MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological* While most of the Bundy Xmas-excursions tend to dream of Dark Yuletides, "Worst Noel" is probably as close as MARRIED WITH CHILDREN could get to being "sweet."
The two B-plots are unexceptional fare. Al and Peg spend most of the episode on the couch, trying to find something good to watch on cable. Probably the best pop-cultural joke comes when, upon being given an old Nat King Cole record by the kids, Peg remarks, "It'll be the first time I've heard Nat without Natalie for a long time." (Natalie Cole, the daughter of "King," collaborated with her father on a recording, which is almost the only thing anyone remembers about her career.) The second plot involves the D'arcys, holding a party next door. Despite the tendency of Marcy, Jefferson and other revelers to barge into the Bundy house and pilfer supplies (talk about a turnabout), Al never completely catches on that there's a nearby Xmas party to which he's not been invited. Peg manages to sneak away at least once to join the festivities, and naturally does not clue Al in.
The A-plot is the source of what sweetness there is in NOEL, though naturally there's plenty of "sour" to mitigate it. Kelly and Bud happened to get hold of an old-timey jukebox (though only because it fell off a delivery truck) and decide to bring it into the house secretly in order to surprise their parents with an offering to their geezer souls. Why do they bother trying to sneak the jukebox in? Couldn't they just unveil it to Al and Peg in the garage? But of course, the reason is so that Bud and Kelly can do their take on Tex Avery's "George and Junior" cartoon series. Even though Bud, "the smart one," is nominally in control of their senseless project, every order he gives to Kelly, "the stupid one," results in his suffering injuries-- which, as I've said elsewhere, is loosely modeled on the sadistic relationship of Peg to Al. Though Kelly is sometimes openly sadistic in other episodes, here she plays the "innocent sadist," who just doesn't foresee causing her brother assorted pains. Yet oddly, the two siblings don't say anything about using their generous gift to butter up their parents. This would be a reasonable conclusion from many other episodes. But here they seem to be making an honest effort just to do something nice-- even if the effort ends in futility, as when the jukebox gets destroyed and the only thing that survives is that one record-- which gets too scratched up to play.
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