For television viewers with long memories, Married… with Children was one of the first shows that debuted on the fledgling Fox network in 1987. It went on to have an 11-season run before coming to an end in 1997. But in the streaming age, no show stays canceled forever. Deadline is reporting that Sony is developing a Married… with Children animated series, and original stars Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate, and David Faustino have all signed on to reprise their roles.
On the original show, O’Neill portrayed Al Bundy, a former high school quarterback whose life peaked too early. To support his family, Al was forced to take a job selling women’s shoes while his wife, Peggy (Sagal), lounged at home. Applegate played the Bundy’s beautiful yet dimwitted daughter, Kelly. Faustino rounded out the primary cast as Al and Peggy’s son, Bud Bundy, a teenager who was perennially unlucky in love.
Family Guy executive producer Alex Carter is attached to the new Married… with Children as both the showrunner and the writer. Deadline notes that Sony Pictures Television has been developing the show for over a year, and the studio waited until all four primary cast members signed on before taking the series out to find a potential home.
But where will the show ultimately end up? Deadline suggests three strong possibilities: Fox, Hulu, and Peacock. Fox makes the most sense, because the network TV exposure can ultimately bring in a larger audience than a streaming service. As one of Fox’s original shows, Married… with Children remains a good fit alongside the network’s older-skewing animated comedies. In other words, Married… with Children could end up right back on Sunday nights where it used to be.
Netflix could conceivably throw a lot of money at Sony to line up the show. However, the full run of Married… with Children is already streaming on both Hulu and Peacock. Even if the animated series ends up on Fox, it will eventually be streamed as well. And it’s only logical to keep both versions of the show together.
The report doesn’t state if the Married… with Children animated revival will acknowledge the passage of time. By now, both Kelly and Bud are old enough to have teenage children of their own. But we’ll just have to wait and see what the producers go with.
