In 1991, Fox attempted to sell audiences on a spinoff to Married... With Children called Top of the Heap, centered around Kelly Bundy's one-off boyfriend Vinnie Verducci, who was played by Matt LeBlanc. It only lasted six episode, but if you're a fan of Married, it's worth checking out because it very much has the mood and humor of the mothership show. (And it's streaming for free on Crackle.)
I'm sharing this scene, from the show's second episode, because not only is it a few more minutes with Christina Applegate's iconic Kelly Bundy, but also it does something interesting with Mona Mullins, the walking jailbait joke played by a pre-Chasing Amy Joey Lauren Adams. In most of the show, Mona exists only to be super sexualized, in a way that makes me think they were trying to give the show its own Kelly Bundy without really understanding what made Kelly a popular character. But in this scene, Mona gets to interact with another female character, and rather than regarding each other as rivals, they see in each other a kindred spirit. It's a very sweet moment for 90s sitcom tramps, honestly.
We cover Top of the Heap on Backdoor Pilots, a Patreon-only spinoff to my regular podcast, Gayest Episode Ever, so if you're ever curious about TV spinoffs and why some work and others don't, give it a listen.
Subscribe to Gayest Episode Ever: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts
“One time my cousin Walter got this cat stuck in his ass. True story. He bought it at the local mall, so the whole fiasco wound up on the news. It was embarrassing for my relatives and all. But the next week, he did it again. Different cat, same results, complete with a trip to the emergency room. Then, last week, I saw him in the pet store. He was buying another cat. I said, "Walt, what the hell are you doing, you know you're just gonna get this cat stuck up your ass too, why don't you knock it off?" And he says to me, "Brodie, how the hell else am I supposed to get the gerbil out?" My cousin was a weird guy.”
Richard Linklater’s retro-stoner nostalgia trip, Dazed And Confused – about the last day of school in an average town circa 1976, with an all-star cast of up-and-comers – graduated to theaters on September 24, 1993.