All in the Family - The Complete Fourth Season Cast: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers, Rob Reiner
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- DVD Release Date: 04/12/2005
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Editorial Reviews
Most popular TV series start running out of gas after three years, but the writers of All in the Family confounded its detractors and delighted its fans by recharging their creative batteries with the 24 episodes of the 1973-74 season. The show continued to tackle controversial subjects and even injected a bit more drama into the lives of the Bunkers. “The Games Bunkers Play” is a perfect example: While playing a group therapy board game, Mike (Rob Reiner) gets nettled by criticism and lashes out harshly -- insulting Archie (Carroll O’Connor), which infuriates the usually supportive Gloria (Sally Struthers). He has a heart-to-heart talk with mother-in-law Edith (Jean Stapleton), who explains that she understands why Archie behaves as he does, an explanation that forces “Meathead” to come to grips with his own shortcomings. “Edith’s Christmas Story” fairly drips with pathos, as the Bunker family matriarch attempts to keep things festive during the holiday season while secretly terrified that she has breast cancer. The fourth season also marked the first appearance of the bickering Jeffersons (played by Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford) in “Henry’s Farewell.” George and Louise would soon become the focus of All in the Family’s first spin-off series (The Jeffersons), but Hemsley was never funnier than he was opposite O’Connor’s Archie. In another controversial episode, “Gloria’s Boyfriend,” Archie takes advantage of a mentally challenged delivery boy and inadvertently gets him fired. The season finale, “Mike’s Graduation,” finds Archie buoyant when Meathead finally finishes college. But his euphoria dissipates when Mike accepts a fellowship that will prevent him and Gloria from moving out for another year. From first show to last, Family’s fourth year is terrific; there’s not a stinker in all two dozen episodes. Ed Hulse, Barnes & Noble
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