The Married With Children Reunion You Likely Forgot Happened On 8 Simple Rules
When "Married with Children" first premiered in the late 1980s, its premise may have resembled many other family sitcoms on the surface, but a decidedly darker sense of humor set the show apart from the majority of its peers. Its trailblazing approach to the sitcom genre arguably helps "Married with Children" hold up even among viewers today.
Katey Sagal, who went on to star in motorcycle club drama "Sons of Anarchy" some time later, portrayed family matriarch Peggy Bundy for virtually the entirety of the time "Married With Children" was on the air. Between her "Married With Children" tenure and her eventual "Sons of Anarchy" role, Sagal also starred in the sitcom "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" opposite the late John Ritter.
While Sagal's involvement trivially links "Married With Children" to her later sitcom work, a Season 3 episode of "8 Simple Rules" solidified the connection between the two series by introducing another "Married With Children" stalwart in a role seemingly intended to recall the time he spent working opposite Sagal previously.
Married with Children star Ed O'Neill guest starred in 8 Simple Rules Season 3
Season 3, Episode 15 of "8 Simple Rules" is titled "Old Flame." In it, Cate Hennessy (Katey Sagal) — single in Season 3 after the offscreen death of husband Paul Hennessy, following actor John Ritter's real-life passing — reaches out to a man named Matt that she used to date once upon a time, hoping to rekindle their romance. As it turns out, when he shows up to meet Cate in-person, Matt is portrayed by Ed O'Neill (via IMDb).
Anyone possessing even a passing familiarity with "Married with Children" should know that the classic sitcom features Sagal and O'Neill as the married couple at its core. When O'Neill shows up as an old flame of Cate's in "8 Simple Rules," then, his casting isn't just an Easter egg for knowing fans, but contributes to the believability of their past romance, since many viewers are already well familiar with the idea of Sagal and O'Neill as a couple in their younger years.