All In The Family
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
In the series' premiere, Mike and Gloria plan a surprise party to celebrate Archie and Edith's 22nd anniversary. But it quickly turns into a shouting match between conservative Archie and the liberal "Meathead" on virtually every topic.
Archie learns that Mike has written to President Nixon to criticize his policies. So Archie takes pen in hand and writes his own letter of praise.
Archie is involved in a minor, non-injury car accident, then finds out that Lionel Jefferson's family used an insurance settlement to open a dry-cleaning business. He gets an idea ... and a sudden aching back.
Archie and Mike donate blood, sparking heated discussions on race, modern medicine, and God's will.
Archie is irritated at Mike's offbeat friend, who dresses and behaves in a way that leads him to mistakenly conclude he is a homosexual. But Archie soon learns that one of his best friends is gay.
Gloria announces she is pregnant which worries Archie and Mike.
Mike invites his unmarried hippie friends to spend the night in the Bunker's living room, over Archie's strong objections.
Archie and several neighbors learn that a black family is moving into the neighborhood, unaware that it is the Jeffersons. Lionel finds out about the effort to purchase the Jeffersons' new house and gets Archie to reveal his plans.
Edith is the lone holdout in a high-profile murder case, in which the prosecution's case seems clear-cut. Archie whines because Edith has been sequestered for the duration and refuses to help himself around the house.
Archie can't sleep because he's worried about possible layoffs at the loading dock where he works.
Gloria reads up on women's liberation and then tells Mike that she should be an equal partner in their marriage. Mike doesn't agree and Gloria storms out of the house.
Archie's old buddy, Eddie Frazier, has amassed a fortune in the used car trade. However, Eddie's quest for money comes at a huge price: his estranged family wants nothing to do with him.
Edith invites Henry and Louise Jefferson over for dinner, ruining Archie's plans to go to a Mets game. Before dinner, Archie and Henry start a debate over racial matters.
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Rob Reiner | Michael 'Meathead' Stivic |
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Sally Struthers | Gloria Bunker-Stivic |
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Jean Stapleton | Edith Bunker |
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Carroll O'Connor | Archie Bunker |
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Mike Evans | Lionel Jefferson |
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Billy Sands | Bailiff |
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Isabel Sanford | Mrs. Jefferson |
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Hollis Irving | Clara Weidermeyer |
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James Hong | Doctor |
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William Windom | Eddie Frazier |
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Bob Hastings | Kelcy |
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George Furth | Whitney Fitzroy IV |
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Len Lesser | Billy Pendergast |
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Vincent Gardenia | Jim Bowman |
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Richard Stahl | Clarence V. Marshall |
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William 'Billy' Benedict | Jimmy McNab |
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Burt Mustin | Harry Feeney |
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Rich Little | Richard Nixon |
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Salem Ludwig | Solomon Rabinowitz |
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Herbie Faye | The Deliveryman |
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Sandy Kenyon | Dave the Cop |
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Corey Fischer | Jeff Walker |
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Mel Stewart | Henry Jefferson |
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Philip Carey | Steve |
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George Savalas | Joe Frouge |
| Director | John Rich |
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| Writer | Norman Lear, Johnny Speight, Don Nicholl, Bryan Joseph, Susan Harris, Jerry Mayer, Burt Styler, Phil Mishkin, Rob Reiner, William Bickley, Stanley Ralph Ross, Paul Harrison, Lennie Weinrib, Lee Erwin, Fred Freiberger | |
| Producer | Jane Hoyt Thompson, Norman Lear, Bud Yorkin | |
| Musician | Roger Kellaway | |
| Packaging | Keep Case |
|---|---|
| Nr Discs | 3 |
| Screen Ratios | Fullscreen (4:3) |
| Audio Tracks | Dolby Digital Mono [English] |
| Subtitles | English | Spanish |
| Distributor | Sony Pictures |
| Layers | Single side, Single layer |
| Edition Release Date | Jul 06, 2004 |
| Regions | Region 1 |
| Purchased | For $ 29.95 |
|---|---|
| Index | 225 |
| Added Date | Dec 12, 2012 01:15:21 |
| Modified Date | Mar 26, 2019 21:51:29 |