Season 11 Episode 17: Live Nude Peg

Al has been invited to judge an amateur contest at the Jiggly Room, which means an evening out instead of an evening at home, and Peggy is left on the couch complaining to Marcy about how long it has been since anyone touched her. The scene that follows is one of the better two-woman exchanges in the late run: Marcy puts a consoling arm around her, Peggy notices the arm, compliments Marcy’s haircut, and Marcy works out what is happening and relocates her hand with some speed.

Al’s night out is staged as a full production. Iqbal introduces Hooter Search ’97 and welcomes the man whose selfless devotion to nudity is an inspiration to all, and the judging panel establishes its criteria immediately, two categories, with peanut butter wrestling held in reserve for a tie, Griff having come prepared. Al becomes infatuated with a dancer named Jasmine, which is what finally moves Peggy to act, and her solution is to take a job there herself. She declines the word stripper in favour of exotic dancing, which she describes as an art form before going upstairs to prepare for Easter.

The episode is a significant one for the show’s supporting cast. It is the last appearance of Ike, Bob Rooney and Officer Dan, and the last time NO MA’AM is mentioned at all. From the next episode to the series finale, the only members still on screen are Jefferson and Griff, an organisation that had anchored four seasons of storylines simply stops being referred to. Bud’s subplot has him helping Kelly gain weight for a diet-product commercial, citing De Niro and Hanks as precedent.

Episode Facts

• Original air date: Monday, March 10, 1997 on FOX
• Season 11, Episode 17
• Overall episode 255 of the series
• Taped November 22, 1996; production code 11.12
• Written by Matthew Berry and Eric Abrams
• Directed by Amanda Bearse
• The title plays on the “Live Nude Girls” signage, one of which is visible on the wall by the stage
• The final appearance of NO MA’AM members Ike, Bob Rooney and Officer Dan, and the last reference to the organisation

Guest Cast

• Gloria LeRoy as Chesty LaRue
• Carmen Morrell as Shaney
• Vanessa A. Dorian as Stripper #1

The End of NO MA’AM

NO MA’AM had been one of the series’ most durable inventions. Founded in season seven, it generated protest marches, a church, a Senate hearing, a baseball league and an initiation rite, and it gave the show a reliable way to get five men into a garage and let them talk. This is where it stops. Ike, Bob Rooney and Officer Dan all make their last appearances here, the name is spoken for the last time, and from the next episode onward only Jefferson and Griff remain, no longer as members of anything, just as the two men who are around.

The show does not mark the occasion, which is worth noting. There is no farewell and no explanation; the organisation simply ceases to be mentioned, in the way television series quietly drop things in their final stretch. For anyone watching the run in order, this half-hour is the last time the garage is a headquarters rather than a garage.

Peggy’s decision to take the stage is the episode’s answer to a problem the series had posed for eleven years. Her complaint is always the same: her husband will not touch her, and her solutions have always been indirect. Going to work at the place that is holding his attention is the most practical thing she ever tried, and the episode gets its best laugh out of her insisting on the professional terminology.

Famous Quotes

• Peg: “I just feel so lonely. It’s been so long since someone touched me.” / Marcy: “Oh, poor Peggy. I’m so sorry.” / Peg: “You know, Marcy… that boyish cut really becomes you.”
• Marcy: “Well, Peggy, there must be something you can do… with Al!” Hand swiftly relocated.
• Iqbal: “Gentlemen. Minors. Ladies golfers. Welcome to ‘Hooter Search ’97.’ I’m your host, Iqbal. And now a man whose selfless devotion to nudity is an inspiration to us all, Al Bundy!”
• Al: “Tonight’s contestants will be judged by two categories: the left one and the right one.” / Jefferson: “And in the event of a tie, the winner will be decided by peanut butter wrestling.” / Griff: “Oh, there will be a tie… and Griff’s got the Jif.”
• Marcy: “So, now you’re going to be a stripper?” / Peggy: “Actually, we call it exotic dancing. It’s an art form. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go upstairs and dye my boobs for Easter.”

Notes

• Bud’s argument for Kelly gaining weight cites Robert De Niro, who put on sixty pounds for Raging Bull, and Tom Hanks.
• A framed black-and-white promotional photograph of Al from season eleven is visible on Peggy’s nightstand.
• Goof: the box in Bud’s hands disappears between consecutive shots during the kitchen scene.
• Goof: the cheese spread Bud gets above Kelly’s lip vanishes in the following wide shot.
• Goof: Kelly’s bonbon is in three different states across three consecutive cuts after the failed audition.