All In The Family
The enduring appeal of one of television's best and most controversial programs comes through loud (literally) and clear on All in the Family: The Complete Third Season, some 10 hours of compelling, entertaining viewing that serve as a timely reminder that even as TV in the new millennium has seemingly become more diverse and inclusive, with its many gay-themed shows and, gasp, proliferation of all manner of minorities, it has lost the kind of bite that the beloved (well, by some folks, anyway) bigot Archie Bunker used to bring to the small screen.
All 24 episodes (there is no bonus material or extra features) from the '72-'73 season of executive producer Norman Lear's sitcom are contained here, and those unfamiliar with the show may well find them a bit startling. The language is part of it; Archie's frequent use of terms like "gook" and "fag" would never pass muster in these politically correct times. Yet even more striking is All in the Family's subject matter. Again and again, serious themes like politics (the '72 presidential race, pitting Richard Nixon against George McGovern, is mentioned frequently), racism ("Archie in the Hospital" is just one episode dealing with that issue), the death penalty and violence in the name of religion ("Archie Is Branded"), sexual assault ("Gloria, the Victim"), and gun control ("Archie and the Editorial") are handled with remarkable frankness. At the center of it all, of course, is Carroll O'Connor's Archie, who remains belligerent, boorish, and downright mean to the bitter end. Whether he's bribing an IRS agent, cheating an insurance company, or just being pig-headed in general, Archie is utterly unrepentant; basically, he never does the right thing, a trait that's somehow both irritating and refreshing.
All in the Family is hardly perfect; the dysfunctional family's ceaseless squabbling and shouting--usually involving Archie and liberal son-in-law Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner), although wife Edith (the brilliant Jean Stapleton) and daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) aren't immune--eventually becomes tiresome and shrill. But for the most part, the show's acting, writing (which manages to be very funny as well as incisive), and point of view make this set a must-have. --Sam Graham
Season 3
38. 3-1 301 16-Sep-1972 Archie and the Editorial
39. 3-2 302 23-Sep-1972 Archie's Fraud
40. 3-3 304 30-Sep-1972 The Threat
41. 3-4 303 07-Oct-1972 Gloria and the Riddle
42. 3-5 305 14-Oct-1972 Lionel Steps Out
43. 3-6 308 21-Oct-1972 Edith Flips Her Wig
44. 3-7 306 28-Oct-1972 The Bunkers and the Swingers
45. 3-8 310 04-Nov-1972 Mike Comes Into Money
46. 3-9 311 11-Nov-1972 Flashback: Mike and Gloria's Wedding (1)
47. 3-10 312 18-Nov-1972 Flashback: Mike and Gloria's Wedding (2)
48. 3-11 309 23-Dec-1972 The Locket
49. 3-12 307 02-Dec-1972 Mike's Appendix
50. 3-13 313 09-Dec-1972 Edith's Winning Ticket
51. 3-14 315 16-Dec-1972 Archie and the Bowling Team
52. 3-15 316 06-Jan-1973 Archie in the Hospital (aka Archie Goes to the Hospital)
53. 3-16 317 20-Jan-1973 Oh Say Can You See
54. 3-17 318 27-Jan-1973 Archie Goes Too Far
55. 3-18 319 10-Feb-1973 Class Reunion
56. 3-19 320 17-Feb-1973 Hot Watch
57. 3-20 314 24-Feb-1973 Archie is Branded
58. 3-21 321 03-Mar-1973 Everybody Tells the Truth
59. 3-22 322 10-Mar-1973 Archie Learns His Lesson
60. 3-23 323 17-Mar-1973 Gloria, the Victim
61. 3-24 324 24-Mar-1973 The Battle of the Month
Archie is invited to give a "man-on-the street" editorial on television, where he speaks against gun control. He then meets two people who saw the editorial ... who promptly rob him at gunpoint.
Archie fails to report the extra income he made by driving Munson's taxicab, and is audited by the IRS.
The Bunkers' house guest is the new, much younger wife of a war buddy. Archie, who can't take his eyes off of her, believes that she made a pass at him, and Edith overhears him telling Gloria and Mike so.
Mike and Archie butt heads over gender equality when Gloria poses a riddle that neither one can figure out.
Archie goes berserk when he discovers that his visiting niece has been seeing Lionel, whose own family is just as unhappy about it.
Edith worries she may be a kleptomaniac when she absent-mindedly shoplifts from a department store and is subsequently arrested.
Edith answers a magazine personal ad from a couple seeking new friends ... unaware that they engage in a swinging lifestyle.
Mike donates his $275 inheritance to George McGovern's presidential campaign against an apoplectic Archie's express wishes that the money be used for room and board.
On the Stivics' second anniversary, the family reminisces about how Archie and Mike's Uncle Casimir conflicted while planning Mike and Gloria's wedding.
The family continue to reminisce about the Stivics' wedding, recalling how Archie and Uncle Cashmir resolved their differences, only for Mike and Gloria to debate whether to allow a minister or a judge to give the vows.
Mike needs emergency surgery to remove his appendix, but is uncomfortable with the idea of a female surgeon doing the operation.
Archie inquires Edith about four lottery tickets, purchased several months prior, that she had forgotten about. Upon finding out one is a winner, Archie shows a sudden interest in keeping them, despite Edith insisting the tickets actually belong to Louise Jefferson. Archie, reminding Edith she paid for the tickets with her own money, says otherwise.
Archie and a black man vie for the last spot on a bowling team.
When Edith loses her heirloom necklace, Archie wants to report it missing so he can collect the insurance money and buy a color television. He then runs into problems when an agent comes over to verify the claim.
Hospital patient Archie strikes up a quick friendship with his roommate ... unaware that he is black.
"Live like you were young" - that's the advice from Archie's old friend.
Archie snoops through Mike and Gloria's room, sparking a debate over privacy and prompting everyone - Edith included - to storm out of the house.
Edith reunites with her high school boyfriend during her class reunion, prompting Archie to worry about whether his wife will rekindle the romance.
Mike worries that Archie may have unwittingly purchased a stolen watch. Matters become complicated when the watch is broken and Archie must find a repairman who will fix it and abstain from asking questions.
Archie thinks a swastika painted on his door may be juvenile pranksters, but Mike is concerned that the Bunkers' home may have been mistaken for the residence of a Jewish radical.
All about how the time a repairman and his black apprentice came over to fix the Bunkers' refrigerator. Mike and Archie exchange wildly inaccurate versions about what happened, but Edith knows the real story.
Archie sneaks out at night ... and it isn't to go bowling (as he claims). Rather, he's been working on the sly to get his GED.
Gloria comes home shaken up and wearing clothes borrowed from a friend. She won't tell Mike what is wrong, but eventually she relents and tells her mother that she was walking by a construction site when a man pulled her behind a fence and tried to rape her. She passed out and he ran away. The question then becomes whether to report it or not. Edith convinces her by telling her how, when she was a teenager, a man tried to attack her in the same fashion. Gloria decides to tell the police and they send a detective over who advises her that testifying to the crime can be as horrifying as the incident itself. Mike and Archie supersede and decide that she isn't going to testify, leaving Gloria still shaken and the case unresolved.
Gloria finally loses patience with Archie's oft-demeaning treatment of Edith ... and Edith's willingness to take his verbal assaults with a grain of salt.
|
Rob Reiner | Michael 'Meathead' Stivic |
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Sally Struthers | Gloria Bunker-Stivic |
|
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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Isabel Sanford | Mrs. Jefferson |
|
Mel Stewart | Henry Jefferson |
|
Mary Kay Place | Betty Sue |
|
Roscoe Lee Browne | Jean Duval |
|
Allan Melvin | Barney Hefner |
|
Lynette Mettey | Susan |
|
Michael Conrad | Uncle Casimir |
|
Brendan Dillon | Tommy Kelsey |
|
Billy Halop | Mr. Munson |
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Priscilla Morrill | Nurse |
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Charles Durning | Detective |
|
Michael Gregory | Jerry |
|
Ron Glass | Jack |
|
John Randolph | Joe Peterson |
|
Bob Hastings | Kelsey |
|
Barnard Hughes | Father John Majeski |
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John Putch | Boy Scout |
|
Liam Dunn | Mr. Fairchild |
|
Vincent Gardenia | Curtis Rempley |
|
Gregory Sierra | Paul Benjamin |
| Packaging | Keep Case |
|---|---|
| Nr Discs | 3 |
| Screen Ratios | Fullscreen (4:3) |
| Audio Tracks | Dolby Digital Stereo [English] |
| Distributor | Sony Pictures |
| Layers | Single side, Single layer |
| Edition Release Date | Jul 20, 2004 |
| Regions | Region 1 |
| Purchased | For $ 29.95 |
|---|---|
| Index | 453 |
| Added Date | Dec 12, 2012 01:15:21 |
| Modified Date | Sep 25, 2019 23:29:10 |