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
David Faustino	...	Bud Bundy / ... 262 episodes, 1987-1997
Christina Applegate	...	Kelly Bundy / ... 261 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

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Makes references to Ed O'Neill's film, Dutch (1991). It's mentioned in season six, episode twenty-four, "England Show I", when Al is on the plane. In the episode where Al and Peggy go to the video store to rent a movie, a poster for the film is covering Ed's eyes.

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Quotes

Al: Those articles that say married couples have sex every month are just sensationalistic lies perpetrated on the public to sell magazines. It's hooey I tell you, hooey.

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Crazy Credits

Since the show's original theme song "Love and Marriage" has been removed from all Region 1 DVD releases of the series, the songwriting credit is generally removed from the DVD versions of these episodes. However, the credit erroneously remains in a few episodes.

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Alternate Versions

US syndicated prints use a shorter version of the opening credits on most episodes, omitting a gag showing Al handing out money to his family. Most episodes in syndication are also missing additional scenes in order to fit in more commercials, but these scenes are being restored for DVD release. The episode "I'll See You In Court" has never been shown in its complete form on US television. It was initially banned by Fox, and when it eventually turned up on the FX cable network, a scene was cut for commercial space. The 2002 R1 DVD release marked the first time Americans ever saw the complete episode.

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Connections

Referenced in Awkward Thanksgiving (2014)

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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

My favorite episode and some lines I can't forget from the series

I've read the comments and looks like we all like MWC. I stayed with the show through thick and thin. There were a few years when the writing went downhill, but it came back up during the last 2 or 3 years of the show's run.

Anyway, my favorite episode HAS to be the one concerning the Barbie doll. The scene where Al is stuck in bed with Marcy is a CLASSIC (much like the scene in All In The Family where Archie's neice goes out with Lionel, the black neighbor) and when Jefferson comes in and forces Al out the window is nothing short of hilarious. My eyes are filling up with tears of laughter thinking of that scene.

Now for a few unforgettable lines I like:

the episode where the Dodge turns over to 1,000,000 miles: Al turns on the radio and a cowboy is singing "And that's when my hound dog, started looking good to me"

I forget what episode this was in, but Bud kicks his family out so he can study. He says to Buck the dog, "looks like it's just you and me". Bucks says to himself: "Uh oh. I've seen porno movies that start out like this."

I had an idea for a storyline: Al's favorite strip club, The Nudie Bar, is burned down. Was it accidental or was it set by Marcy "Chicken Legs" Darcy and her anti-male friends?

What do you think of that plot? Could it have worked?

I almost submitted this without saying which of Marcy's husbands I liked better. I like Steve just a little bit better. He had that straight face that never cracked a smile no matter how ridiculous Al got. Jefferson was goo too, don't get me wrong.