Married... With Children - He Thought He Could

🧾📚 John opens Season 3 with a classic Bundy cringe-comedy: Al discovers a library copy of The Little Engine That Could he borrowed decades ago — it’s been overdue since 1957, and returning it means facing the same stern librarian who humiliated him as a kid. When Al tries to make good on his long-buried mistake, he learns the overdue fine has ballooned into a serious debt, and his attempts to fix things only dig him in deeper—sparking the embarrassment, schemes, and social fallout that the show mines for laughs.John breaks down the episode’s strengths: Ed O’Neill’s comic timing as Al’s pride collapses, the way the writers turn a small, absurd premise into family-sized humiliation, and how the story reflects the show’s knack for turning shame into sitcom gold. Tune in to hear where “He Thought He Could” lands on his Sitcom Rankings.E-mail your fan questions, comments, and suggestions to [email protected] the show by becoming a patron at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/TheRankPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Visit The Rank's website for up-to-date rankings at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TheRankpodcast.com⁠⁠Music Credits: Achilles by Kevin MacLeod ⁠http://incompetech.com ⁠Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0 Free Download / Stream: ⁠http://bit.ly/_achilles ⁠Music promoted by Audio Library ⁠https://youtu.be/hEy-ljZB9N4