''Top of the Heap'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that ran for seven episodes on Fox from April 7 until May 19, 1991, the most successful of three attempted

spin-offs Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

of '' Married... with Children'' (the other two being '' Radio Free Trumaine'' and '' Enemies''). The

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

was episode 20 of the fifth season of ''Married... with Children''. The series aired Sunday at 9:30 pm.

Synopsis

''Top of the Heap'' focused on the attempts of two minor ''Married... with Children'' characters—Charlie Verducci (

Joseph Bologna Joseph Bologna (December 30, 1934 – August 13, 2017) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter notable for his roles in the comedy films ''My Favorite Year'', '' Blame It on Rio'' and '' Transylvania 6-5000''. Life and career Bol ...

) and his son Vinnie (

Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc r ...

)—to get rich. Charlie's "master plan" is for Vinnie to marry into a wealthy family; to this end, the two

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

slum residents try to get into high society. Vinnie also owns a cat, Mr. Fluffy, who is despised by Charlie. Mona Mullins (

Joey Lauren Adams Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968) is an American actress and director. Adams starred in ''Chasing Amy'', for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller role ...

) is a girl from the Verduccis' neighborhood who has a crush on Vinnie, who tries to fend her off. Alixandra Stone ( Rita Moreno) is the manager of a

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offe ...

, and the object of Charlie's affections. Vinnie gets a job at a country club, which also employs a security guard, Emmet Lefebvre. In some episodes actors from ''Married... with Children'' made guest appearances as their characters from the show, thus reinforcing the connection between the two series.

Al Bundy Al Bundy is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television series '' Married... with Children''. Played by Ed O'Neill, Bundy is a misanthropic, working-class father of two who is portrayed as a somewhat tragicomedic fig ...

(

Ed O'Neill Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. His roles include Al Bundy on the Fox Network sitcom '' Married... with Children'', for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes, and Jay Pritchett on the a ...

) appeared in the pilot (which itself was an episode of ''Married... with Children''), Bud Bundy ( David Faustino) made an appearance in an episode in the country club, and Kelly Bundy (

Christina Applegate Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American actress. As a child actress, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997). Applegate established a successful film a ...

) appeared twice on the show in cameo appearances. However, none of the three Bundys made an appearance together. In 1992, there was a continuation of this series entitled ''

Vinnie & Bobby ''Vinnie & Bobby'' is an American television sitcom that aired on Fox from May 30 to September 5, 1992. The series is a spin-off of the 1991 sitcom '' Top of the Heap'', which was itself a spin-off of '' Married... with Children''. Series star ...

''; it also lasted for only seven episodes. The only characters returning in this version were the eponymous Vinnie (

), Mona Mullins (

) and Bobby Grazzo ( Robert Torti), who only appeared in the last episode of this version of the show.

Characters

Episodes

Backdoor pilot (1991)

Season 1 (1991)

References

External links

* {{Married... with Children 1990s American sitcoms 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings American television spin-offs Articles containing video clips English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Married... with Children Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Chicago Television series created by Ron Leavitt