All in the Family's 40 greatest episodes
These are my 40 picks for the best episodes of All in the Family on its 40th anniversary year (2011).
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- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerThe classic tale about the time Sammy Davis Jr. stopped by to visit the Bunkers. It begins with a briefcase he left in Archie's cab ... and ends with the kiss of infamy.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerMike and Archie get locked together in the storage room at Archie's Place and have a long talk.
- DirectorBob LaHendroJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerEdith answers a magazine personal ad from a couple seeking new friends ... unaware that they engage in a swinging lifestyle.
- DirectorBob LaHendroJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie thinks a swastika painted on his door may be juvenile pranksters, but Mike is concerned that the Bunkers' home may have been mistaken for the residence of a Jewish radical.
- DirectorBob LaHendroJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie finally comes face to face with George Jefferson after Edith volunteers the Bunker home to host Henry Jefferson's farewell party.
- DirectorNorman CampbellStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie is invited to give a "man-on-the street" editorial on television, where he speaks against gun control. He then meets two people who saw the editorial ... who promptly rob him at gunpoint.
- 1971–197926mTV-PG8.6 (364)TV EpisodeDirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie and several neighbors learn that a black family is moving into the neighborhood, unaware that it is the Jeffersons. Lionel finds out about the effort to purchase the Jeffersons' new house and gets Archie to reveal his plans.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerSaying goodbye to Mike and Gloria proves traumatic for the Bunkers. Before they leave for their new life in California, Mike and Gloria share some long-hidden feelings, confused tears, and much, much more with Archie and Edith.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie, Mike and Gloria plan a surprise party for Edith to celebrate her 50th birthday. But an unwelcome visitor to the Bunker's home - while Edith is home alone - has a much different surprise in mind for the Bunker matriarch.
- 1971–19791hTV-PG8.7 (238)TV EpisodeDirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerEdith encounters a life-threatening rapist on her 50th birthday.
- 1971–197926mTV-PG8.5 (307)TV EpisodeDirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerOn their first anniversary, Mike and Gloria reminisce (in flashback) the first time Gloria brought the Meathead home to meet the man that would become his father-in-law.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie manages to get himself arrested when he goes to rescue Mike from an out-of-control protest.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerEdith writes a poem and gets a letter from a company that wants to turn it into a song for only $30. Archie buys a "dog alarm" and a gun to protect the house all for only $60. The family gets into an argument over which is more important and Archie agrees to give the gun back. That night two burglars, who have just robbed a jewelry store, break into the house and hold the Bunkers hostage until the heat is off. At one point, the thief threatens to take off with the $30 but Edith talks him out of it by offering to sing the song. After hearing her sing, they decide that the Bunkers are in such sad shape that it would be cruel to rob them. The next day Archie reads in the newspaper that the crooks were arrested, and Mike reveals that he fixed the dog alarm by replacing it with Edith's singing.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerEdith's liberal cousin, Maude Findlay, arrives to help in caring for a flu-ridden Archie and Mike.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie explodes with anger when he discovers that Mike has invited his draft dodger friend to the family's Christmas dinner, where the guest of honor is Archie's close friend, a gold star father whose son was killed in Vietnam.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerWhen Mike and Gloria are gone, Archie and Edith get a chance to share quality time at home alone.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerEdith's irritability as of late may be a sign of her going through menopause. Archie is frustrated when he finds out she can't possibly have her "change of life" in 30 seconds.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerMike's anxiety over his upcoming college exams causes him to temporarily become sexually impotent.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerAfter Mike accidentally breaks Archie's chair he has it repaired, however it mistakenly gets thrown out and ends up in an art exhibit.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie is irritated at Mike's offbeat friend, who dresses and behaves in a way that leads him to mistakenly conclude he is a homosexual. But Archie soon learns that one of his best friends is gay.
- DirectorBob LaHendroJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerWhen the rest of the family is away for the weekend, Archie accidentally locks himself in the basement, and has only a tape recorder and a bottle of vodka to keep him entertained.
- 1971–197925mTV-PG8.0 (185)TV EpisodeDirectorWes KenneyStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie becomes suspicious when political office-seeker George is suddenly very nice to him.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerA power outage and reports of looting in the city prompt Mike to write a letter to the editor about how greedy governments do the same in the name of free enterprise. At the bar, Archie vents his frustrations about how Mike always argues his point and doesn't see things his way. Two men - who have been listening in - approach Archie and suggest that he come to a meeting of the Kweens Kouncil of Krusaders (a chapter of the Klu Klux Klan), where they will come up with a more severe way of "teaching" Mike a lesson.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie learns that Gordie and Mitch - the two men he met earlier at his bar - plan to burn a cross on the Stivic's lawn and must come up with a way to stop them. When Archie tries to persuade Mike to write a new letter to the editor (recanting his previous stance on free enterprise), he lets slip that he had spoken with known Klu Klux Klan members. Mike is outraged and tells Archie to go away, but Archie is still determined to stop the cross burning - even if it means he will be the KKK's next target.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie is shocked when his coworker Stretch has died after cavorting with a young woman. Asked to give the eulogy, he enlists Mike's help, requesting Bible references. But the biggest shock comes at the funeral.
- DirectorBob LaHendroJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerMike refuses to accept constructive criticism during a group therapy board game.
- 1971–19791hTV-PG7.3 (187)TV EpisodeDirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie finds himself in a compromising situation with an attractive waitress after Edith ignores his amorous advances and dashes off to the Sunshine Home.
- 1971–19791hTV-PG7.6 (176)TV EpisodeDirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie finds himself in a compromising situation with an attractive waitress after Edith ignores his amorous advances and dashes off to the Sunshine Home. Janis Paige guest stars as Denise, the attractive waitress whose flirtations with Archie lead him to trouble on the home front.
- 1971–197930mTV-PG7.5 (170)TV EpisodeDirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerEpisode #137 - And estranged Archie and Edith are determined to prove to each other that they are perfectly content going their separate ways, in the conclusion of a three-part presentation. The going gets tough for a while when the Bunkers continue to resist Mike and Gloria's efforts to reconcile them.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie and Mike donate blood, sparking heated discussions on race, modern medicine, and God's will.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie is determined to baptize Joey, especially over Mike's express wishes against it. When Edith begins refusing to allow Archie to be with Joey alone (knowing what will happen), Archie begins getting very sneaky.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerOn Christmas Day, Edith tells Gloria that she has found a lump in her breast and worries that she may have cancer.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerThe Bunkers, Stivics and Jeffersons attend Lionel's engagement party. His fiancée is a young woman whose father is white and mother is black, much to the chagrin of Archie and (especially) George.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerEdith saves a man's life and becomes a local celebrity much to Archie's annoyance.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie learns that the canned mushrooms he just ate may have been part of a product recall because of reports of food poisoning. Mike urges Archie to investigate, but Archie decides he's sick and needs hospital treatment.
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerEdith takes matters into her own hands when Archie continually refuses to treat his wife to one night out on the town. An evening at Kelsey's Bar shows Archie that Edith is no social wallflower.
- DirectorWes KenneyStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie falls for a scheme from a shady aluminum siding salesman when the man makes Archie think that he must install the siding on his brick house due to a loss of heat.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie learns that the mentally disabled have some real abilities, not to mention savvy, when he causes Gloria's friend, a stock boy at Ferguson's Market, to lose his job. The young man then finds himself another job.
- DirectorJohn RichStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerGeorge Jefferson storms into the house, demanding Archie to explain why he paid him using a counterfeit $20 bill.
- DirectorWes KenneyStarsCarroll O'ConnorJean StapletonRob ReinerArchie's sense of morality is questioned when he borrows tools and equipment from work in order to complete a home repair project.