FOX is going back to the beginning on April 22, leading into their 25th Anniversary Special later that night.
No, they’re not showing The Late Show With Joan Rivers… but they are celebrating their first prime-time hit, Married… With Children, by showing the pilot episode on Sunday, April 22, at 7PM (ET). The show starred future stars of Modern Family, Sons Of Anarchy, and Up All Night Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal, and Christina Applegate. (David Faustino, Amanda Bearse, and David Garrison also starred.)
Here’s the FOX press release:
FOX CRACKS OPEN THE VAULT WITH REBROADCAST OF THE SERIES PREMIERE OF “MARRIED… WITH CHILDREN” TO CELEBRATE THE NETWORK’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY, APRIL 22, ON FOX
Momentous 500th Episode of THE SIMPSONS Also Encores
In celebration of its 25TH Anniversary, FOX is giving viewers a chance to look back at a show that defined the network and created one of television’s most iconic characters: “Al Bundy.” On Sunday, April 22, the premiere episode of “Married… With Children” (7:00-7:30 PM ET/PT) followed by an encore of THE SIMPSONS’ 500th episode (7:30-8:00 PM ET/PT) will kick off an historic evening on FOX.
“Married… With Children” premiered April 5, 1987 on FOX, with three half-hour broadcasts (7:00-7:30 PM, 8:00-8:30 PM and 9:00-9:30 PM) of the show’s “Pilot” episode. In the pilot, Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill) gets front row seats to a basketball game, but Peggy (Katey Sagal) makes him stay home and meet their new neighbors, Marcy (Amanda Bearse) and Steve Rhoades (David Garrison).
THE SIMPSONS officially launched as a full-fledged series on January 14, 1990, but Springfield’s most famous family had appeared on FOX for several years in a number of animated “shorts” as part of “The Tracey Ullman Show.” To celebrate THE SIMPSONS’ continuing impact on popular culture, FOX will encore the series’ 500th episode, “At Long Last Leave,” in which the Simpsons are evicted from Springfield and join an off-the-grid community outside of town.
Immediately following these rebroadcasts, FOX’s 25TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) will take an entertaining look back at the groundbreaking and irreverent shows that have come to define the network. The star-studded special will pay tribute to FOX’s most memorable moments with appearances by FOX talent, highlights from iconic series and specials and reunions with cast members from some of the network’s fan-favorite series, including “Married With Children,” “In Living Color” and “That ’70s Show,” among other surprises.
