There's a distinct difference between a satire and a poorly-constructed self-referential emulation, sadly writer Dennis Snee doesn't seem to know what that is. Part of the problem is that Married... With Children doesn't really lend itself to parody. After all, the Bundys were themselves intended as an answer to saccharine sweet sitcom families like the Cleavers and the Cosbies. Unlike those families, the Bundys were generally unhappy, rarely learned lessons, and were often openly hostile to each other. Since the typical MAD satire heavily relies on the having the characters make fun of each other to get across its points, the whole thing comes off more like an actual episode of the show than a parody thereof. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, except there's all sorts shrill indignance embedded in the piece. When Ail points out they've just cracked diarreha, small boobs, and impotence jokes, Pig warns him that such humor is too intellectual for their show. Later on, she tells Ail that the show's "unexplained" good ratings can't last forever. These snide attacks on Married... With Children are confusing to me. First of all, they're inaccurate and unfunny. Secondly, where the fuck does MAD get off being so smug and elitist? It's not like their magazine is exactly a bastion of class and sophistication. This is a magazine that once ran a giant middle finger as its cover, so any objections they have to Al Bundy et al on the grounds of good taste are hereby deemed invalid on the grounds that MAD can't possibly quantify something that always eluded its grasp.
Best Joke On The Page: FOX - Almost A Network