TVSquad

The Bon Jovi Wig is back! This has been a week of TV memories for me. First, I enjoyed Andre Braugher's psychiatrist on House, and last night, Ed O'Neill made a welcome return to the sitcom world. O'Neill hasn't been gone completely, of course. He has bounced around a bit, most recently appearing as a regular on John from Cincinnati. But he hasn't had a character as fun as Jay from Modern Family since his days as Al Bundy on Married... with Children.

I've always liked O'Neill (even watched a bit of Popeye Doyle, but not too much - no one is that big a fan). As a kid, I watched Married... with Children every week with my family. We were never quite touchy-feely enough for the standard sitcom family. And there was a small running gag in Modern Family that brought back memories of another gag from Married... with Children.

In the Modern Family pilot, Jay and his young wife Gloria are watching a kids' soccer game when a man mistakes Jay for Gloria's father (it was in most of the commercials). Later, at the mall, Gloria can tell it's bothering Jay and offers to go help him pick out some younger clothes, after which a mall cop pulls Jay, who is wearing a jogging suit, aside and tells him that "mall walkers" usually stay to the right of the concourse. Then a parade of older folks power walk by. Jay spies an oversized jacket and jewel-encrusted hat worthy of LL Cool J's entourage in a store window, and turns up wearing it later.

It was a somewhat obvious joke, more subtle in its execution than I've described here. And it made me think of Al Bundy's relationship with his son, Bud. Bud didn't necessarily want to be seen hanging out with Al, so they arrived at a solution. When the two went out cruising, Al would wear the "Bon Jovi wig," a black mullet that was supposed to make him look cooler and younger.

Married and Modern Family may be similar in that they are presenting a non-traditional but perhaps more realistic view of the average family, but they are very different in tone. Family doesn't pride itself on meanness or crudity, two qualities that all part of the fun with Married... with Children. On Modern Family, the family wants to get along. On Married, they would pull together when their pride was challenged, but otherwise tore at each other at every opportunity. Jay seems a sweeter guy than Al Bundy, which isn't hard to pull off.

But they both make me laugh, and I'm happy to think of Al Bundy and the Bon Jovi wig again. There's only one problem. Searching the Web and Hulu episodes, I can't find any mention of this gag anywhere. I don't have them

NOTE: I searched for a reference to the Bon Jovi wig somewhere online, hoping to find a clip to post, but came up empty. Anyone else remember this?