#16

All in the Family

It was truly ahead of its times….

One of the funniest, most controversial show on TV was All in the Family, which ran for nine seasons on CBS.

Featuring the Bunker family, the show was led by bigot, loud-mouthed, abrasive Archie Bunker. Played by Carol O’Connor, Archie said things that you never thought he could get away with, and yet, he was a beloved character. Married to the essential airhead Edith, Archie was a husband from the old days. His daughter Gloria and her new husband Mike, aka “Meathead,” lived with Archie and Edith too. Archie and Mike collided constantly over their differing political values.

Archie was never short on opinions and it drove the show. Archie’s thoughts on President Nixon, the war in Vietnam, homosexuality, feminists as well as many other topics of the day.

Based on a British TV Show called Till Death Us Do Part, All in the Family was a huge success.

Carol O’Conno rplayed Archie. Edith was played by Jean Stapleton. Gloria was played by Sally Struthers and Mike was played by Rob Reiner.

There were two huge spin offs of All in the Family: Maude and The Jeffersons. You could mention that the show continued on after season nine by transforming it into Archie Bunker’s Place, where Archie bought his bar hangout, Kelsey’s, after the death of Edith.

Personally, I related to All in the Family because Archie and Edith were very much like my own parents, only with the volume turned way up. Mom and Dad were never as over-the-top as the Bunkers, but they defintiely shared traits.

All in the Family was a groundbreaking TV show that was controversial, topical, challenging and… above all else…hilarious.

Boy the way Glen Miller plays….