Married... With Children vs. the World

Book excerpt: A rollicking account of the groundbreaking show from one of the show’s producers, featuring the voices of the stars, creators, and executives involved with bringing it to life. “I had the pleasure of working with Richard Gurman for eleven years. When he sent me his new book Married… With Children vs. the World, I figured it would be a trip down memory lane. So I was stunned by some revelations I never knew. And reminded how brilliant much of the writing was. What a time that was. If you liked Married… With Children, then you should read this book. You’re in for a treat!” —Ed O’Neill Married… With Children burst onto the airwaves with a full-frontal attack on the myth of domestic tranquility depicted in family comedies since the dawn of TV. The outlier series, created by two rebellious writers given carte blanche from a fledgling FOX, became one of the longest running live-action sitcoms in television history and forever changed the way married life was portrayed on the very networks it so scathingly satirized. But it was far from smooth sailing as the creators bucked up against Barry Diller—then CEO of FOX—on everything from casting to content and then butted heads with network standards as they sought to shatter traditional broadcast norms. "Reading Married… With Children vs. the World jolted me right back into the mindset where our little show was the rock ’n’ roll of sitcoms fighting to get heard in an easy-listening world. Richard Gurman, who was there for the whole ride, digs deep into the joys and frustrations of the entire experience and turns it up loud.” —Katey Sagal Married… With Children writer-producer Richard Gurman takes us behind the scenes of this boundary-breaking show to reveal how its inner workings were at times as disruptive and contentious—yet at other times, as hysterical and raunchy—as the Bundy family themselves. Featuring exclusive interviews with the cast, including Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal, media moguls, network executives, writers, directors, critics, and even the woman who was so offended by one episode she launched a sponsor boycott that almost got the series canceled, Married… With Children vs. the World celebrates the rebellious, satirical vision of the show and the battle to keep it alive that paved the way for the tremendous diversity in family comedy style we see today. “Not only is this an accurate chronicle of both families, on either side of the camera, but what should also serve as a valuable lesson of never giving up on a dream.” —Michael G. Moye, Co-Creator “I had almost as much fun reading Married… with Children vs. the World as I had working on the show. Almost. Richard Gurman chronicles, from his vantage point inside the writers’ room and the sound booth, how we broke the china in the family sitcom kitchen, and upended the television industry by doing so. What could be more fun than that?” —David Garrison