What Happened To The Cast Of Married... With Children?

Since its end in 1997, "Married... with Children" has maintained a legacy as one of the strangest and longest-running television shows of its kind. The Fox sitcom was, on its face, a standard multi-camera sitcom about a dysfunctional family and the colorfully zany characters that breezed in and out of their suburban enclosure. At the same time, it bucked contemporary genre conventions, daring to push the boundaries of acceptable behavior for sitcom protagonists while leaning into the surrealist subgenre — which, relative to the tamer landscape of TV back in the late '80s and '90s, surely must've surprised some audiences.

And yet, as odd and abrasive as the show could be, the series was reliably anchored by a powerhouse cast of comedic actors at the top of their game. This included Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal, and Christina Applegate, all three of whom have been receptive to revive the series over the years despite going on to lead very busy and successful careers. Fortunately for them, an animated revival is reportedly in the works, with the original cast all on board to reprise their respective roles. While we await the return of the Bundy family with baited breath, we have almost three decades of work to enjoy from one of the greatest sitcom casts in TV history.

For the first four seasons of "Married... with Children," David Garrison starred as Steve Rhoades, the strange and ultimately reckless neighbor of the Bundys who suddenly vanishes one day to pursue an ill-fated career as a park ranger. He continued to make guest appearances in subsequent seasons, but did not appear in Seasons 10 or 11. Since his departure, he recurred on the television shows "The Practice" (as Assistant U.S. District Attorney Theodore McNally), "The West Wing" (Mike Diacovo), and "Law and Order." On the latter program, he played Richard Billings, a defense attorney who first appears in Season 8, Episode 11, "Under the Influence." He pops in several seasons thereafter, eventually as a judge during Season 20. In 2001, he reprised his role as Steve on the sitcom "Nikki" in a dream sequence, alongside his co-star Amanda Bearse who played his on-screen wife on "Married...."   

The major reason for Garrison's early exit from the series was his love of the theater. A trained thespian and Tony Award-nominated stage actor, he had appeared in several major Broadway productions prior to and during his time on "Married...," including the 1981 revival of "The Pirates of Penzance." In 1997 (two years after his final appearance on "Married..." during its ninth season), he was part of the original Broadway cast of the "Titanic" musical, playing the role of J. Bruce Ismay. In 2006, he joined the cast of the hit blockbuster musical "Wicked" as The Wizard — the role played by Jeff Goldblum in the buzzy but overlong 2024 film adaptation. More recently, he was an original cast member in both "The Visit" and "The Great Society."

Prior to her role on "Married... with Children," Amanda Bearse was largely known for her role in the wickedly cool vampire flick "Fright Night." However, she soon eclipsed her scream queen status with an 11-season run on the Fox sitcom, playing the role of Marcy D'Arcy — the pompous and high-strung wife of Steve Rhoades, who later drunkenly remarries handsome con artist Jefferson D'Arcy. 

After the series ended, Bearse took a few years' break from acting, only returning to reprise her "Married... with Children" character for a cameo on the sitcom "Nikki" in 2001. In 2011, she joined the cast of the TV series "Drop Dead Diva" as recurring character Judge Jodi Corliss. The Lifetime dramedy follows a dead superficial supermodel who manages to revive herself in the body of a lawyer. In 2022, she had a supporting role in the LGBTQ+ romcom "Bros."

Bearse's other post-"Married... with Children" acting credits include guest-starring roles on the TV shows "Anger Management" and "Nikki," as well as supporting roles in the films "Sky Sharks" and "Tapawingo." She seemingly began prioritizing her directing career once "Married... with Children" (which she directed 31 episodes of) went off the air, helming several episodes of the series "The Big Gay Sketch Show" (also serving as a co-executive producer), "Dharma & Greg," "The Jamie Foxx Show," "Mad TV," "Reba," and the Ryan Reynolds sitcom "Two Guys and a Girl." In 2016, she produced and directed the TV movie "Skirtchasers."

One of the few major actors still alive from "Happy Days," Ted McGinley has enjoyed a vast and varied acting career that has spanned over four decades and nearly 100 roles. On "Married... with Children," he played Jefferson D'Arcy, Marcy D'Arcy's perpetually scheming second husband. After the series ended, he was cast as a recurring guest-star on the ABC drama "Sports Night," which was written and created by legendary TV scribe Aaron Sorkin. In Season 1, he plays Gordon Gage, one point in a classic Sorkin love triangle that also involves sports anchor Casey McCall (Peter Krause) and show executive producer Dana Whitaker (Felicity Huffman). He and Sorkin reunited shortly after the show ended for the second season of "The West Wing," in which he recurred as "Capital Beat" anchor Mark Gottfried.

McGinley returned to ABC for his next major TV project — the sitcom "Hope and Faith." He played the role of Charlie Shanowski, an average suburban dad whose family life is upturned by the reappearance of his sister-in-law (a recently washed-up soap opera star played by Kelly Ripa). The series ran for three seasons before being cancelled in 2006. 

McGinley then booked recurring roles in "No Tomorrow," "No Good Nick," "Keeping Up with the Joneses," and "The Baxters," as well as a leading role in the animated children's series "Transformers: Robots in Disguise." Since 2023, he has played the role of Derek on the acclaimed Apple TV+ dramedy "Shrinking." The series follows a therapist's (Jason Segel) unconventional and often desperate attempts to help his patients, which ultimately impacts the world around him in unpredictable ways.

For all 11 seasons of "Married... with Children," David Faustino starred as family brainiac Bud Bundy, the youngest and often most put-upon of the pack. Since the series ended, Faustino has had a career as a prominent voice actor, landing major roles in the DreamWorks "Dragons" franchise (as Berserker Tribe Chief Dagur the Deranged), the "Winx Club" series of shows and movies (Heila, the love interest of Flora), and the newly rebooted "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (Normal Nate in both the 2023 feature "Mutant Mayhem" and its subsequent spin-off TV series). 

Most notably, he starred as professional firebender Mako in the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" spin-off series "The Legend of Korra." It ran for four seasons on Nickeldeon and was largely well-received by critics and audiences. Faustino has continued to act in live action projects, including the TV shows "The Help," "Bad Samaritans," and "The Young and the Restless." He also played himself in multiple episodes of the HBO entertainment industry satire "Entourage," and appeared in the feature film alongside several "Married..." alums. In 2009, he created, wrote, and starred in the comedy webseries "Star-ving," in which he plays a fictional version of himself struggling to find work after the end of "Married..." Many of his former co-stars play themselves in the series.

After taking her final bow as Kelly Bundy (the family's wayward daughter), Christina Applegate continued to be a highly sought-after comedic actor. A year after the finale she was already leading another sitcom — the NBC series "Jesse," which was executive produced by the team from "Friends." It was cancelled after only two seasons, though Applegate was later cast in "Friends" as Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston) sister Amy. Her next major television projects "Samantha Who?" (in which she starred as the titular real estate agent suffering from the TV version of amnesia) and "Up All Night" (in which she starred as a producer making the TV version of late night TV) also lasted only two seasons. 

She eventually found mainstream success in the medium once more in 2019 when she joined the cast and production team of the Netflix crime dramedy "Dead to Me," which ran for three seasons, the last of which found Applegate being officially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. "Dead to Me" follows Applegate's Jen Harding and Linda Cardellini's Judy Hale as a fateful incident throws them into an unlikely and volatile friendship that changes their lives for better and for worse. 

Meanwhile, in the world of film, Applegate has knocked it out of the park with memorable roles in the comedy movies "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," "Bad Moms," and their respective spin-offs and sequels. 

"Married... with Children" often danced into the absurd, especially with the introduction of talking dog Buck Bundy. Hilariously judgmental, he provided biting commentary on the characters' actions until he was killed off in Season 10 (thereafter reincarnated as a new dog named Lucky). Sadly, the real Buck passed away shortly after being retired from the series in 1996, at the age of 12. Buck's trainer Steven Ritt continued to work as an animal handler for series like "The Help," "The OC," "Veronica Mars," "My Name is Earl," and David Faustino's "Star-ving." He also worked on the 2011 Justin Timberlake-Mila Kunis romantic comedy "Friends with Benefits."

For Seasons 4-7, Buck was voiced by "Married..." writer, story editor, and producer Kevin Curran, in his first and last acting role to date (save for a few cameos on "Late Night with David Letterman," which he was also primarily a writer for). While the series was still airing, Curran created the sitcom "The Good Life" with Jeff Martin and Suzanne Martin for NBC. It was cancelled after one season. He subsequently created the short-lived series "Hardball" and "The Pub of Heaven." Then, in 1998, he joined the production team of "The Simpsons" during its ninth season, and remained there until his death in 2016.

Interestingly, comedy veteran Cheech Marin also voiced the Bundy family pet for three episodes. As the show neared its end, the character was voiced by Kim Weiskopf, also a member of the production staff. He left the series ahead of its final season to co-executive produce the sitcom "Sister, Sister," then began working on the first season of "Malcolm and Eddie." He too passed away in 2009.

One-half of the couple that drove much of the comedy on "Married... with Children," Katey Sagal's Peggy Bundy deserves much of the credit for the show's success. Sagal followed "Married..." up with a recurring guest-star spot on "That '70s Show," playing Edna, the estranged mother of Danny Masterson's Hyde. Around the same time, she landed one of her first major voice acting roles as Mrs. Spinelli in the classic Disney Channel animated series "Recess" (she reprised the role in numerous spin-off series and films). In 2000, she joined the core cast of the sitcom "Tucker" (though most of the episodes were never aired), before eventually netting another series regular role on the ABC sitcom "8 Simple Rules." The latter series initially follows a writer (John Ritter) who uses his work to better understand and connect with his three young daughters.

Her two biggest projects since the end of "Married..." have been the FX crime drama "Sons of Anarchy" (in which she played widowed motorcycle matriarch Gemma Teller Morrow) and the animated science fiction comedy series "Futurama." In the latter series, which has been running sporadically since 1999, she voices the heroic one-eyed mutant Turanga Leela. Throughout her career, Sagal has also played a wide array of recurring supporting characters on well-known sitcoms and dramas, including "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (as the mother of Andy Samberg's Jake Peralta), "The Connors," "Lost," and "Shameless." She also appeared on "Dead to Me" opposite her former "Married..." co-star Christina Applegate.

Finally, we come to patriarch Al Bundy, the usual center of "Married... with Children's" bizarre universe. O'Neill's body of work since the show ended arguably contains the most diverse collection of projects and characters. For example, his next major TV project was the fantasy miniseries "The 10th Kingdom," in which he donned prosthetics and make-up to play the Troll King Relish. He followed this with leading roles in two crime dramas — CBS' "Big Apple" and ABC's "Dragnet," the latter of which was produced by "Law and Order's" Dick Wolf. In Season 6 of "The West Wing," he had two two-episode arcs as Pennsylvanian Democratic Governor Eric Baker. 

His next series regular role came in 2007, with the one-season HBO surrealist drama "John from Cincinnati." He played retired policeman Bill Jacks, whose life is touched by an enigmatic and seemingly magical surfer played by "One Tree Hill" alum Austin Nichols. Of course, his most well-known project after "Married..." — and perhaps his most well-known project period — is ABC's "Modern Family," a mockumentary sitcom that sees him reprise the role of the gruff patriarch for a new generation. 

Most recently, he starred as disgraced basketball team-owner Donald Sterling in the Hulu miniseries "Clipped." On the film front, O'Neill found a home at Disney, landing supporting roles in the animated features "Finding Dory" and "Wreck-It Ralph," as well as their respective spin-offs and sequels.