All in the Family - Behind the Scenes Facts That Will Shock You

all in the family was a sitcom that aired on CBS from 1971 until 1979 the show revolved around Archie Bunker who was a bigot he was married to the polite yet ditzy Edith they also had a daughter and son-in-law who were always trying to change Archie's racist views the show was considered to be very controversial and there were some issues and reservations at first over time this show has gone down in TV history if you were a fan of the show you might think you know all there is to know about it but you probably don't facts verse presents all in the family 10 facts that change the show before we get started make sure you subscribe and click that notification bell so you don't miss a single video three tries even though there were reservations in the beginning all in the family became extremely successful Norman Lear got the idea for the series when he read about the British sitcom till death do us part this led him to buy the rights to the show so that he could incorporate them into the American version Norman called the original pilot justice for all and he pitched it to ABC the studio liked it and they had money for him to shoot a second pilot to be called those were the days in the second pilot the actors playing Gloria and Michael were replaced and Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton remained in the lead roles after the second pilot ABC was worried about a loudmouth bigot in the leading role so they rejected the series this was good for CBS because they bought the rights from ABC with the final cast set for the pilot they changed the name to all in the family and the rest is history spin-offs thanks to all in the families incredible success it had more spin-offs than any other show on TV the only show with almost as many spin-offs as Happy Days the spin-off series include Maude good times The Jeffersons checking in Archie Bunker's place 704 Hauser and Gloria this Ben off with the most success was the Jeffersons Isabel Sanford the actress who played Louise Jefferson wasn't interested in doing the Jeffersons she wanted to stay on all in the family when the producers told her that her character would be written out of the show and she wouldn't have a job she agreed to star in the Jeffersons she said the show's producers made her decision easy getting the role when ABC was first interested in all in the family they wanted Tom Bosley Jack warden and Jackie Gleason for the lead role of Archie Bunker the show's creator Norman Lear wanted Mickey Rooney to take the role Mickey was deeply offended by the character and told Norman that people would shoot him dead in the streets when Mickey refused Carroll O'Connor read for the part and he landed it when the show is casting Gloria Rob Reiner had already been cast as Michael Rob's then girlfriend Penny Marshall was one of the two actresses up for the part the other was Sally Struthers Sally was sure that penny would get the part since she already had chemistry with Rob in the end Sally was cast as glue years later Sally asked the producers why she was chosen for the role they told her that penny read for the part better but she looked too much like Jean Stapleton aka Edith since Gloria was a daddy's girl they wanted Sally because she had a chubby face and blue eyes like Carroll O'Connor viewer backlash Norman Lear the producers and the network were all aware that all in the family could create controversy people might have trouble dealing with racist sexist and homophobic Archie Bunker before each episode there was a disclaimer that read the program you're about to see is all in the family it seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties prejudices and concerns by making them a source of laughter we hope to show in a mature fashion how absurd they are the network and the producers wanted to prepare the audience they expected the switchboard to blow up without raged callers but the backlash never came to the shock and horror of the network fans embraced Archie Bunker and weren't offended by him this is great for the network the producers and the cast a hairpiece when Rob Reiner started playing Michael meathead stivic and all in the family he was just 24 years old despite his young age Rob started to lose his hair very quickly he lost his hair so fast that by the time they were halfway through the first season Rob had to start wearing a hairpiece episodes without Archie during the third season the show ran into trouble when there was a salary dispute with the lead star Carroll O'Connor according to reports Carroll claimed that he was owed $64,000 in back pay also he wanted 12 weeks of vacation out of his 24 week work schedule while the dispute was going on the show had to go on so they filmed three episodes without Archie they even started making plans to kill off the character if the dispute couldn't be settled just in case Norman created the character stretch Cunningham he was a friend of Archie's who would move into the bunkers house and be the leader of the family when Carroll returned to the show he asked that the actor who played Stretch James Cromwell be written out of the show James jokes that Carroll wanted him gone because he got too many laughs James says that getting cut from the show was good for his career had he continued he worried he would have been typecast an iconic show although everyone was worried that blowback from fans would end the show the cat didn't take any other auditions they thought the show is doomed but they didn't give up in the end all in the family surprised just about everyone from 1971 to 1976 the series ranked at the top of the Nielsen's yearly rating it also became the first TV series to top the Nielsen ratings for five years in a row TV Guide ranked all in the family number four in the 50 greatest TV shows of all time Bravo named Archie Bunker the greatest TV character of all time in 2013 the Writers Guild of America ranked the series the fourth best written show of all time what people thought would be a huge disaster turned out to be one of the greatest shows in television history the longest laugh in the show's history the episode that got the longest laugh from the studio audience took place during season two Sammy Davis jr. was friends with Carroll O'Connor in real life and asked to appear on the show his episode was titled Sammy's visit in the episode Sammy tells Archie that he isn't prejudiced in the end Sammy asks for a picture with Archie right before the picture was taken Sammy kissed Archie on the cheek Archie's reaction to the kiss started the longest and loudest laugh in the history of the show going to court a year after Carroll O'Connor's dispute with the show Sally Struthers had an issue of her own in 1975 Sally wanted to audition for the lead role in the film the day of the locust the problem was that the producers wouldn't give her the time off from the show if she got the part Sally was furious so she took tendon productions to court unfortunately for Sally her contract stated she was prevented from appearing as an actress or a celebrity and anything other than all in the family Sally wasn't filming the show during the dispute but fortunately the conflict kept her out of only two episodes Sally's dispute was much shorter than Carol's so the producers weren't coming up with a game plan of Sally did end up leaving the show she came back after two episodes so the writers weren't at that point yet Jean Stapleton Carroll O'Connor definitely stole the show as Archie Bunker and the same can be said about Jean Stapleton for her portrayal of Edith bunker one thing that people loved about Edith was her horrible singing voice what most people didn't know was that in real life Jean was a trained singer she had performed on many musical theater productions when Jean was offered the role of Edith she almost didn't take it she was offered the role of mrs. teevee in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in the end she decided to pass on the movie so she could take the role of Edith bunker and all in the family it's a good thing she took the part because the show would not have been the same without her which of these facts was most surprising to you let us know in the comments and be sure to subscribe to facts verse for more great videos you

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Id: xdZyDAIO--4

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 06 2020