MYTHICITY: *good*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological, sociological* Though I'm not going to watch every MWC episode in order, I have the general impression that Season 3-- which was the first one to become widely popular on the Fox channel-- is also the season that the showrunners abandoned any pretense of producing a "realistic" sitcom. They began showing the Bundy family as the buttholes of the universe, continually dumped on by the rest of the universe but fully willing to dump back whatever they could upon decent society. At the same time, the Bundy's favorite enemies were one another, and their favorite feud was "the war against men and women"-- a war in which Peg, Kelly, and (sometimes) Marcy won most of the battles.
After an opening bit in which Al, Bud and Kelly are scrounging for bits of food about the house (because Peg never buys anything to eat), the red witch herself sashays in, revealing that once again she's frittered away Al's hard-earned money on clothes for herself. In her usual manner, Peg argues that she's the one suffering from the pitiful wages Al brings home due to his job as a lowly shoe salesman. She urges Al to take another job to supplement his meager income, and he refuses. Bud and Kelly refuse to defend their father, as they're eager to take dough from Peg--even though she's only giving them the money Al makes. Despite Al's refusal to take a second job, Peg consults with neighbor Marcy. Marcy naturally thinks Al should become a trainer of pit bulls, but that's the extent of her contribution to the gender-war. Peg comes across an ad for the selling of "Patty Bright Cosmetics," and decides that would be a perfect second job for Al.
When a Patty Bright representative explains how their product "sells itself," Peg takes the job for herself, since she loves the idea of a job where she doesn't have to work. However, because Peg can't sell the cosmetics to any of her friends, she buys the products herself, so that Patty Bright will send her commission checks-- apparently not remembering that her breadwinner will have to pay for the total expenses. The episode's most interesting psychological touch is that before Al figures out Peg's shenanigans, he feels emasculated to think that she makes more money than he does. He ends up getting a second job at a burger joint with a STAR TREK theme, and of course gets further humiliation from the young employees there (including Pauly Shore). The two kids don't have much to do this time, it's almost all Peg vs. Al. The episode ends with Peg having to take over Al's burger job, but it's a given that her punishment won't last long, and that by the next episode she'll be right back on the sofa, busting her spouse's balls at every opportunity.
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