1105  - Crimes Against Obesity


Oh, my god, Bud, someone stole the windows of the Dodge!" (Kelly)
"Wild guess, Kel...the windows are in the doors?" (Bud)

This is one of those unfortunate episodes where they've had a good idea - look, 
everyone, Al's being put on trial for all those comments about large women!...
but where the execution of said idea has flaws in it through which you could 
drive an excavator. Leaving aside the practical queries (Al's feet are tied 
together but not his hands, the number of coupons changes in every shot), this 
episode reminded me very much of "The Agony and the Extra C" last season - 
another one where the idea sounds good on paper but doesn't work out in script. 
The not-quite-a-subplot of Al's birthday is much more interesting...and that's 
saying something.

"2, 4, 6, 8, don't make fun of our weight" (Fat Women)
"1, 2, 3, 4, you will go through the floor!" (Al)

As is usual with those MWC episodes where the script isn't up to much, the 
regulars try performances that are too over-the-top in order to compensate;
Christina Applegate and Katey Sagal are prime culprits in this one, in the
"someone stole the windows" and the "you fat cow" half-scenes respectively. 
Ed O'Neill has plenty of good lines but doesn't really use them to full effect, 
while David Faustino spends half the time stuck to the window tint and hence 
you can't even see his acting. Nor are Marcy and Jefferson in it except for 
brief token appearances (ditto Griff), making this a bit of a mishmash episode 
that could have been much funnier. 

"Mummy, I want a balloon!" (Kid in shoe store)
"You've already got one!" (Al, talking about the kid's mother)

And I've even had to quote from a flashback scene to the pilot episode rather 
than be able to use one direct from the episode. It's not an actively *bad* tale 
- it can't be, really, it focusses on Al and there's no Ephraim Wanker (!) - but 
there's nothing particularly commendable about it at all. It's just mediocre, 
basically, and there's very little you can write about mediocre things. Plus I 
didn't like the "Lance" micro-plot very much as it came out of nowhere and isn't 
mentioned in any other episodes - too disposable, basically.

Like travelling by bus when you own a Jaguar - slow, unspectacular, boring and 
fairly unnecessary. Rating 4.5/10.