All in the Family

By Persona Non Grata

Debuting in January, 1971 and based on the British series Till Death Do Us Part, the Bunker's of All in the Family  were a radical change from the bland, affectedly sweet '50s sitcom families, the Anderson's of Father Knows Best or the Cleaver's of Leave it to Beaver. Working-class Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Conner) was anything but.  Uneducated, prejudiced, bigoted and outspoken, Archie bought into every negative ethnic or racial stereotype. 

Unfortunately there was no escape from the people he held in contempt.  His daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and her husband Mike Stivic 'Meathead" (Rob Reiner), a liberal, Polish, unemployed, sociology student shared his home.  A black family, the Jefferson's, moved in next door. Archie's wife Edith "Dingbat" (Jean Stapleton), an addle-brained but unprejudiced and kind-hearted woman, was a close friend to Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford). Louise's son Lionel (Mike Evans), a friend of Gloria and Mike's, took great pleasure in teasing Archie about his bigotry. 

George Jefferson, (Sherman Hemsley) Louise's husband, an ambitious but hot-tempered dry cleaning store owner, continually antagonized Archie and George's brother, Henry (Mel Stewart) was Archie's counterpart from a black point of view.

The show was retooled for the fall of 1979 and renamed Archie Bunker's Place. It lasted a further four seasons and spawned the short-lived spinoff Gloria.

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All in the Family is now available on DVD! Get it at Amazon.com! Season One, Season Two, Season Three, Season Four

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The best episode was when gloria had the miscarridge, this truly showed what a great father archie was. He did show his true love to Edith as well especially after she died but that episode was aired under the spin-off "Archie Bunkers Place". Gloria's pregnancy was still the best, not only did it show how great a father archie was but it really showed that special bond between a father and his daughter that can never be matched. --MSgt Tim

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