My Top 10 Favorite Episodes

These are my top 10 favorite episodes of "All in the Family." I have included a brief plot summary and described my favorite moments. These are the episodes that I feel represent the best of "All in the Family", though they are by no means a complete list of the best episodes. For example, TV Guide rated "Sammy's Visit" with Sammy Davis, Jr. one of the 100 greatest episodes in television of all time. This episode is not listed here. There are so many great episodes that they can't ALL be in my top 10!!!

 

Edith answers an ad in the "swap section" of a magazine, looking for a friendly couple for company. Archie hates the idea anyway, and when they arrive and turn out to be swingers, he hates it even more. This is a FUNNY episode - probably the funniest one in the series. Rue McClannahan (Later Blanche on "The Golden Girls") and Vincent Gardenia (later Frank Lorenzo on "All in the Family") play the swingers. The fact that neither Archie nor Edith KNOW that they are swingers at first makes it a riot. (Archie: So uh, yous don't smoke, yous don't drink...what do yous do for fun?)

Gloria is attacked on her way home, walking by a construction site. She is nearly raped, but faints. When a detective comes over to the house, he askes questions, and then gives her a sample of what it would be like on the witness stand; He makes HER out to be the criminal. Archie tells the man to go home, and that they won't be pressing charges. Filled with fear, Gloria feels she should still testify. Her mind has been made up for her, however. The ending is a close-up on Gloria's face, filled with fear and confusion. A powerful statement about an all-too-frequent occurance: the victim being made out as the ciminal.

Edith is happy one minute and furious the next, screaming things like "Damn it!" and "Stifle!" Archie doesn't deal well. The doctor tells him she is going through menopause, and that he needs to be patient. He tries, but can't. He gives her 30 seconds to go through her change. It seems like she's fine, and he thinks that all he needed to do was be tough with her. The next minute, she's screaming again though, and storms upstairs. (Archie: Back to the "groinocologist!") A hysterical episode.

The Bunkers wake up on a Sunday morning to find a swastika painted on their front door. When a package arrives that appears to be ticking, they panic and put it in the sink under water, only to find out it was Edith's oven timer ticking and the package was some now VERY wet cigars. A member of the Hebrew Defense Associaton, Paul, comes to offer them protection, telling them their house is being mistaken for one down the street. After the coast is clear, and Paul has insisted that the only way to fight violence is with violence, he leaves. A few seconds later there is a huge explosion outside. The Bunkers rush to the front door. It was Paul: He was blown up in his car by the very people from whom he tried to protect the Bunker family.

It is Christmas Day. A friend of Archie's, Pinky, is there, who lost his son in Vietnam. Also there is a friend of Mike and Gloria's, who Archie doesn't know is a draft dodger living in Canada. The truth comes out at the dinner table. Archie is furious, and in an emotional scene condemns him for doing what he's doing, when a man who lost his son in the war is sitting at the same table. But it seems Pinky accepts the situation, saying he'd have been a lot happier if his own son had dodged the draft, and lived to share Christmas dinner with him.

A two-part episode: It's the day of Edith's 50th birthday party. Edith is home with the cake in the oven while everyone else is next door preparing for the party. A man comes to the door and says he's a detective, looking for a rapist. But when he pulls a gun, he reveals that he is the rapist. Edith is terrified, but when the cake starts to burn, she uses the opportunity to shove it in his face, knee him in the crotch, and push him away. She runs out the front door, the studio audience shouting, cheering, and slamming their feet on the bleachers. A POWERFUL and angering episode. The picture of Edith at gunpoint with her dress unzipped is heartbreaking. And when she escapes, for a moment she's your hero, and you want to stand up and cheer.

Helping Archie close up the bar, Mike accidentally closes the door when they're in the storeroom, and the lock's on the other side. Hysterically, Mike breaks the window only to see that there are bars on the other side. Now freezing, they wrap up in an old awning from Kelsey's and drink from a bottle of booze. As they get more intoxicated, their discussion becomes more intense. Then we hear from Archie some things about his father, and his past. He says that during the depression he had one shoe and one boot, and the kids called him Shoebootie. When Archie says he learned his prejudices from his father, Mike tells him his father was wrong. Archie tells him that no father that loved you could ever do wrong. He falls asleep and Mike covers him with the awning, thinking, and for a moment, doubting himself, as well as understanding why Archie is the way he is. Another quiet, close-up ending that leaves you wanting more.

In this particularly funny and unique episode, Edith, Archie, Mike, and Gloria are at a restaurant. The refigerator broke, and Mike and Archie have different memories of what happened when the repair man and his black helper arrived. Archie insists the assistant threatened him with a knife, and Mike insists there was no knife. Finally Edith tells the real story: the repairman had a pen-knife to cut up an apple. The versions of the story are played out and are radically different. Lots of fun!

Archie, feeling his business is failing, needs a lift. A friend gives him some pills to boost his spirits. All of a sudden, Archie is high as a kite, wanting to paint the porch at 3:00 AM, etc. When the family comes to confront him with how serious the issue is, he breaks down under the weight of his past failures. It ends with him nearly sobbing in Edith's embrace: "I never meant to do no harm, Edith...I never meant no harm." He does recover, however, in the next episode.

Mike has accepted a job in California, and in this 1978 season finale, he and Gloria and Joey say their good-byes and depart. This was the three characters' last performance as regulars on the series. The final scene is almost a full 10 minutes, with tears, hugs, and goodbyes. It fades out silently with Archie and Edith sitting in their chairs, both quiet and near tears. The studio audience can be heard sniffling throughout this last scene. A very well done piece. Possibly the most touching episode in the show's history.

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