The Cast of ‘Married…With Children’ Learned About the Show’s Cancellation from Strangers

Being a major cast member of a hit sitcom doesn’t guarantee a proper farewell. At least it didn’t for Christine Applegate and Ed O’Neill. The former castmates sat down recently to discuss their time on Married…With Children and how they heard about the show’s Cancellation. The duo revealed that Fox, the network that aired the show, never bothered to tell the cast the series had been canceled. They each learned about the show’s cancellation from random strangers.

Christine Applegate and Ed O’Neill learned about their show’s end from random strangers

Christina Applegate grew up on Married…With Children, but that didn’t mean she was offered a sit-down meeting when the series was over. Cast as Kelly Bundy on the show when she was just 15, she walked away as a woman in her mid-20s, but only after a friend of a friend told her the show had been canceled. Christine Applegate welcomed her TV dad, Ed O’Neill, onto her podcast, MesSy, recently, and the on-screen father and daughter got to discussing the show’s cancellation.

Christine Applegate explained that she learned she was out of a job when a friend of a friend told her assistant that Married…With Children had been canceled. Applegate waited for confirmation from the network, but she never received a call. The friend of a friend wasn’t wrong, but an official meeting never took place.

O’Neill had a similar experience to Applegate, albeit a bit more bizarre. During the podcast, O’Neill recalled learning about Married… With Children’s cancellation from a random newlywed couple. O’Neill explained that he congratulated a couple he had spotted randomly on the street. He said they thanked him and then offered their condolences on the cancellation of Married…With Children. O’Neill was not yet aware that the show had been canceled. He, like Applegate, never received a phone call from the network.

Amanda Bearse blamed “discord” for ‘Married…With Children’s’ cancellation

Ed O’Neill and Christina Applegate didn’t delve too deeply into the reason for the show’s cancellation. Over the years, the show’s other stars have discussed it. Amanda Bearse, for example, talked about the show’s end in 2020 during an interview with the Fayetteville Observer.

Bearse, who played the Bundy’s neighbor, Marcy D’Arcy, during the show’s 11-season run, said that the sitcom “petered” out because there had been some “discord.” She revealed that while she was grateful for the show, not all of her time on the set was pleasant. Bearse and O’Neill have a longstanding feud.