Spike TV Acquires All 259 Episodes of 'Married ... With Children' Deal Includes Digital, Mobile Rights

Al Bundy Finally Finds his Ideal TV Home at Spike TV

NEW YORK, April 7, 2008 -- Spike TV has acquired the rights to all 259 episodes of the hit FOX series, "Married ... With Children," which ran 11 seasons from 1987-1997. The five year deal begins September, 2008.

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As part of the distribution deal with Sony Television, Spike TV will have broadband rights and can exhibit episodes each week on the network's website at spike.com. There are also 40 six-minute 'webisodes' Spike TV can run on broadband or on mobile outlets.

The network plans on stripping the series to run in mornings, afternoons, and late night.

"Al Bundy must be smiling somewhere right now knowing he will have a home on the network made for regular guys like him," said John Griffin, vice president of programming, Spike TV. "Married ... With Children" will fit in nicely with our strong lineup of such popular series for guys as "Spike's Most Amazing Videos" and "Disorderly Conduct," and "Whacked Out Sports."

Premiering on FOX in 1987, "Married ... With Children" is one of the longest running sitcoms in American history. The series put the FOX network on the map as it followed the lives of the Bundys -- a not so typical nuclear family from the suburbs of Chicago. Consisting of father Al (Ed O'Neill), a star quarterback in high school turned shoe salesman, his lazy housewife Peg (Katey Sagal), dim witted and gorgeous daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate), and always scheming and sexually frustrated son Bud (David Faustino), the Bundys provided hilarious antics over the course of eleven seasons as they lived their middle class lives in comical disarray. The series was nominated for seven Golden Globes(R) and seven Emmy Awards(R), including best actor and best actress nominations for O'Neill and Sagal.

Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is spike.com.

SOURCE Spike TV