The face of television was changed forever in 1971 with the premiere of All in the Family. The working-class Bunker family of Queens, New York dash; loveable bigot Archie (Carroll O'Connor), his long-suffering 'dingbat' wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), their liberal daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), and son-in-law Mike 'Meathead' Stivic (Rob Reiner) Mdash; instantly became, and half a century later still are, four of the most iconic characters in television.
In All in the Family: The Show that Changed Television, Norman Lear shares his take on fifty essential episodes that exemplify why the show remains as funny and relevant as ever. Its boundary-pushing approach to hot-button topics is examined with commentary from co-stars Olsquo; Connor, Stapleton, Reiner, and Struthers, as well as writers, directors, and guest stars from the show.
With previously unseen notes from Lear, script pages, production designs, and a foreword by super-fan Jimmy Kimmel, this book is the ultimate companion to the seminal series and a must for fans of Learysquo;s shows and television comedy.
'Norman Lear,' said New Yorker critic Michael Arlen, 'has a feel for what people want to see before they know they want to see it.' All in the Family, like all of the Lear shows that followed, was a turning point in television squo;s handling of taboo subjects such as race relations, feminism, homosexuality, war, religion, gun control, social inequity, and other controversial subjects, all of which remain in the news today.
