"Requiem For A Dead Briard" is an episode in the tenth season of Married... with Children.
The episode starts with the official death of Buck the dog after a car struck him, which leaves Kelly hysterically upset, with everyone else trying to help console her. In the meanwhile, Buck is on trial in dog heaven for his fate, which goes badly for him when the judge is a cat that hates him and the defense lawyer is a mouse.
Tropes include:
- Big "NO!": The episode ends with Buck, now reincarnated as Lucky, letting out this line upon realizing that he's sentenced to live another lifetime as the Bundy family dog.NOOOOOOO!
- Black Comedy Pet Death: While Kelly is upset over Buck's death, he's in heaven "on trial" with a cat as a judge and Ben Stein as a bailiff dressed like a chicken and the rest of the family crack jokes. Even at one point when Marcy says that he didn't know how to roll over and play dead, Al quips "until now".
- Broken Record: To be expected when Ben Stein makes a Shout-Out to Ferris Bueller's Day Off.Bundy...? Bundy...? Buck Bundy?
- Celestial Bureaucracy: Thomas is a human who died while dressed as an animal mascot. He says he wound up in the animal afterlife because of a computer error.
- Fate Worse than Death: When Buck dies and is taken to Animal Heaven, he is denied entrance for being a very bad dog (especially where cats are involved). His punishment? He is sentenced to live ANOTHER horrible lifetime with the Bundys as the reincarnated Lucky.
- Good News, Bad News: How Al breaks the news over what Grandma Wanker did to the new pet bird.Al: Well, uh... I've got some good news, and I've got some bad news. The good news is Tweety knew over 150 words.
Bud: Well, what's the, um, what's the bad news, Dad?
Al: Bad news is that none of them were "Please don't eat me." - Grave Humor: Al's reaction to Kelly naming the new dog "Lucky".Kelly: Let's call him "Lucky" — Lucky Bundy.Al: Gee, I was saving that name for my tombstone.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Kelly does this in response to Buck's death.
- Ironic Name: Kelly names the new dog "Lucky". Buck, now reincarnated as the new dog in the same Bundy household as punishment for the misdeeds in his previous life, would beg to differ.
- It's All About Me: Al is crying about Buck's death because the funeral cost him $1200.
- Kangaroo Court: What else can it be when you're a dog on trial in a court, your judge is a cat that hates your guts, and your defense lawyer is a mouse that gets devoured by said cat?
- Replacement Goldfish: "Bird" in this case, as Jefferson uses his connection to get a rare South American bird as a replacement pet for Kelly. It would have worked out fine, had it not met Grandma Wanker when she's feeling hungry...
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: When Kelly is upset after Buck's death, Jefferson gets a friend of his, a crooked customs agent who would smuggle in endangered animals for a fee, to get a rare South American bird as a replacement. Kelly really likes it, but then Grandma Wanker gets hungry...
- Shout-Out:
- To Ferris Bueller's Day Off, courtesy of Ben Stein as he checks his list.
- Al describes his mother-in-law as Free Willy.
- Kelly names her new (and not long for this world) bird Tweety.
- Take That!: Finding himself in the afterlife, Buck questions where he is.Thomas: You're where animals go when they die.
Buck: I'm in Oprah's refrigerator?! - Tempting Fate: Near the end of the episode, Kelly believes Buck has given her a sign to find another dog as replacement. Al argues that it's past 9 P.M. and he's too broke to get another dog, only for Buck's reincarnated canine form to appear in the Bundy household before he finishes his argument.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When Buck is reincarnated as Lucky in the Bundy household in a flash, the characters all gather around and marvel over this. Trying to get bearings, the new puppy observes the voices sound very familiar.
