Why was Married with Children cancelled?
 

One of the iconic tv series, it never jumped the shark and only kept getting better, why did it end?

It jumped the shark after they went to London at the very latest. At the earliest, it jumped the shark when Marcy got a new husband.

Wasn't there a kid whose name was a number? Seven or Eight or something?

Marcy getting the new husband wasn't the jump of the shark. The new guy was rather funny and it did have a lot of good life to it after that.

I would say it jumped the shark with the addition of seven.

The show was also canceled without the cast knowning it. They thought they were coming back for another season till the season started and fox didn't order any more episodes.

http://www.bundyology.com/sevenbig.jpg

-ohbfrank-

What was the origin of SEVEN anyway? I never figured it out.

I think Seven was Peggy's nephew; his parents kinda just abandoned him at the Bundy's.

Regardless of how good or bad the show was in the end, it lasted for 11 seasons. That's a pretty damn good run and I'm sure everyone involved probably wanted to move on. Well, David Faustino probably would've stuck around for awhile longer, but otherwise... :)

Marcy's new husband was far better than the first.

The fact that Ted McGinley is the patron saint of Jump the Shark says alot. But I agree that it truly didn't jump the shark until they pulled the "Add-a-Kid".

Jefferson freaking rocked...

The final season was actually an improvemnt on the couple of seasons before it. The writing was better, and they nearly went with a very dark 3 parter about Al ad Peg splitting up. (They did do the episodes, but they were re-written to fit in more with the series).

The problem was with the show not being able to finish episodes on time, and with FOX bumping it out of its Sunday slot where it had been for years and moving it to Saturday, and then Monday I believe.

Because of the production problems, the cost of the series, and the decline in ratings from the move around the lineup, FOX decided not to renew it after they had wrapped production for what became the final season.

That's why they never got a true final episode, though they were all pretty sure it was over when they taped that final 2-parter. In fact, that final taping was by invitation only, with family and friends in the audience, to sort of say goodbye.

Jefferson's addition inspired my favorite MwC moment of all time: When a hungover Marcy realized she had drunkenly married someone who's last name was Darcy - "Marcy Darcy? I'm a cartoon character!"

Oh.. Cousin Oliver joined the cast?

Jefferson was much better than Steve...He provided Al with a much needed partner in crime throughout the rest of the series.

The addition of Seven was just ridiculous. I seem to remember the cast even saying how incredibly unnecessary it was.

After 11 seasons, I'm guessing they just ran out of funny ideas. The "Children" had grown and practically moved out long ago and there's only so much funny you can make out of an unhappy marriage.

I personally think it "jumped" or rather was abandoned due to the new series Unhappily Ever After.

there was a new kid? I never saw that
the one husband marcy had looked like Calvin's dad in Calvin and Hobbes

Uhh it ran and long tv life..and once they decided to get a new dog..that was when it was time to call it quits.

It had run it's course, same old jokes were getting old, had a good run, can't complain

David Faustino has done jack since Married with Children but still enjoys celebrity status

I saw him signing autographs at a convention a couple months back for $10 an autograph.

^pretty sad doing that for money.

The inclusion of Seven isn't a jumping the shark moment, since it was just a hole in the otherwise solid series and rebounded when he was dropped so that's not the right term. The only legitimate answer given is the jokes got tired and the show ran its course. 10 years is pretty good, a healthy life.
Fox should be kissing Ed O'Neil's ass for saving them.

I used to work with a guy who could have been Foustino's twin. If the series weren't still running at the time, I would have thought it was him.

Married... with Children was a staple on FOX's Sunday night line-up, and in fact was the FOX network's first real hit show.

For some reason... [pick one]
a) After such a long run, it's ratings were in an inevitable decline.
b) FOX execs saw the show as a relic, and representative of the network's past not it's future.
c) both (a) and (b)

...the show was removed from FOX's Sunday night schedule, and moved to Saturday, and then Monday, in it's 11th season.

The rescheduling (and complete lack of advertising support for the show by FOX) resulted in a huge drop in the show's already declining ratings.

When it came time to renew the show for it's 12th season, FOX refused to pay the increased cost per episode. (As show's get older, they get more expensive because everybody keeps getting raises.) And citing the show's declining ratings, FOX cancelled Married... with Children.

Of course, not giving a series that was so important to the network's success, and so important in establishing the fledgling network's identity, a proper send-off is something for which FOX should always be ashamed.

But considering the incredibly long list of things that FOX has to be ashamed about, treating Ed O'Neill poorly probably doesn't even crack the top 50.

My favorite show of all time.

But, it was dying.. the last couple of seasons, while not outright bad, just started to get stale. A few laughs here and there, mostly recycled, but mostly everything fell flat. Actualkly, I just got an archive of everything that isn't out on DVD yet (my safegaurd in case it never does) and I watched all of it over the weeks following. The show was insanely solid through seasons 2-6, 3 and 5 being the choice cuts in my opinion. 7-9 had some good moments but you could see it going down a little. 10 and 11 were where I felt it was on life support.

Speaking of, I've been dying to get my hands on another copy of the E! True Hollywood Story for a while now (I used to have it taped but I'm not sure what happened to it). I was hoping I could find it so I could put it on DVD or something. If anybody can help me out, let me know.

I was also very disappointed that the show wasn't given a proper sendoff considering how they put FOX on the map. The show was stale by the end, but it should've gotten more respect.

My 3 favorite episodes
The supermarket shopping spree
Santa dying in the Bundy's backyard
Al returning a way overdue library book