What Happened on the Unaired ‘All in the Family’ Pilots?
All in the Family debuted on CBS on January 12, 1971, and it hit the ground running. The Norman Lear-created sitcom about the Bunker family — including boorish everyman Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor), sweet wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), feisty daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), and son-in-law Michael, a.k.a. Meathead (Rob Reiner) —finished its first season as the #34 show in the country, but jumped to number one in its second season — a spot it held on to for the following four seasons. The 1979 series finale was watched by over 40 million viewers, and to this day, the show is beloved both for its warm comedy and boldness in dealing with social issues.
Given credentials like that, you might be surprised to hear that before the show reached such great heights, it shot three pilots — two of which never aired.
What happened in the unaired All in the Family pilots?
Everett Collection
All three pilots worked from the same script — which was adapted from a British show called ‘Til Death Do Us Part. Lear bought the rights and originally approached Mickey Rooney for the lead role, but the actor passed, feeling the show was doomed to failure. Lear then recruited O’Connor to play the role of a character then named Archie Justice, on a show then known as Justice for All. The Justice for All pilot was shot in 1968, and though it included Stapleton in the role of Edith, the role of Gloria was handled by Kelly Jean Peters, while her husband (then called Richard) was played by Tim McIntire. Though it included the signature opening of Archie and Edith singing “Those Were the Days,” instead of showing the pair crooning, the credits show shots of New York City, ending at the Justices’ front door.
Lear presented Justice For All to ABC, who passed on picking up the show, but gave him an infusion of cash to shoot a new pilot. That show, called Those Were the Days, was filmed in early 1969, and again starred O’Connor and Stapleton — but Gloria had been recast with Candy Azzara, while her husband (now called Dickie), was played by Chip Oliver. This version included a different but similar version of opening credits with Archie and Edith singing — though this was shot before a live audience, who chuckle throughout.
Lear took his second pilot again to ABC, who once again passed. He then brought it to CBS, who said yes, but with a caveat: it was time to once again recast Gloria and Meathead. It turned out, third time was the charm with the Bunker young’uns — Struthers and Reiner’s pilot made it to air as the show’s debut episode, “Meet the Bunkers.” Though they weren’t the show’s top-billed stars, Reiner and Struthers ended up being what finally got the show to air — and were an essential part of the secret sauce that kept them on top for so long.
Remind