'All In The Family': I can't be the only Brit, surely?

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I liked it when I was in junior high but, when I saw it again a couple of years ago, I thought it was the meanest spirited show, even including some shows on today, and that's saying a lot.

Yes, it depends on how you look at it.

I personally try not to take the whole un-PC thing too seriously if that's what you mean.

Oh!

Another Britain-to-US sitcom was Too Close for Comfort (based on Keep It in the Family). TCFC aired from 1980 to 1985.

^Not familiar.

Watched all of the sixth season the other day. Anyone else seen it?

*Laughed so hard when Archie died his hair black - looked ridiculous*

...Re 9Cat and ARS's comments:
Yeah , I suppose that AITF's verbal nastiness/yealling among the characters reflected the tumultuous era that it came out of...And , what would seem to have been a formula that the Bud Yorkin-Norman Lear Tandem studio turned into , for many of their other 70s situation comedies .
My family used to joke about how , the likes of Maude , The Jeffersons , One Day At A Time , Alice...used to turn into " everybody yelling at each other at the same time " somewhere midway through the second act .
As for not-now-generally-allowed language , I believe Sanford & Son had African-American persons using " the N word " - " n*gg*r " - amongst themselves , and contemporary reruns of that bleep that out .
I always understood that Archie , even at his roughest , was presented as less rough/nasty than Alf could be: American entertainment in general likes characters to be more " loveable " , after all , especially American TV series , especially back then ! !! !! !!

The key word being 'formula'. Yeah, might get predictable soon but not yet...What if Archie comes home from work...indifferent about his day?

"Aw, Archie how was your daaaaaay?"

"Meh, alright. Have had better, my lovely...DINGBAT you!"

Nah, it'll never happen.

...I'd like to ask some questions about " Till Death Do Us Part " , actually , if anybody could answer them...I've never seen it , remember , I don't believe it was ever shown on US TV , and I'm not aware that there was , even , ever any US home video release of the series ! !! !! !!
Oh , and I was going to comment about something that happened later in the series of " AITF "...However , it occurs to me that it may not have , even in the sixth season , happened yet . ...Ain't I a nice guy ?????????

i love all in the family. you know archie bunker was the main inspiration for cartman in southpark? they wanted to make an 8 year old archie bunker that's just as racist and conservative.

Yeah, read that somewhere. Then again, making Cartman a cruder version of Bunker makes him more like Garnett!



Probably wouldn't have been any videos for it in the US at all, period. TDDUP is basically about an East-End couple and their daughter. When she grows up she ends up seeing (and marrying, I think) some Socialist Scouser (i.e. Liverpudlian, whole North/South, Catholic/Protestant conflict begins) who inevitably doesn't get on with Anglican Blue-Blood Garnett. Sound a little bit familiar? Mind you, Garnett's meant to be a prole so 'Blue-Blood' maybe isn't used in its correct context...

There are obviously differences, but the essence is the same.

Haha...too kind. Though I have seen clips on YouTube of Bunker mourning Edith's loss. Quite emotional, a fine moment in television at the time I would've thought...surely Carrol O'Connor at his best, no? Then again, that's Archie Bunker's Place.....

Presuming this was what you were talking about? Don't answer if otherwise

...So , in TDDUP , Alf is:
(1) C of E
(2) Tory
(3) From London/" the soft South " . ?????????
While the Mike equivalent - predecessor , obviously ????????? - is: Catholic/Labour/Scouse ?
That's rather what I thought .
What are the characters' names in TDDUP ? Is " Edith " such a ditz in it ???????
I suppose there must be some Brit TV Shows guide on-line that would have the basic info ?????????

1) Yup. Funny as hell bit in the film version I was talking about when Alf's dreaming about dinner with the Queen: on his best behavior; complimenting her 'church' (I think); and apologising for the unruly manners of Harold Wilson (Labour PM during 60s and so on - I'm enjoying explaining all this UK culture to the Americans) who farts during the proceedings.
2) Damn right. Another bit in the film where Michael (same forename as Mr. Stivic too) basically says: "You're a working-man, why do you vote Tory?".
3) Pretty much. The land of the Cockneys (who incidentally, are tecnically only ever meant to be from East London; kind of like Scousers and Geordies on the 'right side' of the Mersey and Tyne rivers respectively) in other words. And if you mean 'soft' as in weak: yes, Notherners generally view Southeners as limp-wristed toffs, but most Northerners would think twice to express such views in the East End - an area so tough, the epitome of British working class in most minds.
Mike) Got him spot on, my friend. "Scouse git!" he's called, most of the time...bloody meathead.
Else) Alf's wife. Not half as away with the fairies as Edith but it's implied she can be a bit slow at times. I think the intention was to let Alf call her a 'silly cow' (like 'dingbat' and so on). That was thought a bit extreme, so instead it was morphed into the immortal catchphrase - "Silly moo!".
Rita) Alf's daughter.
Brit TV Shows guide) Very likely. Was very popular at the time.

Oh, and another thing: I think there's a BBC America - if that channel doesn't show it I don't know what would.

...Alf farts , or Harold Wilson farts ?????????
That reminds me - are Geordies from - Newcastle ????????? ( the area thereof )
I'm aware of the " within hearing of the bells of ______ " requirement for Cockney-ness , though I've , obviously , forgotten the specifics ! !! !! !! !! !!
In AITF , I THINK Archie is suppose to be Protestant , and of " Scotch Irish " descent . ( NOT precisely the sterotypical movie-TV image of a New York City blue collar worker , anyhow ! !! !! !! !! !! ) I think Mike is suppose to be Catholic ( Though , obviously , not much of a churchgoer-?? I guess we're talking " background/class " here , anyhows . ) ?
Mike is sponging off of Archie and Gloria , after all , and is the beneficiaty of educational privledges that Archie never even dreamed of - Also , Mike is a prime example of the " Overly Pushy Seventies Sensitive Guy " .

I remember the show well- whenever I speak to my uncle in New Jersey he sounds just like Archie Bunker. Archie's chair is at the Smithsonian institute Museum in D.C. along with Dorothy's Ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz and all kinds of cool stuff. It's always fun to look at some of these props and see how really cheesy they look close up and think "oh the magic of Cinema".

This is one of my favorite TV shows of all times. I loved Archie Bunker! He was riot. He might of been a bigot and etc. but he was funny!! ! I get a kick at how he use to pronounce certain words and make interesting descriptions. The other characters were great also. Also, this show introduced the Jeffersons, another favorite all time TV show for me. The writing of this show was great, it was ahead of it's time and the stories were good. I would say I probably watched every single episode of this show.