With its irreverent comedy, enduring characters, and exaggerated family antics, Married With Children delighted viewers for years. However, the guy who made Al Bundy come to life, Ed O’Neill, has now revealed something that even the most devoted followers did not anticipate.

O’Neill said in a recent interview that a large portion of Al Bundy’s resentment and sardonic humor were directly derived from his personal experiences. Al said, “People think he was just a character, but there were days when he wasn’t far from me.” He disclosed that the character’s brutally relatable nature to viewers worldwide stemmed from his unvarnished honesty.

O’Neill also disclosed that a number of the show’s gags were subliminal references to difficulties in real life, which the cast and crew discussed but never publicly disclosed to viewers. O’Neill proved that Married With Children was far more nuanced than its crass comedy implied, from sardonic jabs at Hollywood to spontaneous ad-libs that made it into the final edit.

Decades later, the show is still regarded as a cult favorite. Fans are going back to rewatch the series in search of those unspoken subtleties they missed the first time around, owing to O’Neill’s shocking disclosure. According to O’Neill, it demonstrates that Al Bundy was more than just a fictional father; rather, he was a complex figure whose full significance is only now becoming apparent.