All in the Family
All in the Family is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. It was later produced as Archie Bunker's Place, a continuation series, which picked up where All in the Family ended and ran for four seasons through 1983.
| All in the Family | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Based on | Till Death Us Do Part by Johnny Speight |
| Developed by | Norman Lear |
| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Theme music composer | Lee Adams (lyrics), Charles Strouse (music), Roger Kellaway (ending theme) |
| Opening theme | "Those Were the Days" Performed by Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton |
| Ending theme | "Remembering You" by Roger Kellaway, (music) and Carroll O'Connor (additional lyrics added in 1971; instrumental version) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 205 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Production locations | CBS Television City Hollywood, California (1971–75) Metromedia Square Hollywood, California (1975–79) |
| Running time | 25–26 minutes |
| Production company | Tandem Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | January 12, 1971 – April 8, 1979 |
| Related | |
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Based on the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, All in the Family was produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin. It starred Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers, and Rob Reiner. The show revolves around the life of a working-class man and his family. It broke ground by introducing challenging and complex issues into mainstream network television comedy: racism, antisemitism, infidelity, homosexuality, transphobia, women's liberation, rape, religion, miscarriages, abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence. The series became arguably one of television's most influential comedic programs, as it injected the sitcom format with more dramatic moments and realistic, topical conflicts.
All in the Family has been ranked as one of the best American television series. The show became the most watched show in the United States during the summer reruns of the first season, and topped the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976, the first television series to have held the position for five consecutive years. The episode "Sammy's Visit" was ranked number 13 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time ranked All in the Family as number four. Bravo also named the show's protagonist, Archie Bunker, TV's greatest character of all time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked All in the Family the fourth-best written TV series In 2023, Variety ranked All in the Family #16 on its list of the 100 greatest TV shows.