All in the Family: House Tour [CG Tour]

ever wish she could walk around inside of your favorite TV and movie homes well on this channel you can today we'll be exploring every nook and cranny of the house from All in the Family including all of the main floor and the upstairs [Music] hi I'm Rina Coates I have a degree in architecture and an obsession with set design welcome to behind the scenes where we get up close and personal with all your favorite TV and movie homes today we'll be exploring the Bunker's home from All in the Family but with ceilings and all four walls like you've never seen it before we'll begin with an overhead view to help us get our bearings this is the front porch this is the living room area the stairs are back here on this side is the dining room and back here is the small room we seldom get to see but today you'll get a close-up this is the kitchen and this is the back porch which is actually on the side of the house the exterior well at least that's the exterior was shown at the beginning of the show the front porch shown to us on the set is open with a half wall and posts holding up the roof overhang it has a wicker chair here a hanging plant on this wall a small porch light here and a mailbox here this of course was filmed in a studio but the home shown in the opening scene which is supposed to depict their house is very different we see no open front porch only a wall of Windows and a door in the opening of season one we see the camera zoom in to this side of the home inferring that this is the side the bunkers live in this means that the fourth walls in the living room dining room and kitchen would share a wall with the neighbors so there would be no windows there now let's move on to the living room when you picture the Bunker's living room the first things that come to mind are Archie and Edith's chairs talk about iconic in fact iconic enough to be placed in the Smithsonian which is where they currently reside also famous enough to be on a stamp issued in 1999 as part of the celebrate the century series as for the fourth wall we know there was a TV here and a pink chair on this side at times the piano appeared where the TV was such as in the opening but most of the time there was no piano on that wall so I opted to not add a piano in my tour for this reason normally a sculpture of a panther set on top of the TV but there was a time that Mike and Gloria replaced it with a modern sculpture they rented from a museum it's not hard to imagine what Archie thought about that they also had other interesting sculptures around the home an elephant on this end table a camel on the dining room Hutch and a vibrant Blue Bird by the phone the sofa wasn't right up against the wall there was a space behind it wide enough that people could move around it in one episode we get a peek at what is on the wall to the right of the sofa near the front door is the coat rack where Archie always hung his coat and hat when he returned home and nearby is a built-in cabinet with a leaded stained glass door and in this little corner we see a similar one in the built-in bookcase we usually see the living room from this angle so it surprised me from this view just how much space there actually was between the stairs and Archie and Edith's chairs famous scenes that took place in the living room Archie after hearing that The Jeffersons got a big insurance payout from an accident suddenly experiences a lot of pain himself from his own minor fender bender Edith's cousin mod arriving for a visit and of course the famous kiss Sammy Davis Jr planted on Archie's cheek we'll tour just the living room for now without showing the fourth wall that's coming up in the full tour on TV shows the fourth wall refers to the wall not shown to us where the audience sits and the camera is replaced but today you'll get to see all four walls of every room of this home now on to the dining room one beautiful feature of this room is the opening in the hutch the little doors slide into the wall making it completely open to the kitchen they kept five chairs around the table but for staging purposes placed all four of the main characters on this end that way the camera could catch all the action they kept a sixth chair over here by the long sideboard scenes that took place in the dining room Archie putting on his best suit and nervously writing a letter to President Nixon flashback remembrances of Mike and Gloria's wedding and one of Edith's long stories this one involving clean peaches in heavy syrup the Nook there was a small room in the back behind the dining area that we seldom saw much of the TV trays were here a floor lamp in this corner and the door to the basement here there was a shelf here containing family photos with another table underneath as we take the tour watch for the high school picture I added of Sally Struthers and the photo of Carol O'Connor during his time serving as a merchant Seaman this was the area I was most curious to explore when I started this model we'll tour this area on its own first and then the living room and dining room finally getting to see all of these spaces with the fourth wall included just like in a real home before I show you the fourth wall I want to share something I discovered while researching the set we're all familiar with this little built-in area by the stairs what I noticed was a beamer header going across the living room towards the fourth wall I knew it couldn't lead to nothing had to hold it up on the other end I doubted it was just a partial wall jutting out I also doubted that it just went straight into the wall what made the most sense was another built in on the other side holding it up matching the one on this side this is very common in homes of this type and must surely be what the set designers had in mind it helps divide the living room from the dining room and once I put it in the whole room suddenly made sense it now looked very familiar like every grandmother's home the architectural features such as the built-ins and moldings are a big part of what gives this home a warm and comfy feeling after we tour the kitchen which is coming up next we'll tour the whole main floor starting from the front porch [Music] thank you the kitchen the kitchen had a door to a side porch back here there was a closet here the other side of the China hutch here with a counter here on the fourth wall there was a space between this counter and the stove with a stove hood here there was a sink and fridge here and a table in the middle of the room scenes that took place in the kitchen Gloria telling a less than excited mic that she's pregnant a cake in the face that thwarts an assault and many many long detailed stories by Edith often eliciting one of these kind of responses from Archie let's take a tour of just the kitchen now and see it with its fourth wall so it feels more like a real home then we'll tour the entire main floor with all the doors open starting from the front porch thank you thank you and now the full tour of the main floor I've done a lot of TV homes in one constant is that they always change over the course of the series this home was different it changed very little throughout its run I'm convinced that was done on purpose Norman Lear who created this series describing Archie said he was afraid of Life afraid of tomorrow afraid of what's new he was comfortable with what existed and so just like its main character Archie the set also didn't change much and yet it felt homey television writer and producer Phil Rosenthal has said of the show there are two parts to the genius of All in the Family one is the political and social commentary but no one would care at all about that if the bunkers are not relatable as a family the key word in the show is family Rita Riggs who worked with the production designer Don Roberts to create a look for the set so that they gave a kind of nostalgic sepia family album look to the show she added the set was always in that sepia sepia is the slightly brownish reddish tone that old photographs have she said the concept was to open everybody's family album and recognize some of those characters and don't we all have characters in our families like Archie and Edith and Gloria and Michael and many of the other characters on the show and so that's what we saw family not a perfect family mind you but rather one with differing opinions of how the world worked and yet somehow we sensed that they cared for each other they fought with each other but also fought equally hard for each other in the simplest of terms they loved each other through all the disagreements and through all the conflict we could still feel that emotion and that is precisely why the show worked and when you think about it isn't that also even with all the ups and downs how most families work one of my favorite scenes from the show when Mike and Gloria moved to California demonstrates this love so tenderly over the years we mostly saw Mike and Archie arguing and trying to out-best each other which mostly came down to shouting their opinions at each other which we all know doesn't accomplish anything that's what makes this scene so poignant we finally get to see their love for each other as Mike and Gloria prepare to leave Mike and Archie have a moment alone on the front porch Mike says I know you always thought I hated you Archie but I love you he then hugs Archie Archie is stiff but then slowly moves his arm and hugs Mike back then tells him you're all right you know and what brings it to even another level is that the emotions between the actors in that particular moment were very real Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers who played Mike and Gloria were actually leaving the show so the actors themselves were truly saying goodbye to each other in that scene Rob described it like this it was totally real there was no acting in that moment there on the screen that was the real feeling I had for Carol and his feeling for me it transcended the characters when Norman Lear created Edith's character he described it this way Edith has long ago made her peace with Archie's force and Bluster inside she understands that his Bluster is merely a defense and that sentiment is played out as well in this same scene right after Mike and Gloria have left Edith comes into the living room with a beer for Archie and unknown to him catches him crying she pauses and then returns to the kitchen only to come back in again but this time announcing her arrival loudly giving Archie a chance to collect himself beautifully written the basement before we head upstairs let's take a look at the basement it only appeared in one episode so this is our only chance to get to see what's down there Archie accidentally locks himself in the cellar when their neighbor Irene puts a new lock on the door and he doesn't pay attention to her instructions Archie first tries to get out through the Cellar Door and then he tries knocking down the door to the basement but has no success with either eventually he finds a bottle of vodka and begins to indulge as inebriation sets in he starts to hallucinate Carol O'Connor was a master of one man's scenes and in this case almost a one-man episode he could convey so much with his face that often no words were needed now we'll head upstairs to the bedrooms and bathroom foreign twice before coming upstairs here and here we know this by this feature in the ceiling of the main floor it provides the clue that the stairwell has two turns in it Gloria and Mike's room we see their room several times over the course of the series and it remains pretty much the same you'll notice that the set designers have placed remnants of Gloria's growing up years around the room we see some of her dolls here and posters likely from her teen years on the walls we see her collection of Records in that she played tennis details such as the wallpaper chair fabric and decals on the closet doors also seem reminiscent of a young girl's room carryovers from her childhood a tender scene took place here after a grown and married glorious suffers a miscarriage Archie unaware of what has happened comes home with a giant teddy bear for his future grandchild only to discover there will be no grandchild as he enters Gloria's room the interaction highlights Archie's softer side a father who still very much loves his little girl the fact that the room still carried remnants of her childhood only added to the poignancy of this scene another famous scene took place here the argument between Mike and Archie over whether you put on a sock and a sock first and then your shoes or sock shoes sock shoe a classic scene which Carol and Rob developed on their own during rehearsals it wasn't hard to decide what to put on the fourth wall of this room the wall we never got to see I just continued on with the themes that play out in the rest of the room I gave her a record player and added artwork similar to what's on the other walls Sally strothers tells an interesting story from the show the costume designer had made such a beautiful outfit for her that Sally asked if she could keep it a few weeks later she was wearing it while on a road trip with her husband at one point they needed to stop and ask for directions Sally knocked on the door of a home a woman answered and her eyes immediately got big curious Sally peered into their living room and discovered why All in the Family was playing on the TV and the woman was watching the very episode where Gloria was wearing the same outfit Sally said that when she and her sister were growing up they were taught to love everyone so it was a shock to her in rehearsal hearing offensive words and phrases that hadn't been used in her home she would lean over to Betty Garrett who played Irene and ask her what certain phrases meant Betty would say that's a slur that means a Jewish person and Sally would say that's terrible Betty would respond yeah that's why we're making the show Archie and Edith's room we got to see the room in several episodes patched together it gives us views of all but this corner so we know there are two bay windows they have a dresser here their closet is here and there's a standing mirror by this bay window their bed is here with a nightstand on either side and a chest at the end of the bed scenes that took place in Archie and Edith's room Archie trying to soothe Edith after she'd been assaulted by a man in their house Edith asking a guest to leave who she believes Archie is attracted to and Mike and Archie sharing a bed so Mike can keep a watchful eye on him to see if he keeps his promise to stop smoking there were minor changes in their room so I decided to choose an episode I chose Edith's 50th birthday part two to base this Tour on simply because it shows us the most of the room coming up next we'll see a tour of the entire upstairs including the bathroom Sally strother's set of Jean Stapleton who played Edith that she was our company Angel our litmus test of taste she didn't say or think negative things she gave to us all from her heart so it appears that Gene was much like her character Edith in that way we'll tour the entire upstairs in just a minute including the bathroom that emitted the famous sound effect used for comic relief at just the right moments but first here's an image from season seven when there is a fire in the bathroom we see the toilet here the sink here and the bathtub across from the door notice the tub is square and not a footed tub but rather a regular one we also see a window here however that would not be possible this Gloria and Mike's room is on the other side this again is very common in TV homes I decided to keep the window but move it to this wall another common inconsistency with TV homes is the arrangement of the upstairs rooms outside of Archie and Edith's room there are several different setups in different episodes in this one there is a railing with a window behind it and in this one just a window with no railing and in this one no railing and instead the bathroom directly across from their bedroom door we also see that this door is Gloria and Mike's old room which is now inhabited by Teresa who is a temporary border but at another time outside Mike and Gloria's bedroom there's a railing which doesn't line up with what we're shown here so I had to pick an episode and stick with it I chose the one from season seven where the fire occurs because we get to see not only the bathroom which will be on this tour but we also see the placement of the doors to both of the bedrooms here's an overhead view before we take the tour so you can see how this Arrangement works this is Archie and Edith's room the bathroom is directly across from their door and this is where Mike and Gloria's room would be the stairs are over here I remember the night the very first episode aired I was just a little girl and my mother who never watched TV wanted us to stay in our room and do homework she wanted to watch the show first to check it out and make sure it was appropriate before letting us watch it she'd heard the controversy about it and in fact the night it aired it started with a warning that said 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 just how absurd they are of course is that little girl I kept sneaking out to see if I could hear anything but I only heard laughter it was indeed a funny show but along with the laughs it also gave us an opportunity to learn some things screenwriter and producer Greg Daniels said of the show it enlarges your heart and makes you more sensitive to other people's perspectives and Humanity as that little girl who had little real life experience and a limited understanding of the world I only heard the laughter that night but over the years with age and time and new understanding and hopefully some wisdom I along with millions of others watched the show and learned about people people who are different than me with different opinions for both good and bad and doesn't that describe all of us a mixture of both good and bad faults and virtues right and wrong opinions really when you think about it that's what makes us human in the first place and if we're really lucky even with all the differences what makes us family if you liked touring the Bunker's home you'll probably also like the tour I made of The Jeffersons home let me know in the comments which TV or movie home you would like to see next but as for today that's a wrap see you next time on behind the scenes [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Marina Coates - Mockingbird Lane

Views: 189,183

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Id: zEzku7AbP98

Length: 25min 3sec (1503 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 08 2023