Married with Children

Network: FOX
Episodes: 259 (half-hour)
Seasons: 11

TV show dates: April 5, 1987 — June 9, 1997
Series status: Cancelled/ended

Performers include: Ed O’Neill, David Faustino, Christina Applegate, Katey Sagal, Amanda Bearse, Ted McGinley, David Garrison, Harold Sylvester, E.E. Bell, Dan Tullis Jr., Kevin Curran, Tom McCleister, Frank Lloyd, Shane Sweet, Teresa Parente, Lucky the dog, and Buck the dog.

TV show description:
The Bundy family isn’t your typical sitcom clan. Al (Ed O’Neill) is stuck in a job as a shoe salesman at the mall and can’t seem to forget his glory days on his high school football team. He was offered a college scholarship but never got to use it because he got his girlfriend, Peggy Wanker (Katey Sagal), pregnant. He now looks at his family as the reason he feels so “stuck.”

Peg would love to be seen as the woman of Al’s dreams but doesn’t put in much effort. She doesn’t cook or clean nor does she have any inspirations of getting a job, preferring to leave all of that to Al. She does try to lure him to join her up in the bedroom, but he doesn’t seem to have much interest in that, preferring to relax by watching TV with his hand down his pants.

The Bundys’ oldest child is daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) who comes off as dim-witted and somewhat slutty. Peg coaches her on ways to avoid doing work as she grows older and following in her footsteps, much to Al’s dismay.

Kelly and her little brother, Bud (David Faustino), constantly snipe at each other. He makes fun of her ignorance while she mocks his lack of prowess with the girls. Named after his dad’s favorite beer, Budweiser, Bud wants to be a ladies’ man but is shorter than the average guy.

The Bundys’ neighbors are Marcy and Steve Rhoades (Amanda Bearse and David Garrison). They consider themselves to be a step above the Bundys but constantly find themselves in similar situations. Steve eventually leaves Marcy to become a forest ranger at Yosemite National Park. Marcy soon remarries, to Jefferson D’Arcy (Ted McGinley), a younger man who marries her for her money. Though Steve’s essentially the male equivalent of Peg, he and Al get along quite well.