LMAO, I've been vaguely remembering this for a while and couldn't recall if it was a MWC episode or not.
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Al Bundy was supposed to be a loser because he worked minimum wage, yet he was able to afford a house and 2 children
- Thread starter HomokHarcos
- Start date
LMAO, I've been vaguely remembering this for a while and couldn't recall if it was a MWC episode or not.
Even a more recent show like Peep Show has aged relatively poorly or rather, is a time capsule for pre-2008 Western opulence, because of Mark Corrigan's material wealth.
Despite being from an upper middle class family, they are nouveau broke because Mark was 'privately educated until dad's British Aerospace shares went kaput' and he has clearly had to live more frugally into adulthood but despite that, by his late twenties, he owns a two bedroom flat from a loan manager position at a middling credit company. This is all but unthinkable for the British millennial in 2020 who is most likely trapped in some form of rent slavery. (Even Jeremy is clearly from an at least middle class background and was brought into the lower classes by trauma caused by his father abandoning him)
The changing financial situation of Britain is actually covered in the show in the series post-2008, with the long-standing employer of Mark, JLB credit going under, and Mark's continuing frugality, where we even see him abandon owning a mobile phone due to it's costs.
Also, one of my favourite scenes in the final series is when a younger character calls out Jeremy for his 'Gen-X slacker bullshit' - he lives his lifestyle out of laziness and attachment to the aesthetic of the struggling artist despite being constantly bailed out financially by Mark and his mother and having no perceptible musical talent.
Despite being from an upper middle class family, they are nouveau broke because Mark was 'privately educated until dad's British Aerospace shares went kaput' and he has clearly had to live more frugally into adulthood but despite that, by his late twenties, he owns a two bedroom flat from a loan manager position at a middling credit company. This is all but unthinkable for the British millennial in 2020 who is most likely trapped in some form of rent slavery. (Even Jeremy is clearly from an at least middle class background and was brought into the lower classes by trauma caused by his father abandoning him)
The changing financial situation of Britain is actually covered in the show in the series post-2008, with the long-standing employer of Mark, JLB credit going under, and Mark's continuing frugality, where we even see him abandon owning a mobile phone due to it's costs.
Also, one of my favourite scenes in the final series is when a younger character calls out Jeremy for his 'Gen-X slacker bullshit' - he lives his lifestyle out of laziness and attachment to the aesthetic of the struggling artist despite being constantly bailed out financially by Mark and his mother and having no perceptible musical talent.
If he got a lease in the 80s and is rent controlled his rent is probably very cheap. NYC one bedrooms in the early 90s/late 80s could be <$700/mo in today's money. I mean yeah he has no job, but a lucky gambling night or some random misadventure could set him good for a few months.
LOL Alex store didnt have customers most of the time. Happy Endings is the best.
The dad had an office job I think, so it's possible. Malcolm's family is supposed to be lower to solid middle class that doesn't save much money, which in many places of the US used to be able to afford decent sized homes. Of course all these sitcoms are tv shows that have their locations for practical or aesthetic reasons, but it is true things used to be cheaper.
Someone said Homer made $25k~. Adjusted for inflation that could be $50k today and things were cheaper back then. And they don't save much money lol, so most could go to the mortgage.
This is a good question and worth looking into; housing prices in London have absolutely skyrocketed over the past five+ years or so. When the show first came out, they would have been much lower.
A 2 bed in Croydon now is like £300,000+ (or £1,000 - 1,500 to rent) and surely far outside a loan manager's grasp to buy (Mark never mentions mortgage payments IIRC).
Mark brags about earning 'above the average annual salary' in Series 4 and in Series 6, Sophie's father tries to entice Mark into moving into Nanna's cottage with a £40k salary. We see Mark has the flat from before the show starts and is probably on around £25k-30k at that time in 2003, if I had to guess. [This may need more research]
I have a two bedroom house.....
Because my uncle died, and we sold his house that my grandfather built. It's the only way a millennial can afford a house.
Homer did that actually, Abe sold the house he was living in to help Homer pay for the home they live in and moved with them, after a few weeks Homer kicked him out.
Over the course of that show they constantly had financial trouble. Francis emancipated at 16 or so, so they didn't provide for him much past that. Reese and Malcolm both had jobs and it's remarked in an episode or two that almost their entire paycheck went to the family. They had constant credit card debt and let the house go to rot. When Lois lost her job it was enough to basically put them into dire straits; same when Hal's company went under and tried to have him tried for their financial malfeasance. It's probably one of the more realistic sitcoms for cash issues.
Sometimes Al would fill up on ketchup and mustard packets at the bowling alley too.
man this hirts cause im trying to build credit to buy a home. feels like i cant win sometimes.. but if he can do it i can too.. i guess
Just to point out, after Al's speech, the Librarian counters, saying that the fact that Al hasn't killed himself is what makes him a loser, not a winner, because a winner would follow through (aka, she tries to say that a winner would have killed themselves).
She was a seriously hateful woman, who admits that she hated Al because Al's family was poor (meaning, the father who built the house and left it to Al), and therefore young Al couldn't afford to pay the overdue fines on his late books. She actively sabotaged young Al's education by refusing to lend him the book that he told her he needed for his book report, and her presence drove him away from the library entirely. (Although for being unreasonably terrorized by a terrible adult, young Al definitely gives as good as he gets.)
Librarian: "You know, it's funny. I could've given you amnesty on the book. I would have for anybody else. But I always hated you. Is it wrong to hate a nine year old boy? No. Not when that boy is you."
This horrible person stayed alive for decades out of pure spite, just for the chance to nail Al on that one lost book.
Mr. Burns is senile and rich as fuck. He doesn't notice that 90k a year gets pissed away on some bozo who sleeps at a control panel.
I think now finally most show runners realize the absurdity of a Starbucks barista affording a 1000 sq ft NYC apartment, or whatever
Though lot of it has to do with the old economy. In the 80s an assistant manager at Payless Shoes had probably obtained "the American dream"
Though lot of it has to do with the old economy. In the 80s an assistant manager at Payless Shoes had probably obtained "the American dream"
Not everything is oversight from writers.
Al could have just inherited the house like many do. Other people who live in NYC in old sitcoms is also not impossible.
People bought multistorage houses in Berlin in Prenzlauer Berg, in the beginning of the nineties for dirt cheap. Area was run down and only interesting for people with low income, students, artists etc. Now Prenzlauer Berg is one of the most expensive areas in the inner city area.
You can't really look at it with 2020 goggles.
People saying Malcom in the middle? That family was in a deep, constant financial struggle.
Al could have just inherited the house like many do. Other people who live in NYC in old sitcoms is also not impossible.
People bought multistorage houses in Berlin in Prenzlauer Berg, in the beginning of the nineties for dirt cheap. Area was run down and only interesting for people with low income, students, artists etc. Now Prenzlauer Berg is one of the most expensive areas in the inner city area.
You can't really look at it with 2020 goggles.
People saying Malcom in the middle? That family was in a deep, constant financial struggle.
I don't think Al worked for minimum wage. There was a gag in one of the episodes where he was going through his bills for that month and they added up to several thousand dollars. Even though they did joke there were a lot of bills he didn't pay until he received a final notice, I'm pretty sure Al earned enough to cover the usual bills and Peggy's expenses.
So I think he earned a decent amount but they were never particularly well off nor did they really manage to save any money. The only time that was a thing, Al had been saving up a new car fund and Peggy spent it all on KFC and some coats so it can't really have been that much.
So I think he earned a decent amount but they were never particularly well off nor did they really manage to save any money. The only time that was a thing, Al had been saving up a new car fund and Peggy spent it all on KFC and some coats so it can't really have been that much.
Yeah, it's this.
I wouldn't say they were propaganda as Married with Children and the Simpsons were both essentially satire of the typical american.familty unit ideal.
It's juts a practical thing, similar to how people don't go to work much in sitcoms because realitistically it would limit the time characters have to interact a lot.
The Grimey scene is partially a nod from the writers commentating on the fact that Homer's life, and the Simpsons life, has gotten increasingly unrealistic over the past 3-4 seasons. The first three seasons definitely talked about money issues way more.
Between 87-91 my parents only brought home right around $26K-31K respectively, combined. Houses weren't that bad back then. $40,000 for our house. Nice neighborhood in Louisiana. 3bdr, 2bath, 1800 sq ft. My dad was in the Air Force, E6 at the time. Mom was a secretary at an engineering firm. It's not unreasonable to think Al couldn't afford the house.
Pretty sure the home alone parents are supposed to be rich.This is kind of a thing in every show and movie from the 80s/90s.
Like the Home Alone house is ridiculous:
Father of the Bride:
These are goddamn mansions.
I calculated the FotB wedding once. Can't remember the exact number, but it was well over 100k.This is kind of a thing in every show and movie from the 80s/90s.
Like the Home Alone house is ridiculous:
Father of the Bride:
These are goddamn mansions.
Adjusted for inflation that's about $80k. Still a huge profit though.
This is being waaaay overthought.
The show was practically a live action cartoon. And a satire of traditional sitcoms.
Al had a house and a family and a job but also he was miserable and literally left with a nickel after taxes and toaster crumbs in the kitchen. That was the joke.
The show was practically a live action cartoon. And a satire of traditional sitcoms.
Al had a house and a family and a job but also he was miserable and literally left with a nickel after taxes and toaster crumbs in the kitchen. That was the joke.
Homer works in safety at a nuclear power plant. He should be loaded.
Though it's a bit exaggerated given it's a pretty damn low paying job, I can see it depending on when you got the house.
for example, my wife and are are both teachers.
We can barely afford to qualify for a small two bedroom condo for half a million around here.
the educational assistant in my wife's class and her husband, who does the same job, COMBINED make the same amount I do. I know because my wife was an EA a few years ago and the pay raise she got by becoming a teacher was big.
Anyway they own a older but nice 3 bedroom
House with a big yard and have two kids. Difference is they're in their late 50s and paid $175k for that house that is now closer to $800k.
this world sucks
for example, my wife and are are both teachers.
We can barely afford to qualify for a small two bedroom condo for half a million around here.
the educational assistant in my wife's class and her husband, who does the same job, COMBINED make the same amount I do. I know because my wife was an EA a few years ago and the pay raise she got by becoming a teacher was big.
Anyway they own a older but nice 3 bedroom
House with a big yard and have two kids. Difference is they're in their late 50s and paid $175k for that house that is now closer to $800k.
this world sucks
you guys are way off, you could buy a single family ranch home for sub 100k, like 60 70k.
My parents bought a house in the early Simpsons days for only 30k CAN$
If you were far enough away from the city, houses were dirt cheap.
You can still in many places in the US buy a nice house for that. That is the normal house price in my area of NY.
This is kind of a thing in every show and movie from the 80s/90s.
Like the Home Alone house is ridiculous:
Father of the Bride:
These are goddamn mansions.
Both of those families were rich as fuck.
Maybe?
In 1975 my Mom got our 4 bedroom 1 bath row home in Middle Class Philly for like 20k. The mortgage was like $90 a month on a 30 va loan.
Reddit - Dive into anything
reddit.com
God i love askhistorians
Also, yeah, you could afford that house in the suburbs on minimum wage one-earner family of 4 in the 80s. w o w.
Yeah I doubt I'll ever see a gain like they did. I bought my house for $197k seven years ago. Today it's worth maybe $230k. Now way it's ever worth over $1M by multiplying in value the way their home did.
I don't think many people ITT realize how much more affordable it was to live in the 70s and 80s. Like my dad drove dump trucks for a living and was able to buy multiple houses. You could work at a gas station part time, go to school part time, and still afford an apartment of your own, I know that because that's what my older brother did.
This is kind of a thing in every show and movie from the 80s/90s.
Like the Home Alone house is ridiculous:
John Hughes was a rich white suburban kid so all his protagonists are rich white suburban kids. (Some of the kids in Breakfast Club are not rich I guess)
Maybe he's still making 1989 money. No one ages in the show. It's possible.