Season seven and eight of “Married with Children” bring about the unfortunate introduction of Seven. Not the number, but the obnoxious child character that the writers of the series felt they had to force on audiences to improve ratings. Whenever a series hits a low point in ratings, a child is added for some contrived reason, and it’s never more apparent than in “Married with Children.” Despite the appearances by Bobcat Goldthwait and Linda Blair, they play cousins of Peg who leave their bratty son Seven with the Bundys. Of course he’s eventually accepted in to the family, and adopted for adventures with the low class foursome.
Thankfully, the saga of Seven lasted only half a season to a season, and he was written off never to be seen again. He only became a passing joke on the series later on, but the taint was there for a while. In seasons seven and eight, we meet Seven and are given some Seven-centric episodes, including the Bundys trying to celebrate his birthday in a park that’s been rented out by a higher class family that refuses to let them have fun. That said his storyline is abruptly cut and the show gets back to business with great episodes like “Kelly Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” in where Kelly gets a job as a waitress, despite Peg’s protests.
“Rock of Ages” where the Bundys try to sneak on to a first class flight only to be greeted by a group of classic rock stars, “It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This” sees Al’s fishing trip being destroyed by Peg and Marcy, both of whom are on their periods. The season eight episode “Dances with Weezie,” which is easily one of my favorites; the episode finds Al and Jefferson desperately trying to make it to the opening of a sports bar, but are forced in to going to a Broadway revival of “The Jeffersons.” “Assault and Batteries” features Al trying to make it home in time to watch the yearly showing of his favorite John Wayne movie “Hondo,” while “Kelly Knows Something” is a hilarious Kelly episode where she enters a sports trivia game show with Al’s coaching.
This episode is not only funny, but notable for featuring a passing sight gag featuring Seven. Both seasons are hit or miss on some fronts, but once the series removes Seven from the proceedings, it gets back on track to being pretty damn funny. It’s a worthwhile combo pack for completists.