Carroll O’Connor’s Archie Bunker was one of the vital celebrated, vital and outrageous characters ever to look on American community tv. For 12 years, Bunker appeared on TV weekly, shelling out reactionary opinions, arguing with these round him and infrequently even studying one thing.
Then, on April 4, 1983, with the tip of his second present, Archie Bunker’s Place, he was gone — and American tv was by no means the identical.
O’Connor first started taking part in Archie in Norman Lear’s CBS sitcom All within the Household in 1971. The present was a direct cultural dynamo, producing controversy, reward, imitations and spinoffs, and it grew to become one of many most-loved sitcoms of its era. However by 1979, All within the Household appeared to have run its course.
Lear felt it was time for the present to “die an honorable dying,” in accordance with an interview that O’Connor gave to the Emmy Basis. Jean Stapleton, who performed Archie’s spouse Edith, had additionally introduced that she didn’t intend to return after the ninth season. She anxious that her appearing profession is likely to be “buried” beneath the character of Edith, limiting her to comparable roles sooner or later.
Watch the Intro to ‘Archie Bunker’s Place’
However Robert Daly, then-vice president of CBS Tv Community, felt the present might nonetheless churn out no less than another 12 months of excellent scores. He despatched O’Connor to attempt to persuade Lear to allow them to hold it operating.
“The one manner it obtained on was when [CBS president William S. Paley] known as me to his workplace and had 4 or 5 pages of names of people that could be out of labor if the present did not go on,” Lear advised The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. “And so the present went on.”
However Lear had some calls for: They needed to change the title, they couldn’t use the well-known opening credit score sequence of Archie and Edith taking part in the piano, and so they needed to honor Stapleton’s need to go away.
The end result was Archie Bunker’s Place, which debuted on Sept. 23, 1979, and lasted for 4 seasons. The primary hurdle to clear was Edith’s absence. The present centered round the bar – the titular Archie Bunker’s Place – that Archie had bought throughout the eighth season of All within the Household, which allowed many of the motion to happen in an area the place Edith wasn’t current. It additionally allowed the present to largely dispense with All within the Household stalwarts Sally Struthers, who performed Archie’s daughter Gloria; and Rob Reiner, who performed Gloria’s husband Michael.
Watch Gloria and Meathead Return from California in ‘Archie Bunker’s Place’
Stapleton agreed to look sporadically and acted in 5 episodes of the primary season, however she was written off the present earlier than season 2, which opened with an episode by which she had succumbed to a stroke. “The dying of Edith was mentioned at size by the forged of All within the Household,” Stapleton advised The Christian Science Monitor in 1981. “It was essential as a result of it could have been dishonest for her to break up – the Bunkers would by no means divorce one another. If we despatched her off for an extended go to to California, she would nonetheless be hovering over the collection, making it troublesome to enlarge and broaden Archie’s life.”
For probably the most half, Archie Bunker’s Place was totally O’Connor’s present; in that sense, it achieved what it got down to do. Whereas it by no means matched the heights of its predecessor, it was profitable sufficient to present Daly his earnings and achieved sufficient to present O’Connor an opportunity to proceed exploring his beloved character.
Archie Bunker’s Place ranked among the many high 15 reveals for its first three seasons, with Nielsen scores within the 20s — not a full-blown hit, however nonetheless a modest success for CBS. It additionally replicated the clever, culture-war commentary that was so notable in All In The Household. The conservative, obstreperous Archie continued to conflict with the liberals in his midst, now offered by a succession of Jewish enterprise companions – first Martin Balsam as Murray Klein, then Barry Gordon as Gary Rabinowitz – whereas quite a lot of bar regulars stuffed out the plot traces.
Watch Sammy Davis Jr. Go to the Bar in ‘Archie Bunker’s Place’
The present even produced some superb episodes and memorable moments. “Archie Alone,” the hourlong season 2 premiere by which Archie struggles with Edith’s dying, is a minor masterpiece of writing and characterization. O’Connor as soon as once more shows the touching humanity beneath the floor of one of many crankiest characters in tv historical past. A number of high-profile and entertaining visitor appearances – together with Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Stiller, Reggie Jackson and Don Rickles – additionally stored issues vigorous.
Nonetheless, the present ran out of steam pretty shortly. Regardless of O’Connor’s immense expertise, Archie Bunker’s Place did not have the principle part that had made All within the Household so private and relatable: a powerful household dynamic to floor all of the bickering. As a substitute, Archie more and more started to really feel like a personality looking for a collection, counting on the identical previous bits that had propelled him to stardom.
It possible did not assist that, with the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980, O’Connor’s conservatism went from an outsider place to the established order. It is in all probability not a coincidence that Archie Bunker’s Place concludes with Archie recounting his dream about being in the Oval Workplace, from which he was awoken by the sound of a flushing rest room. In the tip, even O’Connor and the present’s producers realized his beloved character had lastly succumbed to historical past.
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