0306  -  "Her Cups Runneth Over"


"Al, am I still attractive?" (Peg)
"Peg, you're still the same knee in the groin you were when you were
sixteen!" (Al)

The first sign of things to come, Her Cups is an ancestor to a much
later style of MWC. There is a distinct sexual divide in evidence, Kelly
is exceptionally dozy, and there are several Awesome Babes(tm). Not only
that, but the concern over age and the difference between past glories
and present insignificance are the two themes of the episode, themes
that would later grow to dominate the series. Presumably this is one of
the episodes to which a certain person with the surname of Rakolta
objected, because it's surprisingly explicit at times - and I'm amazed
Sky let this one slip through. Fortunately they did, and things are much
better as a result. The script positively sparkles with one-liners and
setpiece jokes, ranging from the scene with Al, Marcy and Peg on the
sofa - repeated in The Best of Bundy and certainly a classic moment - to
Steve being embarrassed but desperately enthusiastic about the peepshow
at Francine's. From the opening moment to Marcy's "I've been bad. Very
bad!", the episode has 'classic' written all over it.

"Kelly, let me ask you a question." (Al)
"Daddy, no matter what you may have heard on the streets, I'm a good
girl and I never would've done that!" (Kelly)

With the children well out of the way in this episode, this leaves Al
and Steve to go on what I think is the series' first example of a Guys'
Trip, heading off to Francine's of Hollywood (The Poker Game excepted).
Meanwhile, Peg and Marcy are back at home celebrating in a distinct
style all of their own. This is the first episode to focus directly on
some aspect of sex, so if any moral were to be drawn from it then the
episode could be said to take a critical look about what's vital in the
sexual equation between partners, but really it would be to try and
over-analyse what seems to be nothing more than a fun twenty-two
minutes. Criticisms of the episode are equally difficult to find,
although the ending is a little tantalising - wouldn't it have been fun
to find the stripper, or to see how Peg got out of the handcuffs?

Still, great fun. Rating 8.