# Bowling episodes on TV sitcoms **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381 "2003-06-25T22:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381/21 "2003-06-26T00:46:32Z")
There are also severe restrictions on the treatment and maintenance of the lanes. There is an episode of Hill Street Blues in which a sergeant bowls a perfect game, but has it disallowed from the record books when it is determined there was too much wax on the floor. Such evaluations actually take place. The Arcade Bowl in University City, Missouri, is a tiny, rundown eight lane facility upstairs from a hardware store. It has been in operation for about sixty years, and looks like it was last redecorated around 1960. In its heyday the alley reported an extraordinarily high number of perfect games–so many, in fact, that the Congress investigated the alley more than once. It passed inspection every time. University City is a suburb of St. Louis, one place where bowling is not generally thought of as a primarily working class pursuit. It is the home of the Bowling Hall of Fame, and there is even an alley, The Magdalene Lanes, owned and operated by a Catholic church on the southside. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381/22 "2003-06-26T01:03:31Z")
That Simpsons one was filmed at a bowling alley near here. That Mr Burns is actually a pretty nice guy when he’s not on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381/23 "2003-06-26T01:10:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gotpasswords \* > \*\*The setup of the lane, ball return, etc. are governed by the [American Bowling Congress](http://www.bowl.com/bowl/abc/common/static.html?page=bowl_bowlingrulebook_index) (In America, at least. I imagine other countries have similar organizations.) The rules are intricate. Very intricate. (Did you know that it’s not allowed to put ArmorAll on a bowling ball?) > \*\* I know, I know, compleatly unrealated, but I just had to tell everyone that I drive past the ABC Headquarters all the time. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381/24 "2003-06-26T01:58:47Z")
> [@](#): > > On The Andy Griffith Show, Howard Sprague was on his way to bowling a perfect game. His team and their opponents got into a big bet, and then, at the start of the tenth frame, there was a blackout. It was decided that they would come back the next week to bowl the last frame, and ost of the show was about the tension Howard was feeling. I don’t recall the conclusion. IIRC, they called off the bet somewhat grudgingly, only to have Howard win anyway. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381/25 "2003-06-26T02:15:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Manduck \* > \*\*That Simpsons one was filmed at a bowling alley near here. That Mr Burns is actually a pretty nice guy when he’s not on TV. \*\* Of course he is. Who needs the championship? The only ship worth a damn is the friend ship. Here comes the friend ship sailing your way…ooh, let me get that for you…I think I lost a hangnail. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381/26 "2003-06-26T02:40:57Z")
Actually there was another MWC bowling show: [Alley of the Dolls](http://www.bundyology.com/hpg/209.html) from 1987, in which Peg tries to beat her hated high-school rival and her family in a bowl-off and Steve pretends to be a Bundy to help out. The one mentioned before was [Peggy Turns 300](http://www.bundyology.com/hpg/420.html), from 1990. And there’s plenty of bowling-related subplots-- I remember one where Peg’s circle of friends ran to the bowling alley to try to seduce their men and started a stampede of terrified husbands. “You’re a Bundy, so I have to belive that somewhere in your chromosomes there lies a bowler” - Steve to Bud ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381/27 "2003-07-03T01:44:25Z")
A late, last thought: Soes anyone remember a synidacted show from the 1970s called Celebrity Bowling? I recall watching it once in slack-jawed stupefaction. The show consisted of a contest between two pairs of bowlers, each pair consisting of a member of the studio audience and a nominal TV star. There were also two announcers giving commentary. In the episode I saw, Jill St. John, her career then in a considerable lull, was one of the bowlers. The only thing was, she had no idea whatever of how to bowl. She rolled a gutter ball everytime, for a score of zero. The announcers were straining to find something new to say in each frame. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381/28 "2003-07-03T07:43:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slipster \* > \*\*On Roseanne there was an episode in which Booker, Jackie’s old supervisor at the plastic factory, makes a bet with her that if he outscores her at bowling she will spend the night with him. He wins, and she is disappointed when he does not enforce the bet. There were also a number of jokes about how Roseanne was completely inept at bowling. \*\* Plus there was that great blooper where Roseanne is supposed to distract Dan, causing him to screw up his delivery. In the blooper, John Goodman ends up letting the ball fly behind him to his right, just as Booker (George Clooney) is coming back. Clooney snags it pretty well, probably saving Michael Fishman’s life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bowling-episodes-on-tv-sitcoms/184381.md?page=1)