Married With Children Stars Christina Applegate & Ed O'Neill Recall Sitcom's Sudden Cancellation 27 Years Later

Married with Children stars Christina Applegate and Ed O'Neill speak about the famous sitcom’s abrupt cancelation. Initially premiering on Fox in 1987, Married with Children focused on the interesting dynamics of the Bundy family. Applegate starred in the long-running sitcom as Kelly, the daughter and eldest child, while O'Neill played the family patriarch Al Bundy. Both stars featured in all 11 seasons until Fox suddenly pulled the plug on Married with Children in 1997.

Now, several years after Married with Children’s cancelation, Applegate and O'Neill opened up to People about its abrupt end. O’Neill recalled being told about the show’s cancelation by a random couple that had just gotten married, while Applegate remembers hearing the news from a man who worked for her assistant at the time. Read their full comments below:

O’Neill: A car pulled in with the 'Just Married' things hanging off the back, you know, the tin cans … and I thought, ‘Oh, they, you know, just married.’ So I was standing there, and they got out of the car, and 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.

The woman said, ‘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. “They said, ‘Oh, we're so sorry,’ and I said, 'I'd rather hear it from you.' So yeah. I came inside. I love champagne.

Applegate: 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.

Is There A Married With Children Spinoff Or Revival In The Works?

There Have Been Several Attempts To Keep Married With Children Alive

Married with Children was Fox's first big success following its release in 1987. The show’s raunchy humor, sexually-charged scenes, and the Bundy family's relatable and oftentimes chaotic dynamic made it controversial, but it also contributed to its success and overall reputation. Following Married with Children’s impressive run, which helped launch the careers of some of its stars, especially O’Neill, who went on to star in Modern Family, there have been a number of attempts to create spinoffs and reboots of the show.

Top of the Heap was the first spinoff attempt made, but it only lasted 7 episodes. Radio Free Trumaine, which was set to include the Bundys' next-door neighbor Steve Rhoades (David Garrison), and Enemies were the two other attempts to expand the Married with Children universe; both shows, however, failed to leave the cutting room floor. Following several years of silence about the iconic sitcom, there were reports in 2022 that a possible reboot was in the works.

Along with the news that Married with Children was making a comeback, it was also confirmed, perhaps quite surprisingly, that the reboot would be animated. This change hasn’t exactly gone down well with longtime fans of this sitcom. However, with O’Neil, Applegate, Faustino, and other key actors agreeing to return to voice their characters, this should help retain some of the familiarity and hilarious dynamic that made this show so successful in the first place. Though the series hasn't premiered just yet, it does still appear to be in active development.

Source: People