# Q About The 'Married…With Children' Episode Where Al Rapes Peggy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519 "2003-12-02T16:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/1 "2003-12-02T16:31:12Z")
I distinctly remember an episode of the show ‘Married…With Children’ where Al Bundy repeatedly rapes Peggy Bundy. Of course, they didn’t actually show Al’s penis being forced into Peggy’s vagina, but the ‘hints’ surrounding the events were obvious enough that anyone could immediately recognize what was going on. The setting of the episode in question was on a Labor Day weekend. It was the episode where the ‘big joke’ was that everyone was eating hamburgers that contained the ashes of one of Marcy’s deceased relatives. I don’t recall _every_ detail, as this was an older episode with the original Steve, not Jefferson, playing Marcy’s husband, probably from 1989 or 1990. But the rape part was rather obvious. In one scene, after Al had had several beers, he is watching Peggy bending over to cleaning a bench, wiggling her butt. He grabs her as she cries and pleads for him to stop, saying ‘_Oh no, not again!_’ as she is still sore and exhausted from their previous encounters. The audience laughs and cheers as he hauls her off to the bedroom once again. Aren’t there censors that are supposed to screen out this type of thing from network television? How could such a show have aired without being pulled?? I know for a fact that it wasn’t, as I remember seeing it rebroadcast a few times. Why didn’t this create a storm of controversy??? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/2 "2003-12-02T16:36:05Z")
I find this account hard to believe, not least because one of the running jokes throughout the series was that Al never wanted sex. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/3 "2003-12-02T16:37:57Z")
1. 09/03/89 “HOT OFF THE GRILL” (401) Michael G. Moye & Ron Leavitt The Bundys’ fourth season begins with a Labor Day barbecue, a major turn-on for Al, as is the sight of Peggy laboring mightily to make everything just right for his creation of “special” Bundy burgers. Unfortunately, one of the special ingredients turns out to be the ashes of Marcy’s dead aunt. ``` <no guest cast> ``` That’s from [http://www.nyx.net/~dnadams/guides/mwc-guide](http://www.nyx.net/~dnadams/guides/mwc-guide) . Make of it what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/4 "2003-12-02T16:40:27Z")
Possibly because Peggy forces sex on Al in just about every other episode? What made it funny is that Peggy is usually forcing sex on Al, and now that he wants it, she’s acting just like he did. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/5 "2003-12-02T16:54:38Z")
Okay, I found the transcript for ‘Hot Off the Grill’- [http://www.geocities.com/marriedaniac/ate/script/0401t.html](http://www.geocities.com/marriedaniac/ate/script/0401t.html) \*Al is sitting on the beach chair. Peggy is scrubbing the table. PEGGY I hate you, Al. I really, really hate you. You know, a gentleman would have said, “Thanks for the good time, babe. Let me clean that bird doody while you rest.” But not you. You are a pig, Al. And my arms are killing me. Al is transfixed on Peggy’s gyrating butt again. AL Scrub harder. PEGGY Oh, it still won’t come off… Somebody help me. Al appears behind Peggy. PEGGY Don’t just sit there, do something. Al taps Peggy on her shoulder and a horrified look appears on Peg’s face. Al indicates a ‘2nd time’ to Peg, and Peggy clings onto the table as Al drags her away. PEGGY Oh God, No! Oh, no! I’m so tired! Nooooo! \* ---
**Author:** ![darksight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@darksight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darksight)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/6 "2003-12-02T17:03:48Z")
Uh Your use of the word rape here is not correct. The show never made it out to be a RAPE. The reason there was no “storm of controversy” is no one watching that thought Peggy was being harmed in anyway. Lighten up little buddie ~ ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/7 "2003-12-02T17:43:54Z")
I remember that episode made me into a huge David Garrison fan. When Steve found out that Aunt Toodie’s ashes had been used to cook the burgers, and he was horrified, then broke into a huge grin and took a vengeful giant bite of the burger–wow. He’s great on stage, too, caught him at the Williamstown Theater Festival as Carr in Stoppard’s TRAVESTIES in August and he’s even skinnier with silver hair and looks great and—what? Oh yeah. Nearly ten years as a diehard MWC fan and I have NEVER heard this complaint. Al would never hurt Peggy like that. It was a parody of all those times Peg did the exact same thing to him; hell, in the very first season Peg was trying to drag Al upstairs in EXACTLY the same way, with her yelling, “I want a beautiful expression of our love, dammit!” It’s a rough show sometimes but not that rough. Relax. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/8 "2003-12-02T17:53:47Z")
The roles were reversed. It was usually Al who was working so hard that he didn’t want sex. She wasn’t raped, dude. Like **darksight** said, lighten up. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/9 "2003-12-02T18:05:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Aren’t there censors that are supposed to screen out this type of thing from network television? Agreed, “married… with children” should never have aired in the first place 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Flypsyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Flypsyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flypsyde)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/10 "2003-12-02T21:16:51Z")
Well, let’s see… Normal MO for the series: Al busts his hump in a thankless job, only to have unwanted sex forced upon him repeatedly by Peggy. MO for the single episode Hot Off The Grill: Peggy busts her hump in a thankless job, only to have unwanted sex forced upon her by Al. If you consider that rape, Peggy’s got something on the order of 300 or more charges to deal with over Al. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/11 "2003-12-02T22:11:13Z")
I’m amazed that somebody actually thought there was rape involved. It was typical of many marriages if not overly dramatic. Like Al’s previous predicimants Peggy was unwilling but still consensual. Lighten up? Yes Wise up? for sure ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/12 "2003-12-02T22:20:53Z")
Hence the username “Surreal”. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/13 "2003-12-02T23:48:12Z")
I remeber this episode. In the end, when they all find out that the aunts ash’s were in the burgers everyone was eating, they all gagged and spit it out. Except for Al, because he hated her, he smiled and took another big bite of the burger. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/14 "2003-12-03T00:08:37Z")
Um, that was Steve **Burrido** , not Al. **Mehitabel** already touched on that. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/15 "2003-12-03T00:41:02Z")
The only episode I thought was a mistake was when Al was dreaming he was sleeping with a beautiful blonde, but the model they chose to play this anonymous woman looked rather a lot like Christina Applegate. And the audience thought so too, judging by their reaction. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/16 "2003-12-03T01:56:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Agreed, “married… with children” should never have aired in the first place INFIDEL!!! ---
**Author:** ![BrandyFine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrandyFine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandyFine)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/17 "2003-12-03T06:12:01Z")
I watched an interview with one of the creators of the show. He described a meeting with some head honcho at a network and it was so funny! Apparently this mucky-muck was reading the scripts and told the two guys, “Look, you can get away with this, I think, but you are going to have to have something in here so we know that deep down under all this hostility the characters really do love each other.” He said he and his buddy looked at the guy, then yelled, **“You, sir, are the reason television sucks!”** and walked right out of the office. Heh. Too cool. They ended up putting it on Fox of course, which was a winning move for Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/18 "2003-12-03T08:05:50Z")
Funny, I always had the impression that deep down, the charcters _did_ love each other, or at least there was loyalty. I remember one scene in which the daughter gets her heart broken by some jerk, says “Get him, Daddy”, and Al nods and promptly beats the crap out of the guy. It was always a relief, though, that the love (or whatever sick variant the Bundys had) was never sappy. ---
**Author:** ![BrandyFine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrandyFine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandyFine)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/19 "2003-12-03T08:10:46Z")
Yeah, I know what you mean. I suppose they didn’t want to be forced to insert any sappy claptrap to offset the definite loathing they had for one another. They were able to keep it as that sick Bundy variant of “love,” which was probably the point he was making. ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519/20 "2003-12-03T10:33:57Z")
There were also many episodes where Kelly stood up for Bud when a girl humiliated him and where Bud did the same when a guy hurt Kelly. When I first read the OP, I thought the poster was kidding. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/q-about-the-married-with-children-episode-where-al-rapes-peggy/216519.md?page=2)