Customer Reviews

All in the Family - Sammy Takes Bunker Hill [VHS]

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A few weekends ago, I found myself runningy my own mini-ALL IN THE FAMILY marathon. It was, I was telling myself, "good nostalgia," one with a social conscience as it were. Then a friend called while on a break from watching the 16 hour Holocaust documentary SHOAH. Well, that was kind of humbling, and if it didn't quite shoot my "socially conscious" argument totally out of the water, it did remind me that what I was really up for that Saturday night was a little entertainment. If it just happened to be entertainment with a message, well, that was OK too. There are times when a spoonful of yucks makes the medicine go down.

It's hard to remember how revolutionary AITF was in its day. Back then, even the sound of a toilet flushing on a network TV series seemed pretty bold--let alone the airing of a (patently benighted) character's bigoted views and fairly candid talk about matters sexual, societal, and political. But by 1971, the world really was ready for something a little grittier than Ozzie and Harriet. Shows like LAUGH IN and THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS had already pushed the envelope significantly, but AITF cracked open the tight-buttoned world of sitcoms. And network TV hasn't been the same since.

The episodes on this particular VHS are a sampling of some of the best, all, I believe, from the second season when the show had pretty much found its footing. The Sammy Davis episode seemed particularly risky, however. Davis was known to jump on almost any trend (from LAUGH IN to Nehru jackets), and there seemed no plausible way to write him into a script about a blue collar family from Queens. The set-up (Archie's moonlighting as a cabbie, and Sammy accidentally leaves his briefcase in his taxi and comes to Hauser St. to retrieve it) is kind of rickety, but once they hook up, Davis and Carroll O'Connor play off each other brilliantly. Others have cited some of the punchlines, so I won't belabor those. It's more about the sly looks and asides anyway. About the only weakness in the episode is the would-be Greek chorus of Mike, Gloria and Lionel on the couch. Their snide little song and dance act seems kind of embarrassing now.

The VHS also contains what must have been the pilot for MAUDE, with Archie and Bea Arthur squaring off in this one (and with Carol played by an actress other than Adrienne Barbeau). Maude was touted at the time as being something of the anti-Archie, the comic knee-jerk liberal to Archie's comic bigot. Both were comically flawed, and on some level,kind of endearing. Some might say the often strident Maude was in fact, less endearing than Archie. In fact, by the second season, Archie's humanity was allowed to blossom significantly. The inclusion of the "Gloria's Pregnancy" episode on this VHS reminds us that Archie had a tender side, especially when it came to his family. That "old softie" side of his personality, though, was just enough there to show Archie as human. Some complained at the time that making Archie Bunker too endearing excused his bigotry. Nothing of the kind. We've all known a few lovable bigots in our lives. Only in extreme cases do you cancel them out of your life. You cajole, you wheedle, and you try to get them to see a different perspective . Sometimes you even have a breakthrough. It happens. When it happened on AITF, it was a little ray of hope for us all.

I missed much of the enjoyment of "All In The Family" during the 70's because I just wasn't tuned in to that kind of comedy. But now, 30 years later, I see Archie Bunker as the classic flawed comic protagonist.

Each of these three episodes stands alone as an outstanding episode, but the one with Sammy Davis, Jr. is truly comedy at it's greatest. Such moments as Archie's look at the glass shared by everyone including Sammy; Sammy's kiss on Archie's cheek; the contrast between Sammy's good guy celebrity image and his private reactions; all make this one of the top episodes of the series and of sitcoms in general.

In another vein is the "Maude" episode which is obviously a lead-in to her own eventual series...this one gives a good preview of what to expect from the new series, combining sarcastic humor with more serious coping with her daughter's suddenly cancelled marriage, and of course a few exchanges with Archie.

And the third one does bring out the fact that even Archie Bunker can sometimes show a little tenderness, especially upon learning that he's to be a grandfather.

If you have any liking for this series, this definitely is one of the collections to get.

All In The Family Is One Of The Best Shows Ever. This Cassatte Includes Sammy Davis JR's Visit To The Bunker House, One Of The Show's Spinoffs "Maude", And Gloria's Pregnantcy. Edith And Archie Are So Sweet And Charming. They Can Make You Laugh.