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50 years since its debut, what “All in the Family” can teach us about bridging America’s political and cultural divides
Archie Bunker was a bigot. Whether bemoaning the Black family who lived next door or refusing to accept his friend is gay or his casual misogyny or his frequent attempts at — to borrow a phrase from the modern right — “own the libs,” he was a deeply flawed and prejudiced man. Yet, half a century since he first appeared on our screens, singing an off-key ode to Herbert Hoover and life before the New Deal, he remains a crucial and iconic pop culture figure.
Through Archie, series creator Norman Lear managed to provide a humorous and insightful glimpse into the id of white America during a time of massive cultural and political upheaval. As opposed to the middle-class ideals presented in Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and other American sitcoms of the 1950s and 1960s, Norman Lear’s magnum opus focuses on the working-class Bunker family and tackled weighty and topical issues in ways not done before on television. For that reason, All in the Family, which premiered 50 years ago this Tuesday, is a landmark television event.
Led by the cantankerous and bigoted Archie (Carroll O’Connor) and his “dingbat” wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), the Bunkers are your typical American family: content but not happy, hardworking but…
