All in the Family - heated issues

[syd]

I?ve been watching old reruns of All in the Family on TV lately and find myself in stitches. On Saturday nights in the mid-Seventies, 60 per cent of all television sets were tuned into the landmark sitcom in which a Queens loading dockworker named Archie Bunker was the hero.

In today?s world of equality, insuring equal rights for both women and different ethnicities I was wondering what people think about the underlying themes often brought to light in All in the Family? Are they found to be sexist and racist by today?s standards, or mild by comparison; does the over the top antics by today?s comics and musicians somehow differ from what at the time seemed to be a TV show pushing the limits on two very heated fronts. I would like to hear what you think or have to say.

[XXX]

Sally Struthers was a hottie back then. I recall seeing her first playing the gun moll in The Getaway. Who'd have imagined that she'd have major problems with weight? This same thing happened to Kirstie Alley... That's controversial in itself as a guy would never bring up the idea of weight to women

[RonJonSurfer]

When All In The Family came on TV, most of the controversy surrounded the fact that race, sex, etc. were taboo on TV and never mentioned. All In The Family mentioned them and became a smash hit. The content was very mild and treated in a way to make Archie look dumb because of his old fashioned beliefs.

Today everything is an open topic and All In The Family looks almost quaint. But the problem with being a pioneer is that you take all the arrows. You pave the way for generations to come.

If you ever visit Universal Studios in California, you can visit the untouched All In The Family set. It is a shrine to a classic show with great acting, writing and timing.

Go see Archies chair in the Smithsonian too.

[CanAm]

In a TV guide poll, Archie Bunker was selected as the most memorable character in television history. I sometimes wonder how Carroll O'Connor was able to keep a straight face when uttering some of Archie's outrageous statements and wonderfully funny malapropisms.

[RonJonSurfer]

I loved the fact that he is most famous for a dead on New York accent when in real life he had the softest, most well spoken voice you could imagine. It even sounded like he had a bit of an Irish accent, but I know he was born and raised in New York, right in Queens, the setting for All In The Family. In his other big hit he played a southern sheriff.