Christina Applegate and Ed O’Neill reflect on crazy “Married…With Children ”cancellation: 'They never called us'

"We should have been gearing up to a moment to say goodbye," said Applegate, who is still sad the sitcom never got a proper finale.

Married…With Children was canceled in 1997, but Christina Applegate was left out of the loop.

The Anchorman actress recently revealed that nobody from the show's network, Fox, ever told her that the show had been nixed after 11 seasons.

"I found out from a guy who knew a guy who worked for my assistant at the time," she said in a new interview with her former Married…With Children dad, Ed O'Neill, on her MeSsy podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler. "That's how I found out. They never called us."

O'Neill also learned of the sitcom's abrupt ending from a surprising source. "I was back at my hometown, and I was at this little bed-and-breakfast by the university because I was at the university for something, and it was a beautiful day," he remembered. "A car pulled in with the 'Just Married' things hanging off the back — you know, the tin cans…"

Related: Christina Applegate says Married... With Children dad Ed O’Neill 'raised' her: 'It’s his fault'

O'Neill continued, "So I was standing there, and they got out of the car. It was the husband and wife. She was in the gown, and he was in the tux. And he said, 'Oh my God. It's Al Bundy in Ohio.' And I said, 'Yeah, congratulations, you got married!' And they said, 'Yeah. Oh my God, we can't believe it.' And the woman said, 'Well, we're so sorry about your show.' And I said, 'What do you mean?' And the guy said, 'Oh my God. He doesn't know. It's on the radio. You got canceled. Oh, we're so sorry.' And I said, 'I'd rather hear it from you.'"

Applegate also lamented how the sitcom, which ran from 1987 until 1997, never got a proper conclusion, as its final episode was not written as the series finale. "We should have had a last episode," she said. "We should have been gearing up to a moment to say goodbye."

O'Neill revealed that he had attempted to secure a more concrete finale for the series with its original creators, Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt, but it never materialized. "I had it all set up with Moye and Leavitt," he said. "I don't know what it was about, but they were gonna do it. They wanted to do it."

Related: Married...With Children cast: Where are they now?

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The actress added that she hasn't benefited much financially from her time on the show. "I don't get residuals," Applegate revealed. "I get, like, a dollar every once in a while. No, I'm not kidding."

O'Neill replied that he's in a similar boat: "I get them, but they're not big."

The Modern Family star said that six months after the cancelation news broke, someone from the network did finally acknowledge the show ending, but it was too little, too late. "I said, 'The Golden Girls [from the sitcom The Golden Girls] got Mercedes-Benzes when they did their last show,' which they did," he said, recalling a conversation with the unnamed network exec. "He said, 'Oh, Ed. Do you think we'd let you go without wonderful gifts?'"

Related: Christina Applegate has Married… With Children reunion in first public appearance since MS diagnosis

He remained skeptical. "I said, 'Oh, they're coming after six months?' [He said,] 'Yes, of course,'" O'Neill remembered. "I said, 'Well, let me give you a helpful hint. I've got steak knives.' And he said, 'Oh, you're so funny.' I never got a gift."

To which Applegate replied, "I never got a gift."

Listen to the full conversation between Applegate and O'Neill above.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.