robin2099

Kind of hard to believe that 30 years ago this show debuted. Even more hard to believe that it's still airing in syndication and it still holds up incredibly well. For the life of me, I'll never understand how this show was never able to get some type of Emmy nomination, and how ED 'O Neil never got an Emmy nomination.

Fun little story I just found out. Apparently Ed would call fans collect on their birthdays as Al Bundy and wish them happy birthday.

Oh and of course, there's this.

fumanstan

I don't think it's too hard to understand, a show like this back then would probably be avoided like the plague from critics, especially those running award shows. Most of this stuff was still really taboo to air on broadcast TV back then, no?

Mike86

As someone who used to like it I can't agree about it holding up. It's very much a nineties show and is hard to watch a lot of times. I think the show was at its best during seasons two or three until about five (it went downhill after Steve left). I like most of the cast but unfortunately it's just kinda cringey for me.

astrochimp

Thanks for the reminder that I'm old.

mcnabb

The first few seasons were very funny, but I thought it got very cliche after that. We get it, Al Bundi just wanted watch tv, Peg was the unhappy wife, Bud was sex starved, and Kelly was an airhead.

Dr. DVD

Looking back, I'm surprised it lasted for almost a decade (or a solid decade) . This was from the age when Fox was the home for low level entertainment. In fact, I recall hearing that this series was only put on the network so it could have a series to call itself a network. I think the plan was to air it for a half a season or so then can it.

Jackskeleton

the show that helped make Fox and the show that got the worst end of the stick from Fox. a terrible shame how they did this show dirty.

LorenzoL

I watched the first couple of seasons again when a Canadian streaming service had it and I agree with Mike86 that the show was good until Steve left. Mind you if I remember correctly he came back as a guest star in one episode at least, the one with Jefferson. I didn't mind Jefferson but when they introduced that kid Six, it's when I stopped watching.

Inhumans99

I recently watched the entire series on DVD a few years back...still a wonderful comedy that had a lot of heart considering that at its core the show was about family members always sniping at each other, but they did have each other's backs...see the Bud Bundy underwear up a flagpole episode.

One of the rare shows I grew up with that I bothered to watch again from start to finish. Some people quote Shakespeare and some, like myself, quote Married With Children (I say this as a UC Santa Cruz grad who majored in Literature).

DthRdrX

My favorite show ever. I remember my father and I watching the first episode ever during it's debut when I was a kid.

The first season was my favorite because Al was a much more serious character, and his interactions with Steve drove the show. I sometimes wonder if Fox sent two memos to dumb down Al Bundy and Homer Simpson at the same time.

I will admit the later seasons took a hit after the showrunners were gone. Interesting enough, this is another show that would be too 'controversial' today.

Bluelitespecial

Still one of my favorite tv comedies of all time, I see the complete set on dvd at Walmart for $24.99, but i haven't gotten it yet.

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Mike86

I think the problem with Jefferson was that he was essentially just another Al. Steve played the straight man to Al's over the top character and they complimented each other well. I think something else that hurt the show was how repetitive it was. The jokes were always variations on the same thing. Al hated his job and while he loved Peg in his way he didn't really want her most of the time. Peg was the unhappy, lazy, sex deprived wife. Bud was the hornball who rarely got any. Kelly was the air-headed bimbo.

GoldenJCJ

I actually liked Jefferson over Steve, however, to me the show really lost me about the time "No Ma'am" started becoming a recurring plot.

Though most will say the show jumped the shark at either Steve leaving or the "Cousin Oliver" clone came on. I feel by that point the show was already on a downhill slide.

Why So Blu?

I hated Seven. I like how they eventually wrote him out of the show and in one episode you his face on a milk carton.

I have the complete series on DVD.

islandclaws

I always loved how Al got his little moments of masculinity when he'd beat up one of Kelly's shitty boyfriends, or someone who was insulting the family.

The No Ma'am stuff always cracked me up. I had a shirt in hs.

Al's insults were pure gold a lot of the time. I watch that YT compilation every now and then and it really gets me howling.

This was one of the shows my parents forbade me to watch when I was a kid, so of course I snuck it in regularly and it became the stuff of legend. Not high brow humor by any means, but consistently funny.

I also preferred Jefferson over Steve, although I loved the ep where he came back as a "rich guy"... only to find out he was really a chauffeur.

Alan Smithee

Being Fox's first prime-time show, it's also now been 30 years since we started losing our good independent TV stations. I liked the show when it started though- what a lot of people didn't get was that it was a satire on all the super-clean and happy family sitcoms of the time.

DWilson

In fact, it's tentative title was "Not The Cosbys", so the legend goes, which takes on a different meaning these days...

TomOpus

Watched the show each week, back in the day. Haven't really revisited it, so not sure how it would stand up. But I have been following Christina's Twitter feed for years now.

Nick Danger

I remember seeing an interview with a couple of cast members. They thought at the time that the show was too edgy and couldn't possibly last a full season. It's a good thing that in their early years Fox put shows on the air that no other network would have touched, like Married With Children, Cops, America's Most Wanted, and The Simpsons.

DthRdrX

The original Pilot, before the kids were recast. Tina Caspary was awesome back then and I wouldn't have minded her. The original Bud though was TERRIBLE.

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Why So Blu?

That Unaired pilot is on the DVD complete set.

DthRdrX

Which set? The Sony set or the complete set by Mill Creek?

Why So Blu?

Mill Creek. I paid less than $30 for it when it came out like 2 years ago. They even restored the Frank Sinatra opening theme song.

DthRdrX

I have it but have not cracked it open yet.

DeadLamb

They really hit a casting home run with the kids on that show. David Faustino was a perfect match for his sort of scheming kid brother character and Christina Applegate grew into a smoking hot chick. Sure the writers would of just wrote around whatever they got but it was just such a good fit for the over all show.

It had it's ups and downs season wise, the one with the new random kid was pretty bad even if I understand why it was written that way. Show still has some of my all time fav lines.

The rich kid telling his day he did not want the brand new Mustang "You're going to take it and like it!" kid "I HATE you!!". Oh and of course Al's line about santa bringing the little girl a new pony, but if it's not there it means your mommy killed it. lol

plus none of the actors train wrecked after the show was over. I know that should be the normal thing that happens but sadly that is not always the case.