Oldies But Young 'Uns

It's Friday night: Al arrives home frustrated that he didn't catch the title of a song played on the radio. He hums the tune to his family (Hmm Hmm Himmmm), but no-one knows the song. Meanwhile, Kelly's new date Vinnie arrives. Al warns Vinnie not to touch his daughter, something that the young man finds hard to do (and who can blame him?).

Eventually, Al goes to a record store for help in finding the name of the song that has been eluding him. He hears the tune on the store's jukebox and buys the 45, taking the record home to play. Unfortunately, Vinnie accidentally breaks the record with his feet!

Oldies But Young 'Uns is an average episode of Married WIth Children, but is made notable by the appearance of a young pre-Friends Matt LeBlanc as Vinnie, a character perfectly matched to Kelly on account of his stupidity. Vinnie (and his father Charlie, played by Joseph Bologna) would go on to appear in a short lived spin-off show called Top of the Heap, which was subsequently reworked as Vinnie and Bobby.

Al is trying to find his song that they played on the radio but he doesn't have a name. He tries to ask his family about it and the neighbors as well. He decides to ask an old friend played by Joseph Bologna and his son is played by Matt LeBlanc as Vinnie Verducci. They had a spin-off series called "Top of the Heap" which only lasted a few episodes but they brought Matt LeBlanc back for another episode. In this episode, he plays Kelly's date and is warned not to touch Kelly by Al. He asks his shoulders for advice. On one side is the angel and the other side is the devil. Vinnie's lovable for his innocence and lack of intelligence, he and Kelly would be the perfect match. When she opens the door, she replies with a comment like "I'm not home." Vinnie says seriously "Well, then can I wait for you?"

Another 10/10 episode of "Married With Children" in season five.

Plot In A Paragraph: Al is haunted by a tune on the radio he can hum but not name, and he gets no help from Peggy or the D'Arcy's. Al similarly haunts Kelly's new boyfriend, Vinnie Verducci (Matt Le Blanc) the son of his old high school friend, when Al warns Vinnie to only look and not touch, which is not easy.

Katey Segel is given a decent amount if screen time as unsupportive Peggy, Once again Amanda Bearse and Ted McGinley are relegated to just one scene as Marcy and Jefferson, likewise David Faustino's Bud (which is a shame as his bet with Kelly could have led to some funny scenes)

This episode is mainly about Kelly and her new boyfriend Vinnie (a great pre Friends Matt Le Blanc) and Al trying to get the name of the song, the great Ed O'Neil is once again superb as Al Bundy. His meltdown in the record store is comedy gold.

The only Mis step in this episode (and this really is nitpicking) is the casting of Charlie, Vinnie's father (Joseph Bologna) but it's hard to criticise a show that got so much right.

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