At the start of the 1970's, shows like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "All In The Family" (and after that "Maude", "M*A*S*H" and "The Bob Newhart Show" and more, were considered a step up from television's well written ( but 'safer' ) sitcoms of the 1950s & 1960s .
When the episodes were repeated over the summer, it did grab the attention of CBS viewers and viewers of other networks like NBC and ABC. It outranked such longtime favorites as "Marcus Welby, M. D. " "Laugh In," "Bonanza," , "Gunsmoke" and even "Here's Lucy".
After its eventual showing in the Emmys later that year , the high ratings seemed inevitable. Quite the opposite when the program was introduced to viewers in January of 1971, as barely anyone knew the show had debuted.
CBS had actually hired operators to field angry calls from viewers who might be offended. Since most of the U. S. didn't know it was on, many operators (mostly female) just sat there filing their nails.
"All in the Family," which starred Carroll O'Connor as Archie and Jean Stapleton as his kind, but long suffering wife Edith, opened to a mixed critical reception. It is true, a few of the first shows were not exactly 'shocking' ... they were funny though.
Strangley, some of the East Coast reviewers dismissed the program as unfunny and a potential contributor to the bigotry it was aiming it's humor to. Many of these same critics later had second thoughts.
Still, the series got off to a slow start, ranking 55th in the Nielsens after it's first week and not moving higher than 46th until March, when it fell back again.
It was not until mid April that the program was greatly assisted by word of mouth recommendations by viewers, that it began to climb, with a sudden spurt into the 14th place, at summer's start.
Norman Lear, who created the series and was it's producer, story editor and sometimes writer, credits its success in large part to Robert D. Wood, then president of CBS, who "stuck his neck out for the program when it counted."
For my own opinon of "All In The Family", I have nothing much to say on it except that it's a series I have always enjoyed, gotten great laughs from and when growing up, learned very much about the world from it's poignant storylines.
In the things I learned about race relations, women's issues and anting equality and many issues in the world and of that time, I feel grew up with a food understanding of the world I lived in and in just treating others as I would want to be.
When it began, as many know, there had been a great many issues America had been dealing with nationally and world wide. So, at the outset of the 1970s, it just seemed the time was right for sitcoms that had more to offer than husband / wife / child stories, rural based shows and and fantasy worlds.
Nothing wrong with those forms of sitcoms, they're very funny and entertaining and I like them as much as any 'semi serious' situation comedy. I'll watch anything from "My Favorite Martian" to "M*A*S*H.
(In AITF, "Maude" , "Good Times" and other Norman Lear shows plus the series M*A*S*H , sitcoms didn't get much heavier than these.)
For me, the comedy was first rate and (since this was the first time serious subjects were done in a sitcom) the subject matter was dealt with in a very straight forward way.
While staying beneath the radar of the network censors (the former CBS "Standards & Practices") as best they could.
Both sides, through Archie Bunker and Mike Stivic, were presented and also, many subjects and points of view from Edith Bunker and daughter Gloria Bunker Stivic. "All In The Family" , through them and many recurring characters, brought the once TV (and even real life) taboo subjects, out into the open.
The very things many people were not comfortable talking about and discussing. The show helped open up many dialogs between people and gave many a better understadning of others and even the world around them.
I know, as a kid and in my teens, it certainly helped me see, the obvious differences of certain things that are definitley wrong (and always are) and what things are simly right and always should be seen as so.
Having finally watched the entire series a few years ago on DVD (and for years in reruns) plus most of it on CBS including spin off "Archie Bunker's Place") , the humor, the stories and the important things learned, are never lost on me.
TEN stars, it's a classic. (END)
When the episodes were repeated over the summer, it did grab the attention of CBS viewers and viewers of other networks like NBC and ABC. It outranked such longtime favorites as "Marcus Welby, M. D. " "Laugh In," "Bonanza," , "Gunsmoke" and even "Here's Lucy".
After its eventual showing in the Emmys later that year , the high ratings seemed inevitable. Quite the opposite when the program was introduced to viewers in January of 1971, as barely anyone knew the show had debuted.
CBS had actually hired operators to field angry calls from viewers who might be offended. Since most of the U. S. didn't know it was on, many operators (mostly female) just sat there filing their nails.
"All in the Family," which starred Carroll O'Connor as Archie and Jean Stapleton as his kind, but long suffering wife Edith, opened to a mixed critical reception. It is true, a few of the first shows were not exactly 'shocking' ... they were funny though.
Strangley, some of the East Coast reviewers dismissed the program as unfunny and a potential contributor to the bigotry it was aiming it's humor to. Many of these same critics later had second thoughts.
Still, the series got off to a slow start, ranking 55th in the Nielsens after it's first week and not moving higher than 46th until March, when it fell back again.
It was not until mid April that the program was greatly assisted by word of mouth recommendations by viewers, that it began to climb, with a sudden spurt into the 14th place, at summer's start.
Norman Lear, who created the series and was it's producer, story editor and sometimes writer, credits its success in large part to Robert D. Wood, then president of CBS, who "stuck his neck out for the program when it counted."
For my own opinon of "All In The Family", I have nothing much to say on it except that it's a series I have always enjoyed, gotten great laughs from and when growing up, learned very much about the world from it's poignant storylines.
In the things I learned about race relations, women's issues and anting equality and many issues in the world and of that time, I feel grew up with a food understanding of the world I lived in and in just treating others as I would want to be.
When it began, as many know, there had been a great many issues America had been dealing with nationally and world wide. So, at the outset of the 1970s, it just seemed the time was right for sitcoms that had more to offer than husband / wife / child stories, rural based shows and and fantasy worlds.
Nothing wrong with those forms of sitcoms, they're very funny and entertaining and I like them as much as any 'semi serious' situation comedy. I'll watch anything from "My Favorite Martian" to "M*A*S*H.
(In AITF, "Maude" , "Good Times" and other Norman Lear shows plus the series M*A*S*H , sitcoms didn't get much heavier than these.)
For me, the comedy was first rate and (since this was the first time serious subjects were done in a sitcom) the subject matter was dealt with in a very straight forward way.
While staying beneath the radar of the network censors (the former CBS "Standards & Practices") as best they could.
Both sides, through Archie Bunker and Mike Stivic, were presented and also, many subjects and points of view from Edith Bunker and daughter Gloria Bunker Stivic. "All In The Family" , through them and many recurring characters, brought the once TV (and even real life) taboo subjects, out into the open.
The very things many people were not comfortable talking about and discussing. The show helped open up many dialogs between people and gave many a better understadning of others and even the world around them.
I know, as a kid and in my teens, it certainly helped me see, the obvious differences of certain things that are definitley wrong (and always are) and what things are simly right and always should be seen as so.
Having finally watched the entire series a few years ago on DVD (and for years in reruns) plus most of it on CBS including spin off "Archie Bunker's Place") , the humor, the stories and the important things learned, are never lost on me.
TEN stars, it's a classic. (END)