“The World According to the Bundys” triumphed for two decades. In Poland, only nine years after the premiere of the first episode, we could watch the fate of the Bundy family – Al, Peg, Kelly and Bud. When the series came to us, it already had an established position on the American market as one of the most scandalous and important works of mass culture of that time. It has already been protested, boycotted and censored. One of the episodes was not broadcast in the United States for many years – only 13 years after it was filmed, it was decided to show it to a wider audience. What was it about him?
“The World According to the Bundys” protested by one person
Censorship of one episode from the third season of the sitcom, filmed in 1989, lasted until 2002. In an episode called “I’ll See You in Court”, Peggy and Al and Steve and Marcy are secretly recorded making love in a motel. The legal battle against the motel is the main focus of the episode, and there are more explicit sexual references than usual. And it was these jokes that first led to an avalanche of comments from the producers to the directors, and later to the complete blocking of the episode.
“I’ll See You in Court” was created at an unfortunate moment in the show’s history. Just a dozen or so days earlier, a certain Terry Rakolta watched one of the earlier episodes of the show. She was convinced that she was watching a nice, family series, so the children watched the show with her. It had sexual undertones, stereotyping and light pornography, with which “The World According to the Bundys” conquered the world. However, the world is not the heart of Terra Rakolta, who unleashed hell on the producers.
She sent outraged letters to the most important advertisers who presented their products between the first and second part of the series. They started to become interested in the environment in which they advertised. The matter also came to light thanks to Rakolta’s subsequent letters to the heads of the FOX station. Even though she was alone, Terry Rakolta had some clout because her closest family was the governor of Michigan. She did not hesitate to invoke political influence, writing subsequent indignant letters to advertisers. For one protesting person, it was a spectacular success – among others, they withdrew from advertising during “The World According to the Bundys”. Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s and Procter & Gamble.
It was in this situation that the producers received the episode “We’ll See You in Court” for screening. Aware of what was happening around Mrs. Rakolta, they first flooded the directors and scriptwriters with a litany of comments, and then completely stopped broadcasting the episode. The show’s broadcast time was also changed to a much later one, and subsequent episodes were much less bold for a longer period of time.
“The Lost” episode of “The World According to the Bundys”
The episode, which was not broadcast, quickly became “lost” to American fans of the series. Only after 13 years did Americans finally see it on DVD. Although “See You in Court” was shown without any interference all over the world, wherever the series was shown, in the USA, even after so many years, it was decided to remove some controversial issues.
“The World According to the Bundys” complied with Terra Rakolta’s one-man protest, but it also did not hesitate to stab her. The show was made more polite (a little bit) and the show was less willing to show off beautiful women in lingerie. However, two episodes made fun of the woman, saying that even from her town girls were applying to play the role of “Rock Whore” and that not only the series was blocked because of her – “she also didn’t like football, so that’s the end of her too.”
Terry Rakolta is 79 years old today and is still active as a lobbyist and activist for various, mainly conservative values. Katey Sagal, who plays Peggy, sends the woman a bouquet of flowers every year. She claims that thanks to her activity in the media, interest in “The World According to the Bundys” increased exponentially – everyone wanted to see what could outrage someone, as she said a few years ago in an interview with “”.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
