Editing Married... with Children (section)

==Reception==
===Critical response===
For season 1, [[Metacritic]] calculated an average of 58 out of 100 based on 5 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/tv/married-with-children/season-1|title=Married with Children - Season 1 Reviews|website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=March 21, 2023}}</ref> Reviews of the debut episode were mixed. In 1987, [[Howard Rosenberg]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' praised the casting of the Bundys, found the character development of the Rhodes lacking, and warned viewers: "The satire is heavy-handed."<ref>{{cite web|last=Rosenberg|first=Howard|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-04-ca-1111-story.html|title=2 new Fox series--plainly no vanilla|date=April 4, 1987|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=March 21, 2023|url-access=limited|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230321194741/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-04-ca-1111-story.html|archive-date=March 21, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> Conversely, also in 1987, [[Tom Shales]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' called the debut episode "nasty-minded, overacted and poorly cast".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/04/04/the-day-of-the-fox/e25de9ce-e4cb-424a-84d3-aba64e22f905/|title=The day of the fox|last=Shales|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Shales|date=April 4, 1987|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=March 21, 2023|url-access=subscription}}</ref> For ''The New York Times'', [[John J. O'Connor (journalist)|John J. O'Connor]] described it as "loud, coarse and life-of-the-party vulgar".<ref name="OConnor 1987">{{cite web|last=O'Connor|first=John J.|authorlink=John J. O'Connor (journalist)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/03/arts/tv-weekend-2-shows-in-fox-prime-time-debut.html|title=2 Shows in Fox Prime-Time Debut|work=The New York Times|date=April 3, 1987|access-date=September 1, 2024|page=C30|url-access=subscription|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20150524203530/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/03/arts/tv-weekend-2-shows-in-fox-prime-time-debut.html|archive-date=May 24, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> O'Connor also compared ''Married...'' unfavorably to other family shows like ''[[The Life of Riley]]'' and ''[[All in the Family]]'', describing the show as "pure blue-collar shtick, dressed up with the usual sexual-potency and bathroom jokes".<ref name="OConnor 1987"/>

===Ratings===
{{more citations needed section|date=September 2014}}
Despite the show's enduring popularity and fanbase, ''Married... with Children'' was never a major ratings success. Part of the reason was that Fox, a startup network, did not have the affiliate base of the [[Big Three television networks]], thus preventing the series from reaching the entire country. In an interview for a special commemorating the series' 20-year anniversary in 2007, Katey Sagal stated that part of the problem the series faced was that many areas of the country were able to get Fox only through low-quality [[UHF television broadcasting|UHF channels]] well into the early 1990s, while some areas of the country did not receive the new network at all, a problem not largely rectified until the launch of [[Foxnet]] in June 1991 and later the network's acquisition of [[National Football League]] rights which led to [[1994 United States broadcast TV realignment|several stations across the United States changing affiliations]]. For instance, Ed O'Neill's hometown of [[Youngstown, Ohio]] did not have its own Fox affiliate until [[CBS]] affiliate [[WKBN-TV]] signed on [[WYFX-LD|WFXI-CA/WYFX-LP]] in 1998, one year after the show went off the air (the area was served by [[WPGH-TV]] in [[Pittsburgh]] and [[Cleveland]]'s Fox affiliates—initially [[WOIO]], then [[WJW (TV)|WJW]]—as default affiliates on cable), so many of O'Neill's friends and family mistakenly thought he was famous for beer commercials during this time.

Another problem lay in the fact that many of the newly developed series on Fox were unsuccessful, which kept the network from building a popular lineup to draw in a larger audience. In its original airing debut, ''Married... with Children'' was part of a Sunday lineup that competed with the popular ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'' and Sunday-night movie on CBS. Fellow freshman series included ''[[Duet (TV series)|Duet]]'', cancelled in 1989, along with ''[[It's Garry Shandling's Show]]'' and ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]'', both of which were canceled in 1990. The success of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', which debuted on ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' in 1987, helped draw some viewers over to Fox, allowing ''Married... with Children'' to rank in the Nielsen Top 50 from Season 4 through Season 8, peaking at No. 37 in Season 6. Although these ratings were somewhat small in comparison with the other three networks, they were good enough for Fox to keep renewing the show. In its prime in the early 1990s, the show was averaging over 20 million viewers each week.

While the series did not end on a [[cliffhanger]], it was expected to be renewed for a 12th season (which would have been the final season) and thus did not have a proper [[series finale]] when Fox decided to cancel it in 1997. With Fox announcing the cancellation publicly before informing the cast and crew, most if not all of them found out about the series cancellation from fans and low-level employees instead of from network executives. Katey Sagal stated that she constantly felt that the series was neglected by Fox despite helping bring the fledgling network on the map (''Married... with Children'' having been on even before ''The Simpsons''); for his part, Ed O'Neill attributed possible neglect of the series by Fox to constant turnover of some of the top positions at the network.<ref name="E!">{{Cite episode|series=[[E! True Hollywood Story]]|title=Married... with Children|network=[[E!]]|date=August 26, 2001|season=5|number=36}}</ref> In a 2013 interview, O'Neill stated that he felt TV stations who owned syndication rights to the series put pressure on Fox and [[Sony Pictures Television]] to end the series since the show had [[100 episodes|nearly three times the episodes needed for syndication]] and the production of more episodes would have resulted in higher rights fees.

{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|+Ratings overview
|-
! Season
! Episodes
! Timeslot ([[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]])
! Premiere
! Finale
! style="background:#ffdead;"| TV season
! style="background:#ffdead;"| Rank
! style="background:#ffdead;"| Rating
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 1 (1987)|1]]
| align="center"| 13
| align="center"| Sunday 8:00 PM
| align="center"| {{Start date|1987|4|5}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1987|6|28}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1986–87 United States network television schedule|1986–87]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#142'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''–'''
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 2 (1987–88)|2]]
| align="center"| 22
| align="center"| Sunday 8:00 PM {{small|(September 27 – October 18, 1987)}}<br /> Sunday 8:30 PM {{small|(October 25, 1987 – May 1, 1988)}}
| align="center"| {{Start date|1987|9|27}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1988|5|1}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1987–88 United States network television schedule|1987–88]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#115'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''4.7'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1987-88-ratings-history.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1987-88 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 3 (1988–89)|3]]
| align="center"| 22
| align="center"| Sunday 8:30 PM 
| align="center"| {{Start date|1988|11|6}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1989|5|21}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1988–89 United States network television schedule|1988–89]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#63'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''10.5'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/written-protesting-program-preemptions.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1988-89 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 4 (1989–90)|4]]
| align="center"| 23
| rowspan="7" align="center"| Sunday 9:00 PM 
| align="center"| {{Start date|1989|9|3}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1990|5|13}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1989–90 United States network television schedule|1989–90]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#41'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''12.9'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1989-90-ratings-history.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1989-90 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 5 (1990–91)|5]]
| align="center"| 25
| align="center"| {{Start date|1990|9|23}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1991|5|19}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1990–91 United States network television schedule|1990–91]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#41'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''12.4'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/written-torn-between-cosbys-simpsons-by.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1990-91 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 6 (1991–92)|6]]
| align="center"| 26
| align="center"| {{Start date|1991|9|8}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1992|5|17}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1991–92 United States network television schedule|1991–92]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#37'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''12.5'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1991-92-ratings-history.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1991-92 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 7 (1992–93)|7]]
| align="center"| 26
| align="center"| {{Start date|1992|9|13}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1993|5|23}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1992–93 United States network television schedule|1992–93]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#43'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''11.4'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2020/03/1992-93-ratings-history.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1992-93 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 8 (1993–94)|8]]
| align="center"| 26
| align="center"| {{Start date|1993|9|5}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1994|5|22}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1993–94 United States network television schedule|1993–94]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#46'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''10.8'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1993-94-ratings-history.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1993-94 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 9 (1994–95)|9]]
| align="center"| 26
| align="center"| {{Start date|1994|9|4}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1995|5|21}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1994–95 United States network television schedule|1994–95]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#66'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''9.5'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1994-95-ratings-history.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1994-95 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 10 (1995–96)|10]]
| align="center"| 26
| align="center"| {{Start date|1995|9|17}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1996|5|19}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1995–96 United States network television schedule|1995–96]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#78'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''8.2'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1995-96-ratings-history.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1995-96 Ratings History }}</ref>
|-
! [[List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 11 (1996–97)|11]]
| align="center"| 24
| align="center"| Saturday 9:00 PM {{small| (September 28 – October 12, 1996)}}<br />Sunday 7:30 PM {{small| (November 10 – December 29, 1996)}}<br />Monday 9:30 PM (January 6–27, 1997)<br />Monday 9:00 PM (February 24 – June 9, 1997)
| align="center"| {{Start date|1996|9|28}}
| align="center"| {{End date|1997|6|9}}
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| [[1996–97 United States network television schedule|1996–97]]
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''#97'''
| style="background:#fc9; text-align:center;"| '''6.7'''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/1991/08/1996-97-ratings-history.html | title=The TV Ratings Guide: 1996-97 Ratings History }}</ref>
|}

=== Controversy and legacy ===
The sexual humor and depiction of family life on ''Married... with Children'' were controversial from its debut. Daniel M. Kimmel reflected on the show in 2004: "It had achieved a cult status as a somewhat tasteless family sitcom that was so well written and acted that some actually saw it as dark satire of modern suburban life rather than simply an unending stream of sex jokes."<ref name="Kimmel 2004"/>{{rp|66}} In 2007, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' TV critic [[James Poniewozik]], in ranking the show among the 100 greatest of all time, called it "a twisted mirror of TV's instant-gratification culture...suitable for a medieval morality play."<ref name="Time 2007"/> Poniewozik concluded about the characterization of the show: "Zestily lowbrow and sex-obsessed, ''Married'' was dedicated to the classical ideal that unhappy families were more interesting than happy ones... and a lot funnier."<ref name="Time 2007"/> Reviewing Sony's original DVD release of the first season in 2003, Aaron Belerle of [[DVD Talk]] reflected that the show's humor "doesn't seem so edgy anymore".<ref name="DVD Talk">{{cite web|last=Belerle|first=Aaron|title= Married with Children - The Complete First Season |publisher=DVD Talk|date=November 7, 2003|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/8210/married-with-children-the-complete-first-season/|access-date=September 1, 2024|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20040101114701/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=8210|archive-date=January 1, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1989, [[Terry Rakolta]] from [[Bloomfield Hills, Michigan]], attempted to lead a boycott<ref name="Time 2007">{{cite magazine|last=Poniewozik |first=James |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341_1659192_1652601,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026140557/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341_1659192_1652601,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 26, 2007 |title=Married ... With Children The 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time |magazine=Time |date=2007-09-06 |access-date=2012-03-14}}</ref> of the show after viewing the episode "[[Her Cups Runneth Over]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bundyology.com/hpg/306.html |title=Bundyology—Episode "Her Cups Runneth Over" |publisher=Bundyology.com |access-date=2012-03-14}}</ref> Offended by the images of an old man wearing a woman's garter and stockings, the scene in which Steve touches the pasties of a mannequin dressed in S&M gear, a homosexual man wearing a tiara on his head (and Al's line "...and they wonder why we call them 'queens{{' "}}), and a half-nude woman who takes off her bra in front of Al (and is shown with her arms covering her bare chest in the next shot), Rakolta began a letter-writing campaign to advertisers, demanding they boycott the show.

Rakolta's campaign resulted in [[Gillette]], [[Warner–Lambert]], and [[The Coca-Cola Company|Coca-Cola]] ending sponsorships; ironically, Coca-Cola owned the studio that produced the show, [[Columbia Pictures Television]].<ref name="Kimmel 2004"/>{{rp|68}} Fox pulled the episode titled "[[I'll See You in Court]]" (in which the Bundys attempt to improve their love life by having marital relations in a different setting). This episode became known as the "Lost Episode" and was aired on [[FX (TV channel)|FX]] on June 18, 2002, with some parts cut.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?26509|title=Censored 'Married ... with Children' to Air on FX|work=Zap2it|date=June 17, 2002|access-date=August 17, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030212064318/http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?26509|archive-date=February 12, 2003|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=  The Illustrated Lost Show Transcript|url=http://www.bundyology.com/lost1.html|work=Bundyology|date=November 25, 2002|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20071219184320/http://www.bundyology.com/lost1.html|archive-date=December 19, 2007|access-date=August 17, 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref> The episode was packaged with the rest of the third season in the January 2005 [[DVD]] release (and in the first volume of the ''Married... with Children Most Outrageous Episodes'' DVD set) with the parts cut from syndication restored.

Viewers' curiosity over the boycott and over the show itself led to a drastic ratings boost.<ref name="Kimmel 2004"/>{{rp|68}} Rakolta has been alluded to twice on the show: "Rock and Roll Girl",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=married-with-children&episode=s04e15|title=Married with Children s04e15 Episode Script |website=Springfield! Springfield!|access-date=2019-08-25|archive-date=2014-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909161100/http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=married-with-children&episode=s04e15|url-status=dead}}</ref> in which a newscaster mentions the city Bloomfield Hills, and "No Pot to Pease In",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=married-with-children&episode=s09e09|title=Married with Children s09e09 Episode Script|website=Springfield! Springfield!|access-date=2019-08-25 |archive-date=2014-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909161041/http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=married-with-children&episode=s09e09|url-status=dead}}</ref> in which a television show is made about the Bundy family and then cancelled because, as Marcy stated, "some woman in Michigan didn't like it."

Socially conservative criticisms of the show were not limited to Rakolta. The [[Media Research Center]] named ''Married... with Children'' the worst show of the 1995–96 television season, calling it the "crudest comedy on prime time television" for "lewd punch lines".<ref name="MRC 1996">{{cite web|title=Top 10 Best and Worst Primetime TV Shows|url=http://townhall.com/mrc/entertainment/topten.html|publisher=Media Research Center|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19961129110404/http://townhall.com/mrc/entertainment/topten.html|archive-date=November 29, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://uproxx.com/prowrestling/married-with-children-wrestling-episode-king-kong-bundy/|title=The Wrestling Episode: The Battle Of The Bundys On 'Married … With Children'|last=Stroud|first=Brandon|work=Uproxx|date=April 26, 2018|access-date=August 16, 2024}}</ref> Republican U.S. Senator [[Jesse Helms]] called the show "trash".<ref>{{cite web |last=McLellan |first=Dennis |title=Ron Leavitt-co-created 'Married…With Children' |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Ron-Leavitt-co-created-Married-With-3227123.php |website=San Francisco Gate |date=February 13, 2008 |access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref> Fellow Senator [[Joe Lieberman]] (D-CT) also strongly criticized the sitcom, after having walked in on his stepson and young daughter watching an episode one evening in late 1993. In an interview many years later, Lieberman would specifically cite ''Married...With Children'' as the impetus for his becoming a vocal opponent of pop culture and the entertainment industry throughout his Senate career.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/12/08/lieberman-versus-hollywood/34114372-56bf-47f8-8cbd-5d4b09fd44bd/ |title=
Lieberman Versus Hollywood |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=December 8, 2003 |access-date=January 17, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1996/10/16/congressmen-ask-fox-to-show-married-with-children-later/ | title=Congressmen ask Fox to show "Married with Children' later |work=Tampa Bay Times |date=October 16, 1996 |access-date=January 17, 2024 }}</ref>

However, the show was recognized for giving women prominent roles behind the scenes. Producers decided to rewrite the sixth season storyline of Peggy's pregnancy, which coincided with Sagal's actual pregnancy, as a dream that Al had. This was done to prevent Sagal from suffering further trauma by having her character Peggy interact with a new baby, when Sagal's pregnancy ended with her going into premature labor and the baby being stillborn.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.throwbacks.com/married-with-children-pregnancy/|title=The Heartbreaking Tragedy That Changed An Entire Season Of 'Married With Children'|website=Throwbacks|date=September 7, 2018|access-date=2021-02-21}}</ref> 

Bearse also became one of the first mainstream actresses to publicly [[Coming out|come out]] as [[lesbian]], which she did during the series run and received positive recognition for doing so.<ref name="E!" /> 

On April 22, 2012, Fox re-aired the series premiere in commemoration of its 25th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/04/11/fox-will-rebroadcast-the-series-premiere-of-married-with-children-to-celebrate-the-networks-25th-anniversary-sunday-april-22/128662/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412050718/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/04/11/fox-will-rebroadcast-the-series-premiere-of-married-with-children-to-celebrate-the-networks-25th-anniversary-sunday-april-22/128662/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 12, 2012|title=Network TV Press Releases FOX Will Rebroadcast the Series Premiere of 'Married...With Children' to Celebrate the Network's 25th Anniversary Sunday, April 22|last=Bibel|first=Sara|date=April 11, 2012|work=[[TV by the Numbers]]|access-date=April 11, 2012}}</ref>