Product Details

• Actors: Vincent Gardenia, Brendon T. Dillon, Bill Quinn, Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton
• Directors: Michael Kidd, Bud Yorkin, Norman Campbell, Walter C. Miller, Hal Cooper
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: April 12, 2005
• Run Time: 608 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007OCG6U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,867 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "All in the Family - The Complete Fourth Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

By the fourth season, Norman Lear's landmark series ALL IN THE FAMILY was on its way to becoming an American institution. It consistently ranked number one in the ratings while at the same time breaking all of prime time TV's taboos. Archie Bunker's (Carroll O'Conner) shocking politically incorrect diatribes, marriage problems for Mike (Rob Reiner) and Gloria (Sally Struthers), a breast cancer scare for Edith (Jean Stapleton) all broke with sitcom conventions. In the fourth season, Archie was hilariously faced with two worthy new opponents: neighbor Irene Lorenzo (betty Garrett), a staunch believer in women's rights, and loud-mouthed George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley), soon to star in the spin-off hit series "The Jeffersons." Rob Reiner won an Emmy® Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and the show was nominated for four other Emmy® Awards for the fourth season.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A summary of the fourth season of "All in the Family" February 6, 2005

By Brett McKeon

Format:DVD

This fourth "All in the Family" DVD will cover the 1973-74 season, including the following episodes:

* "Archie the Gambler" (Edith demands that Archie stop gambling)

* "Henry's Farewell" (Henry Jefferson is moving. Neither Henry nor Archie wants to have an integrated farewell party at his house)

* "We're Having a Heat Wave" (A two-parter that introduced the Lorenzos to AiTF)....

* "Edith Finds an Old Man" (Edith brings home a nursing-home runaway)

* "Archie and the Kiss" (Archie against the Rodin statue)

* "Archie and the Computer" (Archie learns his lesson about computer errors)

* "The Games Bunkers Play" (Mike doesn't like hearing how his friends perceive him)

* "Edith's Conversion" (Horse-meat and Catholicism make Archie angry)

* "Archie in the Cellar" (Archie gets locked in the cellar)

* "Black is the Color of My True Love's Wig" (Gloria's new wig creates strife in her relationship with Mike)

* "Second Honeymoon" (Archie and Edith go to Atlantic City for their 25th anniversary)

* "The Taxi Caper" (Archie agrees to drop charges when he is mugged by the son of a city politician)

* "Archie is Cursed" (Archie and Irene Lorenzo argue over men and women in sports)

* "Edith's Christmas Story" (Edith gets some bad news)

* "Mike and Gloria Mix It Up" (Mike and Gloria fight)

* "Archie Feels Left Out" (Archie has a half-century crisis)

* "Et Tu, Archie" (Job insecurity)

* "Gloria's Boyfriend" (A man with Down's Syndrome has a crush on Gloria)

* "Lionel's Engagement" (A surprise awaits George Jefferson about Lionel's fiancee)

* "Archie Eats and Runs" (Archie and mushrooms)

* "Gloria Sings the Blues" (Gloria has issues with her marriage)

* "Mike's Graduation" (Mike graduates from college... or does he?)

* "Pay the Twenty Dollars" (A dispute over possibly counterfit money) Read more ›

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars SUBTITLES May 27, 2005

By Luis Bento Mauricio

Format:DVD

It's bad that the season does not have subtitles, when is so important when you have deaf problems.

Should not this subtitles be a part of the standard procedures for the realeases ?

Thks

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm LOCKED In The Cellar! April 11, 2005

By Jordan Zimmer

Format:DVD

FINALLY, season 4 of All In The Family has been released! I don't understand why Columbia Home Video is waiting so long to get these out. Season 4 contains some of the best episodes yet. The antics of the Bunker household continue as Archie, Edith, Gloria and Mike bring taboo subjects and everyday issues into our homes. We also see the addition of three new characters, Betty Garret (Irene Lorenzo) Vincent Gardenia (Frank Lorenzo) and Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson. Combined with the cast regulars, Season 4 makes for a huge non-stop laughfest. One of my favorite episodes is when Archie accidently locks himself in the cellar and gets smashed on Polish Vodka. In Archie's haste to make a will, he is so wasted that he thinks he's dying, and therefore believes that God is coming for him, which really turns out to be the oil delivery man--who is black! Plenty of other goodies in season 4 too. I'm finally glad to see these videos coming out on DVD. My old VHS copies are so worn out they barely play anymore. Thank you Columbia Home Video, but please don't wait so long getting these titles out. Thank-YOU to the cast of AITF for the many laughs and all the memories.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks for Keeping Them Coming, Columbia Tri-Star!!! February 22, 2005

By Marcus Welby

Format:DVD

In the reality-based TV era, it's nice to be able to watch the classics on DVD. AITF took sitcoms to another level by using controversy, politics, and Americana and wrapping them in a funny package. AITF helps us to laugh and cry, but probably most importantly it helps us to reflect upon ourselves through real-life issues. Thanks again Columbia Tri-Star for putting this landmark series out on DVD. They are worth the wait!!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Yeah, picture quality is not great, but still a must-have!!! May 19, 2005

By Classic TV Fan

Format:DVD

Transfer is not great, but this series is a classic. Despite the lack of special features, this set is a must-have. Being able to watch the series develop from beginning to end is essential. The strength of AITF is in it's humorous spin on political and moral issues. The only reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5 is because of lack of attention to detail. The stories themselves sell this DVD box set. Personally, I can live without a bunch of extras as long as I get the uncut eps as they were aired. The Bunkers rule!!!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Those were the days... April 17, 2005

By Jess

Format:DVD

Yep the discs are complete. The person who posted his message warning that the last disc only had 6 episodes either dosen't know about the 3rd episode menu screen with epsidoes 23 & 24 or maybe he did get a bum set after all.

And yes the picture quality on this set is lousy. Disc 1 is the worst. My brother had VHS copies of this series that he made when the show was rerunning on cable and I keep telling him not to throw them out just because these DVDs are getting released. His tapes are just as good -- if not better sometimes -- than what Columbia House is selling us here.

I was going to get the Jeffersons season 3 that also came out the same day but maybe I won't now.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest sitcom ever ... despite what NBC thinks December 29, 2006

By Michael K. Beusch VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

NBC loves to hang the moniker "greatest ____ ever" on its TV shows as if saying so makes it so. First, The Cosby Show was the greatest sitcom ever, then Seinfeld, then Friends. Of course, according to NBC, ER is the greatest program in the history of television, so we all have to discuss comedy programs in and of themselves. If NBC spent nearly as much time creating good new shows as it does in shamelessly overhyping their old shows, they probably would still be ahead of CBS in the ratings.

For my money, no sitcom will ever top the great All in the Family in any respect -- acting, writing and overall influence. To get an idea of what dire straits TV comedy was in before All in the Family, take a look at an episode of one of the other sitcoms that was on the air at the time: Family Affair, The Brady Bunch, the last, sad days of Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies. The country had grown up, but television sitcoms had stayed rooted in the same dated themes of the 1950's and 1960's: either sterilized white bread families or gimmicky hocus pocus that took the place of the quality writing of classics like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Subjects like Vietnam, flower children, drugs, poverty, racism, homosexuality and rape were taboos.

Enter Archie, Edith, Mike and Gloria who dealt with all those issues and more head on in every episode. While Carol Brady scolded her children for saying the word "stinker," Archie Bunker held a lengthy dissertation on the phrase "god damn it." While Samantha Stevens was still dealing with her wacky witch and morlock relatives, the Bunkers were coming face to face with a transsexual.... While the perpetually backwards residents of The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres discussed barn dances and pig raising, the Bunkers talked about the bombing of Cambodia and Watergate.

To be sure, Archie Bunker was a caricature -- a personification of all the old time, outdated prejudiced values that were so out of step in the early 70's. Creator Norman Lear's political perspective is cleary on the side of Mike and Gloria Stivic rather than Archie or Edith. However, Lear, who modeled the character of Archie on his father, wisely gave Archie Bunker a good soul. It's clear that deep down, Archie is a good person who can't deal with the changes in his life and the country without lashing out angrily at them.

The supreme achievement of All in the Family is that it takes all that anger and controversy and makes them funny. In the episode where the Jeffersons move into the neighborhood, for example, Archie's bigoted opposition to letting a black family could have made the situation ugly and very, very unfunny. However, Archie's opposition and fear is lampooned, making the point that discriminating on the basis of race is ridiculous. It's certainly deeper and more meaningful than Soup Nazis or finding out which two members of the Friends ensemble will sleep with each other next.

In addition, the cast is probably the best ever assembled for sitcom with the possible exceptions of The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Carroll O'Connor as Archie, Jean Stapleton as Edith, Rob Reiner as Mike Stivic and Sally Struthers as Gloria are absolute magic together and still manage to convey how much they love each other even while they argue about and disagree about everything. In addition, the supporting cast would later include so many great actors and actresses as so many great characters that All in the Family would spawn five spinoffs. A true measure of how much the characters come to mean to the audience is in the episode "Gloria's Pregnancy." When Gloria miscarries, Archie goes to comfort her. Even though he can't find the right words to say, the look that passes between Archie and Gloria is extremely moving and touching. The characters yell and scream the most horrible things at each other, but when push comes to shove, they are a real, loving family.

No matter how much NBC and other networks may hype their sitcoms as being the best ever, All in the Family will always be king. The show made television grow up and meet the issues of the day head on while still making the audience laugh and care. Read more ›