1y ago

Meanwhile there is a whole generation that doesn't understand this joke

170 comments

I never understood why Al acts like having sex with his hot wife is a chore. Boomers sure are different.
- As a millennial who is now the same age as Al, I get it a lot more. When you are 40, come home from a job you hate that doesn’t pay enough, and are physically and mentally exhausted, yeah, sex isn’t as appealing, even if married to Katey Sagal. You just want to plop down on the couch, turn off your brain, and be left alone. Peggy being horny is just a reminder that his wife refuses to work (neither outside nor inside the home) and has more energy.
  But also remember they originally offered the role to Rosanne Barr, which would have been even more understandable.
  
  Rosanne Barr would have absolutely ruined the show and it would never have been as popular.
- Al Bundy spends all day working on his hands and knees for women only to come home to more demands from a woman he’s not emotionally attracted to.
  It’s supposed to be ironic that he can’t derive joy from the one bright spot in his life, a sexy wife who’s DTF.
  
  DTF?
  
  It's also a nod to sooooo many married couples who got together for all the wrong reasons
  Al nailed Peg because she was hot, not because he actually liked her. Peg got knocked up
  Suddenly, Al, who was a star at the time and had many gals, is stuck with one annoying chick he only liked when he was drunk at a party.
- Not everyone has, or keeps their desire for sexual activity
- No matter how hot an individual may be, somebody, somewhere, is tired of fucking them.
- The whole show is peek boomer "haha wife bad/annoying" humour.

This episode aired 23 years ago.
- We've moved into boomer territory when we joke that kids today don't get a joke older than the actual kids today
  
  As usual, "Who the fuck is GenX?!"
- Oh fuck me. For a moment I started to think "no. Married with Children was already over 23 years ago" then I quickly realized that holy shit, Futurama is already over 23 years old.
- And the reference is a show that ran until 1997. So a small slice of the audience was too young at the time.
- I'm to scared to verify this...
  
  A Bicyclops Built for Two aired on March 19, 2000.
  
  The first season of Futurama began airing on March 28, 1999 and concluded on November 14, 1999 after 13 episodes.
- And when did the MWC episode air?
  
  Which one? The final episode aired on June 9, 1997.

Reddit once voted the end of an ep of Archer as the greatest moment in TV history or some such.
The moment in question was a shot-for-shot homage to an episode of Magnum PI. No one seemed to acknowledge this.
- Was it the end of the LA arc when he gets shot in the pool? Or wasi t from the Vice season?
  
  Earlier than that.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlaHvnkvtbA

It does also require a knowledge of the acting credits of Leela's voice actress, though.
- I actually had forgotten that Leela is Katey Segal. I thought it was funny without that extra context.
  
  Unfortunately I'm exceptionally good at matching voices. I knew it was Peg Bundy before I finished episode 1, and then I went online to verify that.
  
  How the fuck did I learn Leela is Katey Sagal in the year 2023. Am I stupid???

That was one of Futurama's weaker episodes even if you understand the actor allusion. If you don't get the reference, a lot of screentime is spent on a couple of the characters behaving in slightly strange ways for no apparent reason.
- It's one of my favorites (when I saw it two decades ago) but I guess I get the references. I just thought Fry pretending not to know what a video game was and the internet being full of ads and sex still relevant? Bender also stealing everything was a delight.
  
  “This one’s got NO eyes!”
  (Prys off all the jewel eyes)
  
  The internet being full of ads and sex is still relevant (ads possibly moreso) but yeah it's not as fresh as it was. If anything the Napster episode aged worse than the plain internet one, but I think it holds up as an episode better.
- Married With Childrens last episode aired in 1997 so it was in recent memory, and I'm sure you could watch a rerun of MWC same day this episode aired (March 19, 2000).
  
  ...if you cared to, which at least some of the audience likely did not. I'm sure the demographics of a live action present day dysfunctional family sitcom and a sci-fi cartoon don't perfectly overlap.
  Then 23 years went by.
- Basically explains all communication.

Multiple generations.
- I guess it depends on how restrictive your parents were with TV access, Millennials born between 1990 and 1995 could have easily seen Married with Children and then Futurama and understood the reference from a young age, but Gen Z wouldn't be very likely to see Married with Children at all, and I dispute the existence of a Gen Alpha yet because there is no way Gen Z are old enough to have kids with opinions in any sizeable demographic so therefor it isn't a generational gap.
  
  Married With Children would have ended when millennials were somewhere between 16 and 1.
  It doesn't really matter how strict your parents were with TV. Most millennials weren't really in the target demographic for it when it was airing; they'd have been more likely to be watching Rugrats, Power Rangers, All That, Dragon Ball Z or whatever if left to their own devices.
  They'd have watched it if it were something their parents watched. I literally never deliberately turned on Friends or Will And Grace, but since my parents watched them, I saw a bunch of them. Married With Children wasn't a show my parents followed, though, so the Futurama episode would have gone over my head.
  It really seems like a reference aimed mostly at the oldest millennials, gen X, and boomers.
  
  I'm only 27, not American and I had never heard of married with children before. I can remember watching fresh Prince of Bel air and friends (repeats) and some other shows. Plus I'm on the oldest end of gen z and if I'd had a kid at 16/17 then they'd certainly be old enough to have opinions.
  
  I am refiering to generation alpha. (2010 on since there is not really an agreed on date.)

Nonsense. Cultural history transferrence is a thing, I did not have to have watched Gilligan's Island or the Honeymooners to get the references in every 80s tv show, it became clear from the context and its own meta joke.
So no, just like a GenX-er did not need to have been a Baby Boomer to undestand the "One of these days Alice, Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!" reference, a Gen Z-er can quite easily get references about Gen X series from the frequency and context they encounter them.
- I can confirm this. I am a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I am Gen X. They were self-described "post-boomer(s)." I didn't get some of the references to pop culture older than me, but often the delivery made it funny anyway. And people much younger than me who love the show feel the same way.
  
  Tbh one of the coolest parts to me is that I can learn about other old movies and stuff that they reference, and then when I rewatch the mst3k ep I get other jokes that didn't hit for me watching the first time.
- My mom (border of gen x and boomer) explained all the references to me when I was a kid watching Futurama for the first time. Honestly, Futurama and seeking out information related to the references (either my parents would tell me or I'd look it up in the 2010s when I really started having access to the internet) is probably the biggest way I learned about past culture. At this point I'm explaining the references to my kid but he really is just so far removed from it. Because they're from like 4 generations ago and have been referenced so much since. Still interesting but I do feel like it, "hits different" as the teens say.
- Not to mention, streaming services are just about everywhere. If you look at the right time, sometimes you can even find entire seasons of shows on YouTube.
  Do some of the people from older generations commenting suddenly forget about the rest of the internet or what? Lol
  Some of us also have parents who collect DVD, CDs, Blu-Rays and more. I find it hard to believe that an entire generation would just be unaware especially with how all over the place media is

I mean I am like 30+ and I didn't get this joke.
- Leela's voice actress played Peggy Bundy on Married with Children. Ed O'Neill played Al Bundy and is playing the shape shifter pretending to be one of Leela's supposed alien race (she's not an alien, but she didn't know that yet then). They are re-enacting the look and dynamic of Married with Children in this scene.
  EDIT: I was mistaken, the voice actor is not Ed O'Niell, as kindly pointed out below.
  
  Is that Ed O'Neill? Shit I never made that connection, he sounds way different.
  Futurama, Modern Family, Wayne's World. Guy is an American national treasure.
  
  Oh wow, my mind immediately went to Amy Winehouse when I saw that hair

Only fans of Married with Children would ever get the joke. Plenty of people who grew up while it was running didn't necessarily see it though.
- Only fans of Married with Children
  Where do I subscribe?
  
  Unfortunately, it only has pictures of Bud in his underwear.
  
  You want nudes from married paedophiles?

I'm 35 and got the joke
- I'm 25 and did not
  
  Incase you still don't, it's referencing a late 80s to mid 90s sitcom Married with Children. It's surprisingly good. Katey Segal who voices Leela played one of the main characters, Peggy.

Wooooooooooooh
- toilet flushes
  
  https://youtu.be/AkLx9HW9BEc?si=_ia5hWe2drJI3bPC

He's missing his hand down his pants but otherwise perfect
- In a toga, that changes the audience age rating.

There's a joke?
- The voice actor for Leela (Katey Sagal) played Peggy Bundy in the tv show Married… with children, which was hugely popular in the 90s. The above picture was a very common scene from the tv show. Peggy with huge hair, sitting on the couch with her husband watching tv and eating junk food. So, it’s a fun reference to her previous work.
  
  In my headcannon Peggy left Al behind and joined up with a biker and his gang, creating a whole new life for her. Al meanwhile took the kids, left chicago for california and used his knowledge about sales to create a solid closet company. Out of that lead infested house, Kelly got her act together and met Phil - while Bud Was finally done with overcompensating.
  
  So, it’s a fun reference to her previous work.
  So then not a joke, but a reference. I understood the reference but failed to see the joke. Maybe I am just overly pedantic.
- I don’t see any in the image. Do I need the audio or knowledge of the Futurama universe to get it?
- Katey Sagal speaks both Charakters and play one real and in this episode...
- I'm glad you asked. Mind if I ask you how old are you, and where are you from?
  
  I didn't get it, and I'm 29 from Canada

Well, I now need rule34 of Leela as Peggy, specifically those clothes with the top pulled down.
- bonk
- If you find one on your travels please feel free to share ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)