History Trivia / MarriedWithChildren

* EnforcedMethodActing: 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.

* WrittenInInfirmity: Katey Sagal's pregnancies.

* WorkingTitle: 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.

** director of photography and lighting director Thomas W. Markle's daughter [[Creator/MeghanMarkle Meghan]] was a background extra in the episode "The Undergraduate".

* HideYourPregnancy: 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.

* StarMakingRole: Creator/ChristinaApplegate was able to build on her role as Kelly and make a successful career in Hollywood films. Even more so for Creator/EdONeill, as anybody who knows his name knows him as Al Bundy.

* TransAtlanticEquivalent: Several, in fact:
** The Russian series ''Series/HappyTogether'', the British ''Married for Life'', the Colombian ''Casados con hijos'' and the Argentinian ''Casados con Hijos''. And the Chliean ''Casado con hijos''.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The portrayal of Jerry Springer in "No Ma'am". At the time the episode was made, Springer's talk show was much more mainstream and dealt with social issues, hence the portrayal of Springer as the "Masculine Feminist". It was later that the show became associated with freaks and shock value, so the episode's portrayal no longer makes sense.

** Creator/EdONeill had a particularly rough time as people could only see him as Al Bundy, with his role in ''Film/FlightOfTheIntruder'' 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 being another role to be associated with as Jay Pritchett in ''Series/ModernFamily''.

* IAmNotSpock: All of the main cast are usually identified by their respective roles, especially Creator/EdONeill. This is slowly being overturned by ''Series/ModernFamily'', however. Very slowly. Creator/KateySagal escaped this with ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', and ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', while Creator/ChristinaApplegate 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]].

* HostilityOnTheSet: The [[SitcomArchNemesis relationship]] between Al and Marcy was little better than that between actors Creator/EdONeill and Amanda Bearse. Bearse, who is out as a lesbian, evolved her look over the years to be increasingly masculine, which made O'Neill uncomfortable. She snubbed both O'Neill and David Faustino from her wedding because she was afraid that they would laugh at the sight of both her and her bride wearing tuxedos. O'Neill admitted that he probably would have laughed. The pair also frequently clashed about small disagreements on set, which was exacerbated by the fact that Bearse directed 30 episodes. O'Neill admitted to threatening her during one argument by reminding her that he could have her fired, while she could not have him fired.
* IAmNotSpock: All of the main cast are usually identified by their respective roles in ''Married... with Children'', especially Creator/EdONeill. This is slowly being overturned by ''Series/ModernFamily'', however. Very slowly. Creator/KateySagal escaped this with ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', and ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', while Creator/ChristinaApplegate 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]].

* TechnologyMarchesOn: 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 [[BitingTheHandHumor "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 DisasterDominoes 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.

** First appearance:h

** 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.

* BigNameFan: The late Creator/RogerMoore (yes, ''that'' Roger Moore) considered the show a guilty pleasure of his.

** Other than Ed O'Neill, the actor most strongly considered for the role was [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Michael Richards]]. His audition ultimately helped him land [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Kramer]], as the same casting director remembered him.

* TransAtlanticEquivalent: The Russian series ''Series/HappyTogether'' is based on ''Married... with Children''.

* MissingEpisode: 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 and was released on DVD twice -- once on a collection of the show's "Most Outrageous" episodes, and again when the complete third season was released. On both occasions, "I'll See You in Court" was branded as a "Lost Episode."
* TheOtherDarrin: 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 ''WesternAnimation/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.

** 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.

* BannedEpisode: The episode "I'll See You in Court" 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). It finally premiered on FX in June 2002.

** Linda Sobek was to have a small role in 1995, but she was murdered on a photo shoot and never showed up for the role.

* 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 very sophisticated, so a [=TV=] set was the only feasible means to access the show.

* HostilityOnTheSet: The [[SitcomArchNemesis relationship]] between Al and Marcy was little better than that between actors Creator/EdONeill and Amanda Bearse. Bearse, who is out as a lesbian, evolved her look over the years to be increasingly masculine, which made O'Neil uncomfortable. She snubbed both O'Neil and David Faustino from her wedding because she was afraid that they would laugh at the sight of both her and her bride wearing tuxedos. O'Neil admitted that he probably would have laughed. The pair also frequently clashed about small disagreements on set, which was exacerbated by the fact that Bearse directed 30 episodes. O'Neil admitted to threatening her during one argument by reminding her that he could have her fired, while she could not have him fired.