This series starred veteran character actor Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, a working-class, very outspoken bigot, prejudiced against everyone and everything not in agreement with his view of the world.
"All in the Family" is touted as the series that brought reality to prime-time television entertainment.
Archie Bunker, was a working-class family man who held bigoted, conservative views of the world. His viewpoints clash with nearly everyone he comes into contact with especially his liberal son-in-law Mike Stivic.
All in the Family was simultaneously the most popular and controversial show of the 1970's. Never before had a situation comedy brought Americans face-to-face with each other via the medium of television,
utilizing controversial themes such as sexuality and race relations to comprise story lines.
By 1971, television had become a mix of comedic cardboard cutouts screwing up cozy life in the suburbs and dramatic superman heroes involved in comic book plots. Producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin were afraid that any attempt to lampoon the blue-collar lifestyle would surely fail because Americans had become too dour to laugh at themselves.
