Married... with Children 

Al Bundy is a misanthropic women's shoe salesman with a miserable life. He hates his job, his wife is lazy, his son is dysfunctional (especially with women), and his daughter is dim-witted and promiscuous.

Creators:

Ron Leavitt, Michael G. Moye

Stars:

Ed O'Neill, Christina Applegate, Katey Sagal

Nominated for 7 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Ed O'Neill	...	Al Bundy / ... 262 episodes, 1987-1997
Katey Sagal	...	Peggy Bundy / ... 262 episodes, 1987-1997
Amanda Bearse	...	Marcy D'Arcy / ... 262 episodes, 1987-1997
Christina Applegate	...	Kelly Bundy / ... 262 episodes, 1987-1997
David Faustino	...	Bud Bundy / ... 262 episodes, 1987-1997
Buck	...	Buck the Dog / ... 191 episodes, 1987-1995
Ted McGinley	...	Jefferson D'Arcy / ... 170 episodes, 1989-1997

Storyline

Al Bundy is an unsuccessful middle aged shoe salesman with a miserable life and an equally dysfunctional family. He has a very attractive but lazy wife named Peggy who constantly nags him to death while throwing the little money he earns away on herself. He also has a very promiscuous teen aged daughter named Kelly who makes up in attractiveness what she lacks in IQ points, and a not so attractive but bright teen aged son named Bud who seems to think he is a ladies man. To add to Al's misery is his yuppie next door neighbors Marcy and Steve. Marcy and Steve eventually split up with Marcy keeping the house next door to the Bundys and Steve moving away to be a forest ranger. Later Marcy gets remarried to a gigolo named Jefferson who is the male version of Peggy. The sitcom revolves around Al's never ending attempts to better his life which always leads him right back to where he started.

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Plot Keywords:

domestic comedy | black comedy | dark comedy | parody | farce | 

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Taglines:

Domestic bliss was never like this!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peggy's maiden name is "Wanker" and her relatives live in fictional Wanker County, Wisconsin. "Wanker" is English slang for "masturbator."

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Al: At the nudie bar.

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Crazy Credits

With rare exceptions, the end credits are played over a still of Peggy and Al (looking disgusted) sitting on the couch.

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Alternate Versions

For the most part the episodes on the North American DVD box sets are the unedited versions as seen on the FOX network, however there are some instances where scenes have been cut or the syndicated version of an episode was placed on the DVD instead. This is most noticeable in Season 4, where 7 of the 22 episodes have some type of edit. The German region 2 Season 4 set uses non-syndicated versions of these episodes, although the Dutch and French sets have the syndicated versions. The DVD box sets from Season 3 onward do not feature the original "Love and Marriage" theme song in the opening sequence. This was done because Sony was unable to obtain the rights to the theme song. It is highly unlikely that the theme song will return in any yet to be released DVD box set. The replaced theme song was the cause of the syndicated versions of seven episodes in Season 4, as Sony falsely claimed did not have access to the original masters of these episodes, and had to use syndicated prints. This is proved wrong since they used the originals from Season 4 in "Most Outrageous" DVDs that contained some episodes. As the end credits had to be altered to credit the new theme song, certain scenes that originally ran during the end credits had to be replaced with a freeze frame. In most episodes affected, the original audio plays in the background while you see a freeze frame, however in a few cases a freeze frame is used, but the original audio is replaced with the theme song. The new releases by Mill Creek Entertainment have restored the episodes as they originally aired.

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Connections

Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 Worst TV Husbands (2016)

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Soundtracks

Love & Marriage
Music by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen
Performed by Frank Sinatra
Arranged and Conducted by Nelson Riddle

User Reviews

A Great Resource for the Resourceless

Tom Sharpe once wrote the following regarding one of his characters: "Like so many great men, Lord Petrefact loathed his nearest and dearest..."

Many of us identify with Lord Petrefact, but are at a loss to express ourselves in this "don't worry--be happy," never-say-anything-negative world. We have very few role models to lead us against appalling, manipulative family members, and have often resigned ourselves to our fate. We've gone about our lives lacking the words to easily repel the smiley-face squads.

The Bundys are a superb resource for people like us. We can't and shouldn't adopt a Bundy-like demeanour to truly nice, kind people. But the Bundys suggest to us what we can say to obnoxious relatives and neighbours -- our nearest and (supposedly) dearest, who want US to do THEIR bidding so THEY can receive undue obedience, money, goods or status from OUR successes or aspirations.

For example, in one episode, Al thinks of buying a new car. Peg, Kelly and Bud all sneer at the type of car he chooses, telling him high-handedly what kind each of them particularly thinks he should buy -- i.e., what they want HIM to buy to satisfy THEM. Al does what most of us should do in such circumstances: He spreads his arms in a great paternal gesture, smiles broadly, and says, "Your wishes [slight pause for effect] mean nothing to me." It's extremely refreshing to hear. And it's very, very funny. The fact that virtually every character appearing throughout the show's long run was extremely sleazy allows this sort of repartee to continue uninterrupted.

God bless Al Bundy. The show has changed my life.

Details

Official Sites:

Hulu Promo

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 April 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Not the Cosbys

Filming Locations:

ABC Television Center - 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Embassy Television, ELP Communications, Columbia Pictures Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min (262 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1