Married... with Children season 3

This is a list of episodes for the third season (1988–89) of the television series Married... with Children. The season aired on Fox from November 6, 1988 to May 21, 1989.

Married... with Children
Season 3
DVD cover
Showrunners	Ron Leavitt Michael G. Moye
Starring	Ed O'Neill Katey Sagal David Garrison Amanda Bearse Christina Applegate David Faustino
No. of episodes	22
Release
Original network	Fox (episodes 1-9; 11-22) FX (episode 10)
Original release	November 6, 1988 (1988-11-06) – May 21, 1989 (1989-05-21)
Season chronology
List of episodes

The third season marked an increase in the show's popularity, based on Terry Rakolta's moral campaign against the show, which began after the episode "Her Cups Runneth Over", in which Al and Steve go to a lingerie store in search of Peggy's favorite bra, which had been discontinued. Michael Faustino makes his second guest appearance. During the season, the show became the first on Fox to achieve a quarter share of viewership.

The episode "I'll See You in Court" was withdrawn from airing at the time. In the episode, Al and Peggy Bundy unintentionally have a sex tape filmed of themselves at a motel and attempt to sue the motel owner. Fox chose not to air the episode surrounding other controversies related to the show, and "I'll See You in Court" did not air until 2002 when FX acquired the rights to reruns of Married... with Children. It was aired for the first time as a "lost episode" on June 18, 2002.^[1]

Episodes

See also: List of Married... with Children episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)	Rating/share (households)
36	1	"He Thought He Could"	Gerry Cohen	Ron Leavitt & Michael G. Moye	November 7, 1988 (1988-11-07)	302	N/A	9.4/13[2]
While moving old boxes from the attic, Al comes across a copy of The Little Engine That Could, which hasn't been returned to the local library (headed by an evil, redheaded woman named Miss DeGroot) since 1957.
37	2	"I'm Going to Sweatland"	Gerry Cohen	Story by : Carl Studebaker Teleplay by : Pamela Wick & Susan Cridland	November 21, 1988 (1988-11-21)	303	N/A	10.0/14[3]
Peggy becomes obsessed with Elvis Presley when she sees a man who looks like the King at the mall and sees his image in a sweat stain on one of Al's shirts. Note: Ed O'Neill's hometown of Youngstown, Ohio is referenced twice in the episode, first by Marcy when she says she would leave Steve for either Elvis or Youngstown native "Boom Boom" Mancini, then again at the end of the episode when Peggy learns that Elvis was spotted at a hardware store in Youngstown, which leads to her, Al, & Steve to follow "Elvis" to Youngstown to sell 700 pairs of blue suede shoes.
38	3	"Poke High"	Gerry Cohen	Ralph R. Farquhar	November 28, 1988 (1988-11-28)	304	N/A	10.5/15[4]
Al tries to keep Matt, a local high-school boy from breaking his football record. Meanwhile, Kelly, who is in love with Matt, joins the cheeleader squad and tries to get a date with him during a game.
39	4	"The Camping Show" "A Period Piece"	Gerry Cohen	Sandy Sprung & Marcy Vosburgh	December 12, 1988 (1988-12-12)	301	12.7[5]	8.2/12[5]
A guys-only fishing trip with Al, Bud and Steve turns sour when Steve invites Marcy, who then invites Peg and Kelly on the trip — and things get worse when all three of the women have their periods simultaneously.
40	5	"A Dump of My Own"	Gerry Cohen	Michael G. Moye & Ron Leavitt	January 9, 1989 (1989-01-09)	305	17.6[6]	10.3/14[6]
Al realizes his dream to build his own bathroom in the garage.
41	6	"Her Cups Runneth Over"	Gerry Cohen	Marcy Vosburgh & Sandy Sprung	January 16, 1989 (1989-01-16)	306	18.7[7]	10.3/15[7]
Peg becomes depressed on her birthday when her favorite bra is discontinued. Al and Steve discover that Peggy's favorite bra is still being sold at a lingerie store called Francine's of Wisconsin. Note: This episode started Terry Rakolta's moral boycott campaign against Married... with Children.
42	7	"The Bald and the Beautiful"	John Sgueglia	Jules Dennis & Richard Mueller	January 30, 1989 (1989-01-30)	307	17.8[8]	10.4/15[8]
Steve thinks he's going bald after finding a newspaper clipping for an antibaldness cure given to him by Marcy.
43	8	"The Gypsy Cried"	Gerry Cohen	Richard Gurman	February 6, 1989 (1989-02-06)	309	18.5[9]	10.9/15[9]
Steve and Marcy hire a psychic, who predicts good fortune for Al, Peg, and Steve — and doom for Marcy.
44	9	"Requiem for a Dead Barber"	James E. Hornbeck	Ron Leavitt & Michael G. Moye	February 13, 1989 (1989-02-13)	310	21.6[10]	12.0/18[10]
Al's favorite barber dies, prompting him to go to a salon and risk losing his masculinity.
45	10	"I'll See You in Court"	Gerry Cohen	Jeanne Baruch & Jeanne Romano	Unaired June 18, 2002 (2002-06-18) (on FX)	308	N/A	N/A
To spark up their waning marriage, Al and Peg go to a seedy motel, where one of the porn movies they watch is surveillance footage of Steve and Marcy having sex.
46	11	"Eatin' Out"	Gerry Cohen	Sandy Sprung & Marcy Vosburgh	February 20, 1989 (1989-02-20)	311	19.9[11]	11.5/17[11]
After receiving a moderately large windfall, the Bundys go out to eat at a fancy restaurant — and trouble starts when they forget to bring the money with them.
47	12	"My Mom, the Mom"	Gerry Cohen	Story by : Jan Rosenbloom Teleplay by : Lesa Kite & Cindy Begel	February 27, 1989 (1989-02-27)	312	21.1[12]	12.5/18[12]
Peg resorts to acting like a true mom when Kelly picks her to appear at Polk High's Parents Day. Meanwhile, Al teaches Bud the value of a dollar by putting him to work at the shoe store.
48	13	"Can't Dance, Don't Ask Me"	Gerry Cohen	Story by : Gabrielle Topping Teleplay by : Robert Ulin	March 6, 1989 (1989-03-06)	313	19.7[13]	11.4/17[13]
After getting Polk High's dance club in trouble during a field trip, Kelly is forced to join and perform tap at the school talent show. Meanwhile, Al thinks a conspiracy exists among the women when his socks end up missing.
49	14	"A Three Job, No Income Family"	Gerry Cohen	Richard Gurman	March 20, 1989 (1989-03-20)	314	17.4[14]	10.9/16[14]
When money becomes tighter than usual at the Bundy house, Peg signs Al up for a job as a make-up salesman, but when Peg hears the job's perks, she signs up for the job, instead, and (seemingly) proves to be a better seller than Al. Pauly Shore guests as Al's manager.
50	15	"The Harder They Fall"	Gerry Cohen	Ellen L. Fogle	March 27, 1989 (1989-03-27)	315	16.2[15]	10.4/17[15]
While driving with Steve to the video store, Peg flips off a driver and gets Steve in trouble, prompting the Bundys to stay at the Rhoades' house to protect him — and take advantage of their neighbors' hospitality.
51	16	"The House That Peg Lost"	Gerry Cohen	Steve Granat & Mel Sherer	April 10, 1989 (1989-04-10)	316	19.3[16]	12.0/18[16]
While the Rhoades’ are away on vacation, the Bundys are called to house-sit for them, leading to the Rhoades' house being taken away by a man looking for a roadhouse. Meanwhile, Kelly has a slumber party with her best friends, which leads to chaos when Bud reveals that Kelly slept with her best friends' boyfriends.
52	17	"Married... with Prom Queen (Part I)"	Gerry Cohen	Ellen L. Fogle	April 24, 1989 (1989-04-24)	317	17.5[17]	10.6/17[17]
Part one of two: Peggy's chances at being prom queen at her high school reunion are doomed when her old rival, Connie Bender ("Bring a friend, it won't offend her"), arrives. Meanwhile, Al meets his old rival in high school and continues the fight they last had following graduation.
53	18	"Married... with Prom Queen: The Sequel (Part II)"	Gerry Cohen	Ellen L. Fogle	May 1, 1989 (1989-05-01)	318	17.7[18]	11.2/18[18]
Conclusion: Peggy recruits Bud and Kelly's help in rigging the prom queen election so Peg can win. Meanwhile, Al squares off with high-school rival Jack in a parking-lot fight.
54	19	"The Dateless Amigo"	Gerry Cohen	Sara V. Finney & Vida Spears	May 8, 1989 (1989-05-08)	320	17.8[19]	10.2/16[19]
Al comes up with a new invention called Shoe Lights and uses Kelly as his guinea pig. Meanwhile, Bud, trying to prove to his friends that he can get a girl, uses a department-store mannequin as his date.
55	20	"The Computer Show"	Gerry Cohen	Ralph R. Farquhar	May 15, 1989 (1989-05-15)	319	14.1[20]	8.5/14[20]
Against Al's wishes, Peg and Marcy buy a home computer for the Bundy house.
56	21	"Life's a Beach"	Gerry Cohen	Ralph R. Farquhar	May 22, 1989 (1989-05-22)	321	17.5[21]	10.6/17[21]
The Bundys spend a day at the beach. Michael Faustino guests.
57	22	"Here's Lookin' at You, Kid"	Gerry Cohen	Story by : Len O'Neill Teleplay by : Jeanne Baruch & Jeanne Romano	May 22, 1989 (1989-05-22)	322	17.5[21]	10.6/17[21]
The neighborhood women become the targets of a peeping Tom — except for Peg, who takes it as a sign that she is not attractive anymore. Meanwhile, Al convinces Bud to help Kelly with her studies.