Ed O’Neill recently signed on for his first big show after spending ten seasons on ABC for Modern Family, but his new FX role doesn’t mean that he can’t revisit his TV past. A Married…with Children revival is apparently in the works, with O’Neill and other former stars expected to reprise their roles as the Bundys. There’s a major twist that would mean O’Neill and his co-stars wouldn’t need to actually be on a set: the project will reportedly be animated.
An animated revival of Married… with Children is apparently being shopped around to streaming services and networks, with Deadline reporting that it is already gaining strong interest with original stars Ed O’Neill (Al Bundy), Katey Sagal (Peg Bundy), Christina Applegate (Kelly Bundy), and David Faustino (Bud Bundy) on board. The animated imagining of Married… with Children comes from Alex Carter, a Family Guy executive producer who would serve as showrunner. The project has been in the works for over a year, during which the core four stars of the original reportedly signed on.
No details are available at this point about where it is expected to end up if it gets the series order, but given that the original series (which ran for eleven seasons from 1987 – 1997) aired on Fox and is owned by Sony Pictures Television, that network seems the most likely broadcast option, with Hulu as a logical streamer. All eleven seasons of the original are available streaming with a Hulu subscription, after all!
Animation would be an unconventional way to bring the classic sitcom back to TV, but also presumably allows for original stars Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate, and David Faustino to play their characters again without dropping any more time consuming live-action projects that they might have in the works. Fox is also already the prime destination for animated comedy on network television, with The Simpsons as the flagship at 33 seasons and counting. Family Guy has also become an animation juggernaut of the network. If it happens, Fox could be the ideal destination.
Of course, news of a developing revival comes almost 25 years to the date after the original Married… with Children aired its series finale back in June of 1997, so it’s not quite at the top of pop culture circa 2022. That said, shows like Friends and The Office experienced resurgences thanks to streaming services; even though the former Ed O’Neill sitcom ended farther back than either of those series, its availability streaming could be a boon if a revival happens.
It undoubtedly wouldn’t hurt that stars of Married… with Children went on to have successful careers after the sitcom wrapped in 1997. Ed O’Neill of course went on to Modern Family, while Katey Sagal was a prominent part of Sons of Anarchy and has become key to ABC’s The Conners. Sagal also has extensive voice acting experience, as the voice of Leela for Futurama.
Christina Applegate’s latest big TV role was Netflix’s Dead to Me, which ended earlier this year after three seasons, but not before featuring Sagal as a guest star. David Faustino has been less prolific in live-action TV over the years, but has done plenty of voice work with Dreamworks Dragons, The Legend of Korra, and Dragons: Race to the Edge. He also reunited with O’Neill for an appearance on Modern Family back in 2013.
For now, Married… with Children fans can at least count on seeing Ed O’Neill back on TV with the FX limited series The Sterling Affair, although that also doesn’t have a premiere date. You can revisit the sitcom streaming on Hulu, and check out our 2022 TV premiere schedule for some viewing options during the wait for more news about the animated revival.
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