Was David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married with Children) an Atari fan... ?

[leech]

Has anyone managed to get an interview with David Faustino about Atari?

 

I know scattered throughout this forum somewhere, there are images of an Atari ST, and I believe an XEGS and 5200, all shown throughout the years to be sitting in his room.  I wonder if he put them there, or if perhaps... it was a grand background joke about Atari fans never being able to get a girlfriend?  I know there were a few discussions about it at some point in the posts regarding said pictures, but I don't know if anyone ever asked him directly.  Not that I know the guy, but I think it'd be hilarious to find out. 

[Atarian7]

I think @lushgirl_80 had him on her show.  I don't know what she asked him.

 

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

More likely the 5200 was just what the set dresser happened to pull out of props.  The XEGS and ST could potentially have been there for product placement since their time on the market fits in chronologically with the show's run (1987-1997).

[BassGuitari]

39 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

More likely the 5200 was just what the set dresser happened to pull out of props.  The XEGS and ST could potentially have been there for product placement since their time on the market fits in chronologically with the show's run (1987-1997).

 

If Married With Children promoted any products, it was Dodge automobiles and Ferguson toilets. 😜 

 

The ST (and 5200) was only a background prop in one or two episodes, and wasn't referenced or promoted. I don't recall an XEGS, but some Intellivision product snuck onto the show a couple of times.

 

[Cebus Capucinis]

I always thought there was something, and if I remember it might have been lushgirl's show that brought it up, about how the systems were always behind the times a bit (like they'd have been clearance at the time they showed up) as a slight but cheeky way, like the other set pieces, of indicating that the Bundy household wasn't well off.

[leech]

36 minutes ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

I always thought there was something, and if I remember it might have been lushgirl's show that brought it up, about how the systems were always behind the times a bit (like they'd have been clearance at the time they showed up) as a slight but cheeky way, like the other set pieces, of indicating that the Bundy household wasn't well off.

Ha, well there was that episode where they got a full computer set, and I want to say it just sat there in the living room after Marcy said it would fix all their problems, then Al blew it up or something.  Been a while since I saw that one. 

 

Ha, I saw another post by me from 2013 when we were specifically talking about the 5200. 

 

The other possibility was they were owned by one of the prop guys and just weren't using them anymore.  Not sure why I can't find the site right now that documents all the computers spotted on TV and in Movies...

[BassGuitari]

45 minutes ago, Cebus Capucinis said:

I always thought there was something, and if I remember it might have been lushgirl's show that brought it up, about how the systems were always behind the times a bit (like they'd have been clearance at the time they showed up) as a slight but cheeky way, like the other set pieces, of indicating that the Bundy household wasn't well off.

Possible, but I would think that if that was the idea with the 5200, the set designers would have gone with something more obviously dated-looking and recognizable instead, like a woodgrain Atari 2600 or Intellivision. To anyone who didn't know what an Atari 5200 was, which I'd guess was most people who even noticed it at all, it looked like Bud had sleek piece of tech in his room (of arguably indeterminate purpose; there's no TV or controllers or cartridges to indicate to the uninitiated that it's even a game console; I think there were even headphones sitting on top of it but it's hard to tell). It just looked cool, which ties in with Bud's character (style-conscious and always desperately trying to be cool), and I'd guess that was the overarching goal there.

 

And with the ST, to me that actually serves as an example of Bud's "upward mobility" and living the good life when he goes off to college; new place to himself, furniture, decor, clothes, computer, cute girls for neighbors, freedom, etc. I could be wrong but I doubt that many viewers knew what an Atari ST was, or that it was an also-ran by then. They just saw "new computer," and by extension "$."

[GameGirl420]

14 hours ago, Atarian7 said:

I think @lushgirl_80 had him on her show.  I don't know what she asked him.

 

 

 

Yes he was on my show recently! Sorry to say though he is not a video game fan at all. I asked him what were his favorite Game Boy games were(because I always saw the Game Boy in some episodes of MWC),and he replied saying he is not into gaming at all,and doesn't do that all. You can hear the actual episode on my archive on Spotify and other streaming services. I was disappointed to hear he doesn't like video games.

 

Interview is at 1:40 ... 

 

[GameGirl420]

Also whatever game consoles you see on the Married With Children set,they were placed there by the producers,not David himself. Judging by his response I don't feel he is a gamer at all,but he does love his hip hop music very much.

 

 

[leech]

23 hours ago, lushgirl_80 said:

Also whatever game consoles you see on the Married With Children set,they were placed there by the producers,not David himself. Judging by his response I don't feel he is a gamer at all,but he does love his hip hop music very much.

 

 

Gas Passer B!

[roadrunner]

 

 

[Atarian7]

On 7/21/2023 at 10:08 PM, leech said:

Gas Passer B!

bedwetter b 

[leech]

3 hours ago, Atarian7 said:

bedwetter b 

Grandmother B

[Atarian7]

I don't recall that one.

 

[leech]

1 hour ago, Atarian7 said:

I don't recall that one.

 

Ha, there was a whole season of them as he was trying to start a rap career at the time (David Faustino himself).  Pretty sure Kelly said that one.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by leech

[CommodoreDecker]

On 7/23/2023 at 6:17 PM, roadrunner said:

 

 

 

That's probably why Bud got a 1040ST for college!  Power without the price!

 

 

[CommodoreDecker]

On 7/20/2023 at 9:27 PM, GameGirl420 said:

Also whatever game consoles you see on the Married With Children set,they were placed there by the producers,not David himself. Judging by his response I don't feel he is a gamer at all,but he does love his hip hop music very much.

 

 

 

Thankfully a lot of artists back in the day used an Atari ST thanks to what it would do with the MIDI interface.