As his experiences grew he seemed to change and become more reasonable and compassionate to people that were different from him.

Most republicans seem to be getting less tolerant of those that are different from them. It's like they're regressing.

However, even though that show had its last season in 1979, it sometimes seems like we're still living in that same world.

Some people, it seems, will never lose their prejudices and narrow view of things.

about that as a child. Some people I gravitated toward, and others I found repulsive. "All in the Family" was a great show as it well illustrated many things in society without brutal confrontation. It was IMO a learning experience for many.

However, that third type just seems to let everything wash over them without participation. That type probably outnumbers the other two to a significant degree, I'm afraid.

That's how Colbert's Tom Delay defense fund bit could end up on Delay's web site. It took a couple days for someone to clue them in and take that down if I remember right.

They take things literally and don't look to see if there is that over-the-topness that marks something as satirical.

Since I dabble in satirical writing here sometimes, I've sure seen that happen.

or at least make them think about it for a little while.

I was scolded by a British guy on a war game forum one time. His message was something like, "now look here brewens, we can't have a yank like you going about using our dry humor...." LOL

Sadly, it's not funny, nor is it just a television sitcom.

I remember many episodes. I did like that show.

Unfortunately its deeper context is often lost on a lot of people. The show would never be aired today on network tv. All of those Norman Lear shows were great.

That was REALLY rough stuff then. It would still be tough to watch today, jaded as audiences are.

All in the Family was just a flat-out brilliant show in many ways.

my mother's father was archie bunker incarnate, arrogantly arguing about every little thing, insisting he was 100% right, and of course, a bigot.

my mother's mother would literally walk into the middle of a heated argument to offer cookies, which i'm pretty sure edith bunker did at some point.

my mother would passionately argue the sensible liberal position and couldn't let any of her father's nonsense slide.

my father had michael's personality as well, though a bit calmer.


a grand total of *zero* visits to my grandparents was ever fun or even tolerable. always a fight. always.


watching "all in the family" was almost like ptsd or something for me. i couldn't understand how people could enjoy watching other people argue.


little did i know, years later, that that would become every news program and every new game show (oh, excuse me, "reality" show).


anyway, later in life i've seen "all in the family" reruns and now can see the humor, and the arguing is pretty tame by today's standards.

I knew a lot of "Archie Bunker" in my uncles, dads friends etc. The supporting (liberal) characters always seemed to be marginalized and ridiculed, and the general feel (IMHO) was not optimistic about anything in terms of the future: just a lot of arguing and conflict.

My parents watched it, and I couldn't see the humor. Of course, I was young and didn't get the references. It just seemed to me like Archie was an asshole and Edith was annoyingly simple minded. I didn't like The Jeffersons either, though I could stand them a bit better than All In The Family. That's probably because, even though George was an asshole, his wife stood up to him. I gravitated toward Sanford and Son. If Redd Foxx was a curmudgeon, at least he wasn't authoritarian. He had three things going for him: he was hilarious, he had all sorts of schemes, and, best of all, he lived in a junk yard (I would have killed to live in a junk yard).

remarkably like that. I spent an amazing amount of time there, looking through that junk and buying a thing or two for some cockamamie project I had in mind. The owner was an old grouch, but didn't run me out of there. His wife, who also worked there, was the one more likely to tell me go home.

My best find ever at that place was an old gasoline engine from a washing machine. I got it running, and made a gasoline powered stand-up scooter for it to power. At 10 years old, I finally had an engine-powered vehicle!

I've never found a place quite like that old junkyard in the late 1950s again. Such places are long gone.

That I found two old, rather large electric motors someone was throwing away. I was on my bike at the time, and couldn't have carried them in my arms, so I just grabbed their extension cords and rode down the street dragging them. It was only a block or so away from home, so I figured they wouldn't get too damaged. I messed with them awhile. Then my father took them to an electric motor repair/dealer to sell them. I managed to make maybe $15 by dragging those motors behind my bike. That convinced me at a young age that the junk business was the way to go!

Not everyone understands satire. For some their beliefs were reinforced. Some were outraged. The real trouble lies in the middle where some saw racism as forgivable if the person has some good qualities. A working class guy doing the best he can, who loves his family, and sometimes makes jokes that actually are funny.

Norman Lear deserves a great deal of credit for trying to open a productive dialogue. I think it backfired in some ways because it was too sophisticated.

and the Archie Bunker character. Carroll O'Connor's portrayal of Archie is a lot more nuanced. For all his obvious faults, Archie is a very human character, never just a buffoon.

Those of us old enough to remember, or those of us who watch the reruns, recall Archie being pro Nixon, while Michael was pro McGovern. The show aired during Watergate, which gave them some ready made fodder material.