The 1980s television industry was a crazy time and place, and there are numerous interesting stories that fans might not know about their favorite stars. Join Facts Verse as these 80s sitcom stars admit to what we suspected all along.
An NBC Executive Thought Michael J. Fox Was Too Short
Before Michael J. Fox became a Hollywood superstar on the big screen thanks to his turn as Marty McFly in the 1985 classic Back to the Future and it’s two sequels, the actor had already become a bit of an icon thanks to his role on the comedic television series Family Ties. On the series, Michael played the part of Alex P. Keaton, and the role is what later gave him the opportunity to become a movie star. Those who grew up watching Family Ties likely couldn’t imagine anyone else but Michael J. Fox in the role that ended up making the actor famous, but there was actually a time when it seemed like he wasn’t getting the role.
When it came time to cast the role of Alex P. Keaton, the various executives at NBC unanimously decided on Matthew Broderick as their first choice. Matthew was just as much of an unknown at the time as Michael J. Fox was, but the executives felt that Matthew’s face would look better on a lunchbox. Matthew Broderick ended up being cast in the role, but had to drop out before the filming of the pilot. With little time to replace him, series creator Gary David Goldberg had to think on his toes to come up with a new actor to play the part. Knowing that Michael J. Fox had expressed interest in the role, Gary ended up calling on the actor to audition.
Michael J. Fox wowed the NBC executives with his comedic talents, but there was one thing that they felt that the star was missing. This thing was height! The executives knew that they needed someone a little bit on the shorter side to play the part since Alex was a kid, but the 5’4” Michael J. Fox was deemed just a little bit too extreme of a choice. Matthew Broderick had been considered a much more appropriate height at 5’8”. When the NBC executives expressed doubts that Michael J. Fox was the right person for the role, Gary David Goldberg told them that Michael’s comedic talents were far more important than his looks.
Of course, Michael J. Fox went on to perform in the pilot for Family Ties, and this performance was enough to win the NBC executives over once and for all. Coincidentally, both of the actors that had been seriously considered for the role of Alex P. Keaton would go on to become major film stars. Matthew Broderick became a movie star thanks to his turn in 1983’s WarGames, and his fame became even greater upon his titular turn in the 1986 John Hughes classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Meanwhile, a few years into Family Ties’ successful seven-season run, Michael J. Fox made his own transition to film with the Back to the Future trilogy.
Sadly, Michael J. Fox isn’t seen very much anymore as a result of his Parkinson’s disease. The actor began suffering from the disease during the 1990s, with him being diagnosed in 1991. As Michael’s symptoms got worse, it greatly affected his ability to perform. Michael’s last performance in a live-action feature film came via Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners in 1996, which is considered a cult classic today but wasn’t all that big of a commercial success. In 1999, Michael could be heard voicing the titular character in the film adaptation of Stuart Little. Since it was just a voiceover role, the audience couldn’t see Michael’s shaking hands.
Michael J. Fox like to keep to himself for the most part nowadays, but seems to have a good sense of humor about the disease that has afflicted him. One of his more memorable appearances in recent years was on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry David winds up as his downstairs neighbor and can’t tell if Michael is stomping on the floor as a symptom of his Parkinson’s disease or if the actor is doing it on purpose to annoy him. Rest assured, being short hasn’t affected Michael’s star status one bit.
Candace Cameron Can Thank Dave Coulier for Her Spouse
During the filming of Full House’s final season, Dave Coulier was playing in a charity hockey game and he invited Candace Cameron to come along. While she was watching the game, Candace became infatuated with a Russian player that was on Dave’s team. Dave ended up introducing the two, and they quickly hit it off! This Russian player was a man by the name of Valeri Bure, and those that know their Candace Cameron history will know that this is the man who went on to become Candace’s husband! One of the things that helped the pair hit it off was the fact that Valeri was a fan of Full House. One might wonder why a grown man would be a Full House fan, but it actually turns out that the hockey player watched the simple show to learn English.
Dave Coulier had no way of knowing that the man he was introducing Cameron to was going to end up being her husband. Candace Cameron now goes by the name of Candace Cameron Bure, and she’s also a born-again Christian! Cameron shares this latter fact in common with her fellow-television-star brother, Kirk. While Kirk Cameron stays away from mainstream entertainment nowadays and prefers to make Christ-centric works of his own. Candace Cameron can still be seen in the mainstream. Of course, her most notable role in recent years was reprising her character from Full House on the nostalgic reboot Fuller House. Fuller House ran for five seasons on the Netflix streaming platform before being cancelled in 2020. Despite Fuller House’s cancellation, Candace Cameron can still be seen regularly thanks to the made-for-television movie series Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, with each feature starring Candace in the titular role of the mystery-solving librarian. Candace and Valeri tied the knot in 1996, and are still together today.
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Katey Sagal Was Embarrassed by Married with Children
When one thinks of 1980s sitcoms, few are quite as iconic and influential as Married with Children. A big part of what made the show so popular was the talents of it’s cast, which included Katey Sagal in the role of Peg Bundy. The show revolved around the Bundy family, with Peg as it’s matriarch. Peg’s husband on the show was Al Bundy, who was played by Ed O’Neill. Few could’ve predicted just how big of a success the show was going to be, and Katey Sagal counted herself amongst the many who doubted whether or not the show was going to click with audiences. Because of this, Katey was initially hesitant to take the part. The actress’s desire for television work eventually won out over her hesitancy to become known for playing the role of Peg Bundy, which was a character that Katey wasn’t especially anxious to be publicly associated with due to her crass demeanor and exaggeratedly made-up appearance.
The role of Peg Bundy called for Katey Sagal to dress a little trashy, but the actress ended up taking her costume overboard. Katey had an unspoken reason for this, as she believed that, if she was made up enough, those who knew her in real life might not be able to immediately recognize her in the television role. Katey feared that the show was going to be a failure, and that she was going to have to go back to her previous career as a nightclub singer. She also feared that she might not be welcomed back into the music scene if she had become in any way associated with the character of Peg Bundy. Nothing much came of Katey’s various concerns, as Married with Children was a major success and she never had to return to her nightclub roots.
According to Katey Sagal, the character of Peg Bundy was made up to look like a drag queen. The look was certainly iconic, though Katey hasn’t been pigeonholed as a result. Katey has had a pretty easy time finding work in the days since Married with Children. In 1999, she started up a gig voicing the character of Leela on the adult animated series Futurama. Years later, she found another memorable live-action role on the FX drama Sons of Anarchy. Most recently, Katey played the lead role in the ABC legal drama Rebel, though the series was sadly cancelled after one season.
Christina Applegate Was Also Hesitant to Take Her Married with Children Role
Katey Sagal wasn’t the only member of Married with Children’s cast that was initially hesitant to take on her role. Another star that was hesitant to become involved with the program was teenaged Christina Applegate. At the time, Christina had her sights set on becoming a dramatic actress. She believed that taking the role of daughter Kelly Bundy on the comedic series was the wrong choice for her career, but the show’s producers weren’t willing to let her go. The producers truly thought that Christina was the right person for the role, and they continued to hound the actress to play the part even after filming the pilot with someone else. When the producers sent the tape of the pilot to Christina, the teenaged actress found that she actually enjoyed the show quite a bit. She ended up taking on the role, and the rest is history! Christina went on to become a movie star thanks to roles in films like Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, but she has never been taken seriously as a dramatic actress.
The world of 1980s sitcoms is full of crazy stories, and these are some of our personal favorites! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Michael J. Fox was originally considered too short to play his iconic role on Family Ties, and that Katey Sagal claimed that her character on Married with Children was supposed to look like a drag queen? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
