Barnes & Noble

When it first went on the air in April 1987, seeking to lure younger viewers deemed underserved by the Big Three broadcast networks, the Fox Broadcasting Company ran a lot of shows up the flagpole in search of a salute. The hearty and nearly unanimous critical raspberry that greeted its Sunday night offering Married…with Children elevated the sitcom to standard-bearer status as the show that epitomized Fox's edgy, underdog status. This first-season collection offers the first 13 episodes from Married's freshman season, a hilarious study in boorish middle-class dysfunction. The head of the household is Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill), a working stiff in the Archie Bunker mold who also exhibits a dangerous Randy Quaid streak -- that is, the Randy Quaid from the National Lampoon's Vacation movies. Al's wife, Peggy (Katey Sagal), amalgamates most of the big-hair, lazy, dim-bulb suburban stereotypes into one loudmouthed package and invariably stuffs the package into not-quite-enough clothes. Peg's passion for snug attire is better suited to the family's teen daughter, Kelly (Christina Applegate), who has it going on in ways that only underscore the utter cluelessness of her younger brother, Bud (David Faustino). In these early episodes, relatively straightlaced next-door neighbors Marcy and Steve Rhoades (Amanda Bearse, David Garrison) get lots of chances to look aghast at the Bundys, although they will later lighten up. Viewers lightened up to the sitcom pretty early; and while this first season didn't draw particularly high ratings, it drew enough viewers to rank among Fox's first hits. Kelly and Bud, ages 15 and 11, respectively, both passed legal age before the show ran out of gas a decade later, after 259 episodes. These 13 are not as polished as some of the later episodes, but they're fresher for it.

Product Details

• UPC: 043396016514
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
• Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Language: English
• Time: 5:02:00
• Sales Rank: 1,660

This set contains DVDs which may be available separately:

• Married... With Children: Pilot
• Married... With Children: Thinergy
• Married... With Children: Sixteen Years and What Do You Get?
• Married... With Children: But I Didn't Shoot the Deputy
• Married... With Children: Have You Driven a Ford Lately
• Married... With Children: Whose Room is it Anyway?
• Married... With Children: Al Loses His Cherry
• Married... With Children: Peggy Sue Got Work
• Married... With Children: Married... Without Children
• Married... With Children: The Poker Game
• Married... With Children: Where's the Boss?
• Married... With Children: Nightmare on Al's Street
• Married... With Children: Johnny Be Gone

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