Married With Children had its fair share of unpleasantries, right from the start. Angry letters and complaints blew up in the faces of all involved. All the characters were criticized, but Kelly’s character, which was played by Christina Applegate, received the most terrible critics. Kelly was a teenager who was a flirt, wore provocative clothing, and misbehaved all the time.
The criticisms were so bad that the character of Kelly would have been terminated, had the writers listened to them. That was just how Kelly was, and she could never be a good girl. Criticisms were ignored and they carried on with the character. We can only assume this was a good thing, because the show went on to be more popular than ever.
The Wig
In some instances, actors had to play different roles at the same time, which required some modifications. They had to go under heavy alterations as they work with different shows simultaneously. Applegate played both the roles of Bud’s silly older sister and Al and Peggy’s daughter in season ten.
Applegate had to wear a blonde wig during that season as well, because she had gone brunette for a character she was playing simultaneously in a movie. Applegate’s portrayal of Bud’s older sister and Al and Peggy's daughter was a frequent joke throughout the show, because of Kelly’s natural hair color and her being a fake blonde.
The Show's Legacy
Married With Children holds the record of being the longest running live-action television show on Fox. With 11 seasons and 259 original episodes, this TV series was aired from 1987 to 1997. It also ranked eighth in American television history as the longest running weekly comedy series. If you want to watch the crowd favorite reruns of the show, just go to Fox or TBS.
Most other networks, apart from Fox, at that time thought Married With Children was going to be a failure of a program. The series was controversial and incredibly edgy for its time. However, it became one of the most popular sitcoms during the ten years of its show life. It stood the test of time despite some negative reactions from the audience, rejects, and many controversies associated with the sitcom.
The VISTA Card
Yes, you read that right! It’s VISTA, not Visa. Visa cards exist, yes, but there is no such thing as VISTA Cards. If you have noticed, there's a sign that says VISTA cards in Bundy’s shoe shop. You wouldn’t think that the writers and producers of the show made a mistake. Or, do you think they made it on purpose just to make the show more hilarious, indicating that Al’s store was going down the drain?
In reality, this was likely done to avoid lawsuits. The producers didn’t want to get caught up with legal issues any further. But if you were not really focusing on it, you could have read it as Visa. Whatever the reason behind it, it didn’t really matter that much to the viewers.
The Big 'Uns
Do you remember how complex Al was as a character? You might remember that most of his scenes were just him sitting and watching TV. However, he actually had other stuff under his sleeve. He may have appeared to be conservative, but the character had his own blunders.
You may have noticed, Al had a fascination for adult magazines called “the Big ‘Uns.” This demeanor made the character even more funny and spirited. Did he ever wonder how his daughter’s generation might be affected by this? Of course! He didn’t like how flirty she was, but we’ll get to that soon.