All in the Family was the most popular and most controversial television sitcom (see entry under 1950s—TV and Radio in volume 3) of the 1970s. The show commented on political and social issues never before mentioned in a prime-time sitcom, such as racial conflicts, women's liberation, and the sexual revolution (see entry under 1960s—The Way We Lived in volume 4). Produced by Norman Lear (1922–) and starring Carroll O'Connor (1924–2001) as Archie Bunker and Jean Stapleton (1923–) as his wife, Edith, the show debuted on January 12, 1971, and ran until 1979, when the show—with O'Connor only— became known as Archie Bunker's Place.

Based on a British sitcom called Till Death Do Us Part, All in the Family explored the generational conflicts within a blue-collar household during a period of rapid social change. All in the Family's Archie Bunker was a middle-aged laborer living in a...