26 Married With Children Spinoffs:
Description
This article is from the Married With Children FAQ, by Dean Adams dadams@netcom.com with numerous contributions by others.
26 Married With Children Spinoffs:
In the spring of 1991, Fox started a new series called "Top of the Heap",
based on two characters they introduced first in the Married With Children
episode: "OLDIES BUT YOUNG'UNS" (518). The series was about Vinnie
Verducci (Matt Le Blanc) and his father, Charlie (Joseph Bologna). Other
cast members included Joey Adams as jail-bait neighbor Mona who is always
chasing Vinnie, and Rita Moreno, as Vinnie's boss. It should be noted that
Vinnie is a reasonable approximation of what a male Kelly Bundy would be:
handsome and incredibly stupid. Charlie is similar to Al, in that life
has not treated him well, but where Al struggles to get by, Charlie is a
constant schemer.
The pilot episode of "Top of the Heap" was shown as the second half of a
special one-hour Married With Children episode. The first part was the
show "KIDS! WADAYA GONNA DO" (519), in which neither Vinnie nor Charlie
makes an appearance. The second half-hour is the "Heap" pilot, and had
no connection at all to the "KIDS!" story. Al Bundy makes an appearance
in a scene where Vinnie and Charlie stop by Gary's Shoes to talk to him.
Al, it turns out, had bet on Vinnie's boxing match the night before and
lost his T.V. as a result. At the end of the episode, while Vinnie and
Charlie sleep, a masked figure enters the Verducci apartment through the
window. The mask is lifted to reveal Al, who steals the Verducci's TV.
Subsequent episodes would feature cameo appearances by MWC characters
Kelly and Bud Bundy. The series was canceled after only a few months.
The Vinnie Verducci character was later reprised for a short appearance
in the MWC episode "KELLY DOES HOLLYWOOD (part 1)" (609).
In June 1992, Fox once again tried to reprise the Vinnie character in
the short-lived series "Vinnie and Bobby". MWC co-creator Ron Leavitt
was partially responsible.
The second attempt at a spinoff was the episode "RADIO FREE TRUMAINE"
which aired on 04/07/95. This series would have focused on the activity
around the student radio station at Bud Bundy's college, but it never
even made it past the pilot stage.
The third pilot-as-an-MWC-episode was "ENEMIES". It aired on 04/14/96.
This show was about two people who share a small apartment with a group
of dysfunctional "friends".
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