60 Fun Facts About All in the Family

On which network did All in the Family air from 1971 to 1979?

CBS picked up the show after ABC had rejected two pilots; it premiered on 12 January 1971.

All in the Family was based on which British sitcom?

Till Death Us Do Part, Johnny Speight's BBC sitcom, inspired Norman Lear, who saw his own father in its bigoted lead.

What was the name of the bigoted patriarch in the British original?

Alf Garnett, played by Warren Mitchell from 1965, was the loud-mouthed East End bigot on whom Archie Bunker was modelled.

Who produced All in the Family alongside Norman Lear?

Bud Yorkin was Norman Lear's partner in Tandem Productions, which also produced Sanford and Son and Maude.

The Bunkers live in which borough of New York City?

Queens is the Bunkers' borough; Carroll O'Connor himself was raised in Forest Hills, Queens, and the opening credits show the borough's real streets.

What is the Bunkers' home address?

704 Hauser Street is fictional; the house seen in the credits really stands at 89-70 Cooper Avenue in Glendale.

What nickname does Archie use for his son-in-law Michael Stivic?

Meathead is Archie's name for his son-in-law Mike, which Archie defines as 'dead from the neck up'.

What does Archie call his wife Edith?

Dingbat is Archie's pet insult for Edith, usually paired with an order to 'stifle yourself'.

Which actor was Norman Lear's first choice to play Archie Bunker?

Mickey Rooney turned the part down, warning Lear that viewers would 'kill you in the streets' for such a bigoted lead.

What was the title of the original 1968 pilot?

Justice for All was the 1968 pilot, in which Archie and Edith were surnamed Justice; the 1969 second pilot was retitled Those Were the Days.

Which star of Jaws sought the role of Michael Stivic?

Richard Dreyfuss lobbied for the part of Mike in 1970 but lost it to Rob Reiner, years before Jaws made him a star.

Which future Star Wars actor turned down the role of Michael Stivic?

Harrison Ford was offered Mike Stivic but turned it down, finding Archie Bunker's bigotry too offensive to play against.

Rob Reiner's wife, considered for the role of Gloria, was which future director?

Penny Marshall married Rob Reiner in April 1971, months after the show began, and was among those considered for Gloria before Sally Struthers won it.

Which actress and singer played Edith's cousin Maude in two episodes before her own spin-off?

Bea Arthur played Maude Findlay in 'Cousin Maude's Visit' and the backdoor pilot 'Maude', which launched her spin-off in September 1972.

What business made George Jefferson rich enough to move to Manhattan?

Dry cleaning made George Jefferson's fortune; his chain of Jefferson Cleaners let the family move to a 'deluxe apartment in the sky' on Manhattan's East Side.

Why did George Jefferson not appear on screen until 1973 despite being mentioned often?

Sherman Hemsley was on Broadway when Lear wanted him, so Lear held the part of George open for him; Mel Stewart's Henry Jefferson stood in meanwhile.

The theme song 'Those Were the Days' is performed by Archie and Edith at what instrument?

A piano in the Bunker living room is where Archie and Edith sit to sing the theme, with Edith's shrill high note a running gag.

Who wrote the words and music of 'Those Were the Days'?

Lee Adams and Charles Strouse, the Bye Bye Birdie team, wrote 'Those Were the Days'; the closing instrumental, 'Remembering You', is by Roger Kellaway.

Unlike most 1960s sitcoms, All in the Family was recorded on what medium?

Videotape was used for All in the Family, recorded before a live studio audience, unlike the filmed, laugh-tracked sitcoms of the 1960s.

Norman Lear originally wanted to shoot the show how?

In black and white was how Lear wanted to shoot it; the network insisted on colour, so the set was dressed in drab, neutral tones to look almost sepia.

For how many consecutive seasons was All in the Family number one in the Nielsen ratings?

Five straight seasons at number one, from 1971-72 to 1975-76, a run later equalled by The Cosby Show and beaten only by American Idol.

Which guest star's 1972 visit to the Bunker home is ranked among TV Guide's greatest episodes ever?

Sammy Davis Jr. guest-starred in 'Sammy's Visit' (February 1972), which TV Guide ranked 13th among the greatest episodes ever in 1997.

Which museum received Archie and Edith's chairs on their 1978 donation?

The Smithsonian took Archie and Edith's chairs in 1978 for its National Museum of American History; replicas were built so the show could carry on.

Where did the show's set designer buy the original Bunker chairs?

A Goodwill thrift store supplied Archie's and Edith's chairs, bought second-hand for a few dollars before the show began.

Which US president was recorded discussing the show on the Watergate tapes?

Richard Nixon was taped in May 1971 complaining about the episode 'Judging Books by Covers', in which Archie's macho friend turns out to be gay.

How many Emmy Awards did Carroll O'Connor win for playing Archie Bunker?

Four Emmys came O'Connor's way as Archie, in 1972, 1977, 1978 and 1979; a fifth followed in 1989 for another series.

Which crime drama did Carroll O'Connor star in after Archie, as police chief Bill Gillespie?

In the Heat of the Night ran from 1988 to 1995, with O'Connor's Bill Gillespie policing the Mississippi town of Sparta.

Which film role did Jean Stapleton decline because it clashed with the All in the Family pilot?

Mrs. Teevee, Willy Wonka — Mike Teevee's mother — went to Nora Denney after Stapleton chose the All in the Family pilot instead.

How many Emmys did Jean Stapleton win as Edith?

Three Emmys went to Stapleton for Edith, in 1971, 1972 and 1978; in 1971 she beat Mary Tyler Moore and Marlo Thomas.

The actor who played Michael Stivic is the son of which comedy legend?

Carl Reiner, creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show, is Rob Reiner's father; Rob played Mike Stivic for all eight seasons.

Which 1984 film was Rob Reiner's first as director?

This Is Spinal Tap, the 1984 heavy-metal mockumentary, was Reiner's directing debut; he went on to co-found Castle Rock Entertainment in 1987.

Sally Struthers later played which character on Gilmore Girls?

Babette Dell, the Gilmores' gossipy next-door neighbour in Stars Hollow, was Sally Struthers's recurring role on Gilmore Girls from 2000 to 2007.

What did Sally Struthers do in 1974 out of frustration with her static role?

Gloria's character was then developed further and she stayed until 1978.

What is the name of Gloria and Mike's son, born in a two-part 1975 episode?

Joey Stivic was born in the December 1975 two-parter 'Birth of the Baby', and Ideal Toys sold an anatomically correct Joey doll in 1976.

Which nine-year-old girl do the Bunkers take in during the final season?

Stephanie Mills, Edith's nine-year-old niece played by Danielle Brisebois, is dumped on the Bunkers by her father Floyd, who later takes money to let her stay.

What is the name of the bar Archie frequents and eventually buys?

Kelcy's Bar, run by Tommy Kelcy, was Archie's local until he bought it in season eight and put his own name over the door.

How did Archie raise the money to buy the bar?

A mortgage on his house, taken out by forging Edith's signature, funded Archie's purchase of the bar; bartender Harry Snowden became his partner.

What was Archie's day job for most of the series?

Loading dock foreman was Archie's job for most of the run; he drove a cab for Munson's at night to make extra money before buying the bar in 1977.

Which school did Archie attend and letter in baseball, according to a season 5 episode?

O'Connor, from Forest Hills, fed the writers real locations for authenticity.

Which South Park character was allegedly modelled on Archie Bunker?

Eric Cartman was described by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone as what Archie Bunker would be like as a little kid.

What was the name of the continuation series that ran from 1979 to 1983?

Archie Bunker's Place ran from 1979 to 1983, set mostly in the bar Archie had bought, with Edith written out during its second season.

How was Edith written out of the continuation series?

She died of a stroke off screen: the 1980 episode 'Archie Alone' opens a month after Edith's death, with Archie unable to grieve.

Which spin-off ran longer than All in the Family itself, for eleven seasons?

The Jeffersons ran eleven seasons from 1975 to 1985, two more than the parent show; its cast learned of the 1985 cancellation from the press.

The 1972 spin-off Maude was set in which suburban New York town?

Tuckahoe, in Westchester County, was the Findlays' home town on Maude; the show's two-part abortion episode 'Maude's Dilemma' aired in 1972.

Which new family did Norman Lear's 1994 series place in the Bunkers' old house?

A liberal Black couple and their conservative son — Ernie and Rose Cumberbatch and their boy Goodie — moved in, flipping the original's politics; the show was cancelled within weeks in 1994.

Who played Archie and Edith in ABC's 2019 Live in Front of a Studio Audience recreation?

Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei played Archie and Edith in May 2019, with Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear producing the live ABC special.

Which advocacy group did Norman Lear found to counter the Moral Majority?

People for the American Way was launched by Lear in the early 1980s to push back against Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority and the religious right.

How many viewers watched the All in the Family series finale in 1979?

40.2 million viewers tuned in for the finale 'Too Good Edith' on 8 April 1979, and the show finished in the top ten for seven of its nine seasons.

Which future Babe star played Archie's loading-dock buddy Jerome 'Stretch' Cunningham?

James Cromwell, two decades before Babe, played Stretch Cunningham; Archie learned Stretch was Jewish only at his funeral, where he gave the 'urology'.

In which New York neighbourhood did Lear and his writers set the series?

Astoria was the Bunkers' neighbourhood, though the house shown in the opening credits actually stands in Glendale, a few miles away.

Which actress played Louise 'Weezy' Jefferson?

Isabel Sanford played Louise Jefferson from 1971, and in 1981 became the first Black actress to win the Emmy for lead actress in a comedy series.

What was the name of the company that employed Archie for most of the series?

Prendergast Tool and Die was the plant where Archie worked for most of the series before he bought a bar in season eight.

Which real Queens newspaper sponsored the cutest-baby contest Archie entered Joey in, in a 1976 episode?

Queens native Carroll O'Connor suggested many real local references to the writers for authenticity.

Which actress played Irene Lorenzo, Archie's neighbour and co-worker?

Betty Garrett played Irene Lorenzo, the handy Catholic neighbour who later worked beside Archie at the plant, from 1973 to 1975.

Which Hollywood legend hosted the 1974 special The Best of 'All in the Family'?

Henry Fonda hosted the December 1974 retrospective, introducing clips from the show's first years.

To which state did Mike and Gloria move when they left the show in 1978?

California is where Mike took a teaching job, in Santa Barbara, when he and Gloria left in the March 1978 episode 'The Stivics Go West'.

Which magazine parodied the show as 'Gall in the Family Fare' in a 1973 special that came with a flexi-disc?

Mad magazine's 'Gall in the Family Fare' parody was pressed as a flexi-disc recording and bound into a 1973 Mad Super Special.

Where did Edith take a job in the show's later seasons?

The Sunshine Home, a residence for the elderly, was where Edith worked in the show's later seasons, caring for its residents.

Which Puerto Rican nursing student rented Mike and Gloria's old room in season seven?

Theresa Betancourt, played by Liz Torres, rented the Stivics' old room in 1976 but was written out before season seven ended.

What was Norman Lear's short-lived 1991 comeback series, cancelled after a six-week tryout beside AITF reruns?

Sunday Dinner, starring Robert Loggia as a widower engaged to a much younger woman, was pulled after six episodes in summer 1991 while the All in the Family reruns beside it thrived.