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 6 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Ed O'Neill	...	Al Bundy / ... 263 episodes, 1986-1997
Katey Sagal	...	Peggy Bundy / ... 263 episodes, 1986-1997
Amanda Bearse	...	Marcy D'Arcy / ... 263 episodes, 1986-1997
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:

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1986 (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

Initially the producers were not sure about Ed O'Neill as the choice for Al Bundy. His background was mostly in dramatic roles (most recently as Lenny in a production of "Of Mice and Men"), and they weren't sure he would be able to do comedy effectively. They changed their minds once they saw O'Neill audition. Ironically, O'Neill became so identified as his Al Bundy character, that he had difficulties finding dramatic roles after his stint on this show.

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Quotes

Al: [Marcy has appeared at the Bundy's door with a raw chicken] Congratulations, Marcy. I didn't even know you were expecting.
Marcy: [walking past Al] Peggy, my oven is on the blink. Can I use yours to warm my giblets?
Al: [to Jefferson] I thought that was your job.
Jefferson: No, my job is to stuff the bird every night.

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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

When aired in its original full-hour format, "It's A Bundyful Life" contains the following scenes not seen when it airs as a two part episode: Extra dialogue; a scene of Bud making snow cones with mouth wash and real snow; Peggy telling Kelly to put on a good dress for their Christmas feast at Denny's; A drunk Marcy talks with Al as he tries to put up the lights; Extra dialogue between the angel and Al. But the following scenes were edited from the same version: Al confronts a mall Santa and some kids; When Al is at the shoe store trying to get to the bank, he is delayed by two elderly women; So it just cuts to Al arriving at the bank.

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Connections

Featured in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)

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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

Hilarious!! We all have some Bundy in us!!

This long running American sitcom has a strange kind of following and appeal. The show has a kind of knowing badness and is intentionally cheesy and politically incorrect. The actors perform their lines with a knowing wink at the audience, as if to say 'yes we know this crude, rude, and lude'. The audiences at the recordings consist of primarily hillbillies who woof, howl and screech in delight at as much as Al flushing the toilet. It is infectious.

The cast and characters are good. Ed O'Neil is superb as Al Bundy. He makes the show as popular as it is. The facial expressions that he pulls and his delivery are hilarious. Whatever Al says or does, makes me laugh. Then there is his wife Peggy Bundy, the curviest woman alive and a hell of a milf. It's another strange mystery of the show that all of a sudden in season 2, Peggy turned into the delightfully huge chested wife from hell audiences loved. It was a jarring change, sudden in your face jubblies. Katey Sagal is excellent as Peggy and she delivers the lines brilliantly. She can screech well too and every time she cries out 'AL!' and he flinches we know why. Then there are the kids. Every young Americans dream woman in the early 90's, Christina Applegate who gets a deserved howl of male appreciation when she enters each episode. Then Bud Bundy the young loser who despite being the only Bundy with brains has no luck with the ladies, despite thinking he is god's gift.

Basically this show revolves around sexism, innuendo and machismo. You see all the jokes coming a mile off. They have long running gags that never manage to get tired, such as Peggy's constant jibes about Al's sexual prowess. This is funny. It's love it or hate it but I love it.