Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Now Don't Nobody Move. 'Cause We're Gonna Start This Whole Transfaction Over!

This clip is probably the perfect metaphor for Archie Bunker's plight in All in the Family.

From his POV, everyone's always taking something from him for reasons that are vague at best.

I've probably blogged here before that All in the Family was the best television show ever created and Archie the best character.

I stand by that assessment.

I defy anyone to name another television show that covered as much ground, from social commentary to politics, to gender roles to physical comedy to drama...all virtually seamlessly.

Here's a snipped from the wiki-entry agreeing with yours truly.

In addition to its candid political dialogs, All in the Family's story lines also included a sense of realism not previously associated with sitcoms. A 1973 episode, for example, found the Bunkers discovering a swastika painted on their front door. (It had been intended for their Jewish neighbors down the street.) An activist from the Jewish Defense League showed up, proposing violent retaliation against whoever painted it, but upon leaving, he was blown up in his car, as the Bunkers watched in horror from their front door. To interweave illness, crime, or in this case, the off-screen violent death of a character into the plot of a comedy show was an unprecedented move.

No comments: