All in the Family
(1971-1979)
Comedy / Sitcom
Created by Norman Lear
All in the Family was the number one television series from 1971 through 1976. It was a comedy series that dealt with controversial subjects in realistic ways. such as the subject of bigotry, rape, homosexuality, death and other issues that were relevant to the 1970's. The sitcom ran on CBS for 9 seasons from January 12th, 1971 to April 8th, 1979 and 208 episodes.
The Bunker family were the main characters. They lived in Queens, New York and Archie Bunker was the main character. He portrayed a man that was very rude, arrogant and cocky. However, he did have a sincere loving side that was sometimes shown in certain episodes. His wife Edith was a little more of an 'airhead' type character and their daughter Gloria and her husband Michael whom Archie constantly referred to as 'Meathead', who all had to deal with Archie's derogatory ways on a daily basis.
The Jeffersons was a spinoff of All in the Family as was Archie Bunker's Place.
Cast:
Main Characters:
Carroll O'Conner as Archie Bunker
Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker
Rob Reiner as Michael Stivic
Sally Struthers as Gloria Stivic
Danielle Brisebois as Stephanie Mills
Supporting Characters:
Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson
Isabel Sanford as Louise
Mike Evans as Lionel
Mel Stewart as Henry Jefferson
Betty Garrett as Irene Lorenzo
Vincent Gardenia as Frank Lorenzo
Danielle Brisebois as Stephanie Mills
Allan Melvin as Barney Hefner
All in the Family was a highly successful and controversial sitcom created by Norman Lear. The show revolved around Archie Bunker, a bigoted and politically conservative veteran of World War II; Edith Bunker, his kind and usually soft spoken wife; their daughter Gloria and Gloria's hippie boyfriend Michael, who Archie referred to as Meathead most of the time.
By having the characters at such political odds, the show served as a humorous insight into the clashing politics and generational cultures of the day. All in the Family broke ground by introducing controversial and serious topics such as racism, feminism, homosexuality, abortion and many others into a sitcom.
All in the Family is one of three shows to have topped the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive years, joined only by the Cosby Show and American Idol. All in the Family is also listed as number four in TV Guide's Greatest TV shows of all time and Bravo has listed Archie Bunker as TV's greatest character of all time.
Archie Bunker's Place was one of a number of spinoffs of characters created on All in the Family. Several off the spinoff shows created spinoffs in their own right, creating a veritable family tree of shows spawned from All in the Family. Some of the other shows spun off from All in the Family include Maude, The Jeffersons and Gloria.
