60 Fun Facts About All in the Family

On which network did All in the Family air from 1971 to 1979?

The pilot had been developed for ABC, which rejected it twice.

All in the Family was based on which British sitcom?

Norman Lear read about it in Variety and saw his own relationship with his father in it.

What was the name of the bigoted patriarch in the British original?

Warren Mitchell played him from 1965 until creator Johnny Speight's death in 1998.

Who produced All in the Family alongside Norman Lear?

The pair also made Sanford and Son and Maude together.

The Bunkers live in which borough of New York City?

The show is set in Astoria; Carroll O'Connor, a Queens native, suggested real local landmarks.

What is the Bunkers' home address?

No Hauser Street exists in Queens; the house in the credits is really on Cooper Avenue in Glendale.

What nickname does Archie use for his son-in-law Michael Stivic?

He tells Edith to 'stifle', a line borrowed from Lear's own father.

What does Archie call his wife Edith?

On the rare occasions she stands up to him, Edith shows simple but profound wisdom.

Which actor was Norman Lear's first choice to play Archie Bunker?

Rooney turned it down fearing controversy and a flop; the other three were also considered.

What was the title of the original 1968 pilot?

Archie and Edith were surnamed Justice; the second pilot was called Those Were the Days.

Which star of Jaws sought the role of Michael Stivic?

A future Star Wars lead turned it down, citing Archie's bigotry.

Which future Star Wars actor turned down the role of Michael Stivic?

He objected to Archie Bunker's bigotry.

Rob Reiner's wife, considered for the role of Gloria, was which future director?

They married in April 1971, shortly after the show began.

Which actress and singer played Edith's cousin Maude in two episodes before her own spin-off?

Cousin Maude's Visit and the backdoor pilot Maude led to the series in autumn 1972.

What business made George Jefferson rich enough to move to Manhattan?

The neighbours who got their own spin-off then rented their Queens house to Gloria and Mike.

Why did George Jefferson not appear on screen until 1973 despite being mentioned often?

He would not break his commitment to the musical Purlie; brother Henry stood in.

The theme song 'Those Were the Days' is performed by Archie and Edith at what instrument?

Lear chose the simple scene as a cost-cutting measure after the pilot ate the budget.

Who wrote the words and music of 'Those Were the Days'?

The Bye Bye Birdie team; the closing instrumental is Roger Kellaway's Remembering You.

What was notable about how All in the Family was recorded?

1960s sitcoms were filmed single-camera with a laugh track; videotape had been for news and variety.

Norman Lear originally wanted to shoot the show how?

CBS insisted on colour, so the set was furnished in neutral tones to feel like sepia.

For how many consecutive seasons was All in the Family number one in the Nielsen ratings?

Only The Cosby Show and American Idol have matched it.

Which guest star's 1972 visit to the Bunker home is ranked among TV Guide's greatest episodes ever?

'Sammy's Visit' was ranked number 13.

Which museum received Archie and Edith's chairs on their 1978 donation?

The set designer bought the originals for a few dollars at a Goodwill store; the pair went to the Smithsonian in 1978.

Where did the show's set designer buy the original Bunker chairs?

They went to a national museum in Washington in 1978 for an exhibit on television history.

Which US president was recorded discussing the show on the Watergate tapes?

He talked about the 1971 episodes Writing the President and Judging Books by Covers.

How many Emmy Awards did Carroll O'Connor win for playing Archie Bunker?

He later added a fifth for a police drama in the 1980s.

Which crime drama did Carroll O'Connor star in after Archie, as police chief Bill Gillespie?

It ran from 1988 to 1995 on NBC and then CBS.

Which film role did Jean Stapleton decline because it clashed with the All in the Family pilot?

The part went to Nora Denney.

How many Emmys did Jean Stapleton win as Edith?

In 1971 she beat both Mary Tyler Moore and Marlo Thomas.

The actor who played Michael Stivic is the son of which comedy legend?

Rob went on to direct Stand by Me and The Princess Bride.

Which 1984 mockumentary was Rob Reiner's first film as director?

He co-founded Castle Rock Entertainment in 1987.

Sally Struthers later played which character on Gilmore Girls?

She is also known for decades of work for the Christian Children's Fund.

What did Sally Struthers do in 1974 out of frustration with her static role?

Gloria's character was then developed further and she stayed until 1978.

What is the name of Gloria and Mike's son, born in a two-part 1975 episode?

He later turned up, played by different actors, on the follow-up series Gloria and 704 Hauser and the Archie sequel show.

Which nine-year-old girl do the Bunkers take in during the final season?

Her father abandons her on the doorstep, then extorts money to let them keep her; Archie comes to accept her Jewish faith.

What is the name of the bar Archie frequents and eventually buys?

The credits spell it Kelcy for two seasons and Kelsey thereafter.

How did Archie raise the money to buy the bar?

The Bunkers had owned the house outright; bartender Harry Snowden became his partner.

What was Archie's day job for most of the series?

He also drove a taxi part-time at night to supplement his income.

Which school did Archie attend and letter in baseball, according to a season 5 episode?

O'Connor, from Forest Hills, fed the writers real locations for authenticity.

Which South Park character was allegedly modelled on Archie Bunker?

Bravo named Archie TV's greatest character of all time.

What was the name of the continuation series that ran from 1979 to 1983?

It was set mainly in the tavern and picked up where the original ended.

How was Edith written out of the continuation series?

Jean Stapleton felt the character had run its course after five guest spots.

Which spin-off ran longer than All in the Family itself, for eleven seasons?

It was cancelled so abruptly in 1985 that Sherman Hemsley read about it in the newspaper.

The 1972 spin-off Maude was set in which suburban New York town?

Its two-part abortion episode, Maude's Dilemma, remains its most discussed storyline.

The 1994 series 704 Hauser put which new family in the Bunkers' old house?

It inverted the formula and lasted five episodes; Joey Stivic appeared in the premiere.

Who played Archie and Edith in ABC's 2019 Live in Front of a Studio Audience recreation?

Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear produced it, pairing the show with The Jeffersons.

Which advocacy group did Norman Lear found in 1980?

He also toured the country with a 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence.

How many viewers watched the All in the Family series finale in 1979?

The show stayed in the top ten for seven of its nine seasons.

Which future Babe star played Archie's loading-dock buddy Jerome 'Stretch' Cunningham?

Archie only learned Stretch was Jewish at his funeral, where he delivered a famously humane 'urology'.

In which Queens neighbourhood did Lear and his writers set the series?

No Hauser Street actually exists in Queens, and the house in the credits is really at 89-70 Cooper Avenue in Glendale.

Which Broadway musical kept Sherman Hemsley from playing George Jefferson until 1973?

Lear, who wanted no one else, held the role open until Hemsley finished his run.

What was the name of Archie's employer, where Sorrell Booke played the personnel manager?

Booke, later Boss Hogg on The Dukes of Hazzard, had earlier appeared as a TV station manager in 'Archie and the Editorial'.

Which real Queens newspaper sponsored the cutest-baby contest Archie entered Joey in, in a 1976 episode?

Queens native Carroll O'Connor suggested many real local references to the writers for authenticity.

Which two telephone exchange names did the Bunkers use for their number, unusually for TV of the era?

Most series used the fictitious 555 prefix; the Bell System was then trying to phase exchange names out.

Which Hollywood legend hosted the 1974 special The Best of 'All in the Family'?

Norman Lear himself hosted the 20th-anniversary retrospective on CBS in 1991.

In what year did the USPS honour All in the Family with a 33-cent stamp?

'Archie Bunker for President' T-shirts and bumper stickers had appeared around the 1972 election.

Which magazine parodied the show as 'Gall in the Family Fare' in a 1973 special that came with a flexi-disc?

Rapper Redman has also referenced Archie Bunker's big cigars in several songs.

What did the cast do early in the run that later cost them dearly as reruns became a fixture?

CBS began daytime reruns in 1975 and Viacom took the show to off-network syndication in 1979.

Which Puerto Rican nursing student rented Mike and Gloria's old room in season seven and called Archie 'Papi'?

Liz Torres's character proved unpopular with viewers and was phased out before the season ended.

What was Norman Lear's short-lived 1991 comeback series, cancelled after a six-week tryout beside AITF reruns?

The 20th-anniversary special did so well that CBS reran All in the Family that summer, and the old episodes outdrew the new show.