All in the Family broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for a U.S. network television comedy, such as racism, antisemitism, infidelity, homosexuality, women's liberation, rape, religion, miscarriages, abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence. Through depicting these controversial issues, the series became arguably one of television's most influential comedic programs, as it injected the sitcom format with more dramatic moments and realistic, topical conflicts. The show was an American version of an earlier British show, the BBC sitcom "Till Death Us Do Part", with Archie Bunker modeled after his British counterpart, Alf Garnett. "All in the Family" is
Archie Bunker most white ethnic groups as well, including the English, Germans, Irish, and Polish. Archie, a Christian belonging to the Episcopalian denomination, often misquotes the Bible. He takes pride in being religious, although he rarely attends church services and constantly mispronounces the name of his minister, Reverend Felcher, as "Reverend Fletcher". (When Edith inevitably corrects him, he dismisses the error with "Whatever".) He is a compulsive gambler, who, in earlier years, frequently lost his entire weekly paycheck in poker games, as related by Edith in 1973 episode "Archie the Gambler"; he quit only when Edith threatened to leave him, taking then