David Faustino is the first to admit a revival of Married … with Children came surprisingly “close” to happening.
“Matter of fact, I signed my deal,” Faustino, 52, exclusively shared with Us Weekly on Wednesday, June 10, ahead of his live event with Bundy Club and Ed O’Neill, who notably played his iconic TV father, Al Bundy, on the hit sitcom. “All of the cast was very supportive. It was built around a Bud Bundy kind of story line, and they were also supportive. They agreed to come on as recurring characters. They wouldn’t be in it all the time. They’d be recurring characters, and Sony — who owns the show — was just completely ready.”
According to Faustino, the show’s original creator, Michael Moye, even flew into Los Angeles to work on a script.
Al’s shoe store may have been closed in the reboot, but Bud was nearly back on the clock in a major way. Unfortunately, the team “ran into a speed bump” when someone pumped the brakes on the project due to concerns the story line strayed a bit too far from the original show.
“There is a person who I won’t name — not a cast member — who had decided that … they wanted to hold on to what the show was,” Faustino claimed, “and didn’t ever want to let any other version ever go out.”
David Faustino, Ed O’Neill Joe Viles / TM and Fox Network / courtesy Everett Collection
The experience was “disappointing” to Faustino because he firmly believes the project centering around his character, Bud, would have been a “blast.”
“We all would have had fun. But quite honestly, when the show ended, it was sort of a cold business decision in that the 11th season was happening,” he added. “Toward the end of it, FOX didn’t know if they wanted to renew or not. They were walking the line. They couldn’t make up their minds, and at the 11th hour, they decided to cancel it.”
While Faustino understands it’s just business, he was hoping the reboot would be a treat for new and old fans who have fallen in love with the show, which also starred Christina Applegate as Bud’s sister, Kelly Bundy, Katey Sagal as his mother, Peggy Bundy, and Amanda Bearse as family neighbor Marcy D’Arcy.
Fortunately, fans are in for a treat after the Bundy Club announced that Faustino will join O’Neill, 80, for a special live event in front of a dedicated fan audience on Thursday, June 11, at 9 p.m. ET.
The show, which is available to view via Zoom, will feature memories from Married … with Children, behind-the-scenes stories and never-before-heard fun facts.
“They’re getting the real deal from myself and my team, and they’re getting posts of things that people have never seen before and real stories,” Furstino teased. “The kicker is the bi-weekly Zoom parties had the coexecutive producer writer. We had Amanda Bearse, who played Marcy, and now we have a big deal, which is Ed.”
The actor added, “Ed doesn’t really do much many things like this. … The fans are super excited because now they’ll get to be in on a somewhat intimate conversation, but they’ll get to see us in a completely different light than they’ve really ever seen us before.”
Tickets for O’Neil and Furstino’s reunion are available online now.
