The Truth About the Feud Between ‘Married… With Children’ Stars Ed O’Neill and Amanda Bearse

Married… with Children ran on the Fox TV Network for 11 seasons from 1987 to 1997. The show was the exact opposite of the standard family sitcom that was so prevalent at the time; the Bundy family was a truly dysfunctional lot, and their misery resulted in a ton of comedic hijinks. But behind the scenes, some of that misery may have been real — especially when it came to the conflict between stars Ed O’Neill and Amanda Bearse, who butted heads frequently, especially in later seasons where Bearse became the show’s primary director.

What made Married… with Children a hit?

Married… with Children was one of my favorite TV shows the late ’80s and early ’90s. I totally identified with Al Bundy, although I’m not sure why: When the program premiered on Fox in 1987, I was neither married nor had children. I did, however, work in retail and so did Al, so maybe that was it.

The show success was mostly fueled by the absolutely phenomenal cast. Ed O’Neill, Katey Sagal, Christina Applegate, and David Faustino played the Bundy family. And then there were the neighbors: Steve and Marcy Rhoades (Bearse), young professionals who looked at the Bundys with more than just a little bit of disdain.

It wasn’t long before Al Bundy found his natural-born enemy in Marcy Rhoades, as Al pretty much embodied everything that Marcy found distasteful.

I’ve got to say that Amanda Bearse made the most of her role. Truthfully, she was so much fun as Marcy, always whispering in Peggy’s ear about something that Al was doing wrong…or worse.

Marcy was a character that audiences were destined not to root for. Yet, somehow Amanda managed to still make Marcy someone that fans of the show could really rally around. As I’ve already mentioned, at first Marcy was married to Steve Rhoades, played by David Garrison. But then things got really crazy when Steve left and Jefferson D’Arcy, played by the great Ted McGinley, entered the picture. Yep, Marcy Rhoades had all of a sudden become Marcy D’Arcy.

What was the feud between Ed O’Neill and Amanda Bearse?

So, what about this feud? Were there really hard feelings between Ed O’Neill and Amanda Bearse? Were there moments when the two of them would be at odds with each other, perhaps even speaking to each other using their not-so-quiet voices?

The truth is that Ed and Amanda, particularly after the first couple of seasons, did not always see eye to eye or get along on set. And they certainly didn’t hang out as friends when production stopped.

Amanda has addressed this numerous times in various interviews like this one at the Raleigh Supercon in 2018. As the series went on, Amanda took on behind-the-scenes duties, often working as the episode’s director. As she told a fan who asked for the truth about the alleged feud: “I follow the Thumper rule: if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I will share, [O’Neill] was not happy towards the end of the series, and so that affected everything. And that was really why the show didn’t go off the air with a big finale. The company wasn’t quite sure whether we were going to come back for a season 12…they really weren’t 100% sure it was the end. But then they just decided that that was best.”

Their relationship was not enhanced by the fact that she became a director, she said, “so I had a little more to say about things. And so when they weren’t going well, I’d say ‘That’s not ok,’ so…no love lost there. Great actor.”

Ed, to his credit, has claimed a few different causes behind their feud, all of which stem from his own mistakes. In a 2013 interview, O’Neill claimed that their estrangement stemmed from his not having been invited to Bearse’s wedding: “[She said, about his not having been invited] ‘This was a very tough call, but I just feel that you would find it amusing that me and Becky would come in tuxedos in a church and walk down the aisle, and you and David would be snickering and finding it funny.’ I said, ‘Amanda, what is funny about two women in tuxedos, walking down to church?’…“I started laughing, and she said, ‘See!’ And I said, ‘Well, you know why? Because it is f***** funny, and I’m not going to be the only one that doesn’t think so.’ But it was funny. She had a little white tux and, to me, it was funny. But in other words, she may not have been wrong in excluding me.”

In a 2024 interview on his former Modern Family costar Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast, O’Neill said “If I had a do-over again, I would have said, ‘Amanda, all the best. It’s your call, it’s your wedding.’ But instead, I lashed out, and I said a joke, but it was a mean joke. That’s my biggest regret about that, I didn’t handle that well at all, I know that.”

He also claimed that he thought the real roots of their conflict were in an earlier incident, when other cast members were included in a TV Guide photo shoot for the show that Bearse was excluded from.

The reality is that these two actors in real life have some similarities, personality-wise, to the characters that they played in the beloved sitcom. So, as you might expect, there might be some differences of opinion from time to time.

Getting back to those interviews with Amanda, it should be noted that she is always quick to mention what a wonderful actor Ed O’Neill is. And based on the interviews that I watched with Ed, it’s clear to me that he has a ton of respect for Amanda’s work as both an actor and director as well. Truth be told, they’re just very different people.

So, at the end of the day, was there a feud? Well, I guess it depends on how you define a feud. Ed and Amanda didn’t always get along, and because of that, they don’t interact with each other much, if at all, these days. I’m not sure I’d call that a feud though, but I know that others have. I’ll leave it at that and let you make up your mind now that you know the truth.