"Boy the way Glenn Miller played,songs that made the hit parade"....
It may not be easy to believe...even i can't believe it but it's true. On January 12th (3 days ago now) 1971,"All In the Family made it's debut!
Now I may have been 2 years and 7 months when it started but around '75-'76,I caught up quite well watching until it ran out of steam in '83 (as "Archie Bunker's Place" by then.
Over 300 shows & didn't even have a finale!
I'm sure a lot of us here watched the show ove the years,on CBS and in re-runs. In fact most of today on TV Land is dedicated to the show.
Among the classic episodes I rememebr best are,Archie getting trapped in the cellar (and getting drunk)only to be saved by a black handyman he thinks is God. :D
There's the well remembered Sammy Davis Jr. episode where Sammy gets the better of Archie (but then..who couldn't?) Okay,now my brain has decided to nt help me at the moment for comedy so I'll talk about the flipside.
The most serious of moments that I never forgot,Edith's friend Beverly LaSalle getting killed by street thugs for being "different",which causes Edith to have crises of faith.
2/9/1971 : Archie making fun of a friend of Mike's for being queer because he's "too" nice. Only to find out a good buddy of his at Kelsey's (a tall bear of a guy)is actually gay. (Pretty shocking for only the fifth episode and... for 1971,the first time that subject was ever discussed in a sitcom.)
Archie buys Kelsey's bar but is in over his head and ends up dependent on drugs to keep going.
Gloria's (well acted and very real looking) birthing episode when she has baby Joey.
Mike realizing Arche rides him out of jealousy because Archie will never get the chances he's gotten.
When Mike & Gloria left for California. Tearful good-byes.
Edith pasess away (between seasons thankfully.)
Mostly,I'll never forget the almost too real episode where Edith "almost" gets raped in her own home by a stranger posing as a plain-clothes policeman. That actor is long gone but his performance is very scary.
I really do applaud each time though when Edith shoves the burning cake from the oven into the man's face,hits him in the gut and shoves him out of the back door! The audience legitimatly goes nuts and cheers and applauds her as she makes a mad dash for the front door to escape to Mike & Gloria's. (Jean Stapleton won an Emmy for that one,and deservedly so!
)
What do you remember most about the show? I'd love to read it!
Archie:"If God had meant for whit's to dance with coloreds then....
Mike:Then he'd have given us rhythm too. LOL! :D
[ January 15, 2006, 16:04: Message edited by: Borderstone ]