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[[File:married-with-children_9589.jpg|frame]]
{{quote|''"I work in a shoe store, I make less than minimum wage, and yet I'm [[Anything
|'''Al Bundy'''}}
''[[Married... with Children]]'' is a [[
The show premiered on April 5, 1987 as the very first program ever shown by the brand new FOX Network, and along with ''[[21 Jump Street (TV series)|
Inspired and popularized a character type: the [[Jaded Washout]], actually previously called the [[Al Bundy]].
{{tropenamer}}
* As noted above, this is the former trope namer for [[Jaded Washout]].
* [[Whoa, Bundy!]].
▲Inspired and popularized a character type: the [[Jaded Washout]], actually previously called the [[Al Bundy]]. Also [[Trope Namer]] for [[Whoa Bundy]].
{{tropelist}}
* [[A
* [[Aborted Arc]]: The first half of Season 6 introduced several continuing plotlines. Most notably, Peg and Marcy both wound up pregnant, and Bud began impersonating a rapper in order to get girls. About halfway through the season, all these storylines were undone by having Al wake up at the end of an episode, thinking the whole episode had been a dream. He soon finds out that in fact, the entire last six months of his life had been a dream. This was because Katey Sagal was pregnant in real life at the time, but sadly lost her baby when it came time to give birth. Out of respect, the writers made the entire storyline a dream because, according to one of the creators, "it worked for ''Dallas''".
* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: Bud was unlucky enough to attract a couple of these, both male and female. While certainly not ugly, especially after he made himself look like a total dork in a dating show (where the woman chooses a self-centered hunk as the prize over him), he... does the same thing when a nerdy girl [[Ironic Echo|ironically echoes]] what he had said earlier... and ignores her to go out with a self-centered chick. At least he gave her a kiss before he went with the bimbo.
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* [[Actor Allusion]]: In one episode, Ted McGinley's Jefferson is mistaken for a character from ''[[The Love Boat]]''. He also once mistakenly referred to Al as [[Happy Days|Fonzie]].
* [[Actually Pretty Funny]]: Jefferson will occasionally laugh at Al's cracks at Marcy when she's not looking, though a quick [[Death Glare]] will shut him right up.
* [[Adaptation Decay]]: In-universe, Kelly got her own [[Show Within a Show]], and [[Executive Meddling]] completely gutted it to become more "[[Lighter and Softer|family]] [[
* [[The Alleged Car]]: Al's Dodge is quite literally one of a kind. All of the other types of its make and model have either been recalled, exploded, or simply dissolved in the rain. This is possibly due to the fact that Al's car is literally pieced together out of the parts of other broken-down, destroyed Dodges. That should give you an indication as to its actual performance. In one episode, it's revealed that its brown color is actually accumulated dirt. Underneath it's a shiny red [[Cool Car]].
* [[All Just a Dream]]:
** Done on the Season 6 episode where Al is a detective (See Aborted Arc above)
** Also done on the episode where The Grim Reaper (played by Katey Sagal without her big red wig) comes for Al's soul and the rest of the family poses as The Village People, but subverted when it turns out that both A-story and B-story were real.
{{quote|
* [[All Take and No Give]]: Bud, Kelly and especially Peggy are all like this towards Al. While the kids eventually get jobs and start paying their own way, it's unclear what-if anything-Peg contributes to the relationship, given that she won't get a job, cook or clean, and constantly spends Al's money with a ridiculous sense of entitlement.
* [[All Women Are Prudes]]: Averted with a vengeance, ''especially'' with Marcy and with Peg (who is always the one trying to get Al to have sex).
* [[Alpha Bitch]]: Peg and Kelly were both [[Alpha Bitch
* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Ike of NO MA'AM lapses into this sometimes...at least by the standards of stereotypes on this show.
* [[Animal Motifs]]: Al has made countless jokes comparing Marcy to a chicken. Marcy, in turn, has compared him to a pig, a three-toed sloth, an ox, and a shaved ape.
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** And, earlier in the series, Al and Steve were trying to catch a mouse.
* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]
{{quote|
* [[Artifact Title]]: The show's working title was ''Not The Cosbys'', meant as a [[Take That]] to ''[[The Cosby Show]]''. Calling the show that would have been a pretty bad move, especially since ''[[The Cosby Show]]'' ended right around the same time that ''
* [[Artistic License Geography]]: One episode had Kelly abandoned by her [[Jerkass]] date out in the woods. While walking back she noticed a sign that said it was 15 miles to Chicago, and later 14 miles (the drop in miles confused her greatly.) Of course 15 miles outside of Chicago is still fairly dense suburbia and nothing like what was shown.
* [[Ashes to Crashes]]: Funeral ashes were accidentally used in a BBQ, played for laughs and drama.
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* [[Biting the Hand Humor]]:
** Zings fired at all sorts of networks aplenty:
{{quote|
'''Kelly:''' Something really stinks in here.
'''Bud:''' Well we are watching FOX.
(Revealed that the living room is filled with garbage due to a strike) }}
** Another episode sees Al and Jefferson watching TV:
{{quote|
'''Al:''' Yeah, like that's saying much. }}
* [[Black Best Friend]]: Al's buddy and fellow NO MA'AMer Griff became his co-worker at the shoe store in later seasons.
** Oddly enough, after Luke, the original shoestore sidekick left, almost all of Al's subsequent shoe store employees were black. The sole exception was Mr. Zippy, a chimp who began working at the shoe store in the very last episode aired, and dressed exactly like Al.
* [[Black Comedy Rape]]:
** Sometimes Peg just wouldn't take no for an answer. [[Double Standard Rape (Female
** It was generally subverted when it was [[Gender Flip
* [[Black Dude Dies First]]: He doesn't actually die, but Griff invokes this trope when he refuses to take point for Al and Jefferson during a garbage strike:
{{quote|
'''Al:''' What do you mean?
'''Griff:''' Jim Brown in ''[[The Dirty Dozen]]''? [[Laurence Fishburne]] in ''[[Apocalypse Now]]''? Bubba in ''[[Forrest Gump]]''? Any black man on ''[[Star Trek]]''? We go in, test the waters, get killed, and you white guys go home to your families.
'''Al:''' See? We both lose! }}
* [[Blonde, Brunette, Redhead]]: Peggy, Kelly, and Marcy. Kelly was the blonde, Peggy was the redhead, and Marcy was the brunette for the first two seasons, until subsequent season showed her hair gettting lighter and lighter.
* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: The Bundys can pretty much cheat, lie, steal, mock anything and anyone, but marriage is ''forever''.
* [[Bottle Episode]]: A handful of episodes took place in one scene with limited actors and actresses. Some examples: the last episode of Season 1 (in which Al and Peg try to go to the closing night of their favorite burger joint, but are stuck at home trying to help their kids solve their social problems), the first episode of Season 5 (in which the Bundys get stuck in a traffic jam during their Labor Day vacation), and part one of the series finale.
* [[Bottomless Bladder]]: Al at one point ponders out loud why heroes in westerns never go to the bathroom - then contemplates what kind of toilet paper they might have used [[The Wild West|back then]].
* [[
* [[Boyish Short Hair]]: Marcy.
* [[Bratty Teenage Daughter]]: Kelly.
* [[British Royal Guards]]: Peggy knows the best way to get a guard to smile is to take one of Al's shoes and let the guard get a good whiff of the odor. Of course, he doesn't smile until she takes the shoe ''away''. He then passes out.
* [[Bumbling Dad]]: Al
* [[The Bus Came Back]]: Whenever Peggy was written out of the show during one of Katey Sagal's pregancies (see [[Put
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Al and Bud are the most common examples, although all the main characters end up suffering from this to one degree or another.
* [[Can't Stand Them Can't Live Without Them]]: As Al puts it: "Women... can't live with them...[[Subverted Trope|The]] [[Rule of Funny|End]]"
* [[Captivity Harmonica]]: When Buck runs away and ends up in the pound, it's very prison-ish, complete with harmonica-playing pooch.
* [[The Cast Showoff]]: Most of the main actors got to demonstrate this at one point or another. Katey Segal got a few singing numbers, Ed O'Neill was able to show off his football skills, David Faustino did some rapping, and Christina Applegate and David Garrison both got to use their dance training.
* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Four touchdowns in a single game", "Let's rock", Al's "A fat woman came into the shoe store today" speeches, as well as variations on the "[[Whoa, Bundy!]]!" rally cry.
* [[Caught
* [[Channel Hop]]: In-universe -- ''Psycho Dad'' going from PBS to ''The New Adventures of Psycho Dad'' on Fox finally gave him a reason to watch the network.
* [[Characterization Marches On]]: Early episodes show Peggy doing housework (even though it was established that she does a lousy job at
* [[The Chew Toy]]: Al, of course.
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: In the first season Al's co-worker at the shoe store was Luke, a smooth-talking womanizer who stole Al's sales. He vanished after the first season, but gets a [[Hand Wave]] [[Shout
* [[Children Are a Waste]]: The show is based entirely on this trope; as Al's motto says, "a man's home is his coffin."
* [[Classically-Trained Extra]]: Ed O'Neill and David Garrison were both trained as dramatic actors.
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* [[Comic Book Adaptation]]: Two years of ongoing issues plus a few specials, published by NOW Comics.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: Bud has all his past costumes hanging up in the basement, including his "Grandmaster B" persona.
* [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]: Marcy frequently suffered these whenever the Bundys got her into trouble with her bank:
** After she loses $50,000 on a bad loan Al was unable to pay back, she's demoted to drive-up window teller. She later gets her job back by dancing on her boss's desk in a slip for 20 minutes while the other bank employees threw change at her.
** When she gives Kelly a job as a window model at the bank, Kelly later gets her to sic the security guards on the son of the bank's biggest depositor, who Kelly thinks is a bank robber. Marcy is forced to act as the display model herself while wearing a chicken suit and holding a sign that says ''Let Us Sit On Your Nest Egg''.
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* [[Cosmic Plaything]]: Again, Al.
* [[Costumer]]
* [[Commuting
* [[The Couch]]: Something Peg and Al can agree on - their favorite thing in the world. Well, second favorite.
* [[Cousin Oliver]]: Seven, who became [[The Scrappy]], and was later [[
** And later [[Lampshaded]] by showing his [[Face
* [[Crazy Jealous Guy]]: Al didn't take kindly to other men hitting on Peg, and he usually "hit on" them in retaliation.
* [[Crapsack World]]: The world of ''Married'' is one step from Hell, full of brainless beauties, snickering smug winners, despondent and pathetic losers, corrupt authority, dirty criminals, money-gouging women, and many general [[Jerkass
* [[Crazy Prepared]]: The leader of the Neighborhood Watch in the first season episode where Al accidentally shoots Steve and Marcie's dog.
{{quote|
'''Steve:''' Then how do you get into your house?
'''NW Leader:''' Wouldn't ''you'' like to know! }}
* [[Credit Card Plot]]: The Season 3 episode "Master the Possibilities", where Bud, Al, and Peg use Buck the dog's name to get a credit card. Coincidentally, [[The Simpsons (animation)|another FOX sitcom about a dysfunctional family]] used this plot for a Season 8 episode.
* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Done by Ray-Ray and his boys to Al in an Season 8 episode. This was more due to the fact that they outnumbered Al by six to one or more, and the fact that Ray-Ray was too much of a friggin' [[Dirty Coward]] to face up to Al one-on-one. If he had, ''he'' would have been the one on the receiving end of this trope.
* [[The Danza]]: Dan Tullis, Jr. played Officer Dan.
* [[A Date
{{quote|
'''Bud:''' You're shaking her.
''(Al lets go in disgust)'' }}
** And right before Bud {{spoiler|finally gets laid}}, Amber notes his right hand is... strong.
** In one episode, Bud started making sculptures with wooden sticks to spend the extra time granted by his lack of social life. When he got a date (with a girl who caught chicken pox), he said there'd be no more sticky fingers. Realizing how that comment could be interpreted, Bud stated it was from the glue.
* [[A Day in
** The episode "Look Who's Barking" centers around Buck the dog. Some episodes have him at the semi-forefront, too.
** The three [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot|Poorly Disguised Pilots]] (one centered on Al's high school friend and his dim-witted son, one centered on Bud's life in college [including Steve becoming the dean and Marcy starting a protest group against the college radio station], and one about Kelly and her latest boyfriend's petty, sarcastic friends) also count.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Most (if not all) of the people on this show are [[Deadpan Snarker
** Buck trumps everybody in this department, even if the humans can't hear him.
* [[Deconstructor Fleet]]: Of every single sitcom of the time.
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* [[Determinator]]: Despite all the misery he's been through, Al still keeps on going and refuses to take the easy way out by killing himself. Al notes this on the Season 3 premiere "He Thought He Could" (where Al finds an overdue library book and confronts the evil librarian who constantly put him down as a child) that this is what makes him a winner, rather than a loser.
* [[Did I Just Say That Out Loud?]]: There are several examples.
{{quote|
'''Jefferson:''' But Marcy, he's nuts! ''You'' go down, you're the one with the million-dollar life insurance policy.
'''Marcy:''' ...what million-dollar life insurance policy?
'''Jefferson:''' Can't talk now, I've got to go help out the boy. }}
** Also played out with Kelly. She can't remember the difference between
** In another episode Al dreams that he is a [[Private Detective]], complete with [[Private Eye Monologue]]. At one point he says his narration out loud just as he is afflicted with [[Male Gaze]].
* [[Directed
* [[Dirty Coward]]: For all his tough-guy posturing, Ray-Ray (see [[Older Hero vs. Younger Villain]] and [[Take a Third Option]], below) hides behind the rest of his thugs and has them beat Al up with sheer numbers because he arguably knows he's not man enough to face up to Al in a real fight.
* [[Dirty Old Man]]: Al, Jefferson and the rest of the NO MA'AM guys all enjoy drooling over women young enough to be their daughters.
* [[Dirty Old Woman]]: The reason Peggy doesn't seem to mind Al ogling other women, reading nudie magazines or going to strip clubs is probably because she does the same things herself with other men. Marcy also occasionally demonstrates this trope.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: The revenge on Heather McCoy ([[Saved
** [[Hoist
* [[Distaff Counterpart]]: An in-universe example occurred with Kelly when she got a job as an amusement park gate attendant, which turned her into a female version of Al, complete with the bitter outlook on life and horror stories involving fat women ([[Fan Service|she even took on Al's signature slouching-with-hand-in-pants sitting position]], which Peg didn't recognize, despite seeing it a million times before). Another example was the show "Psycho Mom", created by FOX as an alternative to "Psycho Dad", Al's favorite TV show.
* [[The Ditz]]: Kelly, though in the earlier episodes, she wasn't that dumb (despite getting bad grades in school), and was only made fun of for having bleached-blond hair, being a slut, dating sleazy guys, and committing petty crimes like speeding, sneaking out of the house, stealing money from Al, and vandalizing public property.
** Lampshaded in an episode which showed that Kelly used to be very intelligent as a child, until she hit her head during a car accident.
* [[Does This Make Me Look Fat?]]: "Ladies, it's not the dress that makes you look fat, it's ''the fat'' that makes you look fat!"
* [[The Dog Was the Mastermind]]: Quite literally applied in an episode where the Bundys harbor a fugitive Steve, who has a substantial reward on his head. Peg, Bud and Kelly are tempted to turn Steve in, but Al refuses. The police are tipped off anyway, and after arresting Steve they also arrest the Bundys for harboring him. The Bundys wonder which of them ratted Steve out, but they all deny it. The final scene features Buck dressed in a fedora and holding a large bag of reward money in his mouth.
* [[Doom It Yourself]]: Al's adventures fixing a leaky rooftop, him hunting a [[Killer Rabbit]], etc.
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* [[Driven to Suicide]]: [[Played for Laughs]] in this case: Several ship crew members do this during the Pirate episode for having to hear Ruvio the Cruel sing.
* [[Driving Test]]: Bud (who worked for the DMV) was Al's driving inspector for one episode when he lost his license.
* [[Drop
* [[Dumb Blonde]]: Kelly.
* [[Dumbass Has a Point]]: If any character figured out something that eluded the rest of the cast, it was usually Kelly.
* [[Dysfunctional Family]]
* [[Early
** Dan Tullis appeared off-and-on as a generic cop character, who was later established to be Officer Dan.
* [[Eighties Hair]]: Peg and Kelly in earlier seasons.
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* [[Escalating War]]: The episode ''How Green Was My Apple'' starts out with Al and Jefferson arguing over an apple that's growing on a tree near their shared fence. It grows into an increasingly crazed dispute over their mutual property line.
* [[Even the Dog Is Ashamed]]: Or just senile.
* [[Everything's Worse
* [[Exact Words]]: In one episode, Al and some of his friends tried a hair tonic that had the unfortunate (for them) side effect of making them want to have sex with their wives (or ex-wife in Griff's case). Al promised to develop an antidote, stating that a Bundy got them in that trouble and a Bundy will get them out. Cuts to a scene with Bud being forced to serve as a test subject.
* [[Fag Hag]]: [[Gender Flip
** Played straight and subverted ''in the same episode'' when Peg has a close friendship with a gay man, to the point where they actually begin dancing together at an upscale nightclub. The subversion comes when the gay man's husband (played by ''Simpsons'' voice actor [[Dan Castellaneta]]) thinks that his mate and Peg are having an affair, and tries to tell Al about it. When Al learns that the husband has a job, likes to cook and enjoys watching sports on TV (except for soccer, which he doesn't think is really a "man's game"), Al briefly falls head-over-heels in love.
* [[Fan Service]]: Besides the fanservice you get from Kelly, Peg, and, to a lesser extent, Marcy, the show regularly featured [[Playboy]] Playmates and Penthouse Pets as guest stars.
* [[Fat Bastard]]: Bob Rooney is a textbook example. Al once used his exposed gut to scare a bunch of little kids out of their Halloween candy.
* [[Faux Horrific]]: Peg redecorating the bathroom.
* [[Feeling Oppressed
* [[
** Also, 555-SHOE, 555-RIND, 555-PINF, 555-RGNE, on the episode Al opened a shoe-hotline.
* [[Flanderization]]: Nearly all the characters eventually, though this actually increased the show's quality.
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* [[Friends Rent Control]]: the place might not look like much, but when you consider that it's a multilevel home and that the sole breadwinner most episodes is a shoe salesman who makes less money than an Eskimo blubber-chewer, a French deodorant salesman or a Pakistani dirt vendor, and whose failure at almost everything is a [[Running Gag]]...
* [[Full-Name Basis]]: Bob Rooney is never called anything but Bob Rooney, even by his wife.
* [[Fun
** Also Marcy's counter-organization '''FANG''': '''F'''eminists '''A'''gainst '''N'''eanderthal '''G'''uys.
*** And at another point, Marcy and Peg started '''WOMB''': '''W'''omen '''O'''we '''M'''en '''B'''upkis.
* [[Game Between Heirs]]: There's an episode in which Al Bundy's Uncle Stymie, the only male Bundy to be a success in life (Al credits this to the fact Stymie was the only one who never married), left his $500,000 estate to the first male Bundy to have a legitimate son named after him. Considering that the lawyer who read the will would later marry a male Bundy and give birth to Stymie Junior to get the money, Al and the other Bundys who didn't get the money even though [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot|could have challenged the will under claims of undue influence]].
* [[Gargle Blaster]]: Peggy tries serving Al a glass of orange...''something'' that spews smoke everywhere.
{{quote|
'''Peggy:''' Al...we thought you might be thirsty...so I made you some Tang.
'''Al:''' ...[[Crowning Moment of Funny|Tang don't smoke]].
'''Kelly:''' Oh! This is new and improved "Smoking Tang!" }}
* [[Gay Moment]]
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* [[Gilligan Cut]]: Many times.
* [[Glory Days]]: Al's many stories about how he "scored four touchdowns in one game".
* [[Gold Digger]]: Peg, despite the fact that her husband has a crappy job. [[Gender Flip
** It was acknowledged as well: one episode opens with Al coming home, and delivering a speech ostensibly to Peg about how he's been working all day while she just sits on the couch watching TV and munching bonbons. The camera then pans out to reveal that he's talking to Jefferson.
** Also in an episode (one of Steve's last on the show) where Marcy was among those commiserating with Al and his bar buddies over working to pay for unappreciative families.
** One episode had Marcy wanting to leave her husband because he didn't make as much money as he used to when he wanted to pursue his dream job, making her seem like this as well.
** One of the episodes where Marcy got him a job, she told him she was tired of having him commenting about Oprah every time she gets home and that it was like being married to Peggy.
* [[Go Mad
* [[Gonk]]: This was the type of woman Bud usually ended up attracting, much to his chagrin. Peg's mother was also implied to be one of this, although we were spared the horror of actually seeing what she looked like.
* [[Gypsy Curse]]: The Bundy family has multiple ones upon them. The eternal darkness in Lower Uncton is one of them, Al's smelly feet are another one, and the general successlessness of every Bundy in history is said to be yet another one.
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* [[Hilariously Abusive Childhood]]: Many jokes about what a lousy mother Peg was to Bud and Kelly.
** As bad as Bud and Kelly's childhoods were, several episodes imply that Al's was even worse. His mother was an alcoholic, and his father abandoned the family for a hooker.
* [[Hoist
** More like a [[Streisand Effect]].
* [[Hollywood Dateless]] + [[Casanova Wannabe]]: Bud. It's possible that his poor performance when he actually manages to have sex is part of the problem-Ariel, Tina Yothers, and Cousin Jimmy's fiance all imply that Bud didn't exactly wow them in bed.
* [[Hormone-Addled Teenager]]: Kelly, the [[Trope Codifier]] if not the outright [[Ur Example]]. Bud also counts as the male equivalent. See [[A Date
* [[Housewife]]: Definitely ''not'' Peg, though Al wants her to be one. Peg was brainwashed to be a competent housewife on a later season episode where Peg bumps her head on the coffee table and immediately loses her memory.
* [[I Am Not Spock]]: All the main actors are usually identified by their respective roles in ''
** This is slowly being overturned by Modern Family, however. Very slowly.
* [[I Coulda Been a Contender]]: Who do you think?
* [[Idiot Ball]]: The entire cast (Rhoadeses/D'Arcys inclusive). They're not passing it around. They're not playing a hot potato with a couple of those. They're frantically juggling a dozen or more in the wildest game of Dysfunctional Family And Neighbourhood Circus you've ever seen in your current or any of your past or future lives.
* [[If I Do Not Return]]: This trope had been played with in T*R*A*S*H
{{quote|
'''Al:''' And tell her that you love her?
'''Griff:''' No, tell her that she's a bitch! }}
* [[Indecisive Parody]]: The "Ship of Passion" episode.
* [[Indian Burial Ground]]: While it would explain a lot if the Bundys lived on an Indian burial ground, they actually live on an Indian ''garbage dump''. The Bundy property was originally a landfill where the First Nations people threw their rotting moccasins.
* [[Innocent Innuendo]]: In one episode, Jefferson, Marcy, Kelly and Bud hear what sounds like Peg is playing with Al's you-know-what, while in fact she was just fixing Al's neck tie.
* [[Insatiable Newlyweds]]: Marcy and Steve. At one point she describes one of their quickies as "A little three-hour love-fest."
* [[Invisible Holes]]
* [[Jaded Washout]]: (Former [[Trope Namer]])
* [[Jerkass Gods]]: Al believes that God has it in for him, and it's strongly implied that this is true. When God comes up with a particularly cruel twist of fate, or an especially vicious insult apparently directed at Al, Al will occasionally sarcastically compliment God, or simply ask Him if He doesn't have anything else to do.
{{quote|
** A particularly noteworthy episode that could be taken as proof of divine beings toying with
{{quote|
'''Al:''' Oh, ''I'm'' sure. }}
** And then just to [[Kick the Dog]], as the police haul him out Al gets struck by lightning, and the news reporter says that the weather is sunny and clear except over ''one'' single house.
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** However, this habit of Peg's also resulted in a bit of good luck for the kids when her leftover Mystery Meal results in the band Anthrax being quarantined to the Bundy house for an entire month.
* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]:
{{quote|
** And whenever ''Bad To The Bone'' started playing.
* [[Like Brother and Sister]]: Rumors abounded that David Faustino and Christina Applegate were an item. Faustino denied this, saying that Applegate was more like a sister to him.
* [[Long Runners]]: 10 years (11 seasons) on the air made this FOX's longest-running live-action scripted program, and their fifth-longest running show overall (behind some [[The Simpsons (animation)|other]] [[
* [[Lovely Assistant]]: In an episode, where Al and Peggy compete in a game show:
{{quote|
* [[A Man Is Always Eager]]: Inverted with Al and Peg; she's the one who always wants sex, while he's usually sickened by the very thought.
* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: Now you know why Bud goes to such absurd lengths to get some action.
* [[Mars and Venus Gender Contrast]]: A driving force for both plot, dialogue and characterization.
* [[The Millstone]]: '''PEG'''.
* [[Missing Episode]]: Season 3's episode "I'll See You in Court", where The Bundys and the Rhoades sue a motel for videotaping them during sex and using the surveillance footage as pornographic movies for other motel guests. It was pulled because of the backlash involving Terry Rakolta (a Michigan housewife who protested against the show because of the episode "Her Cups Runneth Over" because its bawdy jokes centered around a lingerie-cum-marital aid store), but premiered on the cable channel FX and was released on DVD
* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: If you don't understand why Kelly Bundy '''is''' this trope, you've obviously never seen the show.
* [[My Friends and Zoidberg]]
{{quote|
** Would occasionally happen to Peg:
{{quote|
* [[National Stereotypes]]: To get a promotion at her banking job, Marcy once tried to suck up to her Japanese boss by playing up all kinds of absurd Japanese stereotypes. We hear the thoughts of the boss (played by Pat Morita, AKA [[The Karate Kid|Mr. Myagi]]), and he's not impressed.
* [[Nausea Dissonance]]: In "Hot off the Grill", everyone at Al's cookout reacts with disgust when they learn that [[It Makes Sense in Context|Kelly added the ashes of Marcy's dead aunt to Al's grill.]] Everyone, that is, except Steve, who hated said aunt...and starts grinning as he eats his "Bundy-burger" with even more enthusiasm.
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** In another episode, Kelly accidentally created a hair tonic named "Bleen", which worked but had the side-effect of having the male users want to have sex with their wives. The divorced Griff complained that the tonic made him pay the overdue alimony.
* [[No Accounting for Taste]], on ''both'' ends of the main couple. She's a lazy, Bon-Bon eating money sponge, he's a misanthrope with a dead-end job. Together, they raise kids!
* [[No
* [[Noodle Incident]]: On a Season 3 episode where Kelly has a slumber party and The Rhoades lose their house, Al forbids Kelly to have a slumber party because the last time she had it, she was tried as an adult at the age of eight and someone shaved Al's head in his sleep. There was no further information.
** However, when Al and the others later go to Washington to prevent the cancellation of Psycho Dad, Kelly and Bud have another party. Through radio reports we learn that the party engulfs most of the upper Midwest by the end of the episode, with the National Guard setting up "back-parties" to contain it.
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* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: When the noise Al makes building Lucky's doghouse bothers Marcy, she bribes a city building inspector to harass Al and make him jump through a bunch of hoops to finally get the doghouse approved, including having plumbing and handicap access installed. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
** On the other hand, Al got the last laugh when he used all the leftover cement he'd had to buy for the doghouse foundation and dumps it all over Marcy's Mercedes.
* [[Older Hero vs. Younger Villain]]: One Season 8 episode features Al coming to the defense of an old classmate of his against Ray-Ray, a young gang leader who's making her life miserable.
* [[Old Maid]]: Miss Hathaway.
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** Al telling off the older woman he thinks the underage Bud is having an affair with. It's the wrong woman, but it's the right reaction.
** Throughout the show, especially in the early seasons, ''both'' parents basically had "oh, ''hell'' no" reactions to the kids doing something wrong.
* [[Out
* [[Parallel Porn Titles]]: A good half-dozen in the subplot to the episode "Dial 'B' for Virgin" where Al and Peg go to a video store. Al's favorite is "[[Forrest Gump|Forrest Hump]]".
* [[Performance Anxiety]]: Played with in one episode when Marcy is anxious about having to deliver bad news at a presentation to her bank executives. She sees a psychotherapist who conditions her to associate public speaking with sex. This not only relieves her performance anxiety, but causes her to have an orgasm during the presentation. She's soon [[Fetish Fuel|in demand]] throughout Chicago as a speaker delivering bad news.
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** In one of his few moments of being a kind father to his son, Al rescued Bud from an absolutely pathetic party planned by his mother by taking him to the fabled [[Bikini Bar|nudie bar]] on his 18th birthday.
* [[The Pete Best]]: The original pilot had different actors playing Bud and Kelly.
* [[Pick
* [[Plague of Good Fortune]]: The dreaded "Bundy Curse" brings bad luck to any Bundys who ever get lucky in ''anything''.
** {{spoiler|Except Bud, who gets laid.}}
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* [[Pro Wrestling Episode]]: "Flight of the Bumblebee"
* [[Property Line]]: "How Green Was My Apple", where The Bundys and the D'Arcys wage war over an apple tree.
* [[Put
* [[Real Song Theme Tune]]: [[Frank Sinatra]]'s "Love and Marriage".
** Sadly, on Hulu and on the DVD box sets from Season 3 onwards, the theme song was replaced by generic orchestra music because the rights-holder for the song's (which is [[
** On one episode of [[Jeopardy!]], the Final Jeopardy catagory was ''Sitcom Theme Songs''. The answer "Current Sitcom whose theme is sung by Frank Sinatra" stumped all three contestants.
* [[Reality Subtext]]: One episode in the final season guest starred Marcy's identical gay cousin "Mandy". The actress who played both characters (Amanda Bearse) is a lesbian in real life.
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: In Season 6, Katey Sagal got pregnant, resulting in Peggy doing the same. After Katey Sagal's miscarriage, it was made [[All Just a Dream]] out of sensitivity to the tragedy. Then when Katey Sagal got pregnant again, the pregnancy was covered up by having Peg either sitting at the kitchen table or off the show on her own storyline where she's living with her redneck parents in Wisconsin and ends up traveling the world to get her father back.
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* [[Retired Badass]]: ''Jefferson'', of all people. One episode involved him rappelling down into Fidel Castro's office and holding him at knifepoint - only it turned out he and Fidel were old friends from Jefferson's CIA days.
* [[Risky Business Dance]]: In "Breaking up is Easy to Do, Part 2".
* [[Sadist Show]]: Before such shows as ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', ''[[Family Guy]]'', and ''[[South Park]]'', this show made fun of (at-the-time) taboo subject matter (particularly sex, feminism, homosexuality, juvenile delinquency, and political correctness), had extraordinarily raunchy jokes and [[Double Entendre
* [[Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up]]: Al, of course. [[Future Loser|How the mighty have fallen...]]
* [[Screwed
** First, there was the censors wanting to retitle an episode called "A Period Piece" (which focused on Peg, Kelly, and Marcy getting their periods simultaneously while Al, Bud, and Steve go fishing) into "The Camping Show", even though the show titles for "Married...With Children" were not shown onscreen (and not known at all until "Married...With Children" fan websites and cable guide summaries sprung up in the 1990s).
** Then, there was the whole Terry Rakolta incident, which caused an episode that wasn't even that raunchy, but still had heavy sexual references ("I'll See You in Court") to be barred from viewing until FX aired the episode a decade later and the episode was released on DVD.
** Perhaps the most egregious of all was how the series ended. You know that last episode where Kelly {{spoiler|almost gets married to the man who held her family hostage}}? Well, despite looking like the perfect plot for the final episode of a dysfunctional family sitcom, it wasn't scheduled to be that way. After FOX spent all of Season 10 moving "Married...With Children" to different timeslots (and made worse by the fact that ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' and ''[[In Living Color]]'' were gaining in popularity), the show suffered in the ratings so much that FOX decided to shut the show down after its 11th season. According to the "E! True Hollywood Story" about "Married...With Children", the actors had a lot of different ideas for what the last episode should have been. Ed O'Neill thought that the Bundys should win the lottery right before a tornado ripped through the neighborhood and killed them. Christina Applegate built on this, saying that the Bundy house should have then landed on Marcy, a la ''[[
*** The last one is [[Your Mileage May Vary|probably the only case where being screwed by the network is a good thing]].
* [[Self-Made Man]]: Stymie Bundy. Al credits Stymie's success to the fact Stymie never got married.
* [[Sex
* [[Shotgun Wedding]]: The circumstances under which Al and Peggy tied the knot, as Peggy was pregnant with Kelly at the time. Peggy's father brings the shotgun to the couple's ceremony to renew their wedding vows to make sure Al doesn't back out of that as well.
* [[Shot in
* [[Shout
** Also numerous references to other TV shows that were on at the time. In one episode, Al criticizes ''[[Friends]]'', only for Bud to find him watching it later; Al's excuse is that if you turn the sound off and watch with binoculars, you can tell that Rachel isn't wearing a bra.
** The creators of the show were all fans of [[Professional Wrestling]], and chose the surname "Bundy" as an homage to legendary [[Heel]] King Kong Bundy (who appeared on the show as one of Peggy's relatives).
*** He also appeared in the episode where Bud needs a picture of himself w/ King Kong to get into NO MA'AM.
*** The Rhodes were named after "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.
*** Unfortunately, many people who ''weren't'' wrestling fans misinterpreted the [[Shout
** Stymie Bundy was named after [[The Little Rascals|a Little Rascal]]. Matthew "Stymie" Beard, to be exact. Al once called him "Uncle Buckwheat" (Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas) and Kelly once called him "Uncle Spanky" (George "Spanky" [[Mc Farland]]). The three of them were from the Roach talkie period.
** An episode of [[Futurama]] has Katey Sagal's character Leela devolve into a one eyed Peggy [[Expy]] about to be married to an alien named Alkezar (Who insists she call him "Al").
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* [[The Smart Guy]]: Bud... usually.
* [[Smelly Feet]]: A running joke for Al, as well as for several of the fat women he must deal with at his store.
* [[Something Completely Different]]: the three pilot episodes that had The Bundys in supporting roles; the dream episode where the Grim Reaper (who appears as Peg) haunts Al on Halloween after Al wishes he was dead; the fantasy episode where The Devil (played by Robert "[[A Nightmare
* [[So Proud of You]]: Al and Peg have both expressed this to the kids whenever they do something particularly underhanded. Al has expressed his pride in Bud when Bud [[Combat Pragmatist|beat up bigger guys in a bar fight by hitting them with weapons]] or trapped and tortured him in the basement because he got mad at Al for refusing to repair Bud's room. When Peg was blackmailed by Bud and Kelly into sharing the money she would have gotten by selling the engine of Al's Dodge, she's shocked that they'd resort to doing something like that...and then gushes at how proud she is of them for doing so.
* [[Spanner in
* [[Speed Sex]]: Al is constantly mocked for his performance in bed. On of Peg's many insults: "I used to call you The Minute Man. Now I long for those days."
* [[Spinning Paper]]
* [[Spin-Off]]: Season 5 had a few episodes created specifically to set up the short-lived spinoff ''Top of the Heap'', whose cast included [[Retroactive Recognition|Matt LeBlanc and Joey Lauren Adams]]. They also tried to revive it in 1992 under the name ''Vinnie & Bobby'', but it only lasted 7 episodes.
** ...which was still better than some other spin-offs they tried to make, but failed. ''Radio Free Trumaine'' was a series pitched to FOX based on the Season 9 episode of the same name, which would have centered on Budd at college with Steve as the antagonistic Dean and a new female lead as Budd's love interest. ''Enemies'' (so named because it would have been sort of a parody of ''[[Friends]]'') was an idea pitched for a spin-off featuring Kelly's social circle. Neither idea made it past the development stage.
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: In many ways, ''Married...'' was one of these to ''It's Your Move'', a [[Too Good to Last]] NBC sitcom from 1984 which had the same creators (Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye) and a similarly cynical brand of humor, and starred future ''Married...'' cast member David Garrison along with a then-unknown [[Retroactive Recognition|Jason Bateman]].
** ''[[Unhappily Ever After]]'', in turn, can be seen as somewhat of a Spiritual Successor (with a fair amount of [[Follow the Leader]] thrown in) to ''Married...'' itself. It, too, was co-created by Ron Leavitt.
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** "...And if the Bears lose to the Rams, they get thrown out of the league."
*** In 1995, the show's taping locale moved from the Fox set to the Sony Pictures set on which [[Full House]] taped. Prior to taping the first episode in the new set, the cast and crew held an exorcism to rid it of the spirits of ''Full House''.
** A lot of the early episodes make a lot of mentions of Joe Piscopo (started out on ''SNL'''s 1980-1981 season, but became popular when paired with Eddie
** In part 1 of the 3-part "The England Show", Al takes his shoes off on the plane to England, making the passengers and Peg complain about the smell, prompting Al to say, "Hey, they show ''Dutch'', and they think ''I'' stink?". Ed O'Neill was in that movie, thus making this Take That to double as an [[Actor Allusion]].
* [[Take a Third Option]]: When one of Al's classmates from high school asks him to deal with a young street punk named Ray-Ray who's been causing trouble for her restaurant, Al offers to "settle" things with the kid either in the restaurant, or out on the street. Ray-Ray replies by invoking this trope, giving a whistle to summon his gang to back him up. Cue the [[Curb Stomp Battle]].
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* [[This Is My Side]]
* [[This Loser Is You]]: It's "You Stink!" on the show, but the sentiment is still there.
* [[Throw the Dog
* [[Title Drop]]: Al does this in one episode while reflecting on a string of odd recent success, as well as in a poem in one of the Christmas episodes.
** Also in the episode where he goes to Luke's apartment, and a beautiful stewardess offers Al sex.
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** Oddly enough, this is when the show also started [[Growing the Beard]].
* [[Torches and Pitchforks]]: When the family's new air conditioner shorts out the neighborhood power grid, Al expresses relief that at least no one knows that it's the Bundys' fault. Unfortunately, the neighbors all correctly guess that the Bundys are responsible and form an angry mob that tries to storm the Bundy house. Kelly even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it when she wonders where the neighbors got the torches and pitchforks so quickly, implying that they've been waiting for an excuse to go after the Bundys anyway.
* [[The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter|The Ugly Chicken's Hot Niece]]: Marcy's niece Amber comes to stay with the D'Arcys for a few weeks, and Bud suffers a [[Freak
* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Al and Peggy (though he'd disagree). Also [[Gender Flip
* [[Ultimate Job Security]]: The way Al insults the fat women who come into the shoe store would have gotten him fired many times over in [[Real Life]], but he manages to keep his job anyway. This troper figures it's because Gary (the store's owner) can't find anyone else desperate enough to work there...besides Griff, anyway.
** Actually Gary says the reason she won't fire him is because he would "make more money on unemployment".
** Subverted in another episode when Kelly is unhappy that the company she works for is making her wear a bikini in the next "Verminator" ad campaign. Jefferson advises her to refuse to do it and demand better treatment, since as the "Verminator" she holds all the cards. Kelly follows Jefferson's advice and is immediately fired. It's even [[Lampshaded]] by Marcy:
{{quote|
'''Jefferson:''' I know it's not a bingo number! It's... that stuff you spray on squeaky hinges, right? }}
* [[Unconvincing Instant Ecstasy]]{{context}}
* [[Unfortunate Names]]: "I'm now Marcy D'ARCY?!"
* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: Al's whole family, though Peg is the truly big one.
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* [[Unsatisfiable Customer]]: Al might not necessarily mind the fat women that he deals with at the shoe store, if they didn't always insist their feet were six sizes smaller than they really were, treated him like garbage, and were generally rude and obnoxious.
* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: Jefferson and Walter Troggett each try to use Al as a pawn in their attempts to do each other in. Jefferson wins.
* [[
* [[Vacation Episode]]
* [[The Voice]]: Peg's mother.
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* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: As Al is fond of pointing out, he once scored four touchdowns in a single game. And it was the championship game too.
* [[Where Da White Women At?]]: Briefly invoked when Al sits down and opens up a [[Porn Stash|Big 'Uns]] magazine, and Griff sits down next to him and opens a Black Big 'Uns. After reading for a moment, they trade magazines.
* [[Whoa, Bundy!]]: The [[Trope Namer]].
{{quote|
''(the other Bundys put their hands in a circle)''
'''Everyone:''' Whoooooaa, BUNDY! }}
* [[Whole
* [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?]]: Al occasionally laments that Bud never played football like he did. When he becomes a [[Parental Substitute]] to Aaron, a high school football player who takes a job at the shoe store, Al claims that he's like the son Al always wanted. Note that Al says this while Bud is [[I'm Standing Right Here|sitting next to him on the couch]].
* [[William Telling]]: Kelly becomes a skilled archer and accepts her opponent's challenge to shoot an apple on Bud's head. She balks at going through with it, not wanting to hurt Bud, but when her opponent accuses her of cowardice, she shoots the apple without warning, causing Bud to pass out and, upon reviving, regress to toddlerhood.
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* [[The Windy City]]: The show is set in Chicago.
* [[Wonderful Life]]: Subverted in the two-part [[Christmas Episode]], where Al's guardian angel (played by Sam Kinison) shows Al's life if he were never born. Turns out that without Al, Peg is a competent housewife married to a rich man (played by the actor who would later play Marcy's husband, Jefferson), Bud respects women, and Kelly is college-bound, a published poet, and still a virgin. Al then elects to [[Make Wrong What Once Went Right|exist out of pure spite]].
* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: Al gives a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|glorious one]] to the librarian when she calls him a loser. Instead, [http://youtu.be/jyLmSAnoR6g Al bluntly points out that, despite all the misery and hell he's gone through in his life], the mere fact that [[The Determinator|he keeps on going]] and [[Death
{{quote|
* [[World of Snark]]: Even Kelly has her moments, despite not seeming to be smart enough for making up snappy insults.
* [[Written
* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: Al and Marcy seem to have it going on. Throughout the series there are moments where they seem to genuinely get along despite the number of insults they trade back and forth. They know what it's like to have deadbeat spouses while at the same time working to earn a living for ungrateful money pits of individuals who demand everything and do nothing.
* [[You Are Number Six]]: Seven.
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{{reflist}}
{{Best in TV: The Greatest TV Shows of Our Time}}
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[[Category:The Eighties]]
[[Category:American Series]]
[[Category:Dom Com]]
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[[Category:Live-Action TV]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1990s]]
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