The episode opens on Allowance Day, with Al being chased from the backyard through his own front door by his wife and both children, caught in a bear hug by his son, and relieved of a handful of crumpled notes and loose change which he throws on the floor rather than hand over. The three of them go down after it. Marcy, standing in the doorway, watches Peg fight her own daughter for coins.
Her suggestion is that everyone in the house earn their own money, and Al adopts it immediately. Kelly answers an audition call and gets hired as a dancer in a rock band’s music video. Bud installs himself as her agent, taking a cut. Peg’s entrepreneurial solution is to build a toll booth, which is both completely absurd and exactly the amount of effort she considers reasonable.
Two firsts here are worth knowing. This is the first time Kelly has a job, and the first time Bud manages her, which became one of the show’s standing arrangements for the next seven seasons. It is also David Garrison’s last appearance as a regular cast member, though not the last he filmed: the previous episode was shot after this one. He came back as a guest four more times across the run. The cold open is the best three minutes in the episode and it is worth the price of admission on its own. Nothing about it is exaggerated by the standards of this family: there is money in the house, Al has it, and the only question is whether he hands it over or they take it off him. He chooses the floor.
Episode Facts
- Original air date: February 4, 1990
- Season 4, Episode 15, and the 72nd episode of the series
- David Garrison’s final appearance as a regular cast member
- Written by Ellen L. Fogle
- Directed by Linda Day
Guest Cast
- Adolfo Quinones as Cecil
- Dan Tullis Jr. as the officer
- Eva LaRue as Carrle
- Josh Blake, Anthony Smedile, Bobby Lycon and Jonny Black as the Gutter Cats
- Deborah Dillon as Sharrie
- Jill Pierce as Mary
Kelly’s First Job, Bud’s First Commission
Adolfo Quinones, credited as Shabba-Doo, plays Cecil. He was one of the central figures in the breakdancing films of the early 1980s, which is why the show cast him to run a music video shoot.
Dan Tullis Jr. is back again, his third appearance of the season, this time as the officer who writes Al a ticket.
The title plays on the John Fogerty song.
The production code shows this was made fourteenth for the season and aired fifteenth, which is how the Garrison exit ended up out of order.
Famous Quotes
- Peg: “GIVE US OUR MONEY!” Bud: “GIVE ME THAT MONEY!” Allowance Day at the Bundy house.
- Al: “GET OFF OF ME! YOU SAVAGES!” Al, outnumbered three to one.
- Al: “Here’s your stinkin’ allowance!” Followed by all three of them on the floor.
- Al: “Another Hallmark moment.” Al, closing the front door on his family.
Notes
- Goof: the news report includes footage of Kelly dancing with the band, but no camera crew is present in the scene it supposedly came from.
- Goof: the episode never explains how Al knew which set the video was being shot on, or how he walked straight onto it.
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