Last night (6/25/01 and into early 6/26), I watched several episodes of "All In The Family" on TV Land's tribute to Carroll O' Connor.Among them were Sammy Davis Jr.'s visit to the Bunker house (where Archie warned everybody not to mention Sammy's glass eye, only to make the mistake himself), Stretch Cunningham's funeral (Archie was to deliver a eulogy laced with Christian sentiments, until discovering Stretch's Jewish upbringing), Edith naively placing an ad in a swingers magazine (and having the solicited couple show up at the door, their intentions unclear to Edith and Archie), Christmas dinner with a draft-dodger (as well as a friend of Archie's, whose son had died in the Vietnam conflict), and Mike & Gloria's leaving home (Archie's rare emotional side and the reconciliation with his son-in-law made this, in my opinion, one of the finest moments ever aired on TV).
Because "All In The Family" was able to bring weighted subject matter to the fray, the "rules" of the fluffy sitcoms which had come before were no longer obeyed. Carroll O'Connor, as Archie Bunker, was a big reason for that change.
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