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Archie Bunker's Place

Comedy Series

About This Show

Archie Bunker's Place is an American sitcom originally broadcast on the CBS network, conceived in 1979 as a continuation of All in the Family. While not as popular, the show maintained a large enough audience to last four seasons, ending its run in 1983. The first season performed so well that it knocked Mork & Mindy off its new Sunday night home. A year before, Mork & Mindy had been the #3 show on television during its first season.

The major difference in the continuation is that, although some of the scenes were set in the Bunker home long familiar to viewers, most of the stories were set at Archie Bunker's Place, the neighborhood tavern Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) purchased in 1977 (in the eighth-season premiere of All in the Family). He had purchased what was then known as Kelcy's Bar from former proprietor Tommy Kelsey (see "Kelcy" or "Kelsey") when Kelcy's health declined. During the premiere of Archie Bunker's Place, he takes on a Jewish partner, Murray Klein (Martin Balsam) when co-owner Harry Snowden decides to sell his share of the business. Early in the first season, to increase his clientèle, Archie and Murray build a restaurant onto the bar; the additions include a separate seating area for the restaurant and a well-equipped kitchen with service window. The regular patrons are Barney Hefner, Hank Pivnik, and Edgar Van Ranseleer.

Archie Bunker's Place was the sounding board for Archie's views, support from his friends, and Murray's counterpoints. Later in the series, after Murray re-marries and leaves for San Francisco, Archie hires a business partner, Gary Rabinowitz (Barry Gordon), whose views were liberal in contrast to Archie's political conservativism.

Archie Bunker's Place, like All in the Family before it, was set in the borough of Queens. The opening credits featured a view of the Queensboro Bridge, which connects Manhattan to Queens followed by shots taken along Steinway Street in Astoria.

The theme of Archie Bunker's Place was "Those Were the Days". It was a re-scored version of the long-familiar opening theme to All in the Family, sans vocals from Archie and Edith. The closing theme, "Remembering You," was a re-scored version of All in the Family's closing theme.

Starring    
Carroll O'Connor
Jean Stapleton (1979-1980)
Danielle Brisebois
Martin Balsam (1979-1981)
Anne Meara (1979-1982)
Barry Gordon (1981-1983)
Opening theme     "Those Were the Days"
by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse (Ray Conniff instrumental Version)
Ending theme     "Remembering You"
by Roger Kellaway and Carroll O'Connor (Ray Conniff instrumental Version)
Country of origin      United States
No. of seasons     4
No. of episodes     97
Production
Running time     30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel     CBS
Original run     September 2

From Wikipedia

People Who Talked About This Show

  • Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf
  • Carroll O'Connor
  • Jean Stapleton
  • Jerry Stiller
  • Peter Bonerz

Featured Content

Embeddable video clip: In this interview clip, Carroll O'Connor talks about the final season of All in the Family and how the show made its transition to Archie Bunkers Place.

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People Talking About This Show

  • Carroll O'Connor
    • Carroll O’Connor on the creation of the All in the Family spin-off Archie Bunker’s Place and deciding on the death of Edith (in season two) (05m 39s)
    • Carroll O’Connor on his acting with Danielle Brisebois in the Archie Bunker’s Place episode "Archie Alone," that reveals Edith Bunker’s death (01m 29s)
    • Carroll O’Connor on the character of “Murray Klein” on Archie Bunker’s Place and working with actor Martin Balsam (02m 39s)
    • Carroll O’Connor on casting Martin Balsam’s real-life actress-daughter Talia Balsam in an episode of Archie Bunker’s Place that mirrored their real life, “Murray’s Daughter” (05m 41s)
    • Carroll O’Connor on the cancellation of Archie Bunker’s Place after four seasons
      (01m 58s)
  • Peter Bonerz
    • Director Peter Bonerz (briefly) on working with Carroll O'Connor on Archie Bunker's Place (00m 36s)
  • Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf
    • Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on Archie Bunker's Place; comparing that show and "Duffy's Tavern"
  • Jean Stapleton
    • Jean Stapleton on the decision to have the character of Edith Bunker die, in the Archie Bunker’s Place episode “Archie Alone” (03m 27s)
  • Jerry Stiller
    • Anne Meara on Archie Bunker's Place and her character
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From the Collection

  • Carroll O'Connor - Director

    CARROLL O’CONNOR not only starred in, but also wrote and directed episodes of Archie Bunker’s Place and In the Heat of the Night.

  • Jean Stapleton

    JEAN STAPLETON, best known for her role as "Edith Bunker" on All in the Family, refused to appear in commercials as an Edith-like character to avoid being typecast.

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