Married with Children: David Faustino Met Ted McGinley on The Love Boat at Age 9

You guys are gonna love this one. So during our Bundy Club watch party with Amanda Bearse, we got into talking about Ted McGinley coming onto the show as Jefferson D’Arcy, and I had to share something I don’t think I’ve ever told publicly before.

When I was 9 years old, I booked a guest spot on The Love Boat. Standard kid actor gig, right? Well, turns out that exact episode was the one where they introduced a new recurring character: Ace, the ship’s photographer. And the guy playing Ace? Ted McGinley.

I worked with Ted on that episode. Just two actors doing their thing on an Aaron Spelling production, no idea our paths would cross again in a much bigger way. Fast forward a few years, and Ted walks onto the Married with Children set as Jefferson D’Arcy, Marcy’s new husband. I’m sitting there in the Bundy living room, and it hits me: wait a minute, I know this guy.

Now here’s the thing about Ted. By the time he came to us, he had already been on Happy Days, Dynasty, and of course The Love Boat. Every long-running show he joined seemed to wrap up shortly after, which earned him that reputation as the “show killer.” So when we saw him walk in, we were all looking at each other like, oh no, not us too. But obviously Ted didn’t kill our show. He made it better. The chemistry between him and Amanda as Jefferson and Marcy was electric from day one.

Amanda had her own Ted crossover story too. She did a show called Hotel, another Aaron Spelling joint, where Ted was the A-storyline and she had a smaller runner part. So both of us had worked with the guy before he ever set foot on Stage 5 at Sony. Small world, this business.

Ted is still killing it, by the way. He’s on Shrinking now, and he’s been a fixture at conventions and fan events for years. The guy is as good as they come. We keep saying we need to get him on a Bundy Club watch party, and I think it’s going to happen soon.

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