History Trivia / MarriedWithChildren

** First appearance:

* HostilityOnTheSet: Al and Marcy [[SitcomArchNemesis were archenemies]], and actors Creator/EdONeill 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 [[https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/modern-familys-ed-oneill-had-strained-relationship-lesbian-co-star-previous-sitcom 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]]You can see the evolution of Marcy's appearance in the show. In the early seasons, she had shoulder-length hair and was conventionally feminine, but later on she took a liking to power suits and progressively-shorter hairstyles, which could be interpreted in-universe as her wanting to be taken more seriously as her banking career advanced[[/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.

* YouLookFamiliar: 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.

* AcclaimedFlop: Although Married with Children has earned critical acclaim, FOX was disappointed with its ratings and chose to cancel it due to declining viewership with many analysts blaming the lack of access American households had to the show. Also back when the show aired the Internet was not as sophisticated as it used to be, so a [=TV=] set was the only feasible means to access the show.

** The creators originally envisioned Creator/SamKinison 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.

** Creator/{{Divine}}, best known for his drag work in the films of Creator/JohnWaters, 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.

* RetroactiveRecognition: The 1990 episode "Al... With Kelly" features an appearance by a young Creator/PamelaAnderson in one of her first TV appearances, and over three years before her role on {{Series/Baywatch}} would turn her into a world-famous sex symbol.

** ''Married With Children''[[note]]without ellipsis marks[[/note]] (Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Greece, Singapore)

** ''Marriage with Children'' (Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay)

** Creator/{{Divine}}, best known for his drag work in the films of Creator/JohnWaters, was originally going to play 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.

* WagTheDirector: Towards the end of the show's run, Creaotr/EdONeill 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.

* RetroactiveRecognition: The season 5 episode "Al... With Kelly" features a cameo by a young Creator/PamelaAnderson in one of her first TV appearances, and over three years before her role on {{Series/Baywatch}} would turn her into a world-famous sex symbol.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Al and Marcy were at each other's throats during the entire show. One wonders how effective the acting would have been if Creator/EdONeill and Amanda Bearse weren't at each other's throats in real life as well. She also didn't have the best relationship with David Faustino (Bud) either, to the point that the two men were the only ''Married'' castmates not invited to her wedding, because she thought they'd make homophobic jokes the whole time.

* ActorAllusion:
** In one episode, Jefferson is followed around by kids who think he was on ''Happy Days'' and ''The Love Boat''. Ted [=McGinley=] was indeed on both of those shows (and is considered notorious for making those shows [[JumpingTheShark jump the shark]]).
** As the show became more popular, this happened with guest stars, too, most notably during Gary Coleman's multiple appearances on the show. ("Watchu talkin bout, Bundy?")
** In the episode in which Peg and Al get involved with a gay couple, the gay couple was played by Sam [=McMurray=] and Creator/DanCastellaneta, who also portrayed a gay couple in a sketch on ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow''.
** During a flight, after Al is asked to put his shoes back on. Al answers back with "They show ''Film/{{Dutch}}'', and they say ''I'' stink?!" Ed O'Neil, who plays Al, starred in ''Dutch''.
** Al as a detective who wears a porkpie hat. Ed O'Neil appeared in the TV movie ''Film/PopeyeDoyle'' playing the titular, porkpie hat-wearing detective.

** 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 [[Series/{{Roseanne}} her own show on a different channel]].

* HostilityOnTheSet: Al and Marcy were at each other's throats during the entire show. One wonders how effective the acting would have been if Creator/EdONeill and Amanda Bearse weren't at each other's throats during most of the show's production.

* RecycledScript: Season 5 episode "Weenie Tots and Other Lovers" is the exact same plot as the episode "The Godfather", 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 [[spoiler: as well as Bud's [[LaserGuidedKarma sweeter-than-sweet and well-timed revenge]]]] ruins everything for her and Al and Peg.

** Perhaps the most {{egregious}} of all was how the series ended. You know that last episode where Kelly [[spoiler: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 ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/InLivingColor'', 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 ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz''. 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.

* 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.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
** The writers had to quickly turn Peggy and Marcy's pregnancy arc into an extended dream sequence after Katey Sagal suffered a miscarriage. Peggy going off on extended trips in later seasons and only appearing in brief inserts was done because Sagal subsequently became pregnant two more times and the production team wanted to do everything they could to make sure she wasn't placed under any undue stress.
** Buck the dog had to be killed off and replaced with Lucky because the Briard playing Buck had gotten so old and arthritic that simply climbing the set's stairs was too painful for him.

* WagTheDirector: Towards the end of the show's run, Creaotr/EdONeil 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.

** Katey Sagal played both Peggy and the Grim Reaper, doing the latter role without her red wig;

** Ed O'Neill played both Al and the ghost of Al's father.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Al and Marcy were at each other's throats during the entire show. One wonders how effective the acting would have been if Ed O'Neill and Amanda Bearse weren't at each other's throats during most of the show's production.
* IAmNotSpock: All of the main cast are usually identified by their respective roles in ''Married... with Children'', especially Ed O'Neill. This is slowly being overturned by ''Series/ModernFamily'', however. Very slowly. Katey Sagal escaped this with ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', and ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', while Christina Applegate became ''Series/SamanthaWho'' (or before that, [[Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy Veronica Corningstone]]), leaving poor David Faustino to forever be remembered as Bud. Then he became [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Mako]].

* TheOtherDarrin:
** The role of Pa Wanker was originally going to be played by Divine (as was Mrs. Wanker), but after Divine's tragic death, Tim Conway was cast.
** 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 [[Creator/CheechAndChong Cheech Marin]]. Other episodes have Buck's thoughts voiced by Kevin Curran (one of the writers on the show. Curran would later write for ''TheSimpsons'' and be married to Helen Fielding, the writer of the book ''Literature/BridgetJones' Diary''). The season six episode in which The Bundys and Jefferson start a psychic hotline had Kevin Curran as a human version of Buck.

* StarMakingRole: 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.

* WagTheDirector: Towards the end of the show's run, Ed O'Neil 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.

** 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.

** Other than Ed O'Neill, the actor most strongly considered for the role was [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} 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 Creator/JohnWaters, was originally going to play 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.
** The original title for the series was ''Not the Cosbys'', as, at the time, ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' was popular for showing functional, loving families (and, most importantly, ''African-American'' families that were functional, loving, and middle-class) and ''Married...With Children'' was set up as the antithesis of this.
** Ed O'Neill starred as ''Film/PopeyeDoyle'', a PilotMovie that was not picked up. Had it been picked up, the Al Bundy we know and love may never have come to be.

* EnforcedMethodActing: Al and Marcy were at each other's throats during the entire show. One wonders how effective the acting would have been if Ed O'Neill and Amanda Bearse weren't at each other's throats during most of the show's production.