User Reviews

A heat wave bakes Chicago, and Al and his family wind up moving into the local supermarket after his attempts to hook up a cheap World War II surplus air conditioner result in the unit short-circuiting and blacking out the entire neighborhood. The Bundys wind up competing with the D'Arcys for $1000 worth of free food in a contest to see who can gather up that amount of food first. Al, of course, rigs his shopping cart ("The Cart of Death") to knock the Darcys out of the running, but things don't quite work out as well as he planned. This is a very funny episode, with some great sight gags and a self-deprecating cameo by Jerry Mathers, aka "The Beaver" from the classic '50s sitcom "Leave It To Beaver". Funniest gag: Jefferson temporarily blinds Al by spritzing a bottle of feminine hygiene spray directly into his eyes, and Al howls, "I'm blind! And I smell like summer rain!" The ending is a bit of a letdown compared to everything that went before it--it's a gag I've seen in everything from Laurel & Hardy to The Three Stooges--but overall this is one of the better episodes of the series.

Another quality episode of "Married With Children" in season five.

Plot In A Paragraph: In the conclusion episode of 'You Better Shop Around' it's the Bundy's V's Darcy's as Al & Peg take on Marcy and Jefferson in a Supermarket sweep to see who wins the $1,000 shopping spree at Foodies Supermarket.

Ed O'Neil and Katey Sagal make this episode for me as Al and Peggy Bundy, their chemistry is just great. The gorgeous Christina Applegate is not given much to do but looks great, David Faustino gets a laugh when Bud tries to chat up Marcy Amanda Bearse and Ted McGinley Are a lot of fun as Marcy and Jefferson.

Season 5 of Married With Children is the show at the height of it's greatness.

While the Bundys are celebrating their victory at the supermarket and eligible to win 1,000 dollars worth of groceries, Marcy gets the store to settle the score by having a supermarket sweep match. While Al and Peggy agree to her cooking one meal if they win and selling the rest for an air conditioner. Things don't always work out as well. The actor who played the Beaver on "Leave it to Beaver," Jerry Mathers makes a cameo. Allan Oppenheimer is great as Mr. Foodie who helps determine the outcome. The Darcys have prepared and trained to fight fairly but the Bundys don't plan too. The Bundys shopping cart is designed to help beat the Darcys in a race to reach a $1,000 but the Bundys always have something up their sleeves.

Part two of You Better Shop Around ramps up the silliness as Al and Peggy go against Marcy and Jefferson in the supermarket dash, Al having built a custom cart filled with gadgets.

It's like a live-action cartoon as the two teams run around the aisles filling their carts up with food to try and reach that all important $1000 target. Each couple uses underhand tricks to foil their opponents, Jefferson knocking Al unconscious with some tinned goods and Al using oil to slip up the D'Arcys and a spring-loaded boxing glove to send Jefferson flying.

Al also uses frozen chickens to bowl over Jefferson and employs football tactics to make a touchdown at the till that wins the competition for the Bundys. Unfortunately, Peggy's enthusiasm sees her impale Al on their cart's blades.

The Looney Tunes-style silliness reaches its peak with the final shot, Al having a drink and leaking water out of his wounds. It doesn't get much dafter than that.