HISTORY's Moment in Media: "All in the Family" -- When TV Became a Force for Progress

But in that quietude there was history The groundbreaking socialissues comedy ran for nine seasons was the No 1rated show for five of them won 21 Emmyamp174 Awards including four for Outstanding Comedy Series spun off five other sitcoms and along the way arguably changed what television was what it looked like and what it could beAll in the Family debuted as a midseason replacement on CBS then the dominant TV network on January 12 1971 It focused on an average workingclass white guy a dockworker named Archie Bunker who lived in an average rowhouse in an average neighborhood in Queens New York with his dutiful homemaker wife Edith their adult daughter Gloria and her liberal husband Mike Stivic Archie and Edith were oldfashioned folks the show opened each week with the two of them seated at the piano singing its famous quotThose Were the Daysquot theme song about simpler times gone by and the world was changing around them Archie a proud bigot hated that change and the show39s comedy derived from his resistance to everything that the 3960s and early 3970s represented Over its run All in the Family dealt with racism and women39s rights the Vietnam War and homosexuality and countless other topics that were then roiling the countryWhat made All in the Family so transformative was that it was the first time any of that change invaded primetime entertainment In fact before its first episode CBS felt compelled to air a disclaimer the show the network said quotSeeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties prejudices and concerns By making them a source of laughter we hope to show in a mature fashion just how absurd they arequotWhen All in the Family debuted that Tuesday night in January the shows preceding its 930 pm time slot seem in retrospect to have been lifted from another era Its leadins were The Beverly Hillbillies Green Acres and HeeHaw This in a country that was reeling from assassinations and antiwar protests racial violence and the countercultureCBS had realized just how out of step it was and the network39s president Robert D Wood was looking for new shows that could help it attract a more sophisticated urban audience Just before All in the Family39s debut a Variety writer had described the network39s programming as quotrustic sitcomsquot for quotthe rural middleAmerican viewershipquot The producers Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear who would go on to be a legendary force in television and a lifelong progressive activist had adapted a BBC series called Till Death Us Do Part for ABC casting Carroll O39Connor and Jean Stapleton as Archie and Edith When ABC declined to pick up the series it was a perfect fit for Wood39s new vision for CBSHowever CBS was worried it was too different from the usual fare The network did little to publicize the new series and its first episode notched a distant third place in the ratings back when there were only three networks But people began to notice and by the Emmy Awards that May the All in the Family cast was featured in an opening skit and the show took home three awards including Best Comedy Series It was also by the end of the season No 1 in the ratingsAll in the Family didn39t just bring the real world into television shows it also made television shows look more recognizably like real life It was one of the first shows to prominently display a television set in the living room like normal families did and it famously included the first audible if not visible toilet flush in television historyBut most important by bringing the real world to the boob tube Lear39s influence has lived on for a halfcentury It happened first in his own shows like All in the Family spinoffs Maude about Edith39s women39slibber favorite cousin played by Bea Arthur which famously included an episode about abortion and The Jeffersons about the Bunkers39 onetime neighbors a welltodo Black couple who moved to the wealthy white Upper East Side It continued through 1980s with quotvery special episodesquot and into beloved satirical cartoons that take on every taboo And his spirit remains strong in our prestige TV era whether the shows are about transgender retirees or the burdens we place on our urban schoolteachersLear himself may yet have more up his sleeve On the occasion of his 100th birthday last summer he told People magazine that he has 23 new projects in the worksClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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HISTORY's Moment in Media: "All in the Family" -- When TV Became a Force for Progress

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HISTORY's Moment in Media: "All in the Family" -- When TV Became a Force for Progress

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