In Collection
#7
My Rating:
7
Seen It:
Yes
#7
My Rating:
7
Seen It:
Yes
Episodes
1:
USA / English
| Carroll O'Connor | Archie Bunker |
| Dudley Moore (Pres/Narr) | |
| Mike Evans | Lionel Jefferson |
| Vincent Gardenia | Frank Lorenzo |
| Betty Garrett | Irene Lorenzo |
| Sherman Hemsley | George Jefferson |
| Rob Reiner | Michael Stivic |
| Isabel Sanford | Louise Jefferson |
| Jean Stapleton | Edith Bunker |
| Mel Stewart | Henry Jefferson |
| Sally Struthers | Gloria Bunker Stivic |
| Jason Wingreen | |
| Allan Melvin | |
| Brendon T. Dillon | |
| Bill Quinn | |
| Kristara Barrington | |
| Tom Byron | |
| Robin Cannes | |
| Lori Marr | |
| Rick Savage | Grandpa |
| Director | Bobby Hollander; Paul Bogart; Walter C. Miller; Norman Lear; Bud Yorkin |
| Producer | Lou Derman; Brigit Jensen |
| Writer | Johnny Speight; Norman Lear |
Boy, the way the Beaver played. Ricky Nelson made the hit parade. Voices they were seldom raised. Those were the days. And then, on January 12, 1971, America met the Bunkers, and sitcoms would never be the same. The Bunkers were TV's first dysfunctional family: blue-collar bigot Archie (the late Carroll O'Connor in his iconic role), his long-suffering but loving wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), "little goil" Gloria (Sally Struthers), and her liberal husband "Meathead" Mike (Rob Reiner). Series creator Norman Lear broke near every rule and taboo in adapting the British series "Till Death Do Us Part" for American television. The series pilot, "Meet the Bunkers," was a bracing shocker that dared to find humor in prejudice. Archie dispenses racial epithets and ethnic slurs. Mike and Gloria clearly have an active sex life, while Edith, in the pilot at any rate, is more "pip" than "dingbat." In its first season, the series refused to, in Archie's words, "stifle" itself, tackling such hot-button topics as homophobia ("Judging Books by Covers"), racism ("Lionel Moves into the Neighborhood"), feminism ("Gloria Discovers Women's Lib"), and the generation gap (the touching "Success Story," with William Windom as Archie's former army buddy, a successful man who is revealed to be estranged from his son). All in the Family was a rich human comedy. Brought to life by a peerless ensemble, these characters would come to feel like family. Their foibles produced some of television's biggest laughs. They could also make us cry, as with the heartbreaking "Gloria's Pregnancy." Another series landmark is the season finale, "The First and Last Supper," in which we meet Isabel Sanford's Louise Jefferson (but, hilariously, not her husband, George). All in the Family was an instant lightning rod for controversy but went on to earn the comedy Emmy Award in its first year. This three-disc set has no extras (future sets will hopefully contain commentary by Lear or surviving cast members), but each episode is presented complete and uncut, restoring the funny, sometimes touching codas that were cut for syndication. --Donald Liebenson
Features
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