Kelly’s graduation is coming up, which sends Peg to the shelf for her old yearbook, which is how she learns something she apparently never knew: she did not graduate. She failed one class in her senior year and nobody in the family can quite believe which one. The admission that it was home economics gets exactly the response from Kelly that it deserves.
Al’s contribution is to walk in with a man he has found on the street and present him to his wife as living proof that a diploma is not required in order to matter. Peg’s response is to go back to school, which lands her in the same home economics class as her daughter, under a teacher who keeps holding up another student as the example both Bundy women should follow.
There is a first here that is easy to miss. This is the first episode in which the audience hears Buck’s inner voice, the device that eventually gave the dog whole monologues and a running commentary on the family. Up to this point he had been a dog who reacted; from here he became a character with opinions. It is also the last appearance of the homeless man who had been turning up all season whenever a Bundy hit bottom. For a late season 4 episode this one does a surprising amount of groundwork. It sets up Kelly’s graduation, which the next two episodes pay off, it retires a running gag, and it introduces a device the show leaned on for the rest of its run. None of that is announced, which is generally how this series handled its own furniture.
Episode Facts
- Original air date: April 15, 1990
- Season 4, Episode 20, and the 77th episode of the series
- First episode to use Buck’s inner voice
- Written by Ellen L. Fogle
- Directed by Gerry Cohen
Guest Cast
- Marge Redmond as Mrs. Beyer
- Patrick J. Dancy as Ruben
- Zoe Trilling as Susan
- Keely Christian and Sandi Whitten as seniors
- Chuck E. Weiss as the bum
The First Time Buck Thinks Out Loud
Buck had been on the show since the pilot as a prop with timing. Giving him an inner voice turned him into the family’s only honest commentator, and the device ran for years.
This is also the final appearance of Chuck E. Weiss as the homeless man who had been materialising all through season 4 at the exact moment a Bundy reached their lowest point.
Al mentions that his own diploma hangs above the work desk in the living room, which is the first and nearly only time the show acknowledges he finished school.
Famous Quotes
- Peg: “It seems that I failed one stupid, useless class my senior year.” Bud: “What did you fail, mom?” Peg: “Home economics.” Kelly: “Gee… what a shock.” The reveal, and the only possible reaction.
- Al: “I want to introduce you to someone who proves you don’t need a high school diploma to be important. Sir?” Al’s rebuttal, arriving through the front door.
- Mrs. Beyer: “Miss Bundy, why can’t you be more like Ruben?” Kelly: “Well, we both like boys!” Kelly, finding common ground.
Notes
- Goof: the episode never explains how Peg failed to notice she had not graduated, given she would have had to skip the ceremony.
- Goof: the teacher swaps the two women’s projects between days without noticing.
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