Boy, the way the Beaver played. Ricky Nelson made the hit
parade. Voices they were seldom raised. Those were the days. And then, on
January 12, 1971, America met the Bunkers, and sitcoms would never be the same.
The Bunkers were TV's first dysfunctional family: blue-collar bigot Archie (the
late Carroll O'Connor in his iconic role), his long-suffering but loving wife
Edith (Jean Stapleton), "little goil" Gloria (Sally Struthers), and her liberal
husband "Meathead" Mike (Rob Reiner). Series creator Norman Lear broke near
every rule and taboo in adapting the British series "Till Death Do Us
Part" for American television.
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