Married With Children

Detested this sitcom. Never watched it. Low brow humor. I never understood its appeal, especially for so long.

Ed O'Neill said they were the designated stormtroopers for FOX, so obviously breaking the rules of what good, decent tv was supposed to be, MWC would take all the slings and arrows for Fox's other shows. And then, maybe surprisingly, MWC became their most successful show, but still got no respect, not allowing MWC to know of the cancellation ahead of time so they could do a final episode.

It was fun at first, but it got tiresome VERY quickly. I mean, how many sex jokes can you listen to before it gets stale?

The show was at its best when Marcy was single and then married Jefferson. A couple years after that- maybe the season after the travesty of Seven was written off the show went to shit. No MAAM and Lucky the dog were the signal of the end. BTW Jefferson is still hot.

I remember laughing my ass off while watching the show. I was just a kid and probably didn't get half the jokes but I loved watching it. No surprise my parents disapproved.

Lowbrow to the max. Not my type of humor then, might have camp value now, but probably not.

Seemed way too self-aware of how "transgressive" it was purporting to be.

[quote]Detested this sitcom. Never watched it. Low brow humor. I never understood its appeal, especially for so long.

WTF are you doing here??! No gay person cannot love "Married... with Children." It's our humor. It was our response to the conservatism of the 80s.

Peg Bundy: the original drag queen.

Al falling in love with Dan Castelleneta's character is a classic. Dan's husband starts going out with Peggy dancing. Dan starts cooking for Al and Al doesn't want to stop Peggy from seeing Dan's husband because it might hurt their (he and Dan's) quality time. He tells him, "I love you."

The Jeffersons: Movin' on Up Tour

Al falling off the roof repeatedly in a rainstorm in "Who Will Stop the Rain" is one of the best. The first Christmas episode where Santa crashes into the Bundys backyard and dies is a scream too.

Loved it. Ed, Katy, Amanda and Christina all deserved Emmys. The Al/Marcy feud was classic.

I fucking LOVE, LOVE, LOVED the episode with Al, his smelly socks, and the aliens who loved the same. Great episode. 2nd favorite, the one where both Peg and Kelly are in the same remedial, summer, home Ec class - hysterical!

I loved the show. MWC and Roseanne were both reactions to the sanitized, cheesy family sitcoms of the 80s, although they were completely different. MWC was dark satire, while Roseanne was more grounded in blue-collar reality (until they won the lottery, anyway). I liked all the characters apart from the useless Seven, but Peggy was the best. Remember when she redecorated Al's bathroom?

R1 how can you detest something you've never watched?

And Ted McGinley claims another victim.

First Happy Days, then MWC.

R16 I don't understand why people say McGinley killed those shows. He was on HAPPY DAYS for its last four years, and MARRIED... WITH CHILDREN for 6 years. Plus, HD was already on its seventh season by then, so it was only a matter of time, and he was on MWC longer than David Garrison (Steve) who was only in the first three seasons.

I don't think women's menstrual cycles had every been mentioned on TV before.

Of course, when MWC did it, it was all three women at the same time!

[quote]The first Christmas episode where Santa crashes into the Bundys backyard and dies is a scream too. The aliens who loved Al's smelly socks.

Santa and aliens existed in the MWC universe? WTF?!? Was this a sci fi show?

[quote]He was on HAPPY DAYS for its last four years, and MARRIED... WITH CHILDREN for 6 years.

Wait, does this man never age? How could Jefferson be on both Happy Days and MWC? There's got to be at least a 40 year time gap between those shows.

[quote]I don't understand why people say McGinley killed those shows.

Quality wise not popularity.

The show took a huge downturn with the Jefferson character. Steve and Marcie were uppies and that brought the conflict in. Jefferson was a mooch but he was written all over the place as well, whenever a joke was needed or plot change, they changed him.

Marcie on her own could've been funny. I don't see why the writers were so apt to marry the character off, unless it was to cover Amanda Bearse's lesbianism.

The working title for the show was "Not the Cosbys." One of the absolute worst things is on the DVD versions, the estate of Frank Sinatra wanted exorbitant amount of money for the title song so they had to replace it.

Below is a YouTube link showing the original Bundy children

[quote]The working title for the show was "Not the Cosbys." One of the absolute worst things is on the DVD versions, the estate of Frank Sinatra wanted exorbitant amount of money for the title song so they had to replace it.

Uh, they still used "Love and Marriage" in the opening/closing credits.

Christina and David were much better fits for the show.

The original Kelly was supposedly a bitch on wheels. Years before MWC she and Christina were in a dance troupe and she was really mean to Christina. Must of been sweet revenge to snatch the role away from, on a show that would become a long running hit.

r22, not on the dvds. They created a similar sounding melody and use that. It's a little annoying, but even if it was Frank's song, I'd still want to skip over it.

Tina Caspary was the original Kellly. She would go on to appear in Teen Witch and the so bad it's good My Mom's a Werewolf.

Marcy's freakouts were epic. I tend to think the character had split personalities. She could be prim and proper one moment, and then go into a long, manic monologue the next. Nothing beats that time she had an orgasm on stage while speaking to a crowd.

All the women who guest starred on the show had the same slutty, just walked off the set of a rock video look.

R25 she was also in one of my favorite movies as a kid, MAC & ME, an ET rip-off but I enjoyed it much better. I always found ET too slow and boring.

[quote]WTF are you doing here??! No gay person cannot love "Married... with Children." It's our humor. It was our response to the conservatism of the 80s.

I watched the show as a kid a lot and quite frankly I can't say I ever really loved it. It always made me feel a bit nasty. I have to say I've never heard anyone claim MWC is a 'gay show' before. Loads of hets that I knew loved it and still do. Crude humor doesn't necessarily make something gay, some people would actually say the exact opposite. Not saying I don't understand what you mean but claiming that all gays should love MWC or turn in their gay card is absolutely ridiculous.

R29 gays worshipped Peggy Bundy. She was an honorary gay icon.

I loved Marcy the best. I understand she didn't quite get along well with some cast mates.

I saw the Steve character on the Purple Line in Chicago once when he was doing a play downtown. He did not want to be noticed or talked to. I just said 'Hi!' and he acted like I just tried to stick my cock up his asscunt.

Marcy cracked me up the most. Amanda Bearse was a genius comic. I wish she'd get back in front of the camera again.

Remember when Al had to do community service in the nudie bar and they turned it into Womyns night. Some fat woman (and oh, they hated the fat women on MWC) comes onstage and starts a poetry reading. "My eggs, my eggs, above my legs" to which Al lobs an egg at her.

What about when Al and Peggy attend their high school reunion and Al realizes how great he really was before Peggy beat him down. Peggy tries to be homecoming queen and lands at a table trying to get votes. Woman #1: You stole my boyfriend Woman #2: You stole my boyfriend Woman #3: You stole my father.

My eggs.....

No gays I knew liked it. Ed O'Neill was such a hypocrite.

And the screaming studio audience took the jokes at face value.

[quote]I loved the show. MWC and Roseanne were both reactions to the sanitized, cheesy family sitcoms of the 80s, although they were completely different.

Amen. In fact, the working title of "Married, with Children" was "Not the Cosbys." I lived for both MWC and Roseanne in the 80s and 90s. Mitt Romney's in-law cunt was the one that tried to get Married taken off the air, and the result was the unaired episode "I'll See You in Court" until 2003. They sent her a fruit basket every year for the publicity after she did it.

[quote]I loved Marcy the best. I understand she didn't quite get along well with some cast mates.

She got along with everyone except Ed (runs hot and cold til this very day). She directed the show. He didn't understand why she didn't invite him to her wedding while she invited the rest of the cast.

Al Bundy: the Original Datalounger

Yummy.

The episode where Peggy gets the "Healthiest Man in Chicago" addicted to Oprah and bonbons which leads to him dying of a heart attack is funny.

I remember that Peggy used to be obsessed with the Oprah Winfrey show. Of course, that was when Oprah's talk show was still trashy. No way would Peggy have been a fan of Oprah's overhauled 'spiritual' show.

Seasons 2-5 were the BEST. Season 6 was good, but went downhill after that.

Peg was misunderstood. Al liked to made fun of her "couch sores," but Peg was actually a Fibromyalgia sufferer. Oprah hadn't done a show on it yet so she remained undiagnosed.

[quote]Wait, does this man never age? How could Jefferson be on both Happy Days and MWC? There's got to be at least a 40 year time gap between those shows.

Do you for some reason labor under the misconception that "Happy Days" was depicting contemporary life? Uh -- no. HD ran from '74 to '84, and McGinley was only in the last few seasons. MWC started in '87, only three years after HD ended.

If I was in the right mood I could find it funny - the cast was talented - but it could be pretty repetitive and did go one a few seasons longer than it should have. One thing that got more annoying as the show went on was the over-reaction of the studio audience.

[quote]One thing that got more annoying as the show went on was the over-reaction of the studio audience.

They just rented the studio audience from Good Times.

Marcy D'Arcy. That is so hilarious. How unfortunate to get married to a guy whose last name rhymes with your first name.

FEVER!

Kelly dancing with Jesse from "Fame"...

Once Peg had to go back to high school to finish her diploma and had a home ec class with Kelly. One of the students was an effeminate African American male. When the teacher asks Kelly why she can't be like him, Kelly says, "well, we both like boys."

Kelly tried out for cheerleader to catch the eye of a football player and naturally, the gym teacher is a butch lesbian. After she tries out, the gym teacher says in a deep voice, "I like her...I like her A LOT." Later, she tells the girls that they'll all have fun at her annual sleep over.

They played with broad gay stereotypes, but it was never mean-spirited. And they eventually did an all-out pro-gay episode with Amanda playing Marcy's gay cousin.

[quote]Marcy D'Arcy. That is so hilarious. How unfortunate to get married to a guy whose last name rhymes with your first name.

It happens

On the high school reunion episode. Peggy's maiden name was Wanker. She meets up with her old rival, Connie Bender.

Connie: "Peggy Wanker. Don't bother to thank her."

Peg: "Connie Bender. Bring a friend, it won't offend her."

Marcy talks about her love for the 1970s. In order to get Al's first comment, you have to remember Karen had died a few years earlier.

Marcy: "I just love these seventies reunion concerts. We're going to see the Captain and Tennille Unplugged."

Al: "Who's the opening act? The CarpenTER. The only time a Bundy will go see the Captain and Tennille unplugged is when they're on life support."

Bud calling Kelly "The Craftmatic adjustable girl".

[quote]One of the students was an effeminate African American male.

It was Patrick Dancy, one-fifth of the forgotten early '90s Monkees-esque TV boyband The Guys Next Door.

I loved Bud's alter ego, the rapper Grandmaster B. What was even more hilarious was Kelly's way of mocking him by calling him Bedwetter B, Grandma B, Grandpappy B, Granddragon B, etc.

The Bundys' daily meals of Tang-wiches and toaster leavin's was pretty pathetic.

....

David Faustino has quite a bubble butt on him. His web series "Star-Ving" was pretty funny and racy, and he was nude in it quite a bit.

Holy shit R22! What a difference casting makes to a show.

^Meant R21.

[quote]It was Patrick Dancy, one-fifth of the forgotten early '90s Monkees-esque TV boyband The Guys Next Door.

Not forgotten by my iPod. I didn't mean to type that.

R21 Bud #1 was played by Hunter Carson, Karen Black's son with screenwriter LM Kit Carson (1983 BREATHLESS, PARIS, TEXAS)

Does anyone remember the MWC knock-off UNHAPPILY EVER AFTER? It starred Kevin Connolly and Nikki Coxx in the Bud/Kelly roles. The father played by Geoff Pierson was a schizophrenic who talked to a stuffed rabbit. Yeah, that would fly today.

The most stunning/surprising MWC was the episode in which Al heard a wild rumor about the airheaded Jefferson being a counterintelligence spy. At the end of the episode, it was revealed that it was TRUE, and for one crystal-clear moment, Jefferson was seen as the diabolical mastermind he truly was and it became obvious that the whole airhead thing was simply a cover. In true MWC fashion, however, this was never brought up again in ensuing episodes.

I believe it was r64. There was an episode where Bundy uses Jefferson's connections to speak to the senate to save his favorite show from being cancelled, because it was too sexist and violent (IIRC).

^Psycho Dad!

Marcy: I only have one question Al: The side with the cups goes in front.

Al: It's illegal to dress up a chicken and call it your wife Marcy: I am not a chicken. (hands on her hips and shaking her head) Why does he keep calling me a chicken?

Any of you queens could have had Bud for $20 and some Zima.

I thought there were more people out there like me who thought the EARLY episodes blew. Al was not Al til at least season 3. Peg didn’t have her proto Wendy Williams persona either (remember Meg? The black Peg? Pretty much the blueprint for what would later become Wendy Williams). She kind of reminded me of Kramer cause her hair was so normal at the start of the show. Kelly had that platinum blonde hair metal, Judy Jetson look going on and of course there was Bud with the most awkward mullet you’ve ever seen. That mullet was just about the funniest thing about the show back than. I thought the writing got so much better when Steve left. It did get weird trying to pass Kelly of as the blonde sex symbol when she chopped her hair off. I know everyone was doing that even the 90210 cast but she wasn’t the same without the hair. When you think blonde ditz you assume she’s going to have flowing locks. Hell even Jefferson had more of a bimbo look than Kelly. She was still really funny I thought but out of place without that hair. Remember when Pam Anderson was on and wresting in her lingerie? Al asked the girls to whip their hair back and forth when ordering them around...in his dream. Long hair just comes with the territory. I thought it was still in its prime even than especially that Gilbert Gottfried on the cruise two parter. Best episode ever imo. Ok they messed up with Seven but he was referenced in later episodes like when he was on the milk box, that was subtle yet hilarious. They learned their lesson though and they went on for several more years despite that setback. It was slightly less interesting towards the end but I’d still much rather watch any of the episodes in the last season than that awkward first season.

I thought I was the only one who thought it finally found it's footing a few seasons in as well. I enjoyed the first few seasons, but they were more amusing than downright hilarious.

Ed in Weird City.

Ahead of its time. It changed the face of television forever.

It John Waters made a sitcom it would have been MWC. Divine was cast as Peggy’s uncle before he died. The cast and producers were devastated.

Al was very problematic. Very Miss Sogenius, very transphobic, very set in gender roles.

I know it's a cliche to say that "such and such show/movie would never get made today", but I think Married With Children would be one of the best examples. Despite the fact that it was obviously a satire of people like The Bundys, people simply wouldn't get it and they'd instantly assume it was supporting every word and action the characters did. I don't think satire can really even exist in the Twitter age. No one seems to get that you can do a show/movie about awful bigoted and ignorant people and laugh at them while never putting them up on a pedestal and saying "see, aren't these people swell?"

r75 Oh, there were plenty of people back then who worshiped Al and his crew ... the studio audiences for that show were the absolute worse.

Jefferson was so hot.

LOVED the show, witty as hell.............liked all the characters. Kelly played the bimbo part to perfection

The Kelly character (daughter, dumb blonde slut) was behind the times, even for that time. Peg waiting at home to get fucked by Al? Not believable. IMO, lowest common denominator show. Embarrassing American product.

Well the shows like freakin’ Fraser or Downton Abbey or even a Ken Burns docusaga compared to the Kardashian’s,TMZ, Real Housewives..., And Peg Bundy doppelgänger Wendy Williams. Actually she’s more of a Meg lookalike ;) Just saw yesterday’s antiPC episode where AL meets Waylon Jennings and they mock Moses with his guitar tablets. #MeToo would have eaten the Bundys alive had they been around today. Surprisingly as influential as it was to even animated dysfunctional families like the Simpsons, they’ve yet to be referenced on The Family Guy. The closest was when Stevie was roasting the cast of Modern Family. When it was Ed’s turn he was all like how can you even show your face around here after what you did to Fox? I hear had their been an actual series finale Al would left Peg to be with a valumpscious Latin bombshell nearly half his age with luscious hooters and been a successful entrepreneur with enormous, beautiful house ;) Oh well!

This still makes me giggle

It reminds me of something like "Two and a Half Men": a single episode can be very funny but then you start realizing that it's always the same episode where, after a while, you can see every joke coming from a mile away. Fat fraus, Peggy's lazy white trash family, Kelly's stupid blonde act, Bud, the proto-incel, Marcy the Emasculating Shrew, etc.

I'm sort of surprised, we haven't had a reboot of MWC announced, focused on Bud, with the occasional appearance from Peg, Al, and Kelly. Especially, once Modern Family is over.

"Modern Family" was renewed for another season.

R84 Which will be it's last, thankfully.

That’s funny I was just writing about the differences between Married...with Children and Two and a Half Men in another thread. In short one is hilarious and the others...well....Two and a Half Men! One thing I think both Bundy and Charlie have in common....FOOT ODER. Al Bundys out and proud. He’s the patron Saint of Al Soles ;) He’d air out the stinky dogs whenever he had the chance and was damn proud of his stenches.. Charlie on the other hand is more subtle. Seriously who lives by the beach in Malibu only to walk around the house wearing thick, long socks with shorts and slippers? At most people will wear slippers but slippers AND socks in his own house?He’s clearly embarrassed and is covering up as much as he can to prevent people from getting a wiff at those nasty puppies. It’s so obvious;)

Married With Children started as biting satire, but the older the show got the more uncomfortable it got, because the viewers enjoyed things like NOM'AM way too much in a non-satire way.

It's kind of like what happened with Glee. It was supposed to be a satire of high shool life but since it was an overnite success it turned into a teen comedy drama.

I remember thinking how gorgeous and stylish Peg Bundy was when I was a kid.

r74 your Speech-to-Text is problematic.

It was good early ok when Marcie was s born again republican. Or diverging like that. The politics was sharp then.

Christina Applegate got no credit for the excellent job portraying Kelly as dump, vapid and trashy. That's not easy.

Like Gracie Allen played stupid/illogical to perfection. But when they tried it with Connie Stevens it was annoying. Same with Chrissy on Three's Company. Gracie was endearing, Chrissy was just stupid.

Isn’t she now resorting to doing M&M commercials? Pretty sad cause she had potential. She starred in a few sitcoms and was excellent in Anchorman. I was really enjoying her sitcom with Will Arnette and it was doing ok. I guess she thought maybe it was beneath her cause her career looked like it was ready to take off. Kind of the opposite of Melissa McCarthy who had Mike and Molly as a backup just in case her career DIDN’T take off. McCarthy did the smart thing and both her sitcom AND career were booming. The show lasted a while but not to long (it was on CBS after all) and now she’s done everything, not necessarily all comedies. In fact I think she was even nominated yesterday. Christina looked like she was the standout star of the show. Shame her career took such a dive.

David Faustino was so hot, I always enjoyed his shirtless scenes

I'm honestly surprised to hear MWC being hailed as a gay classic or whatever. I've never heard that anywhere.

I was a kid for most of MWC. It was funny in a gross out kinda way but I haven't watched it in years.

You’re right. I didn’t know that either so I was really dumbfounded as to why LOGO kept showing marathons of the show.

UTA package, printed money for the agency in the 90s.

Does anyone remember the Clip Show? I didn’t even know the Bundys had a clip show. A British gray haired actor hosted the episode. I’d never once saw it on any of the many, many, many stations that showed it including Fox ironically and I used to watch the 90s episodes religiously. Not that I like clip shows, I probably would have changed it had they actually aired it before. Just thought it was so weird that after God knows how many years in syndication , they’re finally showing it. Even Seinfeld would air the Puerto Rican Pride episode once in the blue moon.

Christina Applegate never became the next Julia Roberts or anything, but she's done well for herself. She even tried Broadway as the lead in Sweet Charity and was actually pretty terrific. The production on the other hand...yikes! She deserved better.

David had a nice big bulge.

I think what killed Christina's career were the pesky rumors that she broke up Will Arnett and Amy Poehler's marriage.

R100 No....the fact her second kid looks exactly like Louis CK is what probably broke up the marriage.

Sad to hear friend of the show and the guy that inspired their last name passed away. He was always a highlight for me whenever he was on :(

[quote]That mullet was just about the funniest thing about the show back than.

Oh, dear!

[quote]I thought it was still in its prime even than

Oh, DEAR!

[quote]Even Seinfeld would air the Puerto Rican Pride episode once in the blue moon.

Oh, dear DEAR!

[quote]Al would left Peg to be with a valumpscious Latin bombshell

A what now?

Love, love, looooooooove Marcy D’arcy Chicken at Large!

Don't forget Dottie

Al was low key sex

Peggy Bundy and Patsy Stone are gay male fantasy women.

Jefferson being a stripper was pretty damn good too

[quote]Don't forget Dottie

Remind me, please.

Although it was never necessarily my favorite growing up and I don't think it has aged very well, I definitely miss shows like this. The same snowflakes who are offended by it are the same clowns who have made Steve Carell back away from rebooting The Office. All because Twitter idiots don't have a sense of humor. What a miserable existence. People are incapable of seeing nuance or intentions and that's pathetic. The writers weren't sitting in a room trying to 'offend' people.

Don’t necessarily want to see an Office reboot just based on the last couple of seasons but I didn’t HATE it the way most people did, just wasn’t the same without Carell. Based on that, he may not be very dependable this time around either. Post 9/11 Married with Children wouldn’t cut it either although Isis should be worshiping Bud based on the fact that his sex doll inspired their little terrorist group LOL! Nothing strikes fear into the heart of man like a rubber doll. No wonder her mouth is so wide open, she’s in shock over all their heinous shenanigans ;) Praise be to Bud Bundy ;)

R112 that month had to be big to fit his big package in there

I would let Bud and Jefferson have a swordfight in my mouth.

One of my favorite 2 parter episodes (Besides the England trip) is when Al butts in front of Marcy at the Supermarket checkout line (Bundys are living there for the free A/C during a heatwave and forced to buy something) and win a free Shopping Spree. Not only is it hilarious that the Celeb guest is Jerry Mathers (The Beav!) but every time Al rolls the turkey down the aisle and knows out Jefferson and Marcy kills me every time. Just put this on I’m in a good mood.

Er knocks down rather.

Jefferson was handsome but I thought Steve was a better foil for the Bundys so I went with Steve

r101 are you saying Amy Poehler had Louis CK's kid?

Oddly enough it’s one of the most popular syndicated shows on Logo which is weird cause it’s showed on the Country Music Network as well. Always wondered why it’s so popular on Logo. Maybe Peg reminds the ladies of Wendy Williams especially Al Bundy’s coworker who at one time brought home his girlfriend who was a black Peg doppelgänger and pretty much the spitting image of Wendy Williams.

One of my favorite wacky sitcoms of all time. I own the entire series on DVD and pull it out every once in a while. It had it's peak seasons for sure, but there were many. Too many favorite episodes and moments to name, but the episode where Kelly gets the job as the local television weather girl always comes to mind first.

[quote]And Ted McGinley claims another victim.

First Happy Days, then MWC.

Don't forget he sank The Love Boat

R120 Dynasty too , he came on as Clay Fallmount in 1986 and ratings plummeted on that iconic 80s nighttime soap, after being the #1 show on TV during the 84-85 season

Peggy was the original drag queen.

McGinley provided eye candy that was sorely lacking on shows.

My favorite is the 4th of July one where Peggy spilled Al’s special BBQ ashes and Kelly put Marci’s cremated Aunt’s ashes in the grill.

I belong to anAl Bundy fan page on Facebook and it's overwhelming anti gay, I have to explain that they show was a SATIRE and we're supposed to LAUGH at Al and his loser family, just like Marcy , a satire of the deranged, unhinged feminist, but they don't seem to get that, they think Al is a great role model and a REAL man

In fact, the reason that he didn't get along with Amanda Bearse (Marcy) according to them, is because he "doesn't approve of the hay lifestyle", uh despite being a NYC theatre actor, playing gay himself and kissing men, being hired by gay men for Modern Family etc

They think he's the character and have no clue about "satire"

Somebody mentioned a re-boot.

Here's mine.

Bud is living in the house now and working at a more online version of Gary's, still at the mall. He is married to some Eastern European Melania Trump-esque bimbo.

Marcy and Jefferson are divorced and Marcy is now an out and proud lesbian. Al and Peggy are divorced and Peggy is now shacked up with Jefferson and they're both living off Jefferson's prenup money and they spend their days watching Real Housewives and live Tweeting.

Kelly married some football player who is loaded but as dumb as her. They live in the suburbs and have a brood of children.

That’s strange. I’m not a member of an Al Bundy page but other MWC fan pages. No one is homophobic on them. I guess it depends on the page. Everyone loves the episode where Al falls in love with a man who cooks for him.

My favorite episode is Who Will Stop the Rain where Al keeps falling off the roof.

Too bad Divine didn’t get to play Peggy’s uncle. The cast and producers were devastated. MWC was basically a John Waters sitcom. A pig fuck you to the Reagan era.

Al on Wanker county:

Or as Einstein put it: everyone’s relative.

The one where Kelly is forced to take tap lessons in school is great.