History YMMV / MarriedWithChildren

* TearJerker: For a really hilarious sitcom, only one episode was rather sad, and that episode was "Requiem For A Briard", where Buck dies, but comes back as Lucky.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Pamela Anderson, Debbe Dunning, Milla Jovovich, Chip Esten, Giovanni Ribisi, Matt LeBlanc, Joey Lauren Adams, Kari Wuhrer, Eric Dane, Bill Maher, Keri Russell... all before the roles that made them famous.

* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Al. All of the Bundys are rude, unpleasant and oafish but none are as callous or uncaring as Al. Of course, put yourself in his shoes and see just how nice you are to your annoying neighbors, your nagging wife, your floozy daughter, your perverted son, your redneck in-laws and all the fat women who ''insist'' they're a size five and ''won't'' take 'no' for an answer.

* HilariousInHindsight: On the season six episode, "The Egg and I," Al screams, "I don't wanna be on ABC!" when he rants about his taxes and the possibility of cameoing on a TV show to pay it off. Years later, Al Bundy (or rather, his actor, Ed O'Neill) is now on the ABC sitcom, ''ModernFamily'' (the actress who plays O'Neill's wife on ''ModernFamily'' -- Sofia Vergara, even mentioned on ''SNL'' that it's every Colombian immigrant girl's dream to move to America and marry [[ActorRoleConfusion Al Bundy]).

** Al had a constant hatred of MichaelBolton for the entire run of the show.

** Additionally, most of the depictions of the DeepSouth were straight out of ''Deliverance.'' Especially funny since the Bundys were pretty white trash themselves.

* BrainBleach: What Al needs whenever he sees Marcy in ''dessous''.

* HilariousInHindsight: On the season six episode, "The Egg and I," Al screams, "I don't wanna be on ABC!" when he rants about his taxes and the possibility of cameoing on a TV show to pay his taxes. Years later, Al Bundy (or rather, his actor, Ed O'Neill) is now on the ABC sitcom, ''ModernFamily''.
** See the LesYay entry below, keeping in mind that Amanda Bearse has since come out as a lesbian.

* JerkassWoobie: As much as Al can be incredibly unlikeable, when you see what he has to live with every day it's hard not to understand why he's the person he is and feel sorry for him.

-->'''Bud''': I don't know what it is, but something about this job makes me want to start telling old high school footbal stories.

* ReplacementScrappy: Jefferson D'Arcy (Ted [=McGinley=]) replaced Steve Rhoades (David Garrison) in the husband role for Marcy after Garrison left the show to perform in live theatre again. However, in this case, Jefferson was a much accepted character by fans.

* ReplacementScrappy: Jefferson D'Arcy (Ted McGinley) replaced Steve Rhoades (David Garrison) in the husband role for Marcy after Garrison left the show to perform in live theatre again. However, in this case, Jefferson was a much accepted character by fans.

* SeasonalRot - Season seven when Seven was brought in to the Bundy house after being left by his parents was not liked by fans or even the cast. It did bounce back with season eight, but, the ratings weren't as high as they were prior to this point.

* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Al. All of the Bundys are rude, unpleasant and oafish but none are as callous or uncaring as Al. Of course, put yourself in his shoes and see just how nice you are to your annoying neighbors, your nagging wife, your floozy daughter, your perverted son, your redneck inlaws and all the fat women who ''insist'' they're a size five and ''won't'' take 'no' for an answer.

* AcceptableTargets: Fat women, at least in Al's view. Bud and Kelly also occasionally lament the fact that they still live with their parents well into their twenties.
** The fat women would snark back, at least.

*** Oprah and other talk shows.
**** Al had a constant hatred of MichaelBolton for the entire run of the show.

** Sure enough, Bud Bundy literally grew a beard not long after this.

* FetishFuel: To list how much of this there was on the show would require a whole other website. An in-universe example would be on the very rare occasions when Peg does housework, which just happens to be Al's major turn-on.

* JerkassWoobie: Sometimes it's just impossible to not feel sorry for mean old Al.

** One episode had Al trying to sell his car, and one of the interested buyers are two stereotypical Middle Eastern terrorists with a clock bomb, asking Al to give them the car and directions to the Sears Tower. This was cut in reruns in 1996 (during the first World Trade Center bombing) and 2001 (during the second one on September 11th), but is now reinstated.

* SeasonalRot - Season seven when Seven was brought in to the Bundy house after being left by his parents. Even though Seven didn't last very long (he was shown going upstairs and never coming down again, a la Chuck Cunningham from "Happy Days"), some fans do consider season seven as the point when the show wasn't worth watching anymore (though it did bounce back when the show's humor [[GrowingTheBeard became wackier and more cartoonish]]).

* MemeticMutation: Just try to convince ANY male on the internet that AlBundy is not a God among men.

* SeasonalRot - Season seven when Seven was brought in to the Bundy house after being left by his parents. Even though Seven didn't last very long (he was shown going upstairs and never coming down again, a la Chuck Cunningham from "Happy Days"), some fans do consider season seven as the point when the show wasn't worth watching anymore (though it did bounce back when the show's humor [[GrowingTheBeard became wackier and more cartoonish]]).