
Al Bundy. The man on Jeopardy Lane who once led his beloved Polk High football team to victory scoring a record four touchdowns in a single game.
(That's right. Another thread about a TV show that's finished.)
Married...with Children wasn't exactly the most clever show on television. You could say the way it utilised its humour and characters was clever, but there's nothing high brow about such memorables quotes as "Hooters, hooters, yum yum yum; hooters, hooters, on a girl that's dumb." But for the viewer who can appreciate the style of humour and plots Married employed, it didn't matter. Christina Applegate in skimpy clothes didn't hurt either.
Despite the initial poor reception, the show became a hit for the FOX network and was one of the shows that really helped the network early on. And while it didn't inspire them, it perhaps helped pave the way for other dysfunctional family comedies on the FOX network; two years later The Simpsons made its debut as a half hour series and Family Guy followed years later circa 1998/1999.
Unfortunately, the show never got to do a finale as it was cancelled in its 11th season. Not the most dignified end but in some ways appropriate. Sappy endings and cuteness weren't what made Married great. Its outrageous characters did.
Perhaps it's because the characters were as colourful as they were the cast hasn't easily been able to shake them. It's taken a while for Christina Applegate to escape the dumb blonde character of Kelly Bunny. David Faustino hasn't done much since but he'll probably always be remembered as Bud Bundy. Ed O'Neill has become synonymous with Al Bundy, even if his more recent work hardly resembles the character. Or maybe it's simply the byproduct of playing the same characters for 11 years.
Anyway, this is the point of the program where I yield the floor and see if there's any other fans of the show, or whether I'm just rambling. I realise both could be true.