Norman Lear and His Masterpieces

[RR Strickland]

All in the Family:

They yelled too much... but I will say that I liked that Edith came into her own and sometimes put Archie in his place.

Meathead was just as bullheaded and intolerant as Archie was... and I always thought that Gloria could have done so much better then him.

Otherwise, most of Lear's shows in the 70s was a lot of shouting and sometimes more preachy than funny.

With all due respect, the yelling was DEFINITELY intolerable…but it didn’t stop the humor.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Archie is very tough to take during the first few seasons - very mean. He softens around the time Joey comes along and the Stivics move next door. And this is around the time you see Edith becoming stronger and standing up to him and influencing him.

I particularly like the “Cousin Liz” episode, where the Bunkers attend the funeral of Edith’s late cousin. Archie threatens to take Liz’s partner (a woman) to court over a valuable family tea set. This would put the woman’s teaching job in jeopardy if she were outed. Edith explains why he shouldn’t do this, and says to him, “I can’t believe you’d do something that mean.” And she pulls him bank from the brink of something really hateful.

I think Archie was more overbearing and stubborn, as opposed to malicious.
Carroll O'Connor, being a wonderful actor. could play the role with layers and depth.
Ironically, I thought the show wasn't as good when Archie was more empathetic and tolerant.
Archie was funniest when making observations based on his world view.
As an aside, I never found Mike to be likable.
His self-righteous pretenses were just as narrow-minded as Archie.
Plus he was freeloading on Archie, living on Archie's property, and
showed no respect and/or appreciation

 

[DallasFanForever]

I think Archie was more overbearing and stubborn, as opposed to malicious.

Yes, he really wasn’t malicious in his thinking most of the time. It was more of a case of being so stuck in his views and that unwillingness to see the other side of things. Ironically, these qualities still somehow made him likable.

 

[tommie]

Apparently "All That Glitters", Lear's syndicated sitcom-soap that wasn't Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, is airing on some Italian streaming service once a week:

The channel that's uploading it so far has 14 episodes available - hopefully all 65 will get to air, but I guess it's a year if it keeps this pace. But certainly not something I thought we'd ever see! Linda Gray stars in it as Linda Murkland, a trans model. The whole idea is gender switching - ie women are in power positions like exec roles and males are stay-at-home dads.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Funny, the only thing I've ever remembered about ALL THAT GLITTERS was Linda Gray's shoulders -- who knew they would soon become such an important part of our lives??