All In The Family
 1 9 7 1 - 1 9 7 9 (USA)
196 x 30 minute episodes
5 x 60 minute episodes
1 x 90 minute episode
Though nearly cancelled after its first few months on air, All
In The Family went on to become the number one show in the USA
for five consecutive years. It was also perhaps one of the most
influential programs in the history of US TV broadcasting.
Based on the British comedy series Till Death Us Do Part,
the show's strength was a combination of stellar ensemble acting
and controversial storylines.
The series openly addressed taboo topics from racism to
homosexuality while also making such terms of endearment as
"meathead" and "dingbat" part of the American
vernacular.
The series revolved around the life of Archie Bunker who
resided at 704 Houser Street in the Corona section of Queens, New
York. Archie was an uneducated, prejudiced, arch-conservative with
a outspoken and working-class opinions on everything.
Completing the Bunker household was Archie's slow-witted but
honest wife Edith (who he referred to as "Dingbat"), his
grown daughter Gloria, and his unemployed, ultra-liberal, Polish
son-in-law, Mike Stivic, who he nicknamed "Meathead".
Archie was constantly attacking virtually every minority group
in existence.
His views on blacks ("Jungle bunnies" or
"spades"), Puerto Ricans ("spics"), Chinese
("chinks"), and any other racial or religious group not
his own, were clear and consistent. Archie believed in every
negative racial and ethnic stereotype.
Unfortunately, Archie could never get away from the people he
despised.
 He worked as a dock foreman for the Prendergast Tool and
Die Company, and had to work with a racially mixed group of
people.
His next door neighbours were a black family, the
Jeffersons.
Louise Jefferson was one of Edith's closest friends, her
husband George ran a small dry-cleaning store, and their son
Lionel was a close friend of Mike's.
Lionel loved to visit the
Bunker household to tease Archie about his prejudices, while
George's brother Henry, who was as opinionated as Archie, but from
a black perspective, also provided conflict.
The Jeffersons moved to Manhattan and into their own show in
1975. Mike, who had finally graduated from college, moved into
their old house and Gloria became pregnant. Their baby, Joey, was
born in December 1975.
An Italian couple named Lorenzo moved in as neighbours for a
while. Frank Lorenzo loved to clean and cook while his wife Irene
could fix anything mechanical.
In 1977 Archie quit his job and along with Harry the bartender,
purchased Kelsey's Bar. In 1978 Mike, Gloria, and little Joey
moved to California and so left the series. Archie and Edith were
then joined by Stephanie Mills, their niece who had been abandoned
by her father. In 1979 the focus of the series switched to
Archie's bar, and Edith was rarely seen on screen.
New characters were added to the bar and Archie took on a new
Jewish partner, Murray Klein, and the name of the series was
changed to Archie Bunker's Place.
Edith died of a stroke in 1980 and Archie hired a black
housekeeper, Ellen Canby, to help care for Stephanie. 1982 saw
another spin-off, this time featuring Sally Struthers and her son
Joey starting a new life together. The series was simply called Gloria.
All in the Family changed the course of American
television comedy and brought a sense of harsh reality which had
not been seen on US television before.
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