All in the Family
When All in the Family premiered in January 1971, CBS was nervous enough about the content that they added an advisory message at the beginning. Despite their fears, the show was a success, quickly garnering both awards and top Nielsen ratings. All in the Family not only changed television in the United States but also the practice of politics. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Oscar Winberg, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies and the John Morton Center for North American Studies at the University of Turku, and author of Archie Bunker for President: How One Television Show Remade American Politics.
Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “I Don’t Like Your Family,” composed by Joseph E. Howard, with lyrics by Will M. Hough and Frank R. Adams; this recording, from October 4, 1906, is in the public domain and is available via the Library of Congress National Jukebox. The episode image is a photo of the Cast of the television program All in the Family from a press release dated March 12, 1976; the photo is in the public domain and is available via Wikimedia Commons.
All in the Family streaming:
- Meet the Bunkers (Season 1, Episode 1) on YouTube
- Seasons 2 and 3 on Pluto TV
- Seasons 7 and 8 on Tubi
Additional Sources:
- “Till Death Us Do Part, 6 June 1966,” History of the BBC.
- “Norman Lear, Whose Comedies Changed the Face of TV, Is Dead at 101,” by By Richard Severo and Peter Keepnews, The New York Times, December 6, 2023.
- “For Good or Bad, Norman Lear Helped Erase Rural America from TV,” by Jeffrey H. Bloodworth, The Daily Yonder, February 22, 2024.
- “How Archie Bunker Forever Changed in the American Sitcom,” by Sascha Cohen, Smithsonian Magazine, March 21, 2018.
- “Looking Back on the Legacy of ‘All in the Family’ 50 Years Later,” by Tim Gray, Variety, January 12, 2021.
- “Looking Back on “All in the Family,” the Sitcom That Reshaped America,” by Tim Brinkhof, The Progressive Magazine, May 30, 2024.
- “Rob Reiner was more than a Hollywood liberal. He was a sophisticated political operator,” by Melanie Mason, Politico, December 15, 2025.
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WEBVTT
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[SPEAKER_00]: In 1965, the BBC aired a pilot episode of a series that would become a long-running British hit, called Till Death Us Do Part.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The sitcom, written by Johnny Sprite, and produced by Dennis Mayn Wilson.
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[SPEAKER_00]: focused on the bigoted working-class character of elf Gartnet, and his relationship with his wife, his daughter, and especially with his son-in-law, Mike Rollins, a socialist from Liverpool.
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[SPEAKER_00]: American television director, Bud Yorkin, saw the show and brought it to the attention of Norman Lear, with whom he had co-founded tandem productions.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Lear bought the rights to the show and developed
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[SPEAKER_00]: Both starring Carol O'Connor as Archie Bunker and Gene Stapleton as Edith Bunker, ABC passed on the show.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In 1969, CBS named a new president of the television station, Bob Wood.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Wood had previously run the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles,
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then, had run the division in charge of all five affiliates that were directly owned by CBS.
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[SPEAKER_00]: All in major markets.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He knew that the show's most profitable to CBS weren't always those with the best national ratings.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But rather, those most popular in the major markets were CBS owned and operated the affiliates.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The Federal Communications Commission, FCC, limited the number of those markets.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Woods Innovation was to purge the network of some of the longest running shows, popular in the rural markets, including Kiha, Green Acres, and the Beverly Hillbillies, to make room for shows that would appeal to a younger, more urban audience.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It was against this backdrop that would screened all in the family at the urging of his programming department.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Wood was ready to take a risk on the controversial show and set about convincing the regional affiliates to air the show.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It still starred O'Connor and Stapleton,
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[SPEAKER_00]: and Rob Reiner as her husband, Mike.
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[SPEAKER_00]: On January 12th, 1971, the first episode of All in the Family hit the airwaves.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Starting with an advisory message.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Quote, the program you are about to see is All in the Family.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailty's prejudices and concerns.
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[SPEAKER_00]: By making them a source of laughter, we hoped to show, in a mature fashion, just how absurd they are, unquote.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The network was prepared for a barrage of complaints about the show.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But that first week there were fewer than a thousand calls, a much lower volume than
I am a political historian, author of Archie Bunker for President: How One Television Show Remade American Politics, and currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies and the John Morton Center for North American Studies at the University of Turku. I hold a PhD in history from Åbo Akademi University. In the United States, I have been affiliated with the American Political History Institute at Boston University.
My work has appeared in a variety of journals and popular outlets such as the Washington Post, The Conversation, and on NPR.
