Current Events > "Poor people" comedies like Married With Children are dated in 2020

(+) Yeah! (+)

Imagine how much Al Bundy's house would go for nowadays. 2 story in the Chicago suburbs next to yuppies like D'arcy's....

I know its fiction and all in good fun but i always wondered why the D'Arcys didn't live somewhere else. I mean iirc they owned a Bentley or something so they (well, Marcy, not Jefferson lol) couldnt be dirt poor like the Bundys were.

---

Ryven posted...

I know its fiction and all in good fun but i always wondered why the D'Arcys didn't live somewhere else. I mean iirc they owned a Bentley or something so they (well, Marcy, not Jefferson lol) couldnt be dirt poor like the Bundys were.

Marcy had a Mercedes

---

J03can posted...

Marcy had a Mercedes

Ah thats it. I stand corrected.

---

Ryven posted...

i always wondered why the D'Arcys didn't live somewhere else

Al made FOUR TOUCHDOWNS in ONE game!!

---

How about Roseanne? They're supposed to be poor as shit but they have this humongous 2 story house.

Today they'd be living in some shithole apartment or back with their parents.

Weird how all the people named Mercedes just kinda faded away with the 80s.

---

My Name is Earl and Raising Hope did the poor people stuff well

Why was he miserble. Nice house and family. He made so much money just selling shoes and he was also a complete asshole.

---

Basically everybody on TV lives in a house/apartment that is way bigger than their stated job should be able to afford.
---

Evening_Dragon posted...

Weird how all the people named Mercedes just kinda faded away with the 80s.

one of the main characters in glee was named mercedes

there was one early episode where she got a crush on the gay guy and didnt take it well when she learned gay guys arent interested in vaginas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8j0TDzy5fg

---

Ryven posted...

I know its fiction and all in good fun but i always wondered why the D'Arcys didn't live somewhere else. I mean iirc they owned a Bentley or something so they (well, Marcy, not Jefferson lol) couldnt be dirt poor like the Bundys were.

The show went a rather drastic tone shift with season 2 from "remove the exaggerated family togetherness" into something more of a parody of disfunction. It was meant to juxtapose the idealism of youthful newlyweds with the reality of long term marriage when it first came on, and yeah, with season 2, forget living somewhere else, do you really have to be friends with your neighbors?

With that tonal shift came the other half. Al's job was the same, but while it started as being seen as earning a fair lving, it became the joke wage while the neighbors were going nowhere but up in the world. Hence the same house: a starter place most people paid for over a 30 - 40 year mortgage. It's not unrealistic even today, but there'd probably be more jokes about the local meth labs.

---

Malcolm in the Middle did it p well

---

In Full House, that house would be worth millions right now.

But the setting of where Roseanne is set, meh, I doubt the prices have increased that much in middle-of-nowhere Illinois.

cmiller4642 posted...

How about Roseanne? They're supposed to be poor as shit but they have this humongous 2 story house.

Today they'd be living in some shithole apartment or back with their parents.

That would be a 30 thousand dollar house back then probably still is. It's supposed to be rural america.

Malcolm in the Middle did the poor family stuff well. The house wasn't huge, all the kids slept in one room, and they were constantly scrounging for money and figuring out how to penny pinch.

---

XXmiznatorXX posted...

In Full House, that house would be worth millions right now.

But the setting of where Roseanne is set, meh, I doubt the prices have increased that much in middle-of-nowhere Illinois.

Full House had 3 males paying the bills and I guess the newslady helped too.

The Middle handled it well I think.

Modern comedies don't have to worry about designing 'studio audience' sets as often these days so they can probably make them more realistic.

---

My favourite episode of Married With Children was when Bud dated his hot young teacher for a while. When Al finds out, he gets furious and goes to confront the teacher while she is teaching a class that Bud is in. But Al didnt know that the hot young teacher had run off with another student and was replaced by an old lady leading Al to think Bud was dating the old lady.

---

Speechless just ended as a poor people comedy.
---

full house danny worked in television and was a popular host of a daytime talk show or news thing
he could afford the house
and when rebecca moved in she probably helped pay the bills as well
and when the girls were a bit older joey and jessie were able to get successful jobs in advertising and the entertainment industry making a lot of money as well
so them all being able to afford a really nice house was realistic as they were all well off and not exactly a poor family

---

In Urkel though, Carl as a cop couldn't afford that.

in fuller house they also have an excuse as to why they can afford to live there
danny pays for everything and DJ, stephanie and kimmy live in that house for free.

but even then DJ is a vet. stephanie was a very popular DJ before the series started and fernando who lived there for awhile is a famous racecar driver so again they all could have reasonably afforded the house

---

Roseanne Minus Roseanne (The Conners) is still going.

codey posted...

Malcolm in the Middle did the poor family stuff well. The house wasn't huge, all the kids slept in one room, and they were constantly scrounging for money and figuring out how to penny pinch.

but affording a house near central los angeles while poor?

---

Its much worse in film, and every time it takes me out of the experience.

Why does this policeman have an enormous luxury apartment in the middle of Manhattan with a full view of the city?

Kami_no_Kami posted...

Its much worse in film, and every time it takes me out of the experience.

Why does this policeman have an enormous luxury apartment in the middle of Manhattan with a full view of the city?

Even the fresh faced young person wanting to get their big break in their career start off in a Manhattan apartment with a great view.

---

TheMikh posted...

but affording a house near central los angeles while poor?

is that where they're supposed to be? I legit dont remember

---

Antifar posted...

Basically everybody on TV lives in a house/apartment that is way bigger than their stated job should be able to afford.

This. My Name is Earl was one of the only times where the poor people actually lived fairly meager lives.

TheMikh posted...

but affording a house near central los angeles while poor?

...maybe that's why.

Evening_Dragon posted...

Weird how all the people named Mercedes just kinda faded away with the 80s.

I work with a Mercedes. Shes hot.

---

Darmik posted...

Even the fresh faced young person wanting to get their big break in their career start off in a Manhattan apartment with a great view.

This. Big Bang Theory is guilty of this with Penny. Also the poorer friends from Friends loved in really mice places considering.

garan posted...

This. My Name is Earl was one of the only times where the poor people actually lived fairly meager lives.

Another good one was Everybody Hates Chris.

---

Questionmarktarius posted...

...maybe that's why.

Pretty sure it's a big factor. Hal worked at a good job he hated because it paid well, and they were left with nothing after despite that because the cost of living was high.

---

I think Friends explained it because their landlord was old, never raised the rent and they got it after an aunt died or something.

Doesn't explain both apartments though. I think Chandler and Joey had some pretty good jobs I guess. Even though their work life balance seemed to be awesome.

Wait I think Phoebe had a nice place in Manhattan too so the point stands lol

---

Zanzenburger posted...

Another good one was Everybody Hates Chris.

and Fat Albert.

Always Sunny has literal billionaire Frank pay for everything.

---

Darmik posted...

Doesn't explain both apartments though. I think Chandler and Joey had some pretty good jobs I guess. Even though their work life balance seemed to be awesome.

well joey was only really successfully very briefly and after that his career was full of ups and downs
but chandler actually made a lot of money at his job and basically supported joey

so it seems like chandler could afford to live alone but just wanted the company of a room mate

---

garan posted...

This. My Name is Earl was one of the only times where the poor people actually lived fairly meager lives.

What about Workaholics?

---

yusiko posted...

well joey was only really successfully very briefly and after that his career was full of ups and downs
but chandler actually made a lot of money at his job and basically supported joey

so it seems like chandler could afford to live alone but just wanted the company of a room mate

Maybe Joey still got some good royalties from some of those gigs heh.

I'm sure the Friends cast can relate to that.

---

Darmik posted...

I think Friends explained it because their landlord was old, never raised the rent and they got it after an aunt died or something.

Doesn't explain both apartments though. I think Chandler and Joey had some pretty good jobs I guess. Even though their work life balance seemed to be awesome.

Wait I think Phoebe had a nice place in Manhattan too so the point stands lol

It was explained that Monica's apartment was affordable to Monica because the apartment was originally in her grandmother's name and the cost of the apartment was still the same since Monica took over.

---

Darmik posted...

I think Friends explained it because their landlord was old, never raised the rent and they got it after an aunt died or something.

Doesn't explain both apartments though. I think Chandler and Joey had some pretty good jobs I guess. Even though their work life balance seemed to be awesome.

Wait I think Phoebe had a nice place in Manhattan too so the point stands lol

Other than Phoebe, all the characters in Friends had great jobs by normal people standards, and even though Joey was a moron with no budgeting skills, he was still an actor for Days of our Lives so he was raking in cash regardless.

---

The-19th-Sparta posted...

Other than Phoebe, all the characters in Friends had great jobs by normal people standards, and even though Joey was a moron with no budgeting skills, he was still an actor for Days of our Lives so he was raking in cash regardless.

He was only a actor for days of our lives for like a season. Also Chandler payed for almost everything when it came to him. Not sure how he kept the place when Chandler moved out.

Phoebe was a massage therapist and they can earn a lot including tips. I mean it's no Chandler or Ross money but it was enough to get by.

---

I liked how Seinfeld subtly made fun of this..as Kramer had a pretty nice apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, two blocks from Central Park and the American Natural History Museum, with absolutely no discernible income whatsoever.

---

ClunkerSlim posted...

Didnt Dan work in manufacturing or something? The show is supposed to take place in the Elgin, Illinois area. Someone look up those home prices on Zillow.

Dan did several things. He worked as mechanic. He was promoted to boss also. He opened his own repair shop for motorcycles. He started a construction business. I don't think the show was ever consistent about when he would lose one job and gain another though. i could be wrong on that. Roseanne was a factory worker at the start then a waitress then she owned a restaurant with her sister then a uber driver.

ClunkerSlim posted...

Didnt Dan work in manufacturing or something? The show is supposed to take place in the Elgin, Illinois area. Someone look up those home prices on Zillow.

I live nearby and Elgin isn't prolific. It has a casino and a strip club. Homes similar to Roseanne & Dan's range from 120k to 175k.

---

There are lots of moderately sized cities in the US where large houses are affordable for lower-middle class families

---

All of those homes and apartments were built on Indian burial grounds, so they cost less.

---

He had no money because he had a house and kids he could barely afford but society expected that from him so he did it.
---