94-514: Archibald " Archie " Bunker is a fictional character from the 1970s American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place , played by Carroll O'Connor . Bunker, a main character of the series, is a World War II veteran, blue-collar worker , and family man. All in the Family premiered on January 12, 1971, where he was depicted as the head of the Bunker family. In 1979,
188-422: A Star of David pendant. Archie was also known for his frequent malapropisms and spoonerisms . For example, he refers to Edith's gynecologist as a "groinacologist" and to Catholic priests who go around sprinkling " incest " ( incense ) on their congregation, whereas he referred to incest itself as "committing 'insects' in the family". Archie repeatedly called President Richard M. Nixon "Richard E. Nixon". By
282-450: A "dumb Polack " and usually addresses him as "Meathead" because, in Archie's words, he is "dead from the neck up". During the show's first five seasons, Mike and Gloria live with Archie and Edith so Mike can put himself through college. Upon Mike's graduation, he and Gloria move into their own home next door, allowing Archie and Mike to interact nearly as much as they had when they were living in
376-405: A "dumb Polack" and to blacks as "colored” (a politically correct term during the time of his upbringing, but one that was becoming increasingly outdated and offensive during the show's airing); in earlier episodes, it is noted that he previously called blacks "coons" prior to Gloria's marriage to Michael. As the show progresses, it becomes evident that Archie's prejudice is not motivated by malice but
470-568: A Christian belonging to the Episcopal Church, often misquotes the Bible. He takes pride in being religious, although he rarely attends church services and constantly mispronounces the name of his minister, Reverend Felcher, as "Reverend Fletcher". (When Edith inevitably corrects him, he dismisses the error with "Whatever".) He is a compulsive gambler, who, in earlier years, frequently lost his entire weekly paycheck in poker games, as related by Edith in
564-450: A bathroom. Biblical references lead some Christians to teach that "Shalom" is one of the sacred names of God. Shalom is also a Hebrew name , found commonly in Israel as both a given and family name . While traditionally masculine, it is occasionally androgynous, such as in the case of model Shalom Harlow . Shalom can be part of an organization 's name, including the titles of
658-487: A consistent timeline. In the flashback episode showing Mike and Gloria's wedding, Archie tells Mike his courtship of Edith lasted two years and hints that their relationship was not consummated until a month after their wedding night. Edith elsewhere recollects that Archie fell asleep on their wedding night and reveals that their sex life has not been very active in recent years. On another occasion, Edith discusses Archie's history of gambling addiction , which caused problems in
752-429: A cultural icon", according to CBS News . After the end of the second season taping, O'Connor said, paraphrasing James Baldwin , "The American white man is trapped by his own cultural history. He doesn't know what to do about it." O'Connor goes on to say: Archie's dilemma is coping with a world that is changing in front of him. He doesn't know what to do, except to lose his temper, mouth his poisons, look elsewhere to fix
846-593: A cutest-baby contest sponsored by the Long Island Daily Press , a then-operating local newspaper in Queens and Long Island. The writers of All in the Family continued throughout the series to have the Bunkers and other characters use telephone exchange names when giving a telephone number. Most other series at the time, such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show , were using the standard fictitious 555 telephone exchange at
940-555: A fortune with his dry cleaning business. The Jeffersons then rented their home to Gloria and Mike. The show came about when Norman Lear read an article in Variety magazine on Till Death Us Do Part and its success in the United Kingdom. He immediately knew it portrayed a relationship just like the one between his father and himself. Lear bought the rights to the show and incorporated his own family experiences with his father into
1034-411: A job on a New York City loading dock through his uncle's influence; by 1974 he had risen up to dock foreman. To supplement his income, he also works as a part-time taxi driver at night. While locked in the storeroom of Archie's bar (Archie's Place) with Mike in the season 8 All in the Family episode "Two's a Crowd" , a drunk Archie confides that as a child, his family was desperately poor and he
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#17328592887021128-444: A live studio audience. In the 1960s, most sitcoms had been filmed in the single-camera format without audiences, with a laugh track simulating an audience response, with videotape at that time mainly reserved for news programming and variety shows. Lear employed the multiple-camera format of shooting in front of an audience, but used tape, whereas previous multiple-camera shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show had used film. Due to
1222-526: A neighborhood tavern that Archie spends a good deal of time in and eventually purchases, and the Stivics' home after Mike and Gloria move out. Supporting characters represent the changing demographics of the neighborhood, especially the Jeffersons, a Black family, who live in the house next door in the early seasons and then left the area for the higher end Upper East side of Manhattan after George (the husband) made
1316-406: A new, black family moving into Bunker's old home. The series is set in 1994 but does not indicate whether Bunker, who would have been 70 by this time, is still alive. His now-adult grandson, Joey Stivic , appears briefly in the first episode of the series and references his grandfather, but does not state whether he's still alive at this point. Such was the name recognition and societal influence of
1410-774: A photograph with him. At the moment the picture is taken, Davis suddenly kisses a stunned Archie on the cheek. The ensuing laughter went on for so long that it had to be severely edited for network broadcast, as Carroll O'Connor still had one line ("Well, what the hell — he said it was in his contract!") to deliver after the kiss. (The line is usually cut in syndication.) During the show's sixth season, starting on December 1, 1975, CBS began airing reruns on weekdays at 3 p.m. (EST), replacing long-running soap opera The Edge of Night , which moved to ABC. The show would later move to 3:30 p.m. and in September 1978, 10 a.m. This lasted until September 1979, when Viacom distributed
1504-523: A prominent feature on the Manhattan skyline. This did not happen until the end of 1971. Despite this change in the Manhattan skyline, the original, somewhat grainy 1968 footage continued to be used for the series opening until the series transitioned into Archie Bunker's Place in 1979. At that time, a new opening with current shots of the Manhattan skyline were used with the Trade Center towers being seen in
1598-440: A recording of " Oh, Babe, What Would You Say? ", carried the tagline "John and Yoko, move over", referring to the artist-activists John Lennon and Yoko Ono . The character's imprint on American culture is such that Archie Bunker's name was still being used in the media to describe a certain group of voters who voted in the 2008 United States presidential election . Bunker's perceived racist and misogynistic views were allegedly
1692-430: A rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be. The Talmud says, "the name of God is 'Peace ' ", therefore, one is not permitted to greet another with the word 'shalom' in places such as
1786-488: A romance were never heard in the actual series. In July 1986, vocalist Helen Merrill 's contrastingly jazz-flavored rendition, accompanied by a Kellaway-led trio and introduced by O'Connor, was featured on The Merv Griffin Show . Except for some brief instances in the first season, scenes contained no background or transitional music. Lear and his writers set the series in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria . The location of
1880-552: A single on Atlantic Records , reaching number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in early 1972. The additional lyrics in this longer version lend the song a greater sense of sadness and make poignant reference to social changes taking place in the 1960s and early 1970s. A few perceptible drifts can be observed when listening to each version chronologically. In
1974-407: A spin-off of their own: At the height of the show's popularity, Henry Fonda hosted a special one-hour retrospective of All in the Family and its impact on American television. It included clips from the show's most memorable episodes up to that time. It was titled The Best of "All in the Family" and aired on December 21, 1974. On February 16, 1991, CBS aired a 90-minute retrospective, All in
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#17328592887022068-640: A still shot of a lower middle-class semidetached home, presumably representing the Bunkers' house in Astoria, suggesting that the visit to the Bunkers' home has begun. The house shown in the opening credits is actually located at 89–70 Cooper Avenue in the Glendale section of Queens, New York. A notable difference exists, between the Cooper Avenue house and the All in the Family set: the Cooper Avenue house has no porch, while
2162-459: A time when the Bell System was trying to discontinue them. At different times throughout the series, the exchanges Ravenswood and Bayside – both valid in the area – were used for the Bunkers' telephone number. Actual residents of the Bunkers' age continued using exchange names into the early 1980s, which is referred to in the 1979 episode "The Appendectomy", in which Edith gets confused between
2256-483: A total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as Archie Bunker's Place , a continuation series, which picked up where All in the Family ended and ran for four seasons through April 4, 1983. Based on the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , All in the Family was produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin . It starred Carroll O'Connor , Jean Stapleton , Sally Struthers , and Rob Reiner . The show revolves around
2350-546: A variety of topics. Archie appears in all but seven episodes of the series. Three fifth-season episodes were missed because of a contract dispute between O'Connor and series creator Norman Lear . Archie was modeled after Norman Lear's father Herman Lear and on Alf Garnett from the BBC1 sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , on which All in the Family was based. In 1999, TV Guide ranked Archie Bunker number 5 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list. In 2005, Archie Bunker
2444-543: Is (although in Archie Bunker's Place , Billie begins dating someone 15 years her senior). Fred visits again for Christmas in 1982, finally revealing to everyone why he left his first wife and found love with Katherine. Archie is a World War II veteran who had been based in Foggia , Italy, for 22 months. During a doctor's appointment, it is stated that Archie had an undistinguished military record for his non-combat ground role in
2538-557: Is a Protestant , Archie seldom attends church, despite professing strong Christian views. The original pilot mentions that in the 22 years Archie and Edith were married, Archie had attended church only seven times (including their wedding day) and that Archie had walked out of the sermon the most recent time, disgusted with the preacher's message (which he perceived as leftist ). Archie's religiosity often translates into "knee-jerk" opposition to atheism or agnosticism (which Mike and Gloria variously espouse), Catholicism, and Judaism ; by
2632-435: Is generally kind and good-natured like her mother, but displays traces of her father's stubbornness and temper. Unlike them, she is a feminist. Gloria is married to college, later graduate student, later college instructor Michael Stivic (Reiner)–referred to as "Meathead" by Archie–whose values are likewise influenced and shaped by the counterculture of the 1960s . The two couples represent the real-life clash of values between
2726-424: Is now suggested that Fred is Archie's only sibling. Another of Fred's daughters, Linda, visited Archie during the third season (she briefly dated the Bunkers' neighbor Lionel in "Lionel Steps Out"). Archie's father David is said to be an only child while his mother Sarah has one brother named Roy Longstreet whom Archie liked more than his own parents. Two of Archie's cousins are depicted: Oscar, who dies off-camera in
2820-454: Is one of the underlying principles of the Torah : "Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are shalom". The Talmud explains, "The entire Torah is for the sake of the ways of shalom". Maimonides comments in his Mishneh Torah : "Great is peace, as the whole Torah was given in order to promote peace in the world, as it is stated, 'Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace ' ". In
2914-589: Is one of three television shows ( The Cosby Show and the reality music competition American Idol being the others) that have been number one in the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive TV seasons. The show remained in the top 10 for seven of its nine seasons. The series finale was seen by 40.2 million viewers. As of 2009 , All in the Family has the most spin-offs for a US prime-time television series, directly spawning five other shows, three of which were very successful, as well as two of those spin-offs each having
Archie Bunker - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-421: Is rather a combination of the era and environment in which he was raised and a generalized misanthropy . Archie himself is depicted as a striving, loving father, and basically decent man; nevertheless, he is ill-tempered and frequently tells his long-suffering wife Edith to stifle herself. Series creator Norman Lear admitted this is how his father treated Lear's mother. Archie "turned the angry white male into
3102-526: Is revealed that he attended Flushing High School and lettered in baseball. He tried out for the New York Giants but could not turn professional because he was drafted to serve in World War II . Likewise, he never took advantage of the G.I. Bill in order to finish his high school education (although years later he took a night school course to get a high school diploma). After World War II ended, he got
3196-463: Is seen in reference to the well-being of others (Genesis 43:27, Exodus 4:18), to treaties (I Kings 5:12), and in prayer for the wellbeing of cities or nations (Psalm 122:6, Jeremiah 29:7). The meaning of completeness, central to the term shalom , can also be confirmed in related terms found in other Semitic languages. The Assyrian term salamu means to be complete, unharmed, paid/atoned. Sulmu , another Assyrian term, means welfare. A closer relation to
3290-607: The Archive of American Television that he suggested to the writers many of the locations to give the series authenticity. For example, Archie is said to have attended Flushing High School , a real school in Flushing, Queens , although in the "Man of the Year" episode of Archie Bunker's Place , Archie attended Bryant High School in nearby Long Island City. As another example, the 1976 episode "The Baby Contest" deals with Archie entering baby Joey in
3384-473: The G.I. Bill , although he does attend night school to earn his diploma in 1973. Archie is also revealed to have been an outstanding baseball player in his youth. His dream was to pitch for the New York Yankees but he had to leave high school to enter the workforce to financially support his family. His uncle got him a job on a loading dock after World War II, and by the 1970s he was a foreman. Although he
3478-543: The Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers . For much of the series, the Stivics live in the Bunkers' home to save money, providing abundant opportunity for them to irritate each other. The show is set in the Astoria section of Queens, with the vast majority of scenes taking place in the Bunkers' home at 704 Hauser Street. Occasional scenes take place in other locations, especially during later seasons, such as Kelsey's Bar,
3572-528: The Vietnam War , Archie dismisses peace protesters as unpatriotic and has little good to say about the civil rights movement . Despite having an adversarial relationship with his black neighbors, the Jeffersons, he forms an unlikely friendship with their son Lionel, who performs various odd jobs for the Bunkers and responds to Archie's patronizing racial views with sarcastic quips that usually go over Archie's head. The later spinoff series 704 Hauser features
3666-618: The motor pool of the Air Corps , later called the Army Air Forces, which at the time was a branch of the United States Army . He received a Good Conduct Medal and, in the All in the Family episode "Archie's Civil Rights" , it is disclosed he also received a Purple Heart for being hit in his buttocks by shrapnel. Archie married Edith Bunker 22 years before season 1. Later recollections of their mid-1940s courtship do not result in
3760-468: The 29 years since Archie and Edith's wedding, although they apparently had communicated over the years via phone (two early episodes, "Cousin Oscar" and "Lionel Steps Out", depict phone conversations between Archie and Fred). Their long estrangement was fueled by the fact that Fred refused to attend their father's funeral, with Fred even describing him as "nuts about everything." In "The Return of Archie's Brother,"
3854-461: The Bunker character that by 1972, political commentators were discussing the "Archie Bunker vote" (i.e., the voting bloc comprising urban, white, working-class men) in that year's presidential election . In the same year, there was a parody election campaign, complete with T-shirts , campaign buttons , and bumper stickers , advocating "Archie Bunker for President". In May 1973, RCA Records ' trade advertisement for Archie and Edith's debut single,
Archie Bunker - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-500: The Bunker house during a visit and cousin Bertha (played by Peggy Rea , who appears in the same episode), apparently a somewhat distant cousin, because Archie does not recognize her. Archie celebrates his 50th birthday in a 1974 episode and the character is last seen on the final episode of Archie Bunker's Place , titled "I'm Torn Here", on April 4, 1983. In season 5, during a three-episode stretch where Archie's whereabouts are unknown, it
4042-470: The Bunkers' home featured a front porch. Since the footage used for the opening had been shot back in 1968 for the series' first pilot, the establishing shot of the Manhattan skyline was completely devoid of the World Trade Center towers, which had not yet been built. When the series aired two years later, the Trade Center towers, although under construction, had still not yet risen high enough to become
4136-493: The Bunkers' house at 704 Hauser Street is fictitious. No Hauser Street exists in Queens. The address is not presented the way addresses are given in Queens: most address numbers are hyphenated, identifying the number of the nearest cross street. Nevertheless, many episodes reveal that the Bunkers live near the major thoroughfare Northern Boulevard , which was the location of Kelsey's Bar and later Archie Bunker's Place. The exterior of
4230-634: The Family #16 on its list of the 100 greatest TV shows. All in the Family centers on a working-class White American family living in Queens , New York. Its patriarch, Archie Bunker (O'Connor), is an outspoken, narrow-minded man, seemingly prejudiced against everyone not like him or his ideas of how people should be. Archie's wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) is sweet and understanding, which can make her appear naïve and uneducated. Her husband often treats her dismissively and uses disparaging language, calling her "dingbat." Their one child, Gloria (Sally Struthers),
4324-469: The Family 20th Anniversary Special , hosted by Norman Lear to commemorate the show's 20th anniversary. It featured a compilation of clips from the show's best moments, and interviews with the four main cast members. The special was so well received by the viewing audience CBS aired reruns of All in the Family during its summer schedule in 1991, garnering higher ratings than the new series scheduled next to it, Norman Lear's sitcom Sunday Dinner . The latter
4418-603: The Season 4 episode "Archie the Gambler"; he quit only when Edith threatened to leave him, taking then three-year old Gloria with her. When first introduced on All in the Family in 1971, Archie is the head of a family consisting of his wife Edith ( Jean Stapleton ), his adult daughter Gloria ( Sally Struthers ) and his liberal son-in-law, college student Michael "Mike" Stivic ( Rob Reiner ), with whom Archie disagrees on virtually everything; Archie frequently characterizes Mike as
4512-467: The audience was gathered for a taping of One Day at a Time , and got to see All In the Family as a bonus.). Throughout its run, Norman Lear took pride in the fact that canned laughter was never used (mentioning this on many occasions); the laughter heard in the episodes was genuine. The series' opening theme song "Those Were the Days", was written by Lee Adams ( lyrics ) and Charles Strouse (music). It
4606-461: The blame for his own discomfort. He isn't a totally evil man. He's shrewd. But he won't get to the root of his problem, because the root of his problem is himself, and he doesn't know it. That is the dilemma of Archie Bunker. As the series progressed, Archie mellowed somewhat, albeit often out of necessity. In one episode, he expresses revulsion for a Ku Klux Klan -like organization which he accidentally joins. On another occasion, when asked to speak at
4700-545: The book Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin , Christian author Cornelius Plantinga described the biblical concept of shalom: The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight –
4794-411: The closing credits. This opening format – showing actual footage of the cities and neighborhoods in which the show was set – became the standard for most of Norman Lear's sitcoms, including others in the All in the Family franchise – Maude , Good Times , and The Jeffersons . At the end of the opening, the camera then returns to a last few seconds of O'Connor and Stapleton, as they finish the song. At
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#17328592887024888-401: The conclusion. In the first three versions of the opening, Archie is seen wearing his classic trademark white shirt. In the final version of the opening for the series' ninth season, Archie is seen wearing a gray sweater-jacket over his white shirt. In all versions of the opening, the song's conclusion is accompanied by applause from the studio audience. In interviews, Norman Lear explained that
4982-538: The early years of their marriage. Archie also reveals that when Edith was in labor with Gloria, he took her to Bayside Hospital on the Q5 bus because " the subway don't run to Bayside". According to Edith, Archie's resentment of Mike stems primarily from Mike's attending college while Archie had been forced to drop out of high school, to help support his family during the Great Depression . Archie does not take advantage of
5076-416: The end of the original version, Edith smiles at Archie and Archie smiles off at a slight distance. In the longest running version (from season 2 to season 5), Edith smiles blissfully at Archie, and Archie puts a cigar in his mouth and returns a rather cynical, sheepish look to Edith. From season six through eight, Edith smiles and rests her chin on Archie's shoulder. In the final season, Edith hugs Archie at
5170-424: The first five seasons. As one of US television's most acclaimed and groundbreaking programs, All in the Family has been referenced or parodied in countless other forms of media. References on other sitcoms include That '70s Show , The Simpsons , and Family Guy . Popular T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers showing O'Connor's image and farcically promoting "Archie Bunker for President" appeared around
5264-474: The funeral of his friend Stretch Cunningham ( James Cromwell ), Archie—surprised to learn that his friend was Jewish—overcomes his initial discomfort and delivers a moving eulogy, wearing a yarmulke , and closing with a heartfelt " shalom ". In 1978, the character became the guardian of Edith's stepcousin Floyd's nine-year-old daughter, Stephanie ( Danielle Brisebois ) and came to accept her Jewish faith, even buying her
5358-409: The house shown at the show closing is a home located at 89-70 Cooper Avenue, Glendale, Queens , New York, across from St. John Cemetery ( 40°42′45″N 73°51′39″W / 40.712492°N 73.860784°W / 40.712492; -73.860784 ). Many real Queens institutions are mentioned throughout the series. Carroll O'Connor, a Queens native from Forest Hills , said in an interview with
5452-450: The idea for the piano song introduction was a cost-cutting measure. After completion of the pilot episode, the budget would not allow an elaborate scene to serve as the sequence played during the show's opening credits. Lear decided to have a simple scene of Archie and Edith singing at the piano. The closing theme, an instrumental , was "Remembering You", played by its composer Roger Kellaway , with lyrics later added by Carroll O'Connor. It
5546-457: The idea of shalom as a concept and action is seen in the Arabic root salaam , meaning, among other things, to be safe, secure and forgiven. The word "shalom" can be used for all parts of speech; as a noun, adjective, verb, adverb, and interjection. It categorizes all shaloms. The word shalom is used in a variety of expressions and contexts in Hebrew speech and writing: In Judaism , shalom
5640-433: The life of a working-class man and his family. It broke ground by introducing challenging and complex issues into mainstream network television comedy: racism, antisemitism , infidelity , homosexuality, women's liberation , rape, religion, miscarriages , abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War , menopause , and impotence . The series became arguably one of television's most influential comedic programs, as it injected
5734-443: The network became uneasy about airing a show with a "foul-mouthed, bigoted lead" character, and rejected the series at about the time Richard Dreyfuss sought the role of Michael. Rival network CBS was eager to update its image and was looking to replace much of its then popular "rural" programming ( Mayberry R.F.D. , The Beverly Hillbillies , Petticoat Junction and Green Acres ) with more "urban", contemporary series and
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#17328592887025828-529: The original version, the lyric "Those Were The Days" was sung over the tonic (root chord of the song's key), and the piano strikes a dominant 7th passing chord in transition to the next part, which is absent from subsequent versions. Carroll O'Connor's pronunciation of " welfare state " added more of Archie's trademark whining enunciation, and the closing lyrics (especially "Gee, our old LaSalle ran great") were sung with increasingly deliberate articulation, as viewers had complained that they could not understand
5922-437: The practice of being taped before a live audience changed to playing the already taped and edited show to an audience and recording their laughter to add to the original sound track, and the voice-over during the end credits were changed from Rob Reiner's voice " All in the Family was recorded on tape before a live audience." to Carroll O'Connor's" All in the Family was played to a studio audience for live responses." (typically,
6016-481: The relationship between Archie and Fred, who storms angrily out of the Bunker home with his teen bride after Archie vehemently snubs his brother's offer to go into business with him. Archie and Fred apparently are estranged for the next three-plus years. Putting a further strain on the relationship was the 1981 arrival of Fred's 18-year-old daughter, Barbara ("Billie") Denise Miller , who is also upset over her father's marriage to someone not even three years older than she
6110-518: The reruns to the off-network market where many stations picked up the show. In 1991, Columbia Pictures Television began syndicating the show, and Columbia's successor companies have continued to do so. Since the late 1980s, All in the Family has been rerun on various cable and satellite networks including TBS (although it held the rights locally in Atlanta, as well), TV Land , Nick at Nite , and Sundance TV . From January 3, 2011, to December 31, 2017,
6204-446: The rights to the original show and retool it specifically for Gleason, who was under contract to them, but producer Lear beat out CBS for the rights and offered the show to ABC. Mickey Rooney was offered the role but turned it down as he felt the character was "un-American". In the pilot, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton played Archie and Edith Justice. Kelly Jean Peters played Gloria and Tim McIntire played her husband, Richard. It
6298-515: The rights to the series and has since released the remaining three seasons. In October 2012, Shout! Factory released All in the Family – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 28-disc boxed set features all 208 episodes of the series, as well as bonus features. In February 2018, Sony released All in the Family- Seasons 1–5 on DVD in Region 1. The 15-disc set features all episodes from
6392-403: The root consonants appear with various vowels and additional letters, a variety of words, often with some relation in meaning, can be formed from a single root. Thus from the root sh-l-m come the words shalom ("peace, well-being"), hishtalem ("it was worth it"), shulam ("was paid for"), meshulam ("paid for in advance"), mushlam ("perfect"), and shalem ("whole"). Biblically, shalom
6486-539: The same house. Archie was born in Queens on May 18, 1924, to parents David and Sarah. He is a Taurus . Information on his siblings is inconsistent, because three of them are mentioned and Archie is seen talking on the phone to his younger brother Fred in "Cousin Oscar" (as well as Fred's daughter Debbie Marie) but during season 6 episode "Archie Finds a Friend", he states that he is an only child. Two later episodes (one during season 8 and another during season 9) feature Fred (played by Richard McKenzie ) and it
6580-411: The set furnished in neutral tones, keeping everything relatively devoid of color. As costume designer Rita Riggs described in her 2001 Archive of American Television interview, Lear's idea was to create the feeling of sepia tones, in an attempt to make viewers feel as if they were looking at an old family album. All in the Family was the first major American series to be videotaped in front of
6674-463: The show aired on Antenna TV . As of January 1, 2018, the show began to air on GetTV . Since February 5, 2023, MeTV aired episodes of the show on Sunday nights at 8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT. All episodes have been airing nightly on the Catchy Comedy (formerly Decades) digital retro TV network. The cast forfeited their residual rights for a cash payout early in the production run. All in the Family
6768-489: The show was retooled and renamed Archie Bunker's Place ; it finally went off the air in 1983. Bunker lived at the fictional address of 704 Hauser Street in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. All in the Family got many of its laughs by playing on Archie's bigotry, although the dynamic tension between Archie and his left-wing son-in-law, Mike, provided an ongoing political and social sounding board for
6862-478: The show's second season, these had become dubbed "Bunkerisms", "Archie Bunkerisms", or simply "Archie-isms". O'Connor was Irish Catholic, and Norman Lear modeled the character on his Jewish father, but Bunker's own ethnicity is never explicitly stated, other than identifying him as a WASP ; over the course of the series, he mocks or belittles not just most minorities (including blacks, Hispanics, Latinos, and Asians), but also most white ethnic groups as well. Archie,
6956-409: The show. Lear's father would tell Lear's mother to "stifle herself" and she would tell Lear's father "you are the laziest white man I ever saw" (two "Archieisms" that found their way onto the show). The original pilot was titled Justice for All and was developed for ABC . Tom Bosley , Jack Warden , and Jackie Gleason were all considered for the role of Archie Bunker. In fact, CBS wanted to buy
7050-499: The sitcom format with more dramatic moments and realistic, topical conflicts. All in the Family has been ranked as one of the best American television series. The show became the most watched show in the United States during the summer reruns of the first season, and topped the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976, the first television series to have held the position for five consecutive years. The episode "Sammy's Visit"
7144-414: The song off-camera and at a faster tempo than the series version. Six different performances were recorded over the run of the series, including one version that includes additional lyrics. The song is a simple, pentatonic melody, that can be played exclusively with black keys on a piano, in which Archie and Edith were nostalgic for the simpler days of the past. A longer version of the song was released as
7238-416: The success of All in the Family , videotaping sitcoms in front of an audience became a common format for the genre during the 1970s, onward, until the advent of digital HD. The use of videotape also gave All in the Family the look and feel of early live television, including the original live broadcasts of The Honeymooners , to which All in the Family is sometimes compared. For the show's final season,
7332-564: The template for the creation of Eric Cartman , one of the characters in the adult animated sitcom South Park ; however, it has been acknowledged that South Park greatly served as a bond between Lear and his son Benjamin, and that Benjamin, who was born in 1988, was also not very familiar with his dad's work from the 1970s. All in the Family All in the Family is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with
7426-404: The time of Archie Bunker's Place , Archie's antisemitism has mostly disappeared in part due to being increasingly associated with Jews such as his adopted daughter Stephanie and business partner Murray Klein. Archie is a Republican and an outspoken supporter of Richard Nixon , as well as an early supporter of Ronald Reagan in 1976 ; he correctly predicts Reagan's election in 1980 . During
7520-509: The time of the 1972 presidential election . In 1998, All in the Family was honored on a 33-cent stamp by the USPS . Shalom Shalom ( Hebrew : שָׁלוֹם šālōm ) is a Hebrew word meaning peace and can be used idiomatically to mean hello . As it does in English , it can refer to either peace between two entities (especially between a person and God or between two countries), or to
7614-496: The two seem to have reconciled, with Fred offering to invest $ 5,000 to put Archie's bar in a national syndicate . However, in Fred's return trip to visit Archie and Edith, he arrives with a beautiful 18-year-old wife named Katherine. This leads to a heated discussion, which erupts into an argument between Archie and Fred over " May–September romances ", with Archie even asking if the " truant officer " married them and places another strain on
7708-532: The two versions of a number she is dialing. "Sammy's Visit", first broadcast in February 1972, is a particularly notable episode, whose famous episode-ending scene produced the longest sustained audience laughter in the history of the show. Guest star Sammy Davis Jr. plays himself. Archie is moonlighting as a cab driver and Davis visits the Bunker home to retrieve a briefcase he left in Archie's cab earlier that day. After hearing Archie's bigoted remarks, Davis asks for
7802-682: The well-being, welfare or safety of an individual or a group of individuals. The word shalom is also found in many other expressions and names. Its equivalent cognate in Arabic is salaam , sliem in Maltese , Shlama in Syriac-Assyrian and sälam in Ethiopian Semitic languages from the Proto-Semitic root Š-L-M . In Hebrew, words are built on "roots", generally of three consonants . When
7896-427: The words. Also in the original version, the camera angle was shot slightly from the right side of the talent as opposed to the straight on angle of the next version. Jean Stapleton performed the theme song without glasses beginning in season 6. In addition to O'Connor and Stapleton singing, footage is also shown beginning with aerial shots of Manhattan, and continuing to Queens, progressively zooming in, culminating with
7990-562: Was Lear's return to TV series producing after a seven-year absence, and was canceled after the six-week tryout run due to being poorly received by audiences. On May 22, 2019, ABC broadcast Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons , produced by Lear and Jimmy Kimmel and starring Woody Harrelson , Marisa Tomei , Jamie Foxx , Wanda Sykes , Ike Barinholtz , Kerry Washington and Ellie Kemper . A second Live in Front of A Studio Audience special
8084-508: Was a brakeman for the Long Island Rail Road , when Archie receives his father's pocket watch from his formerly long-estranged brother, Alfred ("Fred"), who later appeared in two All in the Family episodes, " Archie's Brother " and " The Return of Archie's Brother ", and the Archie Bunker's Place episode "Father Christmas". When Fred visits Archie in the "Archie's Brother" episode, it is revealed that they had not seen each other in
8178-508: Was announced in early November 2019 to air on Wednesday December 18, this time pairing the show with Good Times . Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment) released the first six seasons of All in the Family on DVD in Region 1 between 2002 and 2007. No further seasons were released, because the sales figures did not match Sony's expectations. In June 2010, Shout! Factory announced that it had acquired
8272-516: Was interested in Lear's project; by this point, Gleason was no longer under contract to CBS ( his own show was among those eliminated), allowing Lear to keep Carroll O'Connor on as the lead. CBS bought the rights from ABC and retitled the show All in the Family . The pilot episode CBS developed had the final cast and was the series' first episode. Lear wanted to shoot in black and white as Till Death Us Do Part had been. While CBS insisted on color, Lear had
8366-652: Was listed as number 1 on Bravo 's 100 Greatest TV Characters, defeating runners-up such as Ralph Kramden , Lucy Ricardo , Fonzie , and Homer Simpson . Archie's chair is in the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History . Archie has a gruff, overbearing demeanor, largely defined by his bigotry toward a diverse group of individuals: blacks , Hispanics, " Commies ", Freemasons, gays, women, hippies, Jews, Asians, Catholics, " women's libbers ", and Polish–Americans are frequent targets of his barbs. He refers to his son-in-law Michael as "Meathead" and
8460-409: Was played over footage of the same row of houses in Queens as in the opening, but moving in the opposite direction down the street, and eventually moving back to aerial shots of Manhattan, suggesting the visit to the Bunkers' home has concluded. O'Connor recorded a vocal version of "Remembering You" for a record album, but though he performed it several times on TV appearances, the lyrics about the end of
8554-408: Was presented in a way that was unique for a 1970s series: Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton were seated at a console or spinet piano (played by Stapleton) and sang the tune together on-camera at the start of every episode, concluding with applause from a studio audience. The song dates back to the first Justice For All pilot filmed in 1968, although on that occasion O'Connor and Stapleton performed
8648-454: Was ranked number 13 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time . TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time ranked All in the Family as number four. Bravo also named the show's protagonist, Archie Bunker, TV's greatest character of all time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked All in the Family the fourth-best written TV series In 2023, Variety ranked All in
8742-642: Was taped in October 1968 in New York City. After screening the first pilot, ABC gave the producers more money to shoot a second pilot, titled Those Were the Days , which Lear taped in February 1969 in Hollywood . Candice Azzara played Gloria and Chip Oliver played her husband Dickie. D'Urville Martin played Lionel Jefferson in both pilots. After stations' and viewers' complaints caused ABC to cancel Turn-On (a sketch comedy series developed by Laugh-In ' s George Schlatter ) after only one episode in February 1969,
8836-404: Was teased in school because he wore a shoe on one foot and a boot on the other, so kids nicknamed him "Shoe-booty". In the same episode, Mike learns that Archie was mentally and physically abused by his father, who was also the source of his bigoted views. Yet, Archie then goes on to vehemently defend his father, who he claims loved him and taught him "to do good". It is revealed that Archie's father
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