Married... with Children: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:29, 25 July 2025

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Rakolta's campaign resulted in [[Gillette]], [[Warner–Lambert]], and [[The Coca-Cola Company|Coca-Cola]] ending sponsorships; ironically, Coca-Cola owned the studio that produced the show, [[Columbia Pictures Television]].<ref name="Kimmel 2004"/>{{rp|68}} Fox pulled the episode titled "[[I'll See You in Court]]" (in which the Bundys attempt to improve their love life by having marital relations in a different setting). This episode became known as the "Lost Episode" and was aired on [[FX (TV channel)|FX]] on June 18, 2002, with some parts cut.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?26509|title=Censored 'Married ... with Children' to Air on FX|work=Zap2it|date=June 17, 2002|access-date=August 17, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030212064318/http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?26509|archive-date=February 12, 2003|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= The Illustrated Lost Show Transcript|url=http://www.bundyology.com/lost1.html|work=Bundyology|date=November 25, 2002|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20071219184320/http://www.bundyology.com/lost1.html|archive-date=December 19, 2007|access-date=August 17, 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref> The episode was packaged with the rest of the third season in the January 2005 [[DVD]] release (and in the first volume of the ''Married... with Children Most Outrageous Episodes'' DVD set) with the parts cut from syndication restored.

Viewers' curiosity over the boycott and over the show itself [[Streisand effect|led to a drastic ratings boost]].<ref name="Kimmel 2004"/>{{rp|68}} Rakolta has been alluded to twice on the show: "Rock and Roll Girl",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=married-with-children&episode=s04e15|title=Married with Children s04e15 Episode Script |website=Springfield! Springfield!|access-date=2019-08-25|archive-date=2014-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909161100/http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=married-with-children&episode=s04e15|url-status=dead}}</ref> in which a newscaster mentions the city Bloomfield Hills, and "No Pot to Pease In",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=married-with-children&episode=s09e09|title=Married with Children s09e09 Episode Script|website=Springfield! Springfield!|access-date=2019-08-25 |archive-date=2014-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909161041/http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=married-with-children&episode=s09e09|url-status=dead}}</ref> in which a television show is made about the Bundy family and then cancelled because, as Marcy stated, "some woman in Michigan didn't like it."

Socially conservative criticisms of the show were not limited to Rakolta. The [[Media Research Center]] named ''Married... with Children'' the worst show of the 1995–96 television season, calling it the "crudest comedy on prime time television" for "lewd punch lines".<ref name="MRC 1996">{{cite web|title=Top 10 Best and Worst Primetime TV Shows|url=http://townhall.com/mrc/entertainment/topten.html|publisher=Media Research Center|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/19961129110404/http://townhall.com/mrc/entertainment/topten.html|archive-date=November 29, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://uproxx.com/prowrestling/married-with-children-wrestling-episode-king-kong-bundy/|title=The Wrestling Episode: The Battle Of The Bundys On 'Married … With Children'|last=Stroud|first=Brandon|work=Uproxx|date=April 26, 2018|access-date=August 16, 2024}}</ref> Republican U.S. Senator [[Jesse Helms]] called the show "trash".<ref name=McLellan>{{cite web |last=McLellan |first=Dennis |title=Ron Leavitt, 60; co-creator of 'Married . . . With Children'|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-leavitt12feb12%2C0%2C2446866.story |website=Los Angeles Times|date=February 12, 2008 |access-date=June 5, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214063913/http://www.latimes.com:80/news/obituaries/la-me-leavitt12feb12,0,2446866.story|archive-date=February 14, 2008|url-status=dead|url-access=limited}}</ref> Fellow Senator [[Joe Lieberman]] (D-CT) also strongly criticized the sitcom, after having walked in on his stepson and young daughter watching an episode one evening in late 1993. In an interview many years later, Lieberman would specifically cite ''Married...With Children'' as the impetus for his becoming a vocal opponent of pop culture and the entertainment industry throughout his Senate career.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/12/08/lieberman-versus-hollywood/34114372-56bf-47f8-8cbd-5d4b09fd44bd/ |title=