People sound bitter when describing Fred Silverman’s “Rural Purge” in the early ’70s at CBS. They bemoan how he pulled the plug on Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Mayberry RFD and Hee-Haw. This could have been a formula for failure except for the fact that Silverman greenlit a slate of future classic sitcoms that included All In the Family. This wasn’t a country comedy. Its Queens locale signaled urban life. Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) was a New Yorker with an opinion on everything even if he doesn’t quite know the words. Archie Bunker gave a face and voice to Nixon’s “Silent Majority.” He came along at exactly the right time. All In the Family: The Complete Series collects all nine seasons of unfiltered Bunkerisms.
“Meet the Bunkers” starts the series without any sugar coating. Mike (This Is Spinal Tap‘s Rob Reiner) and Gloria (Sally Struthers) ready the house for Archie and Edith’s wedding anniversary. The celebration turns nasty as Archie and Mike quickly clash over politics. Archie thinks blacks don’t need any help because he didn’t. Although Edith (Jean Stapleton) points out a relative did get him the job. This is not an argument that will be settled in 30 minutes. “Archie Gives Blood” makes him not want to give a pint out of fear it’ll go in a non-white person’s arm. Things get extra touchy with James Hong (Kung Fu Panda) as the doctor. “Gloria Poses In the Nude” has David Soul offer to do a portrait of Archie’s little girl in her birthday suit. What a true work of art is the blonde afro stuck on Soul’s head. It tops Mr. Brady’s dadfro. Even though Mike is the liberal voice, even he gets touchy when “Gloria Discovers Women’s Lib.” He’s not cool with equality in their marriage. Righties and lefties get targeted on this show. “Edith’s Accident” made me careful around cling peaches. “Cousin Maude’s Visit” helped launch Bea Arthur to sitcom nirvana. The caustic cousin of Edith got her own series shortly after this episode. “The Elevator Story” jams Archie with Roscoe Lee Browne (Smiley Face) and Hector Elizondo (Pretty Woman).
“Sammy’s Visit” is a golden time as Sammy Davis Jr. leaves his briefcase in the back of Archie’s cab. He drops by the house to retrieve it. He gets to be offended by Archie as being both black and Jewish. Even more important is Allan Melvin is part of the episode. That means Sammy Davis Jr. met Sam the Butcher. “Archie and the Swingers” has them attempting to make new friends with Vincent Gardenia (Little Shop of Horrors) and Rue McClanahan. What she didn’t realize was their “let’s be friends” ad was in a swinger magazine.
While George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) seemed to be Archie’s biggest foil outside of Meathead, the neighbor who moved on up didn’t arrive on the show until season 4. What makes this timing shocking is the fact that Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford) appeared in the first season when the Jeffersons moved into the neighborhood on “Lionel Moves Into the Neighborhood.” Archie is upset that a black family is buying a house. He doesn’t realize its Lionel’s parents. Is he really going to screw Lionel (Mike Evans) over? George doesn’t appear until the fourth season in “Henry’s Farewell.” George’s arrival is memorable. Henry Jefferson (Cry Uncle‘s Mel Stewart) is moving away to start a new dry cleaner. The Bunkers host a going away party that turns into a hello for George. Archie gains his biggest challenger. George only appeared in 15 episodes, but his stature grew when they spun off The Jeffersons for a successful run of 253 episodes over 11 seasons.
Mike and Gloria finally move out from Archie’s roof to the Jefferson’s old place on “The Very Moving Day” to start the sixth season. They also have good news that Gloria is pregnant. She pops out the baby twelve episodes later for “Birth of the Baby.” Can Archie handle being the grandpa? The eighth season opens with Archie buying a local bar. This gives more workplace humor to the show. This allows more workplace humor on the show. The end of the season sends Mike and Gloria west for Mike’s job. Who would Archie have to torment? Season Nine marks the arrival of Stephanie (Danielle Brisebois) on “The Littlest Bunker.” Archie and Edith now get toe raise a cousin’s daughter. At first they’re just babysitting, but the cousin doesn’t come back. The duo must raise the girl alone. “California, Here We Are” is a two-parter that lets Mike and Gloria make a guest appearance. Things aren’t as they appear out West. The couple don’t want the folks to know that they’re separated. Gloria would return to the small screen with Gloria. All in the Family would morph into Archie Bunker’s Place after this season. While the show lasted four seasons, Edith vanished after five episodes. They’d kill her off and let Archie be a single man.
All in the Family was a sitcom giant. It proved that you could make great TV with a loudmouth, vulgar jerk as the major character. Sure there had been loudmouths before such as Ralph on The Honeymooners, but he never spewed Archie’s views onto Norton. Archie did learn that many of his deep seeded beliefs were bigoted lies. This is what sets Archie apart from the loudmouth, vulgar jerks that parade around as political pundits on news channels. Nothing changes their opinions. Ultimately Archie paved the way for Kenny Powers on Eastbound & Down. All in the Family: The Complete Series remains a golden sitcom about culture clashes in America. These are clashes still happening so it’s far from an artifact from bygone days. These are still the days of Archie Bunker.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The series was shot live on videotape and the transfers reflect it. There’s a fuzz to the picture, but nothing painful. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The audio is fine for a three camera sitcom. The episodes are Closed Captioned.
New Interview With Norman Lear (11:31) discusses why All In the Family couldn’t get picked up by a broadcast network today. The networks were nervous about the pilot back then. It took three years and two networks to go from green light to first airdate.
Those Were The Days: The Birth Of “All In The Family” (27:00) lets Norman Lear breakdown the development of the show. Thankfully he didn’t call it Justice For All.
The Television Revolution Begins: “All In The Family” Is On The Air (30:39) covers the launch and impact. CBS wanted to run the second show first since Archie wasn’t that rude. Lear refused to budge on running the pilot he’d perfected.
“Justice For All” (35:03) is the original pilot for the series. Archie’s original last name is Justice. This first take has Carrol O’Connor and Jean Stapleton in their signature roles. Mike and Gloria are played as hippies by Tim McIntire and Kelly Jean Peters. McIntire would go on to play the voice of the dog in A Boy and His Dog. What’s really cool is getting to see D’Urville Martin originate the role of Lionel Jefferson. Martin would go on to direct the seminal classic Dolemite and play Willie Green.
“Those Were The Days” (27:41) is the second version of the pilot. It’s the same “Meet the Bunkers” script as the first pilot. The big change is Mike and Gloria with Chip Oliver and Candice Azzara in the roles. Now Mike wears a plaid shirt and Gloria looks more professional. This appears to be the only acting role for Oliver, a former Oakland Raider. D’Urville Martin is Lionel once more.
Gloria Pilot (24:51) sends the daughter off to work at a vet office with Burgess Meredith (Batman‘s The Penguin). Meathead has left his family to join a commune so Gloria and the kid head to the country to work. Archie drops her off at Burgess’ office. The show only lasted a single season even though it finished in the Top 20.
Archie Bunker’s Place Pilot (47:35) put Archie to work in his bar. Allan Melvin (Sam the Butcher) is a regular drinker. The show basically kept All In the Family on the screen for 4 more years even though Edith split the show after the first season.
704 Hauser Pilot Episode (24:35) was a 1994 Spin-Off with a black family in Archie’s house. John Amos (Good Times) is a liberal dad with a conservative son (T.E. Russell). The big piece of trivia is they’re the Cumberbatches. In the pilot, Archie claims he knows a black man named Cumberbatch. Years later Benedict Cumberbatch fever would spread around the globe. Maura Tierney (ER) plays the girlfriend. The show was canceled after 5 episodes.
All in the Family: The Complete Series is a glorious achievement of what happens when a sitcom goes completely against the grain. The lead character isn’t that likeable. The cast isn’t made of former supermodels. The stories aren’t light. The show became a major hit by not playing it safe. The bonus features give a greater understanding of what it took to get this show to the small screen. This is the only way to truly capture what makes Archie Bunker a TV icon.
Shout! Factory presents All In the Family: The Complete Series. Starring: Carrol O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner. Boxset Contents: 208 episodes on 28 DVDs. Released: October 30, 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
