Carroll O'Connor of Bunker's long-suffering wife, Edith Bunker, whom Lear remembered from seeing in the play and film "Damn Yankees". The producer sent the show over to ABC twice, but it did not get picked up. They then approached CBS with more success, and accordingly, "All in the Family" was retooled and debuted early in 1971. The show also starred unknown character actors, such as Rob Reiner as Archie's liberal son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, and Sally Struthers as Archie and Edith's only child and Mike's wife, Gloria. The cast had a unique on- and off-camera chemistry, especially Reiner, who became O'Connor's best
Archie Bunker Archie is a Republican and an outspoken supporter of Richard Nixon, as well as an early (1976) supporter of Ronald Reagan, who correctly predicted Reagan's election in 1980. During the Vietnam War, Archie dismisses peace protesters as unpatriotic and has little good to say about the Civil Rights Movement. Despite having an adversarial relationship with his black neighbors, the Jeffersons, he forms an unlikely friendship with their son Lionel, who performs various odd jobs for the Bunkers and responds to Archie's patronizing racial views with sarcastic quips that usually go over Archie's head. The later spinoff series "704 Hauser" features