Carroll O'Connor was creating for ABC called "Justice For All", with O'Connor playing Archie Justice, a lovable yet controversial bigot. After three pilots done between 1968 and 1970, a network change to CBS, and the last name of the character changed to Bunker, the new sitcom was renamed "All in the Family". The show was based on the BBC's "Till Death Us Do Part", with Bunker based on Alf Garnett, albeit somewhat less abrasive than the original. O'Connor's Queens background and New York accent is said to have influenced Lear to set the show in Queens. Wanting a well-known actor to play
Edith Bunker Stapleton to think she had hurt him. Finally, Lear said "To me, she isn't [fictional]," but ultimately made the decision to have Edith die. Stapleton later appeared as a presenter on the 1981 Primetime Emmy Awards telecast (after the episode "Archie Alone" aired) and said to the viewing audience: "See! I'm still here!" Edith and Archie's chairs have been noted as famous pieces of history by their inclusion in the National Museum of American History. In 2009, Edith Bunker was included in Yahoo!'s Top 10 TV Moms from Six Decades of Television for the decade 1971–1979. Edith Bunker Edith Bunker