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

Post Reply New Topic

Lyrics to the theme song:

"Carroll: Boy, the way Glenn Miller played,

Jean: Songs that made the hit parade,

Carroll: Guys like us we had it made,

Together: Those were the days...

Jean: And you knew where you were then,

Carroll: Goils were goils and men were men,

Together: Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.

Carroll: Didn't need no welfare state,

Jean: Everybody pulled his weight.

Together: Gee our old La'Salle ran great,

Together: Those were the days!"

Probably been done before, but I want to discuss this programme. To be honest this is one of the very few American sitcoms I like (don't get me started on some of the other garbage going about right now). In particular, I want to know how popular or well it's received in the UK. I presume that it was never actually televised here, but that didn't stop me getting them all on DVD - I ordered the sixth season the other day. I wasn't even born when 'Archie Bunker's Place' finished!

Oh, and all you Yanks (if Archie was a Brit he wouldn't have called you 'Americans' either!), young and old enough to remember these two sitcoms when they first came out; don't be afraid to throw your tuppence (dollar, dime, nickle) in aswell.

*Being a Jock, I actually enjoyed Mr. Bunker's joke about the 'Scotch man' inviting someone to his house, and expecting them not being able to ring the door bell because their hands would be so full of free drink that he wouldn't have to pay for - a reward for his hospitality of course*

I think that's how the joke went.....Anyway...

Last edited by ARW_AS on 13 Feb 2007, 9:03 am, edited 3 times in total.

It was based on a British sitcom called "Til Death Do Us Part".

Tim

my favorite program of all time.. my second actually is a british program, fawlty towers..

Yeah, I tried to 'buy up' all the seasons of that too, but the BBC has lost half the footage. Got the film instead (1969)...

As hard as it might be for those across the Atlantic to believe (unless they've seen it), I don't think Archie Bunker was half as crude as Alf Garnett. I still maintain a belief that though BOTH these caricatures are human - they have their faults I'll give you that. My grandparents on both sides - like just about anyone else's - made, at times, bigoted remarks but would have never wished for the death or 'lynching' - to put it bluntly - of a person of a colour other than white.

I might have dug myself a hole here but correct me if I'm wrong; because I'm sure Archie and Alf were like that too.



My dad loves that programme...he thinks John Cleese is more weird than funny nowadays though.

...I'm 47 yrats old . American , and I remember seeing the very first episode , of All In The Family , in 1971 , very well ! !! !! !! !! ( Um , I don't really remember the DETAILS of it...Just that it got publicity as " contreversial " , and the US TV network put a little spoken-word introduction at that time - Is that on the DVD ? - saying something like " All In The Family is intended to satirize modern mores..." , which I think they kept on for the first season , maybe even into the 2nd . It was 9:30 PM on a school night , just before I went to bed .
Perhaps by?? the end of the 2nd season it was the #1 show on US TV - in those days of just three , national , commercial networks ( ABC , NBC , and the number 1 , CBS , which it was on . ) ! !! !!
I remember MAD MAGAZINE satirizing it as " Gall In The Family Fare " .
I have never seen Till Death Do Us Part , I would like to , even of what survives . ( I'm a Doctor Who fan , so , I do know a little about the " wiping " done by British networks in days of old ! !! !! !! )

...I don't think TDDUP was ever shown in the United States . ( Wasn't there a Mk. 1 pilot for All In The Family that kept the TDDUP title ????????? )
I watched , like most everybody else , AITF regularly in its glory years !
Right now , I don't have a TV .
There was a " soundtrack " LP record of comedic bits from the show issued at the time ( Early 70s . ) , pre-video age , I've seen it called " perhaps the LP that turns up most often in Salvation Army stores " , or similar .
I'll tell you something funny about the theme song ! - and ask something about TDDUP . - later .

^ Every single episode had a disclaimer at the start and beginning saying it was based on TDDUP. Though I, like I said, haven't seen a lot of TDDUP, I would have to say that AITF is brilliant in its own right: I think TDDUP merely served as an initial influence.

I'm curious about this 'pilot' episode...Will have to YouTube it later.

Do they have "All in the Family" in Scotland? If so, how do you know the theme song?

My dad loves that show.

Where can we see it in Scotland?

Sorry, took me awhile to respond:

Nowhere as far as I'm aware...Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com was where I got mine. I think I read about it on the internet somewhere and I was just curious - probably found out about it when looking at TDDUP stuff online. Though I know the theme tune quite well I pasted those off a lyrics site...

Having said that, there's nothing stopping Paramount in the UK showing it; they've recently started showing stuff like 'Taxi' here.

Do you know the tune to All in the Family's theme song?

...To be more precise , there was what one could consider a " disclaimer " - a credit , at the end of the end titles , crediting TDDUP , its UK network/company , and creator ( Johnny Byrne ? ) in the titles , though maybe British showings and/or video added something else , I don't know .
It was not hidden that it was based on a British series , and thaat led to more US Brit-sitcom remakes , " Sanford & Son " (Steptoe & Son) and " Three's Company " (Man About The House??) the most 70s-successful...........
The LP album I mentioned had two recordings of the theme song on it , one the standard TV version , and the other a more " pop " version ( Not , IIRC , a more " rock'n'roll/radio-oriented " version , just a longer version , still basically piano backing . ) , about 2-minutes-plus in length , w/at least an additional verse of lyrics ! !! !! !! !!
I'm now thinking that this pilot 1.0 might've been titled " Those Were The Days " , and that the Mary Hopkin song song , perhaps , led to the change...........
( I rather remembered a highly obscure US-Brit remake , " Lotsa Luck " , starring Dom DeLuise , based upon " On The Buses " I believe .
" I useta buy a pickle/It only used to cost a nickel/A busfare only used to cost a dime...Those days can be forgotten/the world has gotten rotten/Lotsa Luck! " I tught my brother to saing along with that , may God forgive me for it...)

I've heard of "Lotsa Luck" with Dom DeLuise. I know it didn't last very long but what are you trying to do, paraphrase Archie Bunker's lines so that you can tell us you know what they mean?

...No , that's my memory of LL's theme's lyrics .
I wasn't trying to paraphrase the additional , LP version , lyrics to the AITF theme song , if that's what you mean .
Incidentally , the LL song also had lines..." A dollar isn't even worth a half a buck " , and , " In this world...what you need to survive is LL " , that's all that I can remember . Are you in Britain or Seattle ?????????

I am in Seattle.