SATIRE: Archie Bunker on Religion ("All In The Family")

All in the Family  is an American  sitcom  television series that was originally broadcast on the CBS  television network for nine seasons, from1971 to 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series  Archie Bunker's Place ,which picked up where  All in the Family  had ended and ran for four more seasons through 1983.

All in the Family  is often regarded in the United States as one of the greatest television series in history.

It was pretty popular in Canada as well.  I certainly enjoyed watching as many episodes as I could.

The show broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for a US network television comedy, such as racism, antisemitism, infidelity, homosexuality, women's liberation, rape, religion, miscarriages, abortion, breast cancer , the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence .

Through depicting these controversial issues, the series became arguably one of television's most influential comedic programs, as it injected the sitcom format with more dramatic moments and realistic, topical conflicts. 

Plus-- it contained a lot of (often biting) satirical humor .

Plus-- it contained a lot of (often biting) satirical humor

Don't forget the 1st toilet flush on broadcast television.

It became the first television series to reach the milestone of having topped the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive years. The episode "Sammy's Visit" was ranked number 13 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.

TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time ranked All in the Family as number four. Bravo also named the show's protagonist, Archie Bunker, TV's greatest character of all time.

In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked All in the Family the fourth-best written TV series ever.

I liked All in the Family and enjoyed the little clip above

Archie was very good at explaining.

I was in the studio audience for a live taping of All in the Family one time at CBS Television City in Hollywood.  That was a long time ago.

I was in the studio audience for a live taping of All in the Family

Wow!

Must have been quite an experience

It was fun.  I remember going to a taping of Jeopardy one time, also.  They did several episodes at that taping with the participants changing clothes between shows.

Even more fun -- I have a friend who was, at the time, working as a 2nd Assistant Director and one day I got to hang out when they were rehearsing an episode of Love Boat.  Another time, I went to a rehearsal/walk through for a really great show called Buffalo Bill, which was a total blast, especially because I got to meet and hang out with Geena Davis (at the beginning of her career), Joanna Cassidy and the rest of the cast members.  That was a lot of fun, but when Dabney Coleman showed up later in the afternoon they all got very serious and had to get to work.

I loved All in the Family and Buffalo Bill was a hoot

Buffalo Bill was a riot.  My friend who worked on it, who later went on to become a major film producer and production company co-owner, said Buffalo Bill was his favorite show to work on because the cast was so great and they were all good friends.  He even used to go hiking with them.  When it was time for the cast members to sign their union time cards at the end of the day, they all insisted that I had to watch Joanna sign her card because she had an amusing way of writing her signature.  So, they had me sit down right next to her and she demonstrated it.   Really a fun day.

What was Dabney Coleman like? I always liked him as an actor

I spent most of the day hanging out and having fun with and getting to know the rest of the cast, then Dabney Coleman arrived for the walk through and suddenly everything got very serious.  He gave the impression of being a totally no nonsense kind of guy, but, of course, he was there to work.  I was not introduced to him, and, as I recall, they did the walk through and he left.  He was not there for very long.  I don't remember him smiling or saying anything in a friendly manner to anyone.  He seemed pretty cold.  He definitely did not seem like a warm and fuzzy type.  Maybe he acts differently outside of work, or maybe he was just there for such a short period of time that I only saw his serious business side.  If I remember the next time I talk to him, I will ask my friend for more details since he worked on the show for the entire two years.  I would guess that Dabney probably didn't go on their hikes.

I just watched an interview with Norman Lear that provides a lot of background about the series (among others of his). (link) -> -> bilibili

One of my favorite lines which rather reflects many white conservative Christians beliefs today is when Archie is asked by Meathead what he'd do if when he got to heaven he was greeted by a Rabbi. After replying he'd "drop dead" Archie says "That's a stupid supposed because everybody knows that in Heaven there ain't no differences in race or color, everybody's equal white Christians...".

I suppose it depends upon what sort of rabbi. A rabbi who was of "The White Race"... or a rabbi who was of a "Brown Race" such as Jesus (the Jew).

I suppose it depends upon what sort of rabbi. A rabbi who was of "The White Race"...

Archie was the archetypical white prejudiced misogynist conservative Protestant Christian blue collar worker living in Queens where he is surrounded by modern liberal progressives who are constantly pushing his boundaries when it comes to civil rights, women's rights, lgtbq rights and his anti-Semitic views. When he said he'd "drop dead" if he were greeted by a Rabbi instead of St. Peter it had nothing to do with skin color, it was clearly his anti-Semitism and his following comment about how everyone (aka the majority of white conservative Protestant Christians) "knows that in Heaven there ain't no differences in race or color, everybody's equal white Christians". He was voicing a common belief among white conservative Protestant Christians especially at that time which was that no one but white Protestant Christians go to heaven where they can all enjoy "equality" because those are the only people worthy of heaven, everyone else has got it wrong.

Now Carol O'Connor's personal politics were liberal/progressive, he was a highly educated and cultured man who taught English before he turned to acting. The writing on the show was pretty much left of center, but Carol played his character with deep seated prejudices and right-wing conservative Christian views and the writers often used malapropisms to skewer the stubborn poorly educated right wing conservative Christian blue collar worker but at the same time portrayed Archie as a decent, loving husband and father as well as a man who was struggling to adapt to a quickly changing world instead of someone simply motivated by hateful racism or prejudice.

It was truly a great show which I'm sure many of us grew up on and it often created different reactions depending on what ideological bent the view might have. My family were white conservative Protestant Christians from Ohio so the reactions of my parents were often shaking there heads at the unrepentant liberal and progressive views but nodding in agreement with Archie when he would counter those views with some prejudiced white Christian retort.

Wonderful Krish....

I loved this show (although for me it was in syndiction - when it came out I was too young to understand the connotations).  I remember my father emulating Archie, not recognizing the satire.  As I got older and watched the show I saw the show for it's true message.