Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502060009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB CURTRIGHT KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Remember when Ted Koppel seriously devoted an entire ``Nightline'' to the protest of an outraged Michigan housewife who ``accidentally'' tuned in and was horrified at the family image that impressionable children might see?
You know: loutish and lazy father, blowsy and kitchen-ignorant mother, bimbo teen daughter and sex-obsessed elementary school son. Not particularly attractive but eminently recognizable. No, no, not in your own living room, of course, but right next door.
Even the New York Times put the struggle for America's family soul and the decline of Western civilization through sitcoms on its front page, and ``Married'' was Exhibit A among the damning evidence. Naturally, it made the show an instant commercial hit.
Suddenly, critics who had denounced the show for what it said about American family image now had to ponder what its sudden popularity said about real American families who make up most of the television audience.
As ``Married'' creator Michael Moye is wont to say about the perils of overanalyzing anything: ``You're just meant to laugh. That's what a comedy is supposed to do. You're meant to laugh and enjoy yourself and forget the world for 22 minutes.''
``Married's'' milestone 200th episode at 9 p.m. tonight on Fox is called ``Get the Dodge Out of Hell'' and concerns the Bundys taking their family Dodge to the car wash for the very first time - and losing it in all the suds and good intentions. Leading into it at 8:30 p.m. is a half-hour special of highlights from the first 81/2 seasons with author-raconteur George Plimpton.
The national debate on ``Married'' has pretty much subsided, mostly because newer shows drew the fire; ``NYPD Blue'' is the current cause celebre. Still, the series that critics love to hate (mostly sight unseen) keeps charging right along with no apparent end in sight.
And the show's stars and creators are just as amazed as anyone else.
For Ed O'Neill, who plays Al Bundy, the Everyman shoe salesman in the doldrums of married and professional life, ``Married'' was to be like the shock troops for the brash, upstart Fox when the fourth network muscled its way into our lives in April of 1987.
``You know: hit the beach, get some attention and then get mowed down. I would guess that it was probably the show least considered to be successful. I mean, they had big-name people like George C. Scott and Patty Duke and Tracy Ullman in other shows that first season,'' says O'Neill.
The show, created by Moye and Ron Leavitt, was purposely designed as a satirical backlash to the idealized families of ``The Cosby Show'' and their ilk in the mid-1980s. All that sweetness, all that light, all that, well, parental understanding was just too much for cranky Moye and Leavitt.
So, nine seasons later, Al (O'Neill) and Peg Bundy (Katey Sagal), after 24 years of marriage in a typical Chicago suburban ranch home, have achieved a sort of diplomatic stalemate in their marriage. She doesn't cook or clean and he doesn't pester her for intimacy. She is a shopaholic and he is a couch potato. Tolerance has become better than romance.
Their kids, Kelly and Bud, are still living at home. Since the show has lasted so long, the two are no longer children as the title indicates. But Moye doesn't think that hurts the show any. It just changes the range of stories.
``We will always be `With Children,' no matter how old they get. And if they are still living at home, they will still be making your life miserable. The premise is still going strong,'' Moye says.
One-time bimbo Kelly (Christina Applegate) is now a serious actress from the Larry Storch School of Acting. Her biggest role so far is as the Verminator for insect control commercials.
``I didn't think we were going to pass the first season because, you know, of all the things against it. New network, strange show, sick jokes,'' says Applegate, who aged from 14 to 23.
And Bud (David Faustino), a hopeless romantic and nerd, has grown up to work for the DMV. He's even been called upon to give his dear old dad a driving test.
``I was 12 when the show started,'' says Faustino, who claims he wasn't allowed to watch it at first. ``I didn't even get the jokes, all the sexual jokes, in the first season. I didn't understand what was going on. But two or three years later, I finally knew.''
Why has the show remained so popular despite continuing criticism?
``It's the escapism factor,'' says Moye. ``A lot of sitcoms do little morality plays and you've got to learn a lesson. At the end, everybody hugs and the gang member dies in the arms of the star. A lot of people come home from work and they say, `Hell, I just drove past all that. I don't want to see that. I just want to go home and laugh.' ''
by CNB