodes themselves are going to be uncut and that is all that really matters in my opinion.

A solid 5 stars...

According to www.tvshowsondvd.com, whoever has the rights to the opening theme wanted a ton more money for use of the song. The studio tried to get the opening theme, so much so that it delayed the release for a very long time.

Almost all the people who are complaining about the theme would be complaining about the price of the set if the studio would have given in.

Someone else's review said that if this set sells, we can kiss original music goodbye. I personally think that if this set sells, it will send a message to the places that own the music. I think it will show them that TV shows and studios don't have to be held hostage because of them.

I hope this set sells very well and that the people who own the music see all the money they lost out on. Maybe they will re-consider next time.

I'll start by addressing the absence of the theme song, "Love and Marriage".

First of all, brilliant job by Columbia Tristar in substituting it with music that closely resambles "Love and Marriage", yet not similar enough to cause a legal action. :)

Second, if you really miss that song after hearing it 2234342344 times, I strongly suggest you record it separately on a CD, then pop it into the CD player and keep playing it in "loop" mode during the opening credits, which you just have to see for the 2234342344th time. Perhaps, because 2234342344 is your lucky number. Perhaps, so is every other number higher/lower than 2234342344.

I think that even Columbia realizes now that "Easter Eggs" (or hidden clips of the re-union show) was a pretty dumb idea. But, I bet, we'll see more of this in the coming releases, simply because they have to finish what they started. I hope they will eventually do what they should've done in the first place - either release the re-union show separately or inlcude it as a bonus DVD, with the last season's DVD set. Regardless, they have to bring the other seasons out soon. The fans have been waiting long enough!!!

On to the actual content. Clearly, the show improves during its 3rd season. The acting is better and the writing is better. I still think that the best episodes are yet to come... This season, however, features some great ones. The two episodes that I really like are "Requiem For A Dead Barber" (where Al's long-time barber passes on, and he resigns himself to a future of beauty salon haircuts) and "The Dateless Amigo" (where Bud can't find a date and resorts to the next best thing: a mannequin). The lost episode, "I'll See You In Court" (which I haven't seen before), is quite funny too. But then which one of them isn't funny?..

The picture quality is good, no complaints here. The long-time fans will enjoy watching this season. 5 stars. Bring on season 4! and 5... and 6... and 10.

First premiering in April 1987, Married With Children became a staple of the growing Fox Network's original prime time programming, paving the way for further original creations such as The Simpsons. The total opposite of what a TV family should be, the original working title for the show was Not The Cosbys (a reference to the perfect family atmosphere of the popular 80's sitcom The Cosby Show). Paving the way for ABC's Roseanne, Married With Children more than lived up to its working title, chronicling the pathetic life of a Chicago shoe salesman and his equally dysfunctional family...

Married With Children follows the exploits of the Bundy family, a dysfunctional trailer-park trash family living in American suburbia. The family is headed by Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill), a shoe salesman who's lewd, crude, sarcastic, and completely dissatisfied with his life as a loser. Al's wife Peg (Katey Sagal) spends her days watching Oprah and spending what little money Al brings home (she's also Al's greatest source of annoyance). Al and Peg's lives are complicated by their children, Kelly (Christina Applegate), a beautiful yet stupid teenager, and Bud (David Faustino), a sex-starved adolescent. With neighbors Steve (David Garrison), Marcy (Amanda Bearse), and Jefferson (Ted McGinley) dropping in on a regular basis, Al's dreams of a normal family life or a spare moment to relax are continually interrupted by the tortuous reality of his mediocre existence...

The Married With Children (Season 3) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere "He Thought He Could" in which Al finds The Little Engine That Could, a library book he checked out in 1957. When he goes to return the overdue book, he encounters the same librarian from over thirty years ago... Other notable episodes from Season 3 include "A Dump of My Own" in which Al attempts to build an executive-style bathroom in the garage, and "My Mom, the Mom" in which Peg attends career day at Kelly's school, teaching the girls there the finer points of laziness and husbandly dependence...

Below is a list of episodes included on the Married With Children (Season 3) DVD:

Episode 36 (He Thought He Could)
Episode 37 (I'm Going to Sweatland)
Episode 38 (The Red Grange Story)
Episode 39 (The Camping Show)
Episode 40 (A Dump of My Own)
Episode 41 (Her Cups Runneth Over)
Episode 42 (The Bald and the Beautiful)
Episode 43 (The Gypsy Cried)
Episode 44 (Requiem for a Dead Barber)
Episode 45 (I'll See You in Court)
Episode 46 (Eatin' Out)
Episode 47 (My Mom, the Mom)
Episode 48 (Can't Dance, Don't Ask Me)
Episode 49 (A Three Job, No Income Family)
Episode 50 (The Harder They Fall)
Episode 51 (The House That Peg Lost)
Episode 52 (Married... With Prom Queen: Part 1)
Episode 53 (Married... With Prom Queen: Part 2)
Episode 54 (The Dateless Amigo)
Episode 55 (The Computer Show)
Episode 56 (Life's a Beach)
Episode 57 (Here's Lookin' at You, Kid)

The DVD Report

I remember a time where you'd actually watch tv for tv shows. Not stupid 1 season, or even 1 episode game shows, reality tv, dating shows,etc. The Bundy family will forever remain one of the classic families on TV. You could watch every episode in a marathon without switching the channel or leaving the sofa.

This is the year the show fully found itself, and did it ever take off. Wickedly funny, and pushed the envelope like no one since All In The Family (MWC even appropriated Archie Bunker's mispronounciation of his clergyman's name, the Reverend Felcher into an episode). The greatest change fom the first two seasons is the development of Christina Applegate and David Faustino into absolutely gifted comic actors and their increased roles in the episodes. No one has really done live-action satire like this since, and everyone involved looks like they're having the time of their lives doing it. As to the new theme song, it's not bad at all, it definitely captures the giddy , sacred-cow tipping tone of the series, and it's well in keeping with the show's attitude to tell the publisher where to go. Here's to the studio for keeping these releases coming, let's have 'em all, because there isn't anything this good of this type on the networks anymore, and maybe won't ever be again if the FCC has its way.

After a long 10-month delay due to legal issues over the "Love and Marriage" theme song (which unfortunately is not included in any episode of this set), the most controversial and arguably one of the best seasons finally comes to DVD. All 22 episodes are here, including "He Thought He Could" where Al returns a library book 30 years overdue, "The Camping Show" where during a camping trip Peggy, Marcy and Kelly have their periods simultaneously, and "A Dump of My Own" where Al builds his own bathroom. Also amongst the eps is "Her Cups Runneth Over," the episode that shocked mother Terry Rakolta who tried to the get the show off the air as a result, plus the infamous "I'll See You in Court" which never aired on TV in the US until syndication over 13 years later. All in all one of the best seasons, which truly put the show on the map.

Well I do have to say if I am to plunk down some cash flow to own an entire season of a TV show I expect everything including the FULL uncut intro, money handed out to kids, dog and Peg, and of course the main theme.

What gets me started with MWC is that opening riff when the fountain goes up. It rocks. Guess what? Not here. For some idiotic reason this set was released without the original score. Must be some copyright thing or something. Totally uncalled for. They should have waited until they got it right.

The packaging is also sub-par. I have to pull it out of that flimsy holder to get to the case. At least take after the Simpsons here.

After you get past that AWEFUL NEW INTRO JUNK the show rocks! Probably the best season out there. By the way, I am a TRUE FAN and this is one of the best sitcoms of all time, but that intro KILLS IT for me. If I had know that I probably would have waited and bought a cheap copy for a cheaply produced season set. Give the fans what they want for petes sake!

This series is one of the funniest shows ever, through season 6, then the quality drops off drastically.

Season three has some of the funniest shows so far, and you can't go wrong buying this set. Peggy's bra show, and the dinner show are tops, but all the episodes are very good.

The new theme song sounds pretty awful, but maybe that's cause the original theme is so ingrained in our memories.

The great thing about DVD's is you can just hit the skip button, and the show begins. This is no reason not to buy this great set.

I'm making this short, no need to repeat all the glowing reports, they're all true. I've seen every episode many times, and still laugh. I can't wait for Sam Kinison's Christmas episode in a future release. Enjoy!!!

Its a shame that people would be disappointed oped the theme song missing. I always hit the skip button when that started. This is coming from a die hard fan of the show. Because of the dispute over the song we had to wait almost a year for the single, while we watched lamer sitcoms pass this by, I can understand that people would complain about the 2 outrageous DVD's, (I was one of them). Married with Children was the greatest TV show ever made of all time. I have all the episodes recorded on VHS, and I want EVERY episode on DVD. They need to realease every season all the way to 1997. Unlike the negative feedback below, buying this sends a message that Fox made a mistake in the way MVC was handled in their final year without a proper sendoff. This show needed a series finale, and FOX didn't care. Each DVD bought sends a message to FOX that there are TONS of fans that care out there, with the websites, the fan clubs, and by buying and watching these DVD's we are sending a message to Fox, that we want all episodes and maybe someday we will get a TRUE reunion show, and not a group circle talking about the past. If you are a fan of the Bundys, keep this DVD/Series alive!!!