http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ot2010&action=display&thread=339053

For the first couple of seasons, the show was grounded in reality but as the show went on it became more cartoony and silly and un-relatable. Not as bad as Roseanne did, but still...

http://www.bonethefish.com/viewtopics.php?291

Although I was sad when the Steve character left the show, the AL character was still funny enough to make up for the absence of Steve and keep the show very funny until the end


Jefferson ended up growing on me

I think it started jumping when Steve left.

I always liked him so much better than Jefferson.

But, IMO. It really jumped when they added Seven to the cast.

I just watched 4 episodes. 3 from seasons 1-4. And, 1 from the last season. The last season one was way too cheesy. It was the episode "Twisted" The only really funny scene was Kelly running towards the tornado. But, the rest of the episode sucked.

I think it started jumping when Steve left.

I always liked him so much better than Jefferson.

But, IMO. It really jumped when they added Seven to the cast.


Never saw the purpose of Seven.

Neither did I. He was just like Cousin Oliver on The Brady Bunch. A new kid brought in for an unknown reason that just took up valuable time that could have been used for real comedy.

Neither did I. He was just like Cousin Oliver on The Brady Bunch. A new kid brought in for an unknown reason that just took up valuable time that could have been used for real comedy.


Remember the ep when Bud is drinking milk and seven is on the side of the carton as missing?:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yep. That was a brilliant touch to that episode.

Yep. That was a brilliant touch to that episode.


I love that the show is on TBS on saturday night from 3am to 6am

i think it jumped the shark halfway through the 2nd episode - and that's what made it great.

i think it jumped the shark halfway through the 2nd episode - and that's what made it great.



HUH?

When they did that season where Peg was pregnant then had to awkwardly get out of it. The whole deal with Peg's gigantic mother and Tim Conway as her father was waaay over the top. The show was often over the top but this went into surreal territory.

When they did that season where Peg was pregnant then had to awkwardly get out of it. The whole deal with Peg's gigantic mother and Tim Conway as her father was waaay over the top. The show was often over the top but this went into surreal territory.


Yeah the ep with Peg's mom being the phone sex operator from upstairs:lol:

I could make the argument that when Jefferson came, it jumped the shark. I really liked Steve and I think Jefferson had a tough ordeal filling in for Steve. I thought the first year or two with Jefferson were good but I cant pin point when it jumped the shark. I guess maybe the final season or two when Tim Conway joined the cast. Hes was funny as hell but something was missing.

I could make the argument that when Jefferson came, it jumped the shark. I really liked Steve and I think Jefferson had a tough ordeal filling in for Steve. I thought the first year or two with Jefferson were good but I cant pin point when it jumped the shark. I guess maybe the final season or two when Tim Conway joined the cast. Hes was funny as hell but something was missing.


And it didn't help much to get over Steve when he came back as a guest and in the same scene with Jefferson

HUH?
the first episode they made a half-assed effort to act like it was a REAL sitcom - by the second episode they gave up all pretense of being normal or realistic and just went overboard, going so over the top it was almost like a cartoon.


From then on they just kept getting wackier and wackier - and I don't think it was bad at all - I just think that the only time the actually "crossed a line" was at the very beginning and so everything after that was just a normal progression of the show.

the first episode they made a half-assed effort to act like it was a REAL sitcom - by the second episode they gave up all pretense of being normal or realistic and just went overboard, going so over the top it was almost like a cartoon.


From then on they just kept getting wackier and wackier - and I don't think it was bad at all - I just think that the only time the actually "crossed a line" was at the very beginning and so everything after that was just a normal progression of the show.


Yeah I think that was the 1st family show that wanted to be the opposite of the cosby show

Yeah the ep with Peg's mom being the phone sex operator from upstairs:lol:


It's me...BUTTER! :lol:

the first episode they made a half-assed effort to act like it was a REAL sitcom - by the second episode they gave up all pretense of being normal or realistic and just went overboard, going so over the top it was almost like a cartoon.


From then on they just kept getting wackier and wackier - and I don't think it was bad at all - I just think that the only time the actually "crossed a line" was at the very beginning and so everything after that was just a normal progression of the show.
Totally agree!

Edit: NOW it hits me! The alien episode. Plus the one where they had a psychic hotline, I think they were monkeys at the end of it!

I was never a big fan of Steve, I much preferred Jefferson. The only time I disliked the show was when Seven was brought on to the show, horrible character, and it wasn't helped by the fact that the actor was awful.

The show never jumped the shark

I find a few factors affected the show badly:
1. Jefferson
2. Peg being pregnant
3. Seven
4. NO MA'AM and the awful seasons 8-11

When Gary Coleman gust starred on the show that might have lost a few ratings with him being on that show for only 2 episodes

I find a few factors affected the show badly:
1. Jefferson
2. Peg being pregnant
3. Seven
4. NO MA'AM and the awful seasons 8-11



Seven had a minor role and was on a short stint

The NO'MA'AM era could've been good except they allowed Amanda Bearse to direct
To me Jefferson was better than Steve since he was Al's willingly partner in crime while Steve was not
Seven
Pegs pregnancy
The inlaws
The last two seasons where they just gave up

In my opinion some of the "No ma'am" episodes were classics!

In my opinion, while Season 6 was the pinnacle of Married... with Children, it was still good to end, and never jumped the shark to such a low that it became unwatchable.

Indeed, without Married... with Children, there's a good chance I would have quit TV!

There is no 'one' reason why - and if - the show truly Jumped The Shark. It is hard to pinpoint an exact moment. But it was clear by the last couple of seasons that they were running out of steam.

I think it was advertised as anti-Cosby, show began to go downhill in S6 with Peg's pregnancy although there were great moments that season with Bud's Grandmaster B, but it was Seven that ruined the show, S8 had some funny episodes like Ride scare, A little of the top, Banking on Marcy, How green was my apple, afterwards it got wackier and wackier.

I think it was advertised as anti-Cosby, show began to go downhill in S6 with Peg's pregnancy although there were great moments that season with Bud's Grandmaster B, but it was Seven that ruined the show, S8 had some funny episodes like Ride scare, A little of the top, Banking on Marcy, How green was my apple, afterwards it got wackier and wackier.


I think so but it didn't get as much attention as the Anti-Cosby show because it was on FOX and at that time FOX was very minor

I think the ultimate "Jump the Shark" moment for Married With Children was the England episode.

Not to say that wasn't a funny episode, but IMO that was the point when MWC turned from a sitcom about a realistically dysfunctional family to more of a cartoon.

Seven was a negative addition, but you have to give them credit. They got rid of Seven before his addition caused the series to Jump The Shark again.

I think it was advertised as anti-Cosby, show began to go downhill in S6 with Peg's pregnancy although there were great moments that season with Bud's Grandmaster B, but it was Seven that ruined the show, S8 had some funny episodes like Ride scare, A little of the top, Banking on Marcy, How green was my apple, afterwards it got wackier and wackier.


Al's decline from sarcastic angry man to clueless buffoon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092400/board/flat/233436372?p=1)

Married with children never jumped the shark

I think the ultimate "Jump the Shark" moment for Married With Children was the England episode.

Not to say that wasn't a funny episode, but IMO that was the point when MWC turned from a sitcom about a realistically dysfunctional family to more of a cartoon.

Seven was a negative addition, but you have to give them credit. They got rid of Seven before his addition caused the series to Jump The Shark again.
You can't Jump The Shark twice. Jump The Shark is an exact time where a show goes from great to completely unwatchable. If you still enjoyed the series after the England episode then it didn't Jump The Shark, same with Seven. If the series simply declined in quality after that point it didn't Jump The Shark.

The big change of course was when Steve Rhodes left Marcy, and she hooked up with Jefferson D'arcy, in season 5. I was devoted to the show, but I don't even remember watching the final season. I must have skipped it altoghether.

Anyone who was a Al Bundy fan watched every ep

I watched the show but there was something missing around 1993 sometime and as the show went on. I mean I still watched but I think the older ones were better.

I don't know there is an exact episode it jumped. I think the shows writing just kinda went down hill. Didn't the 2 guys who came up with the show leave?

I think when the audience started to get out of hand. I mean they would scream when Christina and Katey entered the stage and it lasted awhile. So I'm assuming that alot of lines were not aired because of the to energetic studio audience.

I think when the audience started to get out of hand. I mean they would scream when Christina and Katey entered the stage and it lasted awhile. So I'm assuming that alot of lines were not aired because of the to energetic studio audience.

I remember David Faustino being on some late night talk show once where he said that there were lines that didn't air because of the audience making so much noise.

I think a lot of the males in the audience found Kelly and Peg sexy so thats probably why they screamed and yelled.

I think a lot of the males in the audience found Kelly and Peg sexy so thats probably why they screamed and yelled.

But there were male screams and yells when male characters entered a room too.

When the producers and directors started allowing the audience cheering disrupt the dialogue on the show. Loved the show but could have done without that.

It jumped the shark when that A$$hole Jefferson arrived

There were some bad and over the top episodes here and there during the first 8 seasons.
The England show was awful, the Aliens one was ridiculous but still funny, Al going on vacation in his living room was stupid, and all the Peggy family members were way over the top. But you know what? It was still a VERY funny show that remained somewhat true to its early roots.

Something definitely changed during season 9. Ron Leavitt was gone, and the new writers seemed to have no idea what kind of comedy worked for the show. It was just not funny anymore, they overdid the No MA'AM thing, and the show just became dumb. It was poorly written, and most of the jokes fell flat.
For me, episode 9x19 was a true Jump the Shark moment :
http://marriedwithchildren.wikia.com/wiki/Episode:Ship_Happens_(Part_II)
The Bundys and the Darc'y are on a raft in the middle of the ocean with Gilbert Gottfried, and you see a huge shark fin behind them. Al jumps out of the raft, swims away and is saved by dolphins.

The last 2 seasons were even worse, and I'd rather erase them from my memory since MwC is my favourite comedy ever.

I also agree that after a while, the audience cheering became really annoying. It first happened during episode 4x16, but it really became a thing around season 7. From season 9 on, Kelly would sometimes get multiple cheers during an episode. IMHO, the production crew should have handled it better.

In a round about way, I think that the arrival of Ted McGinley as Jefferson was a harbinger of MWC's downturn. I know that defenders of Ted McGinley will quickly point out that how could he have caused MWC to jump the shark if he was on the show for a good six years. Well, it's safe to argue that while MWC didn't necessarily take a huge downturn popularity wise, but quality-wise.

When Marcy was married to Steve, they were the resident yuppies (in contrast to the blue collar, white trash Bundys) that in brought the conflict. Jefferson on the other hand, was a mooch but he was written all over the place as well. Whenever a joke was needed or plot change, they changed him.

There were some bad and over the top episodes here and there during the first 8 seasons.
The England show was awful, the Aliens one was ridiculous but still funny, Al going on vacation in his living room was stupid, and all the Peggy family members were way over the top. But you know what? It was still a VERY funny show that remained somewhat true to its early roots.

Something definitely changed during season 9. Ron Leavitt was gone, and the new writers seemed to have no idea what kind of comedy worked for the show. It was just not funny anymore, they overdid the No MA'AM thing, and the show just became dumb. It was poorly written, and most of the jokes fell flat.
For me, episode 9x19 was a true Jump the Shark moment :
http://marriedwithchildren.wikia.com/wiki/Episode:Ship_Happens_(Part_II)
The Bundys and the Darc'y are on a raft in the middle of the ocean with Gilbert Gottfried, and you see a huge shark fin behind them. Al jumps out of the raft, swims away and is saved by dolphins.

The last 2 seasons were even worse, and I'd rather erase them from my memory since MwC is my favourite comedy ever.

I also agree that after a while, the audience cheering became really annoying. It first happened during episode 4x16, but it really became a thing around season 7. From season 9 on, Kelly would sometimes get multiple cheers during an episode. IMHO, the production crew should have handled it better.

JQXsoZn9_RE&t=#t=22m01s

The general feeling among the cast is that the show was at its strongest when both Ron Leavitt and Michael Moye were in charge. According to Ed O'Neill, one was whimsical and one was a little grosser. And if either Leavitt or Moye were gone then there was no counterweight to balance each tone out.

show never jumped the shark

After The England Show did the series take a steep downward turn, though the final year (season 11) I felt was a breath of fresh air. Even using surrealism in showing two adult children living at home, which could only work in MWC. A 12th and final season might have been nice but even the final season isn't as good as the show's first 5 years.

I don't think this show ever really Jumped The Shark, the back half of season 11 wasn't good but it was over by then anyways. This show I still find funny today which is unusual.

the show was never the same when steve left

Once Amanda Bearse got behind the camera her petty squabble with Ed just got out of hand it seemed like she was deliberately trying to sabotage the show to make him look bad.

I wonder if Steve's departure kind of hurt the tenor of the show. I know that Jefferson has his fans (https://www.metv.com/stories/in-defense-of-ted-mcginley-televisions-supposed-show-killer) (since he became Al's "partner in crime" so to speak), but Steve was pretty much the straight-man and the most normal, level headed person on the show. Without him and his dry sense of humor, the jokes between Al and Marcy for better or worse, became more aggressive. You can argue that Al by this point, went from being a lovable loser and terribly unlucky man to just being an old crank who was always snapping at everyone.

When the producers and directors started allowing the audience cheering disrupt the dialogue on the show. Loved the show but could have done without that.

Married With Children by that point, became something resembling The Jerry Springer Show. I said elsewhere that MWC was a show that the longer it when on, the more uncomfortable it got watching it. The studio audience seemed to overlook that what is being presented is meant to be an ironic, dark satire and not suppose to be taken straight like the No MA'AM stuff. The same thing happened with Beavis & Butt-head, where maybe 70% take what is being presented as straight (and not understand that Beavis & Butt-head like the Bundys are meant to be "laughed at" instead of laughing with them), while the other 30% look at it a lot deeper.

Ed O'Neill even said that he hated doing the live shows after a while because it isn't like producing a play. The rowdiness of the audience (and I don't know if it was organic they were encouraged to at as obnoxious as possible) messed with the actors' timing. They would invite members of the United States Marine Corp. and in Ed's words "problem students", who would virtually hoot and holier if somebody said "boobs".

The show “jumped the shark” Season 6. The overload of annoying, cheap ass Jefferson, Dumbass Kelly, Bud, and a bitchy, whiny, scrawny, nosy, ungrateful Marcy is what made this show go downhill and “jump the shark.” Not to mention the idiotic, moronic, goofy, silly, cartoonish ass plots and storylines. And The Trip To England and NO MA’AM didn’t make it better either.

The show “jumped the shark” Season 6. The overload of annoying, cheap ass Jefferson, Dumbass Kelly, Bud, and a bitchy, whiny, scrawny, nosy, ungrateful Marcy is what made this show go downhill and “jump the shark.” Not to mention the idiotic, moronic, goofy, silly, cartoonish ass plots and storylines. And The Trip To England and NO MA’AM didn’t make it better either.

Married with Children eps I never plan to watch again on cable or syndication is when they went to england

Me either. It seems LOGO airs that ALL the time. How in hell does a poor, broke, cheap ass family get to afford to go to England? I don’t care if it’s just a TV show. The Bundys were so poor they made The Evans’s seem rich.

Me either. It seems LOGO airs that ALL the time. How in hell does a poor, broke, cheap ass family get to afford to go to England? I don’t care if it’s just a TV show. The Bundys were so poor they made The Evans’s seem rich.

I think they won a trip to Englad

The three part England episode woulda been WAY better if Peggy ACTUALLY cooked Al something and if Marcy wouldn’t have shown up.

The three part England episode woulda been WAY better if Peggy ACTUALLY cooked Al something and if Marcy would’ve shown up.

Worst eps of the series that I wont watch again

Top of the Heap Pilot
3 Part england ep

Worst eps of the series that I wont watch again

Top of the Heap Pilot
3 Part england ep
I know, man. I agree with you on Top Of The Heap. Why even consider that a a Married With Children episode? Al, Peggy, Bud, and Kelly were hardly on there. I don’t know why they though it would be a successful spinoff. The plot was terrible.

Shortly after Jefferson arriving, the show lost its touch with me. Marcy changed dramatically to a ball busting, man hating woman. Al became too cartoony with the whole 'No Ma'am' club. Jefferson also became a cartoon character in the show that got on my nerves. They went full throttle on making Kelly the stereotypical dumb blonde. I don't think later years Kelly would have done the tough girl acts that Kelly in the early years did. I don't even think later years Kelly would be smart enough to come up with the things Kelly in the early years did. Peggy went from a main character in the early years to the annoying housewife in the background in the later years. I think these changes started in season 6 or 7 where it just became pointless watching. That's where I consider the jump the shark point of the show.

The show never fully recovered when Steve left.

I know, man. I agree with you on Top Of The Heap. Why even consider that a a Married With Children episode? Al, Peggy, Bud, and Kelly were hardly on there. I don’t know why they though it would be a successful spinoff. The plot was terrible.

Yeah a show about one of Kelly Boyfriends and his dirty ass father:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Yeah a show about one of Kelly Boyfriends and his dirty ass father:lol::lol::lol::lol:
Yeah, I know. If that was the case, why didn’t they give all of Kelly’s damn boyfriends and their dirty ass fathers a spinoff. LOL!

I find a few factors affected the show badly:
1. Jefferson
2. Peg being pregnant
3. Seven
4. NO MA'AM and the awful seasons 8-11

The problem with Peggy and Marcy's pregnancies and later Seven's addition to the show is that it simply didn't jive and gel with a show that thrived on dark and crude humor like MWC. Bud and Kelly were already in their early teens when the show started and were never written to be sweet and innocent like Seven was. A third child would have ruined the sibling dynamic.

It jumped the shark when that A$$hole Jefferson arrived

I think that it's safe to say that Jefferson's arrival coincided with MWC going from being a very subversive show and a product of and riposte to Ronald Reagan's America to a farce. And as the writers began to run out of ideas, the show just got more and more cartoonish and bizarre.

I find a few factors affected the show badly:
1. Jefferson
2. Peg being pregnant
3. Seven
4. NO MA'AM and the awful seasons 8-11

Watching this YouTube essay (https://youtu.be/f4tmyGvqNJk) (about an hour in) on MWC made me believe that the NO MA'AM stuff was detrimental to the show because in part, its message probably would've worked better had it been served in a one off episode. But they decided to run with it because the audience by this point, saw Al Bundy as more of a hero to be cheered than an loser that was meant to be laughed at.

This goes hand in hand with an earlier point that was made in the video (roughly 40-45 minutes in) about the audience becoming more vocal and rawkus by around the fourth and especially fifth season. Like there's an episode where Al contemplates eating a sandwich that has toothpaste on it and some guy in the audience can be heard saying "Don't do it Al!" And in another episode, a woman in the audience can be heard saying "Alright!" the moment that we see Buck run downstairs. The point is that this all served as an indicator for where the show would be going forward. The audience in particular, reacted strongly to the sight of sexy women (like that one episode with Milla Jovovich as a French foreign exchange student) or the aggressive, anti-PC humor.

Depending on your point of view, this hurt the series because Al is supposed to be an out of touch moron and a loser who is meant to be laughed at. The audience is supposed to feel better than him instead of cheering him on and implicitly supporting his point of view. But because of feeling that the character that Ed O'Neill portrayed was becoming a beloved character on a successful sitcom, all of the goodwill was turning Al Bundy into a folk hero. It's especially confusing and uncomfortable because in the adjoining scene that the video uses, Al was arguably using a "white reactionary victimhood" narrative.

For me, 1991 is the dividing line. That is the season Applegate turned 20 and When Amanda Bearse started directing episodes.

The former made the kids no longer credible as misguided innocents, and the latter, Al just changed.

There were a few gems that came after, but for the most part, the fun "feel" was gone.

For me, 1991 is the dividing line. That is the season Applegate turned 20 and When Amanda Bearse started directing episodes.

The former made the kids no longer credible as misguided innocents, and the latter, Al just changed.

There were a few gems that came after, but for the most part, the fun "feel" was gone.

Married...with Children may have been another case of a show that maybe would've been better off had it ended a year or two earlier. I mean, Bud and Kelly weren't exactly "children" anymore come 1997 (https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:4qZiHMrjRF0J:https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-19-ca-50289-story.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us). And yet, they were still living in their parents' house and super dependent on them.

Plus, I don't know if a sitcom (https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/forget-friends-married-with-children-was-the-absolute-worst-11804386) like MWC (a crude, darkly satirical, deconstructive domestic-family sitcom), really fit within the landscape of where TV was going at time, with shows (https://www.quora.com/Which-sitcom-is-better-Married-with-Children-or-Friends) like Friends now on the air. Ed O'Neill himself said when interviewed by the Television Academy, "How many episodes can you do from a couch?".

The show “jumped the shark” Season 6. The overload of annoying, cheap ass Jefferson, Dumbass Kelly, Bud, and a bitchy, whiny, scrawny, nosy, ungrateful Marcy is what made this show go downhill and “jump the shark.” Not to mention the idiotic, moronic, goofy, silly, cartoonish ass plots and storylines. And The Trip To England and NO MA’AM didn’t make it better either.

Somebody elsewhere said (http://washedupcelebrities.blogspot.com/2013/05/david-garrison.html?showComment=1502250158249#c5785727348354183531) that Season 5 (https://jacksonupperco.com/2016/12/27/the-ten-best-married-with-children-episodes-of-season-five/) and beyond are the beginning of the end of MWC (https://web.archive.org/web/20140405003316/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3062952-married-with-children/?view=getnewpost). And by 1997 (https://jacksonupperco.com/2017/02/07/the-seven-best-married-with-children-episodes-of-season-eleven/), the show was an embarrassment of itself. In a nutshell, this downfall began the moment (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125239/http://www.jumptheshark.com/m/marriedwithchildren.htm) that David Garrison left the show.

It did. The very first episode. This was one of the worst, crude and disgusting sitcoms in the history of television and how long it was on showed the stupidity of the American viewer.

I would say the addition of Seven was where the show jumped the shark. Usually I'm not against adding characters, but I didn't think it worked for this show.

I would say the addition of Seven was where the show jumped the shark. Usually I'm not against adding characters, but I didn't think it worked for this show.

U0SwyG3Y3zU

When Peg's 5 year old nephew Seven is abandoned at the Bundy doorstep by his loser parents, Peg and Al decide to keep him, much to their kids' dismay.

I think so but it didn't get as much attention as the Anti-Cosby show because it was on FOX and at that time FOX was very minor

I was just thinking that after 1992 (http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2017/07/1991-92-sitcom-scorecard-mid-80s.html) (which would've been after Married...with Children's sixth season), there really wasn't a "target" (https://www.reddit.com/r/ToddintheShadow/comments/xi7o6a/do_other_mediums_outside_of_music_television/) anymore since that was the year that The Cosby Show went off the air. Many of the saccharine (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/lb9u9k/what_caused_the_difference_between_70s_sitcoms/), morally-sound (https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/17/arts/today-s-morality-play-the-sitcom.html), idealistic family (https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/26/arts/tv-families-clinging-to-the-tried-and-untrue.html) sitcoms (https://collider.com/married-with-children-reinvented-sitcom/) of the '80s (https://dadarocks.com/2010/03/25/the-evolution-of-the-of-tv-family-sitcom/) like (https://www.tvinsider.com/152672/married-with-children-30th-anniversary-april-5-fox-comedy/) The Cosby Show (https://www.newblackmaninexile.net/2009/09/cosby-redux-25-years-later.html), Family Ties, Growing Pains, etc. were long over by the time that Married with Children finally wrapped up in 1997. So I don't think that it was actually on the "counterculture" anymore by this point.

When they did that season where Peg was pregnant then had to awkwardly get out of it. The whole deal with Peg's gigantic mother and Tim Conway as her father was waaay over the top. The show was often over the top but this went into surreal territory.

I think that the combination of Steve's departure and Peggy's pregnancy is what likely caused Married...with Children to go off course. I've already written about how much Steve leaving negatively impacted the show. But, when Katey Sagal got pregnant (https://www.city-data.com/forum/tv/3374075-tv-shows-ruined-pregnancy-3.html) in real life, of course that had to be written into the show (https://jacksonupperco.com/2017/01/03/the-ten-best-married-with-children-episodes-of-season-six/). Writing in a naturally optimistic storyline like a pregnancy completely goes against the cynical and defeated world that the Bundys live in.

The audience became too disruptive. It messed with the cadence and rhythm of the show. I think it was also around the time that Ray Comb's Family Feud started encouraging what I deem to be bad behavior~ the family who was waiting started booing, making X gestures with their hands and cheering "strike or bad answers". As mentioned, rowdy audiences were encouraged on Jerry Springer and Arsenio Hall. Even Bob Barker was having to wait for the audience to settle down because they were too noisy. Sure, showrunners loved a noisy audience, but many of us did not.

The audience became too disruptive. It messed with the cadence and rhythm of the show. I think it was also around the time that Ray Comb's Family Feud started encouraging what I deem to be bad behavior~ the family who was waiting started booing, making X gestures with their hands and cheering "strike or bad answers". As mentioned, rowdy audiences were encouraged on Jerry Springer and Arsenio Hall. Even Bob Barker was having to wait for the audience to settle down because they were too noisy. Sure, showrunners loved a noisy audience, but many of us did not.

One comment (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/26687617-filmed-before-a-live-studio-audience) that I read said that the vocal live audience in Married...with Children always made the show seem like it was a skit put on at a strip club or frat party (https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/did-married-with-children-have-the-most-obnoxious-studio-audience-ever.1972840/) and that it ruined live audiences (https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/f5xqcr/til_married_with_children_never_had_canned/) in a before-and-after way.

I don't know how true this is (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/29269536-when-american-television-audiences-started-hooting-and-hollering.-), but supposedly, the creators of Married... with Children intentionally had the audience overreact as a style choice (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/kmtemj/comment/ghgp56j/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). Especially since MWC was a satire of family sitcoms and the show was so outlandish and cartoonish (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/18846661-when-did-married-with-children-go-downhill-) to begin with.

When Did Married…With Children Jump the Shark? (https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-married-with-children-jump-the-shark/)

In a feature looking at if or when a TV series "jumped the shark," Brian asks you all to determine when (or if) Married...with Children jumped the shark.

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Today, we look at when (or if) you folks believe that Married…with Children (https://web.archive.org/web/20140405003316/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3062952-married-with-children/?view=getnewpost) “jumped the shark.” (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125239/http://www.jumptheshark.com/m/marriedwithchildren.htm)

This is “Just Can’t Jump It,” (https://popculturereferences.com/category/just-cant-jump-it/) a feature where we examine shows and whether they “jumped the shark.” Jumped the shark (coined by Jon Hein (http://www.jonhein.com/)) means that the show had a specific point in time where, in retrospect, you realize that show was going downhill from there (even if, in some rare occasions, the show later course-corrected). Not every show DOES jump the shark. Some shows just remain good all the way through. And some shows are terrible all the way through. What we’re looking for are moments where a show that you otherwise enjoyed hit a point where it took a noticeable nose dive after that time and if so, what moment was that?

Married…with Children was an extremely long-running sitcom about a dysfunctional family in the suburbs of Chicago. It was one of the first successful shows on Fox, and quickly became a hallmark of the channel, running for ELEVEN seasons. The cast is remarkable in that three of the four family members on the show have become highly acclaimed, award-winning actors, and yet the show itself was notable for just how DUMB it was. However, the fact of the matter is that when you’re setting out to do a dumb show, I wouldn’t call if jumping the shark to say that you achieved your goal. Married…with Children was not good television, but nor was it awful. It’s really amazing how long it stayed at a basically decent level of quality. Again, though, having three outstanding actors (Ed O’Neill as Al Bundy, the patriarch of the family, Katey Sagal as Peggy Bundy, Al’s wife and the mother of the two kids, Christina Applegate as Kelly Bundy, the airheaded oldest child and David Faustino as Bud Bundy, who was also on the show) helped a LOT.

So first…DID IT JUMP THE SHARK? I’d say so, yes.

WHEN DID IT JUMP THE SHARK Okay, there are a number of tricky things in this question. First off, again, I get it, the show was never particularly great, so if you wanted to say “Jumped at episode one,” then that’s an option. I’d disagree, but it’s an option. The show was originally a bit more true to life when it started, and the Bundy’s neighbors were Steve and Marcy Rhoades (David Garrison and Amanda Bearse). After four seasons, Garrison left the show and Marcy remarried to Jefferson Darcy (thus making her Marcy D’Arcy), played by Ted McGinley. Some people like to point to that as the shark jumping moment, because that’s about the time the show started getting sillier, but come on, it obviously was not the shark-jumping moment. The show was very well-equipped to become more cartoonish, as the characters all WERE cartoonish, even when they were more down to Earth. So it totally worked. Even if you preferred Garrison to Jefferson, Jefferson was fine (he and Al became best friends, opening up a new dynamic for the show, as Al and Steve tended to be more at odds with each other). A possibility is Season 7 (https://jacksonupperco.com/2017/01/10/the-ten-best-married-with-children-episodes-of-season-seven/), when the Bundys sort of “adopt” Seven, a new cute kid. He was an AWFUL addition, but I think it is safe to say that the show KNEW that and quickly adjusted to the problem, dropping him midway through the seventh season, and the show went back to normal, so I think they averted a shark-jump there. Season 9 (https://jacksonupperco.com/2017/01/24/the-ten-best-married-with-children-episodes-of-season-nine/) saw the addition of Al’s friend and co-worker, Griff (Harold Sylvester), who was an excellent addition to the show, giving Al TWO friends, each with very different personalities.

However, I think Season 10 (https://jacksonupperco.com/2017/01/31/the-seven-best-married-with-children-episodes-of-season-ten/) finally did it, with the family dog, Buck, dying early in the season, Peggy’s mother inexplicably moves in with the Bundys after leaving Peg’s father, and, of course, Peggy missing half the season looking for her dad because of Sagal’s real life pregnancy. Things began to fall apart, and Season 11 (https://jacksonupperco.com/2017/02/07/the-seven-best-married-with-children-episodes-of-season-eleven/) was then likely the worst of the series. So I think Season 10 is the shark-jumping moment. Maybe Peggy’s quest to find her dad specifically? It’s honestly surprising how much I almost would say the show never jumped at all.

Does anybody here agree that after Season 5 (https://jacksonupperco.com/2016/12/27/the-ten-best-married-with-children-episodes-of-season-five/), some of the jokes became stale and the writing wasn’t as sharp and witty? And by the time they added the kid Seven and the “No M’a’am” storylines, it was all but over.