Product Details

• Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Mike Evans
• Format: Color, EP, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: July 7, 1998
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767813189
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,075 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

All in the Family didn't feature a typical sitcom family. Indeed, no TV family prior remotely resembled the Bunkers, who were more likely representative of the average American family than those portrayed on the tube. What would Archie (Carroll O'Connor) have been without Michael Stivic, a.k.a. Meathead (Rob Reiner)? Certainly, in later episodes, after Gloria (Sally Struthers) and Mike moved away and then divorced, Archie had to find other liberal nemeses with which to do battle. But it was his early conflicts with the son-in-law he dubbed "Meathead" that set the tone for the series (based on a British sitcom), defined Archie's distinctive personality, and established the watershed issues that executive producer Norman Lear and his talented team brought to the small screen.

In "Meet the Bunkers," Archie and Mike have plenty to argue about during a surprise anniversary party. Meanwhile, Archie's put-upon wife, Edith (the brilliant Jean Stapleton), and daughter Gloria try to keep things upbeat. Archie likes Lionel (Mike Evans) just fine--but then Archie finds out that Lionel's parents, George and Louise (Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford), are the black family he's trying to prevent from moving in next door. Another wedding anniversary--this time that of the Stivics--offers a flashback of when Archie first meets Michael. Each episode encapsulates some of the series' finest elements: its ability to intrigue audiences through the irrepressible archconservative Archie Bunker, its ability to get its message across clearly, its intelligence, and never underestimating its audience. --N.F. Mendoza

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Comedy that Refuses to Age, July 21, 2000

By	Mark R. Thivierge (Brighton, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Though it's riddled with references to Watergate, Vietnam, inflation, and Nixon, "All in the Family" is still as fresh and thought-provoking today as it was in the early '70s. Based on the British comdy "Til Death Do Us Part", AITF is a rare example where an American adaptation of a British property, where the American version is actually better than the show that inspired it.

The show exists on several levels. As a political forum, it bought many issues into our living rooms, smartly diffusing them with comdey, and in the process, made us laugh and think; in addition it revolutionized the entire concept of "sitcom".

But the show also exists on a human level. Were Archie, Edith, Mike and Gloria not fully realized, tangible characters, the political content of AITF would have been hardly memorable. The characters are real, and the emotional content completely honest. When Archie ridicule's Mike's long hair, his taste his music, his choice in political candidates, or his entire ideology, he's really saying, "How dare you step in an 'steal' my little girl?"

As far as the topical nature of AITF goes, many of the issues the Bunkers argued about (what seems like) so long ago, we're still dealing with today: abortion, religion, homosexuality, racism, affirmative action, and the day-to-day struggle to keep a roof over one's head and on top of one's bills, that a large segment of our population struggles with just as it did twenty0five years ago.

Gloria's miniskirts may have gone out of fashion, but very little else about "All in the Family" has.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three Very Funny Episodes, Including The First Show!, November 4, 2004

By	David Von Pein (Mooresville, Indiana; USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"All In The Family" was certainly a ground-breaking TV show, and the episodes selected for this VHS video will give you a pretty good idea as to why that was true. Archie Bunker, in all his bigoted splendor, comes to life right away in the premiere episode of the series, entitled "Meet The Bunkers" (first aired in January of 1971).

In addition to that first episode, this tape also gives us another Season-One program (Episode # 8), "Lionel Moves Into The Neighborhood", and a show from Season Two, "Flashback: Mike Meets Archie" (which was the 18th episode in the series).

This 1998-produced color video from Columbia Tri-Star Home Video is presented (for some odd reason that I've yet to fathom) in "EP" (Extended Play) mode. (Well, at least the copy that I received is in EP mode; perhaps some other copies *were* recorded in SP; I cannot be sure of this.)

But this EP recording makes no sense to me at all, since all 70 minutes could easily fit on the tape's spool in "SP" (Standard) playback mode, and give better quality to boot. It also seems strange that Columbia has produced some of the tapes in this series of 10 "All In The Family" videos in SP mode, while others (like this one) are recorded at the inferior EP speed. Most curious indeed.

But, even so, the video and audio look and sound pretty good here, considering the limitations of the VHS format. In fact, the Hi-Fi Mono sound on this tape actually sounds *better* than the audio on any of the multiple AITF boxed sets on DVD. The DVD's audio tracks seem a tad "weak" to me.

Completists beware! --- These Columbia/Tri-Star videos of "AITF" are NOT showing the complete, uncut episodes. Some large chunks of programming have been edited out of this video, and others in this series too. Which, again, seems strange, because there are no commercial interruptions here, and obviously no need to trim anything for time reasons. But, obviously, Columbia has used truncated, syndicated prints for these "All In The Family" videos.

An example of missing scenes --- In the first episode on this tape, the final 2 to 3 minutes of the Epilog scene are missing (when Archie and Mike/Meathead are talking about the greeting card that Edith received earlier in the episode). It *is*, indeed, all just "filler", without much substance, but it would still be nice to see the shows uncut.

If you desire to see the complete, unedited shows, you'll have to purchase the seasonal boxed sets of "All In The Family" on DVD. The DVDs do present the shows in uncut form, which is great to see, because there are some often-excised scenes shown on the DVDs that you've probably never seen before, due to the chopped-up prints shown on commercial TV.

Smile-inducing dialogue courtesy Mr. Archie Bunker in "Meet The Bunkers" ..................

Archie (talking to daughter Gloria): "Pull that skirt down! ...... Every time you sit down in one of them things, the mystery's over!"

LOL!

5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC NOT TO BE MISSED!!!, May 14, 1999

By A Customer

I have seen this video and it made me laugh till it hurt and it also makes you think as well. CARROLL O'CONNOR is great as ARCHIE plus JEAN STAPELTON AS EDITH will have anyone in stiches with her one-liners I won't give the plot away in these stories but just watch and you'll agree they are some of the funniest on television. The things ol ARCHIE gets worked up over may seem taboo today but will make you look at one's self at your own feelings about these story issues anway buy this tape you won't regret it.