What made this show a success?

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Not sure what the 90210 comparison means. There are many great shows that didn't enjoy a lot of seasons, and there are a lot crappy shows that have had many seasons. MWC was a great show, to me, but at the same time, I think it started to run out of steam around Season 9 onwards. But 8 seasons of greatness is still a lot!

We laughed because it was humour the way so many ppl joked in real life, yet had never made it to tv.

Keep in mind, the show was only fresh for about half of those 11 seasons... & the earliest couple of seasons were quite tame all things considered.

Also - it was a huge cornerstone of the FOX machine along with 90210, The Simpsons, & NFL on FOX.

For me, it was Ed O'Neill's performance. He knew how to make the Al Bundy character funny and interesting to me. When he auditioned for the role and did it a certain way, the producers knew they had the right guy. Another actor probably wouldn't have worked as well. And they tried a lot of people for this role!!!!!

Well...Here are some trees I've barked up on:
1. The family's level of dysfunction, they really don't get along too well yet they persevere where others might have run for the hills to seek fame and fortune elsewhere.

2. All of the family members are losers by anyones standard, people love to see people who are worse off than themselves get into trouble on tv.

3. It's blend of Misogyny and Misandry made it have some funny moments for everyone, like a gender neutral version of 2½ Men.


Light travels faster than sound,
that's why people seem bright,
until you hear them.

An unusual number of really talented comic actors (contrast Big Bang Theory, which has one) and creative, funny scripts.

IMHO how long a run runs doesnt really say much about the quality of the show.

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You shall have no other Kates before Kate Winslet.

Never found this show funny. Katey Sagal & Christina Applegate were the only good things in this show. 