A Televisual Feast

The Jeffersons–with a twist–guest on the first season finale, which has a lot more potential than payoff. The problems have a lot to do with the developments to fill a full twenty-five minutes. When he finds out about the dinner, Archie calls to cancel–giving Edith a sprained ankle–so then Edith’s presence is diminished throughout the […]

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Archie’s old Army buddies come to visit–one in particular–in a really downbeat episode. Not only is it downbeat, it’s not very funny (even when it’s trying to be funny, before it goes serious), it’s also very fast. The pacing is off. It’s hard to explain, but the episode is so subtle in its message–and it […]

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In addition to giving Gloria an episode–finally–this episode illustrates the complexities of the show. Archie’s just his usual jerk in this one and it’s Mike who’s the outrageous one. Gloria is reading about women’s lib and, no surprise, Archie doesn’t like it. Big surprise comes when Mike doesn’t like it either. The argument continues and […]

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Archie worries about his job in another short present action episode–two hours or so. The episode really feels like a play here, which isn’t a bad thing and it’s an interesting format for a sitcom. Humor possibilities are limited–for instance, I was actually glad when annoying neighbor Clara shows up, just because the episode definitely […]

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Edith goes on jury duty, which has a lot more potential than the episode has a budget for. Instead of focusing on Edith’s adventures, the episode spends most of the time at home, covering Archie’s suffering in her absence. It’s a funny episode, with Archie faking sick to try to get her to stay, Edith […]

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“All in the Family” has a variation in episodes in the type of humor. This episode unleashes Archie against a black family moving in (the Jeffersons, we eventually learn) and gives him an endless amount of tirades. The tirades only get better and better, culminating with a great scene with Lionel at the end. Though […]

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An excellent episode, again flexing the possibilities for “All in the Family.” The episode manages to cover Archie’s opinions on marriage, his opinions on Mike and Gloria’s hippie friends, and, finally, Mike and Gloria’s changing opinions on their hippie friends. Mike and Gloria’s opinions don’t change much, but they finally get fed up, about the […]

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This episode might be the first of the affecting “All in the Family” episodes. Gloria gets pregnant, complications ensue and Archie experiences an actual emotional reaction. It’s also the first episode I can remember with background music (it just feels wrong, like a soundtrack going during a play). It’s a good episode, a […]

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Even though the episode is predictable–the only thing more apparent would be a subplot with Archie lusting for a girl and it turns out she’s dating Mike and Gloria’s friend Roger (who Archie is convinced is gay)–there are some great moments. Archie and Mike’s initial, first act discussion of gays gives Archie a […]

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Norman Lear takes over the writing duties again (at least the credited ones, I have no idea if “All in the Family” had a writer’s room) and pulls off a fantastic episode. It seems like talking about the show in terms of its acts is the best idea. First act is simple and nice, the […]

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