Christina Applegate Movies
Originally famous as the bodacious, brain-challenged Bundy offspring Kelly on Fox's long-running dysfunctional family sitcom Married...With Children, Christina Applegate parlayed her comic talents and sexy image into a parallel movie career.A natural blonde Hollywood baby, Applegate was raised by her actress mother, Nancy Priddy, after Priddy split from Applegate's father, record executive Bobby Applegate. Making her acting debut as an infant with her mother on TV's Days of Our Lives, Applegate subsequently landed her first movie role at age ten when she appeared with Priddy in the low-grade horror flick Jaws of Satan (1981). After playing Grace as a child in the TV biopic Grace Kelly (1983), Applegate guest starred on several TV shows before landing her own permanent series role in the short-lived Heart of the City (1986). Her next series, however, proved the charm. Debuting in 1987 on the fledgling Fox TV network, Married...With Children withstood criticisms about its all-around vulgarity to become one of Fox's first signature hits. During its ten-year run, Married...With Children also spawned the TV movie It's a Bundyful Life (1992), featuring Applegate and the rest of the Bundy clan in a spoof of holiday chestnut It's a Wonderful Life (1946). A bona fide teen heartthrob and star, Applegate attempted to show her serious side as a prostitute and drug addict in the gritty drama Streets (1990). Teen comedy Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) tried to capitalize on Applegate's TV fame while showcasing her as a smart, resourceful, anti-Bundy character. Also during Married...With Children's run, Applegate appeared in the female road movie Across the Moon (1994), mutilated rock musician-drama Vibrations (1995), and as the town whore in Walter Hill's underrated Western Wild Bill (1995). Applegate's Married fame further landed her a small part in the all-star ensemble populating Tim Burton's science fiction parody Mars Attacks! (1996), and wryly shaded her presence in Gregg Araki's Los Angeles teen anomie opus Nowhere (1997), the slickest entrant in his "teen apocalypse trilogy."
Ready to leave the TV-bred teen realm behind after Married went off the air in 1997, Applegate co-starred with Mark Wahlberg in the Hong Kong-tinged action comedy The Big Hit (1998) and played the WASP fiancée of a Mob scion in Jim Abrahams' Mafia movie parody Mafia! (1998). She co-starred with her eventual husband, Johnathon Schaech, and erstwhile teen idol Molly Ringwald in the high-school reunion thriller The Giving Tree (1999) as well. Inspired by her experience with her mother growing up, though, Applegate agreed to return to TV to star as a single mom balancing work and family in the sitcom Jesse (1998). Despite choice time slots, however, Jesse was canceled in 2000. Applegate returned to movie comedy co-starring with Jean Reno as a princess and modern gal in the ill-received remake of a French time-travel yarn Just Visiting (2001). Subsequently holding her own opposite some of her more lustrous film peers, Applegate earned far better reviews than the movie itself as Cameron Diaz's levelheaded best friend in the raunchy female bonding romp The Sweetest Thing (2002), and flew the friendly skies with Gwyneth Paltrow in the flight attendant comedy A View from the Top (2003).
In 2004, Applegate landed herself leading-lady roles in two of the year's most anticipated films. First, in July, she starred opposite Will Ferrell in the 70s-era comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Then, the following November, she could be seen with Ben Affleck in the holiday film Surviving Christmas. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- 2007
Former Married. . .With Children costar Christina Applegate returned to television in the slightly schizophrenic ABC sitcom Samantha Who? Applegate played title character Samantha "Sam" Newly, who after being stuck down in a traffic accident, awakened from an eight-day coma suffering from "retrograde amnesia," with no memory of who she was nor what she'd been. Slowly but surely, Sam confirmed that she was 30 years old, the vice president of the real-estate firm Chapman and Funk, and the ex-girlfriend of a photographer named Todd (Barry Watson). Sam's post-coma personality was one of pure "sweetness and light"--which greatly confused her friends, family members, and business associates, who recalled the pre-coma Sam as mean, overbearing, manipulating, vitriolic, and a hard-drinking, promiscuous party animal. It was up to Sam to remain as nice and pleasant as she now was, or to revert to her previous nastiness. Helping her put the pieces together was apartment-house doorman Frank (Tim Russ), who had often been the recipient of the "old" Sam's bitchiness and had a lot trouble reconciling himself to the "new" Sam, but was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Others in the heroine's orbit were her resentful mother Regina (Jean Smart) and her too-affable-to-be-true father Howard (Kevin Dunn); her best friend Andrea (Jennifer Esposito), an accomplished conniver and back-stabber in her own right; and her former childhood buddy Dena (Melissa McCarthy), who had her own special reasons for hanging around to see which of the "two" Sams would ultimately prevail. Cocreated by novelist Cecilia Hearn, Samantha Who? premiered October 15, 2007. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Author James Patterson's critically acclaimed best-seller about love and loss comes to the screen in this affecting drama starring Emmy award-winning actress Christina Applegate. Kate Wilkinson (Kathleen Rose Perkins) is a New York book editor who has it all - everything except for love, that is. When Kate meets handsome writer Matt Harrison (Johnathon Scaech) it seems as if all of her dreams in life have been answered. Just as it appears their relationship is reaching that critical point of commitment, however, Matt suddenly and abruptly ends their passionate affair without explanation. At first devastated by her heart-breaking loss, Kate soon receives a package from Matt containing the diary of his late wife Suzanne (Applegate). In the diary, Suzanne details the Martha's Vineyard romance shared between a young housepainter who dreams of becoming a writer, and a female doctor who yearns to experience the joys of motherhood despite her heart-scarred past. As the tragic story of Matt's first love plays out right before Kate's teary eyes, the melancholy measure of closure affords a heavy-hearted New York editor an opportunity to reflect on the love that slowly slipped out of her loving embrace. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate, Johnathon Schaech, (more)
- 2004
After completing the final cut of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, producers were left with enough deleted material to create an entire alternate film--so they did just that. Wake Up, Ron Burgundy uses alternate takes, cleverly edited pre-existing scenes, and additional voice-over narration from the stately Bill Kurtis to establish the story, then follows a completely different plot arc that was cut from the main film. Revolving around the news team's coverage of a radical terrorist group known as the Alarm Clock, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy finds Ron (Will Ferrell), Brick (Steve Carrell), Brian (Paul Rudd), and Champ (David Koechner) arriving desperately at the home of their mentor, near cannibalism in the California wilderness, and ready to kick ass in the hideout of a terrorist group. It also features appearances by comedic actors whose characters never made it into Anchorman like Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Chris Parnell of SNL, and Justin Long of Dodgeball. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, (more)
- 2003
Telecast seven years after the final first-run episode of Married. . .With Children, this 42-minute reunion special originally aired with a minimum of commercial interruptions. Christina Applegate (Kelly Bundy) gets things going with a brief rundown of the series' formative years. This is followed by individual interviews with the seven principal cast members: Ed O'Neill (Al Bundy), Katey Sagal (Peg Bundy) David Faustino (Bud Bundy), Amanda Bearse (Marcy Rhodes D'Arcy), David Garrison (Steve Rhodes) and Ted McGinley (Jefferson D'Arcy). Six of these seven actors are seen lounging around a replica of the "Bundy Living Room" set, much of which had to be reconstructed based on those actors' memories; Katey Sagal is filmed separately on the set of her then-current sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Daughter. Amidst scores of classic clips from the original series, the actors dispense fascinating info-bites: For example, Ed O'Neill reveals that he based Al Bundy on his own uncle, while Katey Sagal describes the evolution of Peg's distinctive stiletto-heels walk. Also seen are a number of choice outtakes and deleted scenes. The coda is provided by David Faustino, bringing this entertainment retrospective to a conclusion that, like Married. . .With Children itself, manages to be both hilarious and iconoclastic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
The directorial debut of actor/writer Mitch Rouse (Comedy Central's Strangers With Candy), Employee of the Month stars Matt Dillon as David Wells, a hapless guy whose day seems to be getting more and more out of control. After getting his life straightened out with a job he loves at a bank and beautiful fiancée (Christina Applegate), David is convinced he's got it made. Unfortunately, things take a distinct turn for the worse when he is dumped and fired all in the same day. Enter David's best friend, Jack (Steve Zahn), an oddball who makes his living stealing from corpses. Jack is determined to help cheer up David, but when a bank robbery and a large sum of cash enter the picture, it begins to become apparent that the disastrous and madcap events have only just begun. Employee of the Month premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Steve Zahn, (more)
- 2003
Christina Applegate returns as Amy, terminal tactless sister of new mommy Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). Enlisted as babysitter for little Emma, Amy proves to be the worst possible choice for the job when she gets the infant's ears pierced. Meanwhile, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) pores over a thesaurus while trying to write a persuasive letter to the adoption agency on behalf of Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox); and Mike's (Paul Rudd) efforts to propose to Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) are spoiled...by Phoebe. This episode originally ran 42 minutes. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, (more)
On the eve of his wedding, medieval Prince John (Sean Maguire), known as "Prince Charming" to his friends, is caught in a compromising situation with an alleged damsel in distress. As punishment for his indiscretion, John and his lackey Rodney (Martin Short), a wannabe wizard, are subjected to a "frogging" -- that is, they are transformed into frogs, and doomed to remain that way forever unless John can persuade a beautiful maiden to give him a kiss. Through a wrinkle in time, the amphibious John and Rodney find themselves in 21st century Manhattan, where, miraculously, our heroes are restored to their human selves when John is kissed by a flamboyant actress named Margo (Bernadette Peters). But there's still one more proviso to the frogging curse: In order to remain a human, John must get Margo to marry him. Alas, John isn't in love with Margo, but instead is enamored of a young lady named Kate (Christina Applegate) -- the living image of the Prince's long-ago sweetheart Princess Gwendolyn (also Christina Applegate). Meanwhile, Rodney has issues with his own lady love, Margo's wardrobe mistress Serena (Andrea Martin). Filmed in 2001 and subsequently released overseas, Prince Charming finally made its American TV debut on July 13, 2003, via the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Once again, the friends gather together for Thanksgiving -- and once again, it's an event that will be forever seared in their memories. This year's catalyst for chaos is Amy Green (Christina Applegate), the abrasive, insulting sister of new mommy Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston). Thanks to Amy's interference, Rachel's friends are embroiled in a battle concerning the legal guardianship of baby Emma. Elsewhere, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) may lose his Days of Our Lives gig for failing to show up on a Thanksgiving parade float, and Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) are at each other's throats over dinnerware protocol. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate
- 2000
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This video features the music icon Paul McCartney, with a stellar cast of performers, giving a live benefit concert for PETA. The organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, was the special concern of the former Beatle's deceased wife Linda McCartney. The concert honors her memory while it raises funds for an organization that has been embraced by people around the world. The performers include Ricki Lane, Brian McKnight, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ellen DeGeneres, Chrissie Hynde, Sarah McLachlan, and the B-52's. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul McCartney, Jamie Lee Curtis, (more)
- 1998
In this TV sitcom, 26-year-old single mom Jesse Warner (Christina Applegate) is a waitress in a Buffalo bar owned by her father, John Warner Sr. (George Dzundza). Jesse's life centers around her ten-year-old son, Little John (Eric Lloyd), her dad, and her eccentric brothers -- nutty John Jr. (John Lehr), an elective mute, and dreamer Darren (David DeLuise), who concocts such get-rich-quick schemes as selling unfinished gnome statues. Jesse has to deal with her romantic feelings after Chilean immigrant Diego (Bruno Campos) moves next door. Filmed in Burbank, this series premiered September 24, 1998 on NBC. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate, Bruno Campos, (more)
- 1996
- Add Married... With Children: Season 11 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 11 to top of Queue
Having clocked in eleven seasons, Married...With Children was Fox's longest-lasting series of the 1996-1997 TV season. Unfortunately, the 11th season was the last, due in part to the network's decision to change the series' timeslot three times within a single year. Al Bundy Ed O'Neill is still Chicago's most frustrated shoe clerk, all the more so because his boss, "Gary" -- actually a woman, and a none-too-pleasant one -- is seen for the first time in several episodes. Al's wife, Peg (Katey Sagal), is still lazy as a sloth and still dresses like a Rush Street "working girl." Daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) is still pursuing a show-business career, and son Bud (David Faustino) is still drawing a paycheck from the motor vehicle bureau. If anything, the individual episodes are more outrageously "out there" than ever before. Highlights include Al making a deal with the Devil (played by Nightmare on Elm Street's Robert Englund) so the Chicago Bears can win a crucial game, a crossover episode with the Fox reality series Cops (one wonders how the Bundys have avoided being on Cops in past seasons!), and series regular Amanda Bearse showing up in the dual role of the Bundys' neighbor Marcy and her lesbian cousin (this, reportedly, was done so that actress Bearse could "out" herself on the series Ellen DeGeneres-style without compromising Marcy's heterosexuality). The saga of Married...With Children comes to an end as Al stops the wedding of his daughter, Kelly, who has become engaged to a guy who tried to rob the Bundy house. (This series finale was supposed to have been the pilot episode for a sitcom starring Christina Applegate as Kelly Bundy, but the actress decided to bypass the opportunity). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1995
- Add Married... With Children: Season 10 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 10 to top of Queue
With the launching of the 1995-1996 TV season, Married...With Children became the first Fox network show to remain on the air for ten years. It is clear, however, that age has not withered the ability of the boorish Bundy family to make fools of themselves in a variety of situations, many of them sexual. The cast remains as ever: Ed O'Neill as oafish shoe clerk Al Bundy; Katey Sagal as Al's lazy, self-indulgent wife, Peg; Christina Applegate as hot-to-trot daughter Kelly, now a TV commercial spokeswoman; David Faustino as scheming son Bud, who this season defies all logic by graduating from Trumaine University; and next-door neighbors Marcy and Jefferson D'Arcy (Amanda Bearse, Ted McGinley). New developments this season include the demise of the Bundy family's dog, Buck, though the opportunity for a saccharine "very special moment" is deftly avoided when Buck is immediately (and reluctantly) reincarnated in the form of a cute little puppy named Lucky. Also, legendary character actress Kathleen Freeman -- or her voice, at any rate -- is added to the cast as Peg's obese, never-seen mother, Mrs. Wanker, who moves into Bud's old room after walking out on her husband (and, no, Bud has not left the nest -- he had merely relocated to the Bundy family basement). If Peg Bundy seems conspicuous by her absence towards the end of season ten, it is because actress Katey Sagal was on brief pregnancy leave. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1994
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As Married...With Children enters its ninth season, the Bundy family's youngest member, Bud (David Faustino), has gotten a job at the motor vehicle bureau; Bud's older sister, Kelly (Christina Applegate), has become a commercial pitchwoman; father Al (Ed O'Neill) continues striking a blow for male chauvinist pigs worldwide as head of "NO MA'AM"; and mom Peg (Katey Sagal) at last invades the sanctity of Al's favorite hangout, the Nudie Bar. Next door at the D'Arcy home, Jefferson D'Arcy (Ted McGinley) worries that his past life as a spy will catch up with him, while wife Marcy (Amanda Bearse) invites her niece to her home -- and invites trouble when the girl scores with Bud. New to the series' cast is Harold Sylvester as Griff, another salesman at the shoe store where Al works. We also get to see a lot more of Al's buddies and fellow NO MA'AM members Ike (Tom McCleister), Sticky (Pat Millicano), and Bob (E.E. Bell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1994
Elizabeth Pena and Christina Applegate play Carmen and Kathy, two women from Los Angeles with practically nothing in common. Carmen is a working-class Latina and single mother from the East Side barrio, while Kathy comes from a wealthy family in Beverly Hills. However, both of their boyfriends, Richie (Tony Dean Fields) and Lyle (Peter Berg), have ended up in a jail in the Mojave Desert as part of a confidence scheme. Carmen and Kathy want to be near the men they love to show their support, so they head out to the desert in Kathy's convertible to wait out their stay in jail as they share living quarters in an old trailer home. Across the Moon was the second feature film for director Lisa Gottlieb, who previously helmed the cult favorite Just One of the Guys and episodes of the TV series Dream On. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Peña, Christina Applegate, (more)
- 1993
- Add Married... With Children: Season 08 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 08 to top of Queue
Eight seasons have passed since Married...With Children made its Fox network debut, but the Bundy family is just as boorish and decadent as ever -- if not more so. This season, shoe salesman Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) loses sleep over the dread "Bundy Curse," endeavors to teach a high school graduate the facts of life, and establishes the all-male conclave "NO MA'AM"(National Organization of Men Against Amazonian Women). Lazy, oversexed housewife Peg Bundy (Katey Sagal) wins a chance at a 10,000-dollar contest during a basketball game, is exposed to public embarrassment (and admiration) when her picture is hung up outside a photo shop, and impersonates one of the Village People. Libidinous daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) gets a steady job as a pest exterminator and displays a hitherto untapped prowess at sports; and opportunistic son Bud (David Faustino) generally hangs around the house, like always. Next door at the D'Arcys, unemployed Jefferson D'Arcy (Ted McGinley) reveals his past life as a secret agent, while wife Marcy (Amanda Bearse) embraces feminism and has an existential moment while delivering a speech. The season ends with the episode "Kelly Knows Something" -- quite a shocker for series fans who have resigned themselves to the "fact" that Kelly knows nothing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1993
This 1993 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Christina Applegate and features musical guest Midnight Oil. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate, Midnight Oil, (more)
- 1992
- Add Married... With Children: Season 07 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 07 to top of Queue
As a means of freshening up Married...With Children during the series' seventh season, the producers decided to add a new regular: Seven Bundy (Shane Sweet), six-year-old son of one of Peg Bundy's hillbilly cousins, who is left in the care of Peg (Katey Sagal) and her husband, Al (Ed O'Neill), by Seven's irresponsible parents. Alas, Seven never caught on with the series' fans (some critics have compared him to the benighted "Oliver" on the final season of The Brady Bunch), so the character was abruptly dumped in mid-season, without comment or explanation. Elsewhere, things haven't changed much for the boorish Bundy family. Dad Al continues to be the archetypal male chauvinist pig, Peg persists in avoiding housework and indulging in sexual fantasies, daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) puts her show-biz career on hold to work as a waitress, and son Bud (David Faustino) continues to seek out hot chicks and fast money. This is the season in which the entire cast appears as pirates and captured maidens in a dream sequence; Al is sued by a man who was robbing the Bundy house; Peg doodles a cartoon of Al which wins him about 15-and-a-half minutes of fame; Bud shows up as a contestant on The Dating Game; and Al's old girlfriend makes him an offer he can't refuse. Season seven closes with an offbeat special episode, "A Day in the Life," focusing on the backstage activities of series regulars Amanda Bearse (Marcy) and Ted McGinley (Jefferson). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1991
- Add Married... With Children: Season 06 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 06 to top of Queue
Season six is "the year of the babies" on Married...With Children. To accommodate the real-life pregnancy of series star Katey Sagal (Peg Bundy), the scriptwriters contrive to have Peg find herself in "the family way" -- and for good measure, the Bundy's next-door neighbor Marcy Rhoades D'Arcy (Amanda Bearse) is also expecting. But by the middle of the season, it turns out the ladies' pregnancies were imaginary, the result of a Dallas-style nightmare. The reason is simple and poignant; Katey Sagal had suffered a miscarriage, so it was decided to eliminate the entire pregnancy angle from the rest of the season. In other, non-maternal plot developments: Bud Bundy (David Faustino), teenage son of Peg and her hubby Al (Ed O'Neill), adopts a nickname that no one can remember; Bud's sister, Kelly (Christina Applegate), gets her own TV talk show, "Vital Social Issues 'N Stuff With Kelly;" experiencing an epiphany, Al decides to devote his life to selling "God's Shoes;" and Marcy has a run-in with ex-husband Steve Rhoades (former series regular David Garrison), currently on the lam for stealing rare hawk eggs from a public park (Don't you just hate when that happens?). The sixth season concludes with a two-parter set in England, where the Bundys, Marcy, and Marcy's current husband Jefferson (Ted McGinley) tackle an ancient curse -- not to mention the more contemporary curse of lost luggage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1990
- Add Married... With Children: Season 05 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 05 to top of Queue
The big news during season five of Married...With Children is the remarriage of Marcy Rhoades (Amanda Bearse), next-door neighbor of the boorish Bundys. After a drunken binge at a bankers' convention, Marcy wakes up to discover that she is the wife of one Jefferson D'Arcy (Ted McGinley), whose lack of charm is matched only by his lack of ambition. Not that Al and Peg Bundy (Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal) don't have misadventures of their own. Taking his family on a car trip for Labor Day Weekend, Al spends all three days stuck in "typical" Chicago freeway traffic. Peggy begins popping birth-control pills at the precise moment that Al is hoping to father a child so that he can inherit a fortune. The couple's daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) miraculously graduates from high school, becomes the commercial spokesperson for "Weenie Tots," and dates a guy twice her age. And son Bud (David Faustino) fulfills a lifelong dream by finally scoring with a chick. As if to make certain that Married...With Children doesn't completely lose its grip on reality, we are offered episodes in which Al Bundy witnesses an invasion by little green aliens, and (in the season's final episode) the family goes prospecting for gold in the town of Lucifer, NM -- just off Route 666. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1989
- Add Married... With Children: Season 04 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 04 to top of Queue
One significant cast change occurs during season four of Married...With Children -- namely, the departure of Steve Rhoades (David Garrison), long-suffering accountant neighbor of the boorish Bundy family. Taking a chance by okaying a $50,000 loan for the redoubtable Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill), poor Steve loses his job at the bank. Before long, Steve's wife, Marcy (Amanda Bearse), is short one husband, as Steve runs off to become a park ranger at Yellowstone. After the divorce, Marcy joins Al's wife, Peg (Katey Sagal), and the delinquent Bundy children for a getaway vacation to Las Vegas -- which culminates in a grudge match with a female wrestler! Nor is this all that happens during season four -- not by a long shot. In the season opener, "Dead Men Don't Do Aerobics," Peg persuades a physical-fitness nut to pig out on junk food -- with fatal results. Elsewhere, a young Milla Jovovich guest stars as a foreign exchange student who becomes a thorn in the side of the Bundys' daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate); son Bud Bundy (David Faustino) becomes the world's youngest talent agent; the family dog, Buck, finds a voice (in the unseen form of actor Kevin Curran); and Al suffers from an unwelcome foot fetish when chosen to emcee a beauty contest at the shoe store where he works. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1988
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The third season of Married...With Children might not have happened if a certain Michigan housewife had had her way. Outraged by the excessive sex talk and overall lack of good taste on the series, the woman from Michigan launched a letter-writing campaign to get Married... banned from the Fox network. This didn't happen for three reasons: Most viewers accepted the series as a broad satire of '80s TV raunchiness, the series was enjoying its best-ever ratings, and the show was a cash cow for Fox, accruing more advertising revenue than the rest of its programs combined. As they say, money talks, and something else walks. Anyway, season three offers even more outrageous behavior from the Bundy family of Chicago, much to the dismay of their strait-laced neighbors, the Rhoadeses. To cite on example among many, we submit for approval the episode in which, thanks to Peg Bundy's (Katey Sagal) lousy sense of directions, Steve Rhodes (David Garrison) and wife Marcy (Amanda Bearse) come home to find that their house has been demolished and their lot replaced by a gaping hole! The season's best-known episode, "The Camping Show," was originally titled "A Period Pierce" because it deals with the discomfort of Peg and Marcy whose "time of the month" occurs during a camping trip; the Fox network decided to change the title rather than offend its audience (as if the audience for this show could ever be offended). Another episode, "I'll See You in Court," was not aired in the U.S. until it was cablecast by the FX channel in 2002. The plot? Well, it seems that both the Bundys and the Rhoadeses are videotaped while having sex at a cheap hotel...say no more, say no more, wink wink, nudge nudge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
While at the high-school prom, a group of students find romance and fun, while their parents enjoy the same. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- Add Married... With Children: Season 01 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 01 to top of Queue
The Fox network's very first sitcom launches its very first season, as Married...With Children invades the sanctity of the American home. We waste no time introducing the Bundys of Chicago, headed by cloddish, chauvinistic shoe salesman Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) and his lazy, oversexed wife Peg (Katey Sagal). And of course, there are the Bundy brats: Daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate), who has managed to garner the worst reputation in her school at the tender age of 15, and eleven-year-old son Bud (David Faustino), a J.D.-in-training. The Bundys spend most of the series' first season outraging and disgusting their wide-eyed newlywed neighbors, young accountants Steve and Marcy Rhoades (David Garrison, Amanda Bearse). Whatever illusions Steve and Marcy may have had about the sweetness of matrimony and family life are destroyed by the boorish Bundys and their repulsive children on a weekly (if not daily) basis. Highlights (or is it lowlights?) of the series' inaugural season include Peg's efforts to go on a diet, Al's accidental "execution" of the neighbors' dog, Al and Steve bonding over the matter of a '65 Mustang (and simultaneously alienating their wives all the more), the family's depletion of their already tenuous credit rating, a "second honeymoon" at a no-tell motel, Peg going to work in order to buy a VCR, and innocent Marcy's outrageous sexual fantasies. . .about Al. Closing the season as Fox's highest-rated program, Married...With Children also established the fledgling network's mandate: Shock 'em, gross 'em out, make 'em laugh, and count the change as the advertising revenue rolls in. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
- 1987
- Add Married... With Children: Season 02 to QueueAdd Married... With Children: Season 02 to top of Queue
Firmly established as the fledgling Fox network's most successful (and most outrageous) sitcom, Married...With Children sails into its second season with more misadventures of the boorish Bundy family and their long-suffering neighbors, the Rhoadeses. As farcical and far-out as the plotlines had been in season one, the series' "real-life" quotient is virtually nonexistent in season two. In the two-part season opener, the Bundys take a vacation to Florida, where Peg (Katey Sagal) is kidnapped by an axe murderer and Al (Ed O'Neill) exerts the least possible energy to save her. Later episodes revolve around the sexual promiscuity of the Bundys' dog, Buck, Peg's revealing (in more ways than one) night out with neighbor Marcy (Amanda Bearse) at a male strip club, daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) amazing one and all by actually passing her driver's test, 12-year-old son Bud's (David Faustino) tentative fling with a 21-year-old art student, the demise of Santa Claus on the Bundy property, and the first signs of marital disfunction in the Rhoades household. The most talked-about episode of season two was "Peggy Loves Al, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah," in which the Fox network conducted a telephone poll during the original telecast (on February 14, 1988) to find out if the viewers really wanted Al to get off his chauvinistic high horse and tell Peggy that he really loves her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, (more)
