All in the Family (TV)

Identification Television situation comedy

All in the Family blazed a new path in television by using humor to expose and explode bigotry as represented by Archie Bunker, a middle-aged, blue-collar worker. It was also notable both for the use of controversial topics as story themes and for on-air use of racial and ethnic epithets.Its success led to other irreverent comedy series in the 1970’s and beyond.

Date Aired from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979

Producer Norman Lear

Key Figures

• Norman Lear (1922-    ), television producer

Television comedy prior to the 1970’s consisted both of revue or comedian-based shows, which increasingly dealt with controversial subjects, and of situation comedies (sitcoms), in which the humor grew out of incongruous situations and two-dimensional characters reacting predictably to various minor crises in their shared lives. The turmoil and social change of the 1960’s disrupted many areas of American life, whereby social attitudes formerly held by many as “received wisdom” had been challenged. Almost every family felt the impact of such social change.

Inspired partly by a British television comedy, ’Till Death Us Do Part, comedy writer Norman Lear believed that the time was ripe in the United States for a show dealing with prejudice and sociopolitical controversy in a family setting. After the initial episodes for the series were turned down by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network, it was sold to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) network, whose new president, Robert D. Wood, was looking for more relevant and sophisticated television material for the American audience.

The Story Line

The show revolved around four characters: Archie Bunker, a blustery middle-aged warehouse worker whose bigotry stemmed from fear and ignorance; Edith, his naïve wife; their seemingly fluff-headed daughter, Gloria; and Gloria’s husband, Mike Stivic, a college student of Polish background. For much of the show, the Stivics lived in the Bunker household while Mike was a full-time student, a situation that evoked many complaints from Archie about “the Meathead” being a bum.

The Bunkers’ neighbors—the Jeffersons, a black family, and the Lorenzos, an Italian American couple—were recurring secondary characters who provided more topics and chances for humorous interaction. Archie’s workmates from the loading dock also appeared from time to time in episodes about his work-related crises.

Typically an episode would feature an event or news item rousing Archie’s ire. He would opine about it, often using malapropisms or racial slurs. Another character would challenge him, and the situation would resolve itself, often with a surprise twist. The characters were relatively complex, and the audience’s reaction could include compassion for and identification with Archie, as well as both amusement at and dislike of his bigotry.

Some notable episodes include story lines centered on rites of passage in family life. The Stivics’ wedding (shown in flashbacks) and Gloria’s later miscarriage brought out Archie’s softer side. Edith coped with life crises such as menopause and empty-nest syndrome. Archie sneaked Mike and Gloria’s son away to a pastor’s study for baptism, against Mike’s wishes. In the course of eight years, each of the show’s major characters had scenes of conflict and breakthroughs in understanding. Each character displayed his or her own prejudices and irrationalities, giving the show a more realistic tone than the usual television comedy.

Reaction

The initial public outrage that CBS had feared did not materialize. The show’s mid-season debut drew only a 15 percent audience share. Of the viewers who did call in afterward, a majority had positive reactions. As apparent by the show’s relatively unnoticed opening, the television-viewing audience was more mature than network executives had thought. Viewership grew as the show continued. A year later, some fifty million people watched All in the Family in a typical week.

Critics at first were divided about the show’s merits. Culture guru Cleveland Amory praised it in TV Guide, but Time magazine panned it as boring. By the time All in the Family won six Emmy Awards in May, 1972, the show was firmly established as a huge hit.

As time went on, the inevitable changes in the Bunker household took a small toll on ratings. Mike and Gloria eventually moved away, Edith and Archie became foster parents to nine-year-old Stephanie, and Archie bought a neighborhood bar. The last event provided a smooth segue for devoted fans into a successor show, Archie Bunker’s Place, which featured Archie as barkeep and none of the three other original characters.

Impact

All in the Family’s most obvious impact was a number of spin-off shows starring characters who first appeared in the groundbreaking comedy: Maude, The Jeffersons, Archie Bunker’s Place, and Good Times. From a wider viewpoint, its success proved that a comedy format could win audiences while exploring social issues and attitudes in some depth. The characters were multidimensional—Archie was often sympathetic, and Mike was often wrong—and not all of their dilemmas were capable of being solved by good behavior or simplistic moral platitudes. These scenarios were new qualities in television humor and set a standard that later productions tried to imitate, with mixed success.

Bibliography

McCrohan, Donna. Archie and Edith, Mike and Gloria: The Tumultuous History of “All in the Family.” New York: Workman, 1987. Popular, fact-filled overview of the classic television show. Includes chapters on each major character, a listing and brief summary of every episode, and many black-and-white photographs. Aimed at both the fan and the serious media student.

Ozersky, Josh, et al. Archie Bunker’s America: TV in an Era of Change, 1968-1978. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2003. Provides excellent historical context for the phenomenal growth of sitcoms in the United States during the 1970’s.

Staiger, Janet. Blockbuster TV: Must-See Sitcoms in the Network Era. New York: New York University Press, 2000. Along with descriptions of the show, includes a discussion of cultural critics’ opinions.

Stark, Steven D. Glued to the Set: The Sixty Television Shows and Events That Made Us Who We Are Today. New York: Free Press, 1997. Includes a long article covering the origin, history, and impact of the show.