Married... with Children / Trivia

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Show Trivia

Married... with Children was created by Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye, both veteran television writers and producers. Both of whom worked on The Jeffersons.
Leavitt said the show was his and Moye's "adolescent rebellion against all those shows where everyone sat together at the dinner table and got along and talked and hugged and solved the world's problems in 22 minutes. I would go nuts seeing that. That wasn't my memory of what it was like to eat with my family."
Married... with Children was the first show to air on FOX's primetime schedule (the first FOX network show altogether was The Late Show with Joan Rivers, which premiered six months earlier). It was by far the longest-lasting survivor of the network's inaugural primetime season; indeed only two other shows in that lineup (barely) made it into The '90s (The Tracey Ullman Show and 21 Jump Street).
The ever-changing lyrics to Psycho Dad:
- First appearance:
  Who's that ridin' in the sun?
  Who's the man with the itchy gun?
  Who's the man who kills for fun?
  Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad!
  He's quick with a gun!
  But he loves his son!
  Killed his wife 'cause she weighed a ton!
  Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad!
- Second appearance:
  A little touched, or so we're told!
  Killed his wife 'cause she had a cold!
  Might as well, she was gettin' old!
  Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad!
  He's quick with a gun!
  But his job ain't done!
  Killed three wives by 21!
  Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad!
- Third appearance — Christmas Episode:
  Who's that ridin' in the sleigh?
  Who's that firin' along the way?
  Who's roughin' up bums on Christmas Day?
  Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad!
- Fourth appearance — "The New Adventures of Psycho Dad" On Fox!:
  Who's that tall dark stranger there?
  The one with the gun and the icy stare?
  The one with the scalp of his ex-wife's hair?
  Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad!
  He's a darn good pa!
  But he hates the law!
  Chopped up Reno to eat it raw!
  Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad!
- Fifth appearance of lyrics (second to last appearance of the show itself):
  Who's that ridin' across the plain?
  Who's lost count of the wives he's slain?
  Who's the man who is plum insane?
  Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad! Psycho Dad!
- When 'Psycho Dad' got cancelled and Al asked who'd do that, Marcy showed up at his house to mock him with the following lyrics:
  Who's the man whose show is gone?
  Whose TV hero is on the run?
  Who'll be watching VH1?
  Loser Al! Loser Al! Loser Al!
- And its spinoff, Psycho Mom.
  Who's the gal who needs no man?
  Killed him dead with a frying pan!
  Did it 'cause he missed the can!
  Psycho Mom! Psycho Mom! She's Psycho Mom!

General Trivia Items

Accidentally-Correct Writing: The Board Game "Bottoms Up" shown in "Blonde and Blonder" actually does exist. However, it is not the Twister Expy that the Bundys and the D'arcys play.
Acting for Two: Done several times:
- Katey Sagal played both Peggy and the Grim Reaper, doing the latter role without her red wig;
- Amanda Bearse played both Marcy and Marcy's lesbian cousin Mandy;
- David Faustino played both Bud and Bud's "cool side";
- Ed O'Neill played both Al and the ghost of Al's father.
- Christina Applegate played both Kelly and a girl living next door who looks exactly like her.
Actor-Inspired Element:
- All of the purchased merchandise seen in the Bundy home during the episode "Master the Possibilities" weren't props. They were actually the personal possessions loaned for use during filming by both the cast and crew of the show due to the show's low budget.
- Marcy being compared to a chicken came about because Ed O'Neill noticed how Amanda Bearse would stand arms akimbo with her elbows cocked back when playing Marcy angry. He said that if she leaned forward a bit and thrust her neck forward, it would make for a visual gag. Although annoyed at how it made her look silly, Bearse conceded that it was funny and went along with it.
Actor-Shared Background: Ed O'Neill played football in college, and was even signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 but was cut in training camp.
Approval of God: Of sorts: King Kong Bundy (who the Bundy family is named after as the creators were huge wrestling fans^note) liked the show and made two guest appearances in the its run, as one of Peg's oddball relatives in an 1988 episode and as himself in a 1995 episode.
Banned Episode: The episode "I'll See You in Court" (from season three) was banned by FOX in the light of moral guardians complaining about the show's content (it was about the Bundys and the Rhoades having sex in a hotel room where they're being videotaped and going to court over it). It finally premiered on FX in June 2002 (it wasn't included in any syndicated runs prior to that, though most international airings of Married...With Children actually aired that episode long before America decided to air it). It was mentioned on the E! True Hollywood Story about Married...With Children, which led to the episode being released on DVD three times: once on the Married...With Children: "Most Outrageous Episodes" DVD set, then again on Sony's release of season three, and then again on the Mill Creek complete series DVD release. The episode is also available on Hulu streaming.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Attributed to Al Bundy: "Don't try to understand women. Women understand other women, and they hate each other."
The Cast Showoff: The show demonstrated David Faustino's rapping, Christina Applegate and David Garrison's dancing, Ed O'Neill's football playing, and Katey Sagal's singing talents at different times.
Cast the Runner-Up: The creators originally envisioned Sam Kinison in the role of Al Bundy, but was deemed too much of a risky move, given Kinison's incredibly vulgar stand-up routine. This was lampshaded by having Kinison play Al's guardian angel. This is another case of What Could Have Been: the character was supposed to be a recurring role, but Kinison was killed in a car crash five years into the series' run.
Children Voicing Children:
- Christina Applegate was 15 years old and playing a 15-year-old in the first season of (her character's age was said to be 16 a few months before Christina herself, making it a rare case of a teen actor younger than her role). Of course, while Kelly was repeatedly stated to have an active sex life, Applegate wasn't actively portrayed making out on camera until after she turned 18.
- David Faustino was much the same, playing a 12-year-old boy when he was in fact 12 years old. In both cases, the characters aged at the same rate as the actors.
Completely Different Title:
- An Awfully Nice Family (Austria, Germany)
- A Lovely Family (Brazil)
- Marriage Waters (Croatia, Serbia)
- Married with Commitments (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
- Our Worst Years (Denmark, Sweden)
- Loveydoves (Estonia, Finland)
- Married, Two Children (France)
- A Gruesomely Decent Family (Hungary)
- Married Plus (Israel)
- Married and Has Children (Lithuania)
- Bundy (Norway)
- The World According to the Bundys (Poland)
- The Bundy Family (Romania)
- Happy Together (Russia, Ukraine)
- A Family to Die For (Slovenia)
Creator Breakdown: After FOX executive Garth Ancier left, showrunners Michael G. Moye and Ron Levitt were left without an ally against the network censorship that increased in the wake of the Rakolta incident. As result, Moye who stated the fight during and afterwards had stressed him and Levitt to the point of health problems, took a leave of absence during the seventh season. When he returned for season 8, Ron Levitt had enough and found an out developing Unhappily Ever After for The WB. Moye eventually left the show and television altogether after season 10.
The Danza: Dan Tullis, Jr. played Officer Dan. Jerry Hall played Jerry Cherry, a stewardess, in Season 1.
Descended Creator: Ron Leavitt plays the private investigator who gives Al a job as a janitor in "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick".
Directed by Cast Member: Amanda Bearse (Marcy) directed over 30 episodes. The episode "T*R*A*S*H" was Written by Cast Member, being co-authored by David Faustino.
Distanced from Current Events: 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 1993 (during the first World Trade Center bombing), 1995 (during the Oklahoma City bombing) and 2001 (during the second one on September 11th), but is now reinstated.
Dueling Shows: Although rarely observed at the time, many fans have noticed the similarities between this show and Roseanne, which also featured a blue-collared, wisecracking, dysfunctional family set in the state of Illinois and also ended production in the same year, 1997. Although Roseanne earned more Emmys (usually at the expense of MWC), this show lasted longer. Ironically, Katey Segal went on to become a major character on The Conners.
Enforced Method Acting:
- At the ending of "Til Death Do Us Part", Ed O'Neill was supposed to just run upstairs with Katey Sagal so Al and Peg could have sex, but he picked her up and carried her over his shoulder instead. Her surprised reaction was genuine.
- Ed O'Neill's and Amanda Bearse's less-than-pleasant relationship (see Hostility on the Set below) arguably contributed to the chemistry of their characters' Sitcom Arch-Nemesis enmity.
Friendship on the Set: The cast became very close to each other, with Ed O'Neill almost becoming a surrogate father to Christina Applegate, whose own parents were divorced.
- Katey Segal was present at Applegate's induction to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in late 2022, where she stood behind Applegate and helped hold her up to the podium during her induction speech.^note The sight of a sickly Applegate being cared for by her TV Mom was a Tear Jerker for any fan of the series.
Hide Your Pregnancy: Katey Sagal's first pregnancy was written into Season Six but had to be retconned as a dream after she miscarried. When Sagal subsequently became pregnant again, the writers had Peggy sitting down behind tables before eventually sending her off on trips and only make voice appearances or in brief inserts so that Sagal wouldn't be placed under undue stress.
Hostility on the Set: Al and Marcy were archenemies, and Ed O'Neill and Amanda Bearse weren't much better. Bearse also didn't have the best relationship with David Faustino (Bud), to the point that the two men were the only former castmates not invited to her wedding. During the show's run, Bearse grew increasingly comfortable as a lesbian and began cutting her hair and dressing in a more masculine manner, which O'Neill criticized.^note Nonetheless, he was offended by the snub and when he confronted her about it, she said she didn't want them snickering at her and her bride walking down the aisle in tuxedos. O'Neill responded by...admitting he would have acted exactly as she feared, entirely justifying her decision. Although Bearse shared the stage with O'Neill and Faustino during the reunion special, they tellingly do not interact with each other very much, even though the Sitcom Arch-Nemesis relationship between Al and Marcy is one of the most beloved aspects of the show. According to O'Neill, their relationship was so bad that at one point, in front of the entire cast and crew, he reminded her, that if he wanted to, he could go to the producers and tell them "I can’t work with her. She goes or I go. Who goes?"
I Am Not Spock: All of the main cast are usually identified by their respective roles.
- Ed O'Neill had a particularly rough time as people could only see him as Al Bundy, with his role in Flight of the Intruder being recast in pickups because test audiences laughed just at the sight of him. After the series ended, he threw himself into dramatic roles to distance himself from this show before finally finding another role to be associated with as Jay Pritchett in Modern Family.
- Very slowly. Katey Sagal escaped this with Futurama, 8 Simple Rules, and Sons of Anarchy.
- Christina Applegate became Samantha Who? (or before that, Veronica Corningstone).
- Poor David Faustino ended up being tied to Bud, but found a new audience when he played Mako.
- Amanda Bearse focused on working as a director — with occasional on-screen appearances — before turning away from Hollywood to work on her own farm. David Garrison simply continued working in theater, which was always his primary focus. Ted McGinley, meanwhile, carried on as a working actor.
Keep Circulating the Tapes: As the Fox network was not available across the entire United States when Married...with Children premiered in spring 1987, word of mouth and reruns played a significant role in helping it build an audience until Fox expanded its reach.
Life Imitates Art: In one episode where Al is calling about a part for his Dodge, he gives so many responses to an interactive phone response system that the automated voice automatically knows who he is and addresses him by name. Nowadays, phone operators can easily know the name of the person who's calling without being prompted, based on the phone number they're calling from, or responses they've given to the automated response system.
Missing Episode: Season 3's episode "I'll See You in Court", where the Bundys and the Rhoades sue a motel for videotaping them during sex and using the surveillance footage as pornographic movies for other motel guests. It was pulled because of the backlash involving Terry Rakolta (a Michigan housewife who protested against the show because of the episode "Her Cups Runneth Over" because its bawdy jokes centered around a lingerie-cum-marital aid store), but premiered on the cable channel FX, was released on DVD three times — once on a collection of the show's "Most Outrageous" episodes, again when the complete third season was released, and again when Mill Creek released the complete series, and is now available on Hulu streaming. On both occasions, "I'll See You in Court" was branded as a "Lost Episode."
Never Work with Children or Animals: Buck was nearly "fired" from the show because he constantly humped Katey Sagal's leg.
The Other Darrin: Zigzagged with the family dog, Buck. On some episodes (such as the one where he brings home a white dog while Al tries to find the chef who created his favorite cheesecake), his thoughts are voiced by Cheech Marin. Other episodes have Buck's thoughts voiced by Kevin Curran (one of the writers on the show. Curran would later write for The Simpsons and be married to Helen Fielding, the writer of the book Bridget Jones' Diary). The season six episode in which The Bundys and Jefferson start a psychic hotline (and end up getting turned into monkeys due to a curse) had Kevin Curran as a human version of Buck.
The Other Marty: The original pilot had different actors playing Bud and Kelly.
Production Posse: Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt had been working on other Embassy Television shows for years (getting their start on The Jeffersons, as mentioned above); they had previously done another harder-edged Embassy sitcom, the short-lived 1984-85 NBC show It's Your Move starring a pre-Hogan Family Jason Bateman as a High-School Hustler, with David Garrison (Steve Rhodes) as his across-the-hall neighbor who tries to keep his schemes in check.
Real-Life Relative:
- David Faustino's brother Michael Faustino appeared in several episodes as different characters.
- Director of photography and lighting director Thomas W. Markle's daughter Meghan was a background extra in the episode "The Undergraduate".
Reality Subtext:
- One episode in the final season guest starred Marcy's identical gay cousin "Mandy". The actress who played both characters (Amanda Bearse) is a lesbian in real life.
- Buck dying and being reincarnated as Lucky had to be done because the Briard playing Buck was getting too old. Many of Buck's later appearances simply has him laying on the stairs because the dog was so arthritic that simply moving was painful.
- Peggy's distinctive prancing walk came about because Katey Sagal found it difficult to walk normally in the high-heels the character wore and decided to exaggerate how she compensated her gait to stay upright.
- Psycho Dad, a lunatic misogynist whose one saving grace is that he's a "durn good pa", was added because the writers and producers wanted to lampoon fans who regarded Al Bundy as a genuine hero by cherry picking the few positive aspects of the character.
Recycled Script:
- Season 5 episode "Weenie Tots and Other Lovers" is the exact same plot as the episode "The Godfather" (the one where Kelly dates an older man, which, normally, would lead to Al beating the crap out of him for preying on his daughter, but when he discovers that the older man is running for public office, the Bundys treat him like royalty), which aired less than two months prior in the same season. Kelly and Bud both experience a good opportunity/good fortune (Kelly is a spokesmodel for a nationwide product and begins dating an alderman and Bud has an opportunity to go into space and meet the president, respectively). The Bundys decide Kelly's good luck is more interesting/profitable than Bud's and in essence, they screw him out of both chances. Everything is going their way until Kelly's own stupidity as well as Bud's sweeter-than-sweet and well-timed revenge ruins everything for her and Al and Peg.
- Another episode from season 5, "Wabbit Season", is considered a Denser and Wackier version of the season 2 episode "To Build a Mousetrap". How much wackier is it? It ends with the Bundy home being blown up.
Romance on the Set: This happened between co-creator Ron Leavitt and Jessica Hahn, who guest-starred in the season 6 episode "So This is How Sinatra Felt". They remained together until his 2008 death.
Screwed by the Network:
- First, there was the censors wanting to retitle an episode called "A Period Piece" (which focused on Peg, Kelly, and Marcy getting their periods simultaneously while Al, Bud, and Steve go fishing) into "The Camping Show", even though the show titles for "Married...With Children" were not shown onscreen (and not known at all until "Married...With Children" fan websites and cable guide summaries sprung up in the 1990s).
- Then, there was the whole Terry Rakolta incident, which caused an episode that wasn't even that raunchy, but still had heavy sexual references ("I'll See You in Court") to be barred from viewing until FX aired the episode a decade later and the episode was released on DVD.
- Perhaps the most egregious of all was how the series ended. You know that last episode where Kelly almost gets married to the man who held her family hostage? Well, despite looking like the perfect plot for the final episode of a dysfunctional family sitcom, it wasn't scheduled to be that way. After FOX spent all of Season 11 moving Married... with Children to different timeslots (and made worse by the fact that The Simpsons and In Living Color!, amongst other Fox shows, were gaining in popularity), the show suffered in the ratings so much that FOX decided to shut the show down after its 11th season. According to the E! True Hollywood Story about Married... with Children, the actors had a lot of different ideas for what the last episode should have been. Ed O'Neill thought that the Bundys should win the lottery right before a tornado ripped through the neighborhood and killed them. Christina Applegate built on this, saying that the Bundy house should have then landed on Marcy, a la The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Ted McGinley suggested the Bundys and Marcy dying or getting hurt in some horrible fashion and Jefferson ending up relaxing on the beach with bikini-clad babes all around him. The kicker to that is the fact that some of the actors didn't know the show was cancelled until they heard the news on a radio broadcast! In fact, Ed O'Neill only found out when he was on vacation and a couple staying in the same hotel expressed their sadness at hearing about the show's demise. He promptly bought them a bottle of champagne and has said that it was good that he learned of the show's end that way rather than from a studio exec.
Star-Making Role: Christina Applegate was able to build on her role as Kelly and make a successful career in Hollywood films. Even more so for Ed O'Neill, as anybody who knows his name knows him as Al Bundy (until Modern Family came along).
Technology Marches On: The show is a product of the late 1980s into the 1990s, and it shows. Such as the episode where the family tries getting Al to upgrade from Betamax to VHS... and the one where the Bundys buy a computer with features that, these days, would be considered outdated and has Al dismissing computers as a useless fad (when these days, they're used for anything and everything and have vastly improved). There's also "Fox Viewing Positions", poking fun at the various weird things you used to have to do to pick up some broadcast TV stations using rabbit ear antennas, especially many early Fox affiliates, which tended to be placed higher up the dial in many markets; that ended with the Fox-New World deal of 1994; see Disaster Dominoes for more on that deal and its wide-ranging effects. Ironically, in Chicago, where the series was set, Fox owned the station there, WFLD-32, which has been a long-time challenger to the legendary WGN.
Throw It In!: Peg's unique walk came about because Katey Sagal had trouble walking normally in the high-heeled shoes she had to wear and had to take tiny prancing steps to maintain her balance.
Wag the Director: Towards the end of the show's run, Ed O'Neill had become the unofficial showrunner with everyone deferring to him when it came to story ideas. He was extremely protective and made sure that everyone in the cast had ample screen time.
What Could Have Been:
- Roseanne Barr was also considered for the role of Peg Bundy. Roseanne did end up playing a sarcastic anti-housewife with a loser husband, but it would be her own show on a different channel.
- Other than Ed O'Neill, the actor most strongly considered for the role was Michael Richards. His audition ultimately helped him land Kramer, as the same casting director remembered him.
- Divine, best known for his drag work in the films of John Waters, was originally going to play a dual role as Uncle Buck and Peggy's mother, but died in his sleep the night before shooting on the episode began. Out of respect (and because Peg's mom is said to be inhumanly obese), the writers rewrote Peg's mom's role so that way she's only heard and not seen.
- Ed O'Neill starred as Popeye Doyle, a Pilot Movie that was not picked up. Had it been picked up, the Al Bundy we know and love may never have come to be.
- Ed O'Neill has stated that he had Michael Moye and Ron Leavitt lined up to return for season 12, and the show would have ended with a proper Grand Finale.
- Linda Sobek was to audition for a small role in 1995, but she was murdered on a photo shoot by Charles Rathbun and never showed up for the role.
- A Nintendo Entertainment System game based on the show was planned. From what little is known about it, it would have been an Unlicensed Game from Sharedata and would have been an adults-only game that played similarly to Leisure Suit Larry.
- Rita Wilson was considered for Marcy.
Working Title: The original title for the series was Not the Cosbys, as, at the time, The Cosby Show was popular for showing functional, loving, affluent families and Married...With Children was set up as the antithesis of this.
Written-In Infirmity: Katey Sagal's first pregnancy was written into the sixth season but needed to be retconned into a dream when she miscarried. When she got pregnant again, the show opted to hide it and reduce Sagal's workload out of concern for her health and wellbeing.
You Look Familiar:
- Ted McGinley was in the episode "It's a Bundyful Life," playing Peg's might-have-been charismatic husband, aired a year before he took the role of Jefferson.
- King-Kong Bundy made two appearances. Once as one of Peggy's strange relatives and once As Himself.
- Joey Lauren Adams played three different characters (a neighbor of Vinnie Verducci's, a relative of Peggy's, and the fiancee of Bud's cousin) on the show.
- Lisa Robin Kelly played separate characters in 1992 and 1997.
- Abraham Benrubi appeared as Al's newborn baby in a dream sequence where he beats up Al and as a cousin who's about to get married, only for Bud to unknowingly sleep with his fiance.
- Dan Castellaneta first appeared as a gay man who bonds with Al and came back several seasons later as a funeral director from whom Al buys a burial plot.

Trivia / Married... with Children

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