Married... with Children (TV Series) Poppy's by the Tree: Part 1 (1987) User Reviews

Classic Bundys Go on Vacation!

[Sylviastel · 9/10 · 18 May 2009]

Move over Clark and Ellen Griswolds, the Bundys are going on vacation to Dumpwater, Florida because it's only $8.00 a night. Of course, what they don't know is that every five years there is a serial killer on the loose in town. The locals know all about it but don't tell the hotel guests. Anyway, Peggy and the kids are upset that they are not in Hawaii. The Bundys borrow the Rhodes' good luggage and camera while they go away. Since this show was the first sitcom on the network, the Bundys don't really go away out of the studio. It's a classic Bundys episode. I love the beginning of it because it's in black and white and reassures the audience that this is Married with Children and it will return in color shortly.

You guessed it with the Bundy's it's the classic vacation from hell!

[blanbrn · 9/10 · 7 November 2010]

This "MWC" classic episode from Season 2 in September of 1987 is one that long stands in memory as it's comical and crazy and it's a two part story. Aside from the funny feel with the Bundy's this story tries in some way to mock "Psycho" and "The Shining" for the fact it deals with an ax murderer in a hotel! The Bundys never one for the norm try to take a family vacation and you bet it certainly will not be paradise, and it must be something that can be purchased on the salary of a shoe salesman like Al(Ed O'Neill). Of all the places picked in America it's a place called Dumpwater, Florida! And when the gang arrives the folks in this little small town are unlike any other as it's just a clan of country southern dim witted rednecks who like to be curious and worship Andy Griffith! Yet this town also has a bad secret dating back to 1967, and the Bundy's will soon find this out! A treat was also seeing the sexy southern character actress Kim Morgan Greene with a small part as a waitress. Overall classic episode of the Bundy's that's well remembered.

What a load of poppycock.

[BA_Harrison · 25 December 2020]

Season 2 of Married WIth Children kicks off with two-parter Poppy's by the Tree, in which the Bundy family take a vacation at the titular cheap motel located in Dumpwater, Florida, unaware of the establishment's grisly history: every five years since 1967, an axe murderer has slaughtered tourists staying at the motel, and this being 1987, the killer is due to return just as the Bundys arrive.

While it's nice to see the Bundys away from their home for a change, the whole idea of a serial killer targeting the family is too far removed from the show's usual domestic-based comedy, and to be honest, the gags aren't good enough to excuse the far-fetched, farcical plot. The funniest moment comes when Bud is trying to impress a local girl and Al and Peg embarrass him by talking about his constipation, but the laughs are few and far between.