Season 3 Episode 11: Eatin’ Out

A windfall arrives, moderate rather than life-changing, and the Bundys decide to spend it on a meal at a proper restaurant. The outing is treated as a state occasion, because for this family it is one. Then they arrive and realise the money is at home, which turns a celebration into a hostage situation: four people seated, ordering, eating, and working out how to leave.

The episode runs on a very simple and very effective tension, which is that none of them will admit the problem to the staff. Al’s dignity will not permit it and Peggy’s enjoyment of the evening will not permit it either, so the meal proceeds while the arithmetic gets worse. It is one of the series’ purest expressions of a theme it returned to constantly: the Bundys do not fail because they are unlucky, they fail because they have committed to something before checking whether they can pay for it.

The restaurant setting also lets the show do something it rarely had the budget for, which is put the family somewhere genuinely nice and watch them not belong in it. The waiters are not hostile; the Bundys simply have no idea how any of it works.

Peggy supplies the episode’s best throwaway, listing the things the family does together and including getting Grandma Bundy out of the drunk tank, a detail the series reinforced in several later episodes, including “A Three Job, No Income Family” and “Desperately Seeking Miss October.” Dona Speir, who plays the restaurant’s photo girl, was Playboy‘s Playmate of the Month for March 1984.

Episode Facts

• Original air date: February 19, 1989
• Season 3, Episode 11, and the 46th episode of the series
• Written by Sandy Sprung and Marcy Vosburgh
• Directed by Gerry Cohen

Guest Cast

• Clement von Franckenstein as the maître d’
• Michael Tulin as Paul
• Tom Tully as Harold
• Mary Jo Kirwan as Harold’s wife
• Dona Speir as the photo girl
• William Rogers as a waiter

A Nice Evening Out, Without the Money

The dance floor scene is the best thing in it, and it works because of how it is shot. Kelly, watching from the table, delivers a genuinely touching speech about two dinosaurs who still care enough to dance. Then the camera moves in close and you hear what they are actually saying to each other.

The grace scene is the other highlight: Al insists the family give thanks, everyone closes their eyes and bows their heads, and the show lets the silence run.

Famous Quotes

• Kelly: “I think it’s romantic that two dinosaurs like Mom and Dad still care enough about each other to dance.” Kelly, from across the room.
• Peg: “Couldn’t you even wear deodorant, you pig?!” Al: “You didn’t wear quite enough hairspray tonight, Peg. I can still smell your breath!” The same dance, up close.
• Peg: “Everybody, dig in… but watch your fingers!” Dinner is served.
• Bud: “Look at ’em, Kel… Old-a-rama!” Bud, less moved than his sister.

Notes

• Peg lists getting Grandma Bundy out of the drunk tank among the things the family does together, which other episodes pick up.
• Dona Speir, the photo girl, was a Playboy Playmate of the Month in 1984.