All in the Family
All in the Family is based on the 1960s British sitcom television show Till Death Us Do Part. Norman Lear said he read about the show in a Variety magazine. He thought the show was like the relationship that he had with his father. Norman Lear bought the rights to use Til Death Us Do Part and used the ideas of the show in All in the Family. Norman Lear is the creator of All in the Family. He would also add some of the things his father did into the show. CBS wanted to have the show but the show was going to be on ABC. There was two pilot episodes made. One was made on September 3, 1968 and called And Justice For All. The pilot episodes had different actors and actresss for Michael (Tim McIntire) and Gloria Stivic (Kelly Jean Peters) and the house they lived in looked different. Archie and Edith were named "Archie Justice"  and "Edith Justice" instead of Archie Bunker and Edith Bunker. Micheal was named “Dickie” for the first pilot. Lionel Jefferson was played by D'Urville Martin instead of Mike Evans. For the start of the episode, Archie and Edith were singing, "Those were the Days" but the song was longer and shots of where they lived were shown but not them. Also Edith played the piano faster in this pilot episode then the rest of the show. The camera showed the door mat which said "Justice" before the episode started. The pilot was taped with three cameras so the people watching could see the characters feelings about things. This would be used for the entire show. Most other sitcoms used one camera but All in the Family was the first and more sitcoms used three cameras after. The pilot talked about many important issues instead of just one. The characters talked about race, welfare, antisemitism, and even different types of sausage. The ending credits of the pilot episode is the kitchen room with the party decorations up. Edith and Archie are singing the same song from the beginning as the credits roll.