Premiering in 1987, Married… with Children broke television barriers by focusing on the dysfunctional Bundy household during an era when similar sitcoms took a more wholesome approach to the nuclear family. Lasting for 11 seasons on Fox, the series is still the longest-running live-action sitcom in the history of the network, which is somewhat surprising given the fact that it was never a huge success in the ratings (the highest it ever got was #37 overall during the 1991-1992 TV season). All good things must come to an end, though, and Married… with Children was unceremoniously canceled in 1997, and two of its most popular stars, Ed O’Neill and Christina Applegate, are opening up about how they found out the show wasn’t returning for a 12th season.
Starring as Al Bundy in Married… with Children, O’Neill appeared on Applegate’s MeSsy podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) to catch up with his former co-star, who portrayed his daughter, Kelly Bundy. The conversation eventually turned to their classic sitcom, which never received a proper finale from Fox, who announced the show’s cancelation before even informing its stars. Instead, O’Neill discovered he was out of a job thanks to a random encounter with a fan who had just gotten married.
“I was back at my hometown, and I was at this little bed-and-breakfast by the university because I was at the university for something, and it was a beautiful day. A car pulled in with the ‘Just Married’ things hanging off the back — you know, the tin cans…
“So I was standing there, and they got out of the car. It was the husband and wife. She was in the gown, and he was in the tux. And he said, ‘Oh my God. It’s Al Bundy in Ohio’ And I said, ‘Yeah, congratulations, you got married!’ And they said, ‘Yeah. Oh my God, we can’t believe it.’ And the woman said, ‘Well, we’re so sorry about your show.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ And the guy said, ‘Oh my God. He doesn’t know. It’s on the radio. You got canceled. Oh, we’re so sorry.’ And I said, ‘I’d rather hear it from you.'”
Applegate says she found herself in the same boat, and never received a call from Fox to inform her of Married…with Children’s cancelation. Instead, she had to hear the news in similar fashion to how Kristy Swanson heard that Ferris Bueller passed out at 31 Flavors.
“I found out from a guy who knew a guy who worked for my assistant at the time. That’s how I found out. They never called us.”
Ed O’Neill Addresses Modern Family Reboot
Going their separate ways after Married… with Children, both O’Neill and Applegate would have continued success in Hollywood, with the latter recently earning critical acclaim for the Netflix series Dead to Me, and the former starring in what is undoubtedly one of the best sitcoms in recent memory, Modern Family.
Ending in 2020 (with a proper finale), there’s already buzz around a potential spinoff or reboot that could focus on the characters of Mitch and Cam, and while nothing is set in stone, O’Neill says that he’s definitely willing to reprise his role of Jay Pritchett should the opportunity arise.
“I mean, I am open to it. I like everybody involved, so I wouldn’t be the guy who [says no if everyone else wants to]. I wouldn’t do that.”
For now, the rumored Modern Family reboot is just that, a rumor, but we’ll definitely keep our ear to the ground and report back should anything further develop. In the meantime, you can catch all 11 seasons of Married… with Children streaming now on Hulu.