TV Land ran an "All in the Family" marathon this past weekend -- the weekend preceding the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday.
I loved "All in the Family"
and it is disturbing to me that political correctness has gotten to the point where that show could NEVER be made today. I don't think I could possibly remember all of the racial epithets -- but "coon", "spook", "kike", "chink", "frog", "gook", "shvartzer", "negro", "yid" -- and, of course, "polack." Talk about the "Seven Words You Can't Say On Television."While it could have never been made today, "All in the Family" managed to father five spin-off shows from the "Family" tree. AITF begat "The Jeffersons", "Maude", "Archie Bunker's Place" (Edith actually dies at the beginning of this series' Season 2 -- most people mistakenly think that Edith died at/near the end of "AITF", and the God-awful "Gloria". Anyone who THINKS that "Joey" is the worst spin-off of a good television show really should be forced to watch one episode of "Gloria".
TV Land did a "10 Best" of "All in the Family," and their number one episode is definitely the same as mine. Sammy Davis, Jr., who was reportedly a big fan of the show, guest starred in what had to be the most knee-slappingly funny half-hour of television. It was in Season 2, which I believe is also available on DVD
through Amazon.com. For that matter, if you are interested,there is a deal
where you can get $20 off the purchase of 2 DVD sets, which pretty much makes it a 2-for-1 deal.Anyway, watching All in the Family this weekend prompted me to re-read Dr. King's entire "Dream" speech. I know that I have seen the "I have a dream..." clip hundreds of times on television, but the message in that speech runs a lot deeper than that one clip. That speech was delivered in 1963, but the sentiments expressed are eternal.
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