All in the Family

It's Edith and Archie Bunker's wedding anniversary. Edith manages to drag Archie to church. Daughter Gloria and her husband Mike try to whip up a party atmosphere for the parents.

Mike writes a letter to President Nixon, protesting everything that's wrong with America, including the state of the environment and the nation's involvement in Vietnam. Archie finds out, and to refute his son-in-law's claims he decides he too will write a letter praising the nation's chief and attempting to explain the Meathead as an ignorant. While penning the letter, Archie pictures the family all standing behind him, dressed in his Sunday best, all supporting his positions.

Archie is convinced he'll collect a large settlement from a petty traffic accident if a Jewish lawyer handles the case. The stylistic minimalism of the Bunkers' sparsely furnished set is on full display in this early episode. According to director John Rich, who grew up not far from Archie's neighbood, the Spartan look of the Bunkers' living room deco was achieved as a result of painstaking efforts. The director remembers personally supervising the cracking of windows and repainting of walls to give the place a run-down, lived-in look. "I told the set designers to take all the color out of it," remembers Rich. "Norman and I wanted to do the show in black and white, but CBS nearly went into a coma. So we decided to do the next best thing and shoot the entire show in muted sepia tones."

Archie refuses to donate blood because he's afraid that his vital fluids might get mixed in with those of a different race.

Archie scorns one of Mike's effeminate friends, unaware that one of his own beer-drinking buddies is a well-adjusted gay man.

Archie's dream of becoming a grandfather is dashed when Gloria suffers a sudden miscarriage.

Mike invites one of his hippie friends to spend the night in his living room, despite Archie's strenous ojections.

Louise Jefferson makes her first appearance, through husband George will remain an offscreen character for another two seasons. Their son, Lionel, had been a regular visitor to the Bunkers since the pilot episode, when the writers discovered how effective the street-smart black youth was at gently letting the air out of Archie's sails.

Edith abandons the kitchen for the courtroom when she is chosen for jury duty, leaving Archie to fend for himself.

No one in the family gets any sleep when Archie spends the night worring that he might lose his job.

Gloria leaves the house in a rage after Mike refuses to recognize her as an equal partner in their marriage.

Archie reevaluates his definition of success after he meets an old army buddy who's become wealthy in the used-car trade.

The Jeffersons arrive for dinner at the Bunkers'--minus husband George, who refuses to socialize with his white neighbors.