What Happened on the Final Episode of ‘All in the Family’?

ALL IN THE FAMILY, from left: Rob Reiner, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers, Carroll O'Connor, 1971-79 — CBS/Everett Collection

Why is All in the Family still considered to be one of television’s great sitcoms? Is it the great writing? The amazing performances? The expert production by TV legend Norman Lear? Yes, yes and yes, but there’s an even bigger reason why the show still resonates today: the humor that can be found in the timeless divide between people who view the world in different ways.

The original All in the Family (based on the UK sitcom Till Death Do Us Part) premiered on January 12, 1971, and ran for nine successful seasons on CBS. The show centered on the modest life of stuck-in-his-ways husband and father Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O’Connor, later of In the Heat of the Night), his ditzy wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), and progressive son-in-law Mike (Rob Reiner). Often crafting storylines centered around the family’s internal debates about racism, sexism, morality, and other hot-button topics, All in the Family became one of TV’s most groundbreaking (and, at times, controversial) shows.

With well-crafted multidimensional characters that viewers could love regardless of whom they agreed with, All in the Family became a staple of primetime TV for nine full seasons – so why did it come to an end?

Why was All in the Family canceled?

ALL IN THE FAMILY, (clockwise from top): Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, 1971-1979

Everett Collection

While All in the Family was generally well-received throughout most of its nine seasons on CBS, creator Norman Lear had a strong desire to end the show on a high note. After being convinced by O’ Connor to go beyond eight seasons, Lear steadfastly decided that the ninth would be his last.

At the same time, Jean Stapleton also began to feel like her time playing Edith was coming to an end, believing that she had done everything she could with the character. With such a major piece of the puzzle looking for her grand finale, it felt like the natural time for All in The Family to say farewell.

CBS, on the other hand, had different ideas. With ratings still high, network VP Robert Daly convinced O’ Connor to stay onboard. Lear wasn’t willing to stick around, so a compromise was reached: All in the Family would wrap up after nine glorious seasons, and a new, Norman Lear-less version of the show – Archie Bunker’s Place – would debut the following year, focusing more on Archie’s new bar and less on his home life (Stapleton ended up making several guest appearances during the show’s first season before her character was eventually killed off due to a stroke).

Archie Bunker’s Place lasted a respectable four seasons before finally riding off into the sunset, but first we had to say farewell to the original version of the show and family that started it all. So how did All in the Family actually end?

How Did All in the Family Finish Up?

All in the Family Carroll O'Connor, 1971-1983

Everett Collection

On April 8th, 1979, the final episode of All in the Family — entitled “Too Good Edith” — aired. With Struthers and Reiner departing the show a season earlier, the finale smartly gave us a story that largely focused on the heart of the show: the marital bond between Archie and Edith.

The premise of the episode was simple: Archie plans to host a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at “Archie’s Place,” and convinces Edith to labor over a massive feast of corned beef and cabbage for the occasion. Edith agrees, failing to reveal to Archie that she’s come down with a major case of phlebitis and had been instructed to stay off her feet. Devoted to her husband and not wanting to let him down, Edith works until she can no longer walk, forcing her to reveal the truth to Archie and call in Dr. Shapiro.

Once Edith is examined, stabilized, and resting, the Doctor accuses Archie of forcing Edith to work despite her condition, only to learn that Edith hid the truth from her husband. A longtime neighbor of the Bunkers who thought the worst of Archie, Shapiro finally came to realize that even he would never willingly hurt the love of his life – a nice final reminder for those who watched and loved these characters for nine years.

The final scene of the show featured a rare emotional conversation between husband and wife, with the hard-headed Archie admitting to Edith that he’s nothing without her. Despite his lack of frequent affection, we’d always hoped that Edith always knew deep down how much Archie cared for her. Nevertheless, giving her the satisfaction of hearing it out loud one final time was the perfect way to end this amazing show.