All in the Family is one of the most lauded comedy shows of all time. As with most All in the Family episodes, Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) was the protagonist of the hit 1970s sitcom.
As the series name implies, he was a family man—hardworking, gruff, charming, and bigoted in a way that wouldn’t fly on television today. He may not have been one of the most articulate characters on TV, but he is one of the most memorable. He never worried about being patriotic and was always politically incorrect.
Like all good comedy, underneath the laughs are serious topics Americans could relate to, like a father distraught over his beloved daughter moving across the country, Archie said that moving to California was a really bad idea.
“Nobody normal thinks about going out to California, it’s the land of fruits and nuts. Every fruit is a little nutty and every nut is a little fruity,” Archie said when talking about his daughter Gloria and her husband Michael Stivic, better known as “Meathead,” moving to California. That sentiment was ever so apparent during an episode as it was when Meathead trashed the National Anthem as a “terrible song” that “glorified war.”
During the sitcom’s fifth season, Archie and his son-in-law Meathead gathered around the television set to watch a New York Jets football game and stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In the clip, Meathead explains to Archie why he says the anthem is not a terrible song since it glorifies the horrors of war.
As the National Anthem begins on TV, Meathead says to Archie, “That is one terrible song.”
“Don’t start up nothing with me Meathead, that’s a beautiful song so shut your face!” Bunker responded.
“Ha! The song glorifies war and even as a song it stinks and nobody can remember the words.” Meathead added.
Americans who were tired of politics have been won over by the character of Archie Bunker by Carrol O’Connor in All in the Family. Despite all the scene’s humorous turns, it is timeless since it tackles issues that still exist today.
According to Rob Reiner, he still gets recognized as “Meathead” today. Gloria, a daughter of Archie, is the wife of Meathead in All in the Family. He is obtaining a sociology degree while not working and living with his in-laws. Reiner’s Meathead likes “protests” and makes people in America think of the counterculture of the 1960s.
Archie, on the other hand, was a decorated World War II warrior who cherished his nation. Archie brings us to another classic scene from Jimmy Carter’s gas crisis, as he was also a hardworking foreman on the New York docks who didn’t seem to care much for Democrats.
“The Democrats’ way of ruining this country is to go tell us all how we oughtta make sacrifices, God did great on that stuff. But they’re all gonna have us over the hill to the poorhouse. And we ain’t gonna be able to drive over there cause we ain’t got no gas. We gonna have to walk it,” Archie said.
“Those Were The Days,” the TV comedy’s theme song, reflects Archie’s undeniable spirit as the average American blue-collar worker who pines for the past, as the saying goes “history repeats itself,” as Archie Bunker’s words about the 1970s still ring true today.
“Didn’t need no welfare state
ev’rybody pulled his weight
gee our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days
And you knew who you were then
girls were girls and men were men
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again”
The plot of the middle-class family fighting to survive in a world that is constantly changing is still relevant today even though the final episode of All in the Family aired in 1979.
Despite our different worldviews, Archie urged us to love our family in the end. This was the crux of the problem with his daughter Gloria.
Regardless of the political differences he had with his son-in-law, he didn’t simply want her to move to California; he also wanted her close to him.
The most important thing was family, not politics. We should all be able to support that sentiment.
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Sources: Taphaps, Themix, Nydailynews
