Before Family Guy. Before The Simpsons. Before South Park. There was Married... with Children—the sitcom that kicked the door in on TV wholesomeness.
In this episode of High and Low Retrospective, we revisit Married... with Children, the brutally funny, unapologetically cynical show that flipped the American sitcom upside down. Airing on Fox in 1987, it shattered the Leave It to Beaver mold and introduced us to a dysfunctional family we were glad wasn’t ours—but couldn’t stop watching.
From Al Bundy’s bitter monologues to Peg’s weaponized apathy, this retrospective explores how Married... with Children became the anti-sitcom America didn’t know it needed—and why its legacy still looms large over modern television.
We unpack its origins, the cultural backlash, the rise of Fox as a network, and the show's complicated place in TV history. Was it brilliant satire or just lowbrow entertainment? Let’s find out.
Join the conversation. Was Al Bundy a hero, a cautionary tale, or both? Watch now and subscribe for more deep dives into the shows that shaped (and warped) our culture.
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