‘Married with Children’ spin-off talk starts up again

It has been a little while since we first heard rumors about there being a spin-off at some point to “Married with Children,” arguably one of the most popular sitcoms of the past few decades. Is there a demand for it? It seems so, but at the same time reviving this show is a little harder than something like “Full House.” The two biggest stars of that original series in Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal have regular gigs elsewhere, and we’re not sure that Al Bundy would have survived on TV today given that he was far from politically-correct and we are living in a time of TV outrage right now where many shows are careful about their content. Is there a place for Al Bundy’s way of thinking in TVland anymore?

Yet, the talk about there being a spin-off is starting up again courtesy of David Faustino. Speaking to E! News at the premiere for the upcoming “Vacation” movie (yep, ironically another revival / spin-off), the actor (who played Bud on the classic series) said there are talks, and that Sony is “excited” about the idea. At present, they are dealing with some “legal issues” and if that is cleared up they may be able to move forward. Many of the original stars have at least agreed to make small appearances, but we wouldn’t expect too much screen time from Al and Peggy Bundy.

At this point, we will believe it when we see it … but we do know that Fox is very much in the revival business at the moment. Remember that this is a network that also has “Minority Report” coming on this fall, and they are talking about bringing back “Prison Break” and are premiering a new season of “The X-Files” in January. They are really down the rabbit hole with reviving existing properties more so than creating new ideas and while it’s fun to think about revivals, some of these shows need to stay in the past. With the way the TV landscape is right now, any “Married With Children” spin off wold have to be watered down and that’s not what we want to see. If tit can’t do the original justice, then don’t do it.

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