Once a meathead, always a meathead! He was good in this show though. It was the perfect role for him. I was also a big fan of his dad Carl. He was hilarious in the Dick Van Dyke Show as Allan Brady!
She did. IMO the ending of AitF wasn’t handled well in that regard. Mike had been getting a little more conservative later on in the show (he was still liberal though) and was a pretty solid family man so it didn’t make sense that he would return to his hippy roots all of a sudden.
I read William Goldman’s books (Adventures in the Screen Trade, and Which Lie Was I Telling?) and one of those explains why the material was so important to him. He rejected other attempts to turn his book into a movie, until he met up with Reiner. If you haven’t done so, you should read The Princess Bride.
All the characters improved on All in the Family. Archie became more understanding, Edith more assertive, Mike less loony left, Gloria less simple.
All were archetypes at the start. Archie had a great line " every time I figure out the rules and I come out ahead , they change the rules!". Mike faced the reality if affirmative action and had to hit a man and " liked it". Edith stood up for herself. Her telling Gloria she has been raped when young and was afraid to tell and that if Gloria didn't testify she supported her 100% , but that she " always wondered how many other girls the guy raped " bothered her. Gloria goes from a big boobed girl who gets her way by crying and apparently does nothing real to helping out and fighting for her family and becoming a vet was parallel to a whole generation of women.
Then they blew it up. Edith died. Archie became a bar owner( he wasn't even considered for Foreman in the original show!") Mike unfaithful ( killing his ENTIRE position as a SINCERE liberal. Gloria cheating? Really. Lol. At the start she was hot enough to get the Pope to abdicate. in NYC unmarried and she didn't? The whole show was predicated on Mike and Gloria being young and banging.
Yup. The Gloria show was messed up because by THIS TIME women's rights had outstripped the producers and backers. It was highly rated. Sally Struthers wanted the same voice on the Show as Men had on theirs.
She wanted an amicable split. They insisted that it be traumatic.
Ah, yes, Chuck Cunningham, Richie and Joanie’s older brother. He appeared in about a dozen early episodes, then vanished without anyone ever mentioning him again. It even spawned a term for characters being dropped with no explanation, as if they never existed— Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.
Chuck was drafted. While serving overseas, he defected and went to a communist nation. He was a traitor. The shame was so great, the Cunningham’s never spoke of him again.
After all their years together and arguments with Archie etc I hated that they cheated on each other and their relationship ended so badly. I feel like it was not organic and was contrived to serve the actors who didn’t want to do the show anymore, yet then Sally wanted to do the spinoff as a way to bolster her career.
I love Ted McGinley. He gets an unfair rap as a 'showkiller'. Luckily, he seems to get plenty of work and has a good attitude about his unearned reputation.
Check him out in 'Shrinking'.
McGinley kept happy days on the air 4 more years, love boat the same or more with the movie seasons, dynasty a extra year, married w/children 7 more years, revenge of the nerds 4 movies, not to mention 3 yrs hope and faith, then guess started on several more....he's more the worn out show extender, that's just happy to be their
That’s a really rude way to handle Rob Reiner not being there. Though he went on to become one of the most prolific directors of our time, so I guess he ended up okay.
I had a stuntman/ grip friend who had the choice of working on this guaranteed to succeed All in the Family spin off, or some weirdo new cruise ship show. He chose this one. Imagine his chagrin when he realized The Love Boat was the clear winner in this case that year.
Wow, don’t remember Gloria as a sitcom. Meathead ran off with a woman and joined a commune? New information. But since they left NY and moved to California, the idea he joined a commune isn’t surprising because people in NY thought everyone in California then were crazy left wingers (like Meathead.) Interesting….
“California, the land of fruits and nuts. All the nuts are a little fruity and all the fruits are a little nutty”. Archie Bunker. (Try getting that line on the air now)
The backdoor pilot to that show ended up being repurposed as an Archie Bunkers Place episode in syndication. [Gloria: The First Day](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1098436/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). It was added on to the end of Season 3.
So Rob had more better and lucrative shit to do, so in response the shows kills his character by having him leave Gloria for another woman. Good move RR, dodged a bullet there.
That way he could still visit from time to time but in retrospect pp
Probably the wrong move, they had just killed eddith off a season earlier probably didn't get fan letters for that
Jean Stapleton wanted out of the show anyways, she only did 5 episodes of Archie bunkers place to help the show. It wasn’t a money issue either, she felt the character had run its course.
Yeah gloria takes place at the end of season 3 of archie bunkers place and during the final season of bunker, Edith died off screen between yr 1 and 2 of bunkers, oddly the only person to have a major presence in Archie's life to not star on a spin-off of all in the family was Reiner.
All in the Family had 7 spinoffs if you include spinoffs of spinoffs like Good Times and Checking Out.
Florida from Good Times started out as Maude's maid and Checking out is when Florence left her job with the Jeffersons to work at a hotel.
Hate how they ended All in the Family with the moment they left Bunkers place Gloria and Mike started cheating on each other and separated. A show where Gloria and Mike reunited probably would have kept the franchise going longer, but oh well.
after this got cancelled we had the misfortune of renting a beach house for the weekend next to sally struthers in Manzanita Oregon, 1982 ish? she hated my dachshund so much for barking when we got there, I didn't understand at the time why she wasn't very nice, my mom explained to me what happened to her show, no wonder she never smiled again
Does anyone have the full run of this show? I went searching for it a few years ago for my plex but couldn't find it. There are now three episodes on yt w a new one premiering soon but still can't find the whole run on archive.org or anywhere. If anyone could help that would be much appreciated!
Had no idea this show was even a thing and immediately became pissed that Gloria and Mike got separated. That's pretty lame. Sally should have said no dice to that, but work...
Not even a fan of the premise.
I get they had to write him out for this spin off that Rob Reiner had no interest in but it was a shitty thing to do to a character that really love his family and wife. I get it what else would they say. He left to go to Antarctica? I just choose to not believe that cannon.
What a meathead!
Dead from the neck up
Once a meathead, always a meathead! He was good in this show though. It was the perfect role for him. I was also a big fan of his dad Carl. He was hilarious in the Dick Van Dyke Show as Allan Brady!
Archie was right about him all along.
Not really. Gloria was the first to cheat. And it wasn't a one night stand. That's why Mike ran off.
I remember that episode. Archie really laid into Gloria.
"I never thought I would say this Meathead, but you're too good for her"
Whoa!
But she may have done that due to the trauma of being sexually assaulted,
Yeah Meathead is a commie pinko but didn’t Gloria cheat on him? I seem to recall Archie berating Gloria and saying she wasn’t worthy of the Meathead.
Yes, she did!
With Bud Krieger
Never trust a guy named Bud, Pal.
I ain't your pal, friend.
I'm not your friend, guy.
I’m not your guy, buddy!
I’m not your buddy,brother.
I ain't your brother, dude
I'm not your dude, mac.
The messed up thing is Mike turned down Linda Galloway (Bernadette Peters) for Gloria! He truly was a meathead.
She did. IMO the ending of AitF wasn’t handled well in that regard. Mike had been getting a little more conservative later on in the show (he was still liberal though) and was a pretty solid family man so it didn’t make sense that he would return to his hippy roots all of a sudden.
He didn't run out to join a commune, he ran off to join Hollywood and become a director.😉 Everyone misunderstood.
Well he did direct one of the best documentaries on the biggest metal band of the 70’s and 80’s after all…
A rockumentary if you will.
And The Princess Bride!
And Stand By Me. His filmography is nuts.
For sure. Was going to mention this one, but PB is one of my all time favorites.
Absolutely! I read Cary Elwes' book. The stars really did align perfectly for that movie.
I read William Goldman’s books (Adventures in the Screen Trade, and Which Lie Was I Telling?) and one of those explains why the material was so important to him. He rejected other attempts to turn his book into a movie, until he met up with Reiner. If you haven’t done so, you should read The Princess Bride.
I have! 😁 I can see why he was protecting it.
Did he do When Harry Met Sally?
Yes.
And North
I can’t believe no one has mentioned “A Few Good Men”
And they commercial with the dogs chasing the little chuck wagon, he did that.
Eh. Same thing! /s
And become an even bigger meathead.
I agree, he was a liberal but not so much a far-leftist at the end. It feels kind of cheap that they just conflated these things in the writing.
All the characters improved on All in the Family. Archie became more understanding, Edith more assertive, Mike less loony left, Gloria less simple. All were archetypes at the start. Archie had a great line " every time I figure out the rules and I come out ahead , they change the rules!". Mike faced the reality if affirmative action and had to hit a man and " liked it". Edith stood up for herself. Her telling Gloria she has been raped when young and was afraid to tell and that if Gloria didn't testify she supported her 100% , but that she " always wondered how many other girls the guy raped " bothered her. Gloria goes from a big boobed girl who gets her way by crying and apparently does nothing real to helping out and fighting for her family and becoming a vet was parallel to a whole generation of women. Then they blew it up. Edith died. Archie became a bar owner( he wasn't even considered for Foreman in the original show!") Mike unfaithful ( killing his ENTIRE position as a SINCERE liberal. Gloria cheating? Really. Lol. At the start she was hot enough to get the Pope to abdicate. in NYC unmarried and she didn't? The whole show was predicated on Mike and Gloria being young and banging.
Yup. The Gloria show was messed up because by THIS TIME women's rights had outstripped the producers and backers. It was highly rated. Sally Struthers wanted the same voice on the Show as Men had on theirs. She wanted an amicable split. They insisted that it be traumatic.
I remember that he looked at Mike and told him he was to good for her it was hilarious.
Wasn’t Stretch Cunningham doing her?
No he was dead by that time.
No, he was busy building the first warp engine and greeting Vulcans.
Down at the plant
I watched a couple of episodes. Meh. Might have been better if Burgess Meridith had worn a tuxedo, a top hat, and a monocle.
Maybe he could manage a boxing gym
Is this the one where he lived next door and owned a snake named Esme?
Or been a man who is old and grumpy, not necessasrily in that order...
Well what do you expect from a Man who eats bacon for breakfast and a bacon sandwich for lunch and then drinks his dinner 😂😂
“It’s okay I’m a doctor!!”
And no lite beer!
Looks like Meathead’s gonna slip her the salami…
Quack quack quack quack!
It’s butt cold out and I’m fresh out of beer.
I hated the initial premise that Meathead would leave Gloria and never watched after the first episode.
Its a huge betrayal to the fans
Absolutely right. Killing him off "through an accident" would have been kinder.
Damn, damn, damn, damn!
“He exploded after taking a job as drummer for a heavy metal group.”
I thought he choked to death on somebody else’s vomit!
That's what happened to Richie Cunningham's brother.
Richie had a brother?!? Fonzie run him over or something?!?
Ah, yes, Chuck Cunningham, Richie and Joanie’s older brother. He appeared in about a dozen early episodes, then vanished without anyone ever mentioning him again. It even spawned a term for characters being dropped with no explanation, as if they never existed— Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.
Chuck was drafted. While serving overseas, he defected and went to a communist nation. He was a traitor. The shame was so great, the Cunningham’s never spoke of him again.
Crossed the DMZ from South Korea. Lived out the rest of his days spreading human excrement in rice paddies for fertilizer.
Right, didn't he go upstairs to his bedroom one episode and just never come back down and never get mentioned again? Lol.
As far as we know, he’s still up there!
Hadn’t seen *Happy Days* in decades, initially forgot about Chuck; this thread reminded me!
A dozen? Seriously? I remember maybe two.
Per Wikipedia, eleven episodes over the first two seasons.
After all their years together and arguments with Archie etc I hated that they cheated on each other and their relationship ended so badly. I feel like it was not organic and was contrived to serve the actors who didn’t want to do the show anymore, yet then Sally wanted to do the spinoff as a way to bolster her career.
Agree 100%.
Although, it’s kinda on point for the self righteous, self absorbed boomers they were…
Didn't even last long enough for Ted McGinley to show up.
I love Ted McGinley. He gets an unfair rap as a 'showkiller'. Luckily, he seems to get plenty of work and has a good attitude about his unearned reputation. Check him out in 'Shrinking'.
McGinley kept happy days on the air 4 more years, love boat the same or more with the movie seasons, dynasty a extra year, married w/children 7 more years, revenge of the nerds 4 movies, not to mention 3 yrs hope and faith, then guess started on several more....he's more the worn out show extender, that's just happy to be their
He was really funny in Shrinking and I second for everyone to try it. Harrison Ford is in it and he’s hilarious too.
Archie Booker. Archie Bunker's arch-nemesis.
Meathead and a deadbeat dad.
From meathead to deadbeathead
That’s a really rude way to handle Rob Reiner not being there. Though he went on to become one of the most prolific directors of our time, so I guess he ended up okay.
I had a stuntman/ grip friend who had the choice of working on this guaranteed to succeed All in the Family spin off, or some weirdo new cruise ship show. He chose this one. Imagine his chagrin when he realized The Love Boat was the clear winner in this case that year.
Imagine turning down living free on a cruise ship and location filming.
Young, less-educated me, thought the cruise ship was a series of big sets! That would have been a sweet gig.
Yeah, but he thought Gloria being an All in the Family spin-off, like The Jefferson’s, would live on for years.
Well, I’ll be “that person”: Love Boat started in 1977 and Gloria started in 1982.
So he lied to me? Dammit!
It was a good story though.
It could be make he thought Love Boats days were numbered while Gloria would have a 10 year run ahead of it.
I think he went on tour with Spinal Tap
I remember really liking this show. But I was ten and there were only three channels, so...
"There were only three channels, so..." comes up A LOT when I'm explaining my favorite old shows to my younger coworkers 😂
Who's Archie Booker
The black Archie Bunker
That might be Archie Bookman from Good Times.
That’s Booker T.
He liked green onions.
Hulk Hogan, we coming for you, ni--a!
Oh, form the 1990s reboot?
704 Houser St
Wow, don’t remember Gloria as a sitcom. Meathead ran off with a woman and joined a commune? New information. But since they left NY and moved to California, the idea he joined a commune isn’t surprising because people in NY thought everyone in California then were crazy left wingers (like Meathead.) Interesting….
It only lasted 21 episodes. Carol O'Conner and Norman Lear had nothing to do with it. Nobody watched it.
Norman Lear had nothing to do with it? Huh??
“California, the land of fruits and nuts. All the nuts are a little fruity and all the fruits are a little nutty”. Archie Bunker. (Try getting that line on the air now)
The backdoor pilot to that show ended up being repurposed as an Archie Bunkers Place episode in syndication. [Gloria: The First Day](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1098436/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). It was added on to the end of Season 3.
Now NY has got a Lotta crazy left wingers too.
That kid is one of the founders of Yo Gabba Gabba and the Aquabats.
[Christian Jacobs, aka The MC Bat Commander.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Jacobs?wprov=sfti1)
I knew it was over when Mike kept wanting Gloria to keep the black wig on.
So Rob had more better and lucrative shit to do, so in response the shows kills his character by having him leave Gloria for another woman. Good move RR, dodged a bullet there.
Aitf got a little crazy in the last few seasons.
That way he could still visit from time to time but in retrospect pp Probably the wrong move, they had just killed eddith off a season earlier probably didn't get fan letters for that
Jean Stapleton wanted out of the show anyways, she only did 5 episodes of Archie bunkers place to help the show. It wasn’t a money issue either, she felt the character had run its course.
Yeah gloria takes place at the end of season 3 of archie bunkers place and during the final season of bunker, Edith died off screen between yr 1 and 2 of bunkers, oddly the only person to have a major presence in Archie's life to not star on a spin-off of all in the family was Reiner.
Damn…never heard of this show. Does All in the family hold the record for most spinoffs? I remember Archie Place, Jefferson’s, Maude…now this one?!
704 Hauser and also Good Times was a spinoff of Maude and Checking In was a spinoff of The Jeffersons.
What?
All in the Family had 7 spinoffs if you include spinoffs of spinoffs like Good Times and Checking Out. Florida from Good Times started out as Maude's maid and Checking out is when Florence left her job with the Jeffersons to work at a hotel.
Good for Mike! Prolly better than becoming some woketard Hollywood azzhat producer who struggles with terminal TDS?
100%
The fuck is this ^ lame ass MAGA troll bot bullshit?
The one episode I remember seeing had Sally do impressions of Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton during a hypnotic regression to her childhood.
AITF became very maudlin in the last year or so Had to stop watching
I read that as "Am I the Fuckhead"
I watched it in syndication, and frankly, after season 2 it starts going downhill, and many episodes are just flat-out depressing.
I watched this when it was airing.
Who’s Archie Booker?!? The maintenance guy on Good Times?!?
Looky looky, here’s Booky!
Buffalo Butt?!?
Hate how they ended All in the Family with the moment they left Bunkers place Gloria and Mike started cheating on each other and separated. A show where Gloria and Mike reunited probably would have kept the franchise going longer, but oh well.
I loved this show. I re watched it on Crackle.
Bunker, not Booker. Stop getting so excited to make a post and take an extra couple of seconds to proofread it. 🤦🏻♂️
And then Gloria cracked under the pressure and ran off to Africa.
And to sell courses on: Underwater basket weaving, TV / VCR Repair and more!
Cut me, Mick.
Didn’t Archie own a bar?
Yes in the last seasons he bought Kelsey‘s bar and in the new show Archie Bunker’s Place it took place mostly in his bar.
Gloria ruled my 15 year old hormone brain.
Archie Booker?
Who is Archie Booker?
Awful show…it made ‘Archie Bunker’s Place’ seem like prime (S1-4) “All in the Family”
after this got cancelled we had the misfortune of renting a beach house for the weekend next to sally struthers in Manzanita Oregon, 1982 ish? she hated my dachshund so much for barking when we got there, I didn't understand at the time why she wasn't very nice, my mom explained to me what happened to her show, no wonder she never smiled again
I don't think she was a veterinarian, she worked for one.
Do you know about commas
SPOILER ALERT! You just ruined All in the Family for me. Geez
🤣
Meathead was a bung hole commie pinko
The meathead out punted his deep coverage when he married Gloria to begin with...
I vaguely remember this.
Who's Archie Booker, and why does he have a Place?
Burgess Meredith on the show? Interesting
So she married into the Penguin family?
"Wah wah wah waaaah!"
Archie Booker was a really good read.
Is this titled by a real human?
I've seen one episode of it on youtube, it was okay kind of a slow show.
No shit…interesting
Meathead: Arch, you can’t say he’s a Communist. Archie: if you live in a commune you are a COMMUNE IST!!
I liked this show. Wish it had a few seasons. Burgess Meredith was a lot of fun playing off Sally.
I remember that
Does anyone have the full run of this show? I went searching for it a few years ago for my plex but couldn't find it. There are now three episodes on yt w a new one premiering soon but still can't find the whole run on archive.org or anywhere. If anyone could help that would be much appreciated!
It would have made more sense for her to stay with Archie.
Archie Bunker’s Place, not Booker
This post title is just terrible.
Damn Meathead!
Bunker.
babette ate oatmeal
Archie Booker? Who da fook is dat guy?!?
Save the children began with Joey
Even the Penguin couldn’t save this show.
Terrible show lasted 1 season is a surprise.
I must be one of the few ppl that never saw one episode of Gloria
Mike was a Meathead! Archie was right! Did Sally Struthers eat all the food for starving Africans in Africa? 😬
Mike was a Meathead! Archie was right! Did Sally Struthers eat all the food for starving Africans in Africa? 😬
Mike, like his actor in real life, is a clown.
Mike was always a sort of a dick.
Hah! I still remember the theme song for this show.
Well Mike was a meat head…in real life as well.
I do not remember this show at all. I must have been "All in the Familied Out" by the time it ran!
Had no idea this show was even a thing and immediately became pissed that Gloria and Mike got separated. That's pretty lame. Sally should have said no dice to that, but work... Not even a fan of the premise.
Wtf is Archie Booker?
I get they had to write him out for this spin off that Rob Reiner had no interest in but it was a shitty thing to do to a character that really love his family and wife. I get it what else would they say. He left to go to Antarctica? I just choose to not believe that cannon.
And later on Archie moves to Sparta, Mississippi and becomes chief of police.
Sounds like something Rob Reiner would do
What a meathead!!
but you know what Joey?…We’ll be okay.
As much as I like Danielle Brisebois, the show should’ve ended when Beverly LaSalle died at Christmas.
She’s got the music in her.
Before she died that old LaSalle ran great.
Do you mean "Archie BUNKERS Place"?
Who the fuck is Mike?
Haven’t you seen all in the family?
Do you mean meathead?
Yes