Who Remembers Archie Bunker

On my recent vacation to Washington, D.C., I visited the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. One of the highlights for me was seeing Archie and Edith Bunkers' chairs from the classic television show "All in the Family". Archie Bunker can now be called the "original Rush Limbaugh", for his extreme conservative and Republican views of the country during the 1970's.

Carroll O'Connor played Archie Bunker from 1971 until 1979 in "All in the Family". Then in 1979, the show was retooled and called "Archie Bunker's Place" and ran until 1983. Although my family didn't agree with Archie's political beliefs and racial prejudices, some of my earliest and fondest memories of childhood were with my grandfather and parents laughing at the punch lines of this show.

I memorized the entire theme song and still sometimes remember the tune in my mind. I still laugh when remembering Edith (Jean Stapleton) running around the living room not knowing what to do when life with Archie became chaotic. I also loved the hysterics of Archie's daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers).

Back in the mid-seventies, I was only 6 years old. I didn't quite understand the historical and political events that were shaping the country at that time (i.e. Watergate). But I could always count on Archie Bunker to make my parents laugh. Back then there were only 7 channels and no cable television service, so there wasn't too much of a choice of what to watch.

When I was older and caught re-runs of "All in the Family", I couldn't believe the hurtful, audacious and bigoted words that came out of Archie's mouth. Nowadays, a show like that would never be allowed on the air. But in a deeper context, Archie's character was uneducated, sheltered from a global view of the world and he truly didn't know that his thoughts were wrong.

That was the essence of what made him such a lovable character. What I also appreciated in the show was his toxic relationship with his daughter Gloria and son in law, Mike (Rob Reiner). Another highlight of the show was Archie's relationship with the black neighbors, the Jefferson's.

George and Louise Jefferson had to endure Archie's racist opinions, but in the end "moved on up" to own a chain of dry cleaners. They eventually moved to a high rise on the east side of Manhattan and graduated to their own show, "The Jefferson's" (which was also a family favorite).

Luckily, "All in the Family" lives on in DVD and occasionally on TV Land. Carroll O'Connor, who died in 2001, will always hold a special place in my family's memories and won't be forgotten.