ALL IN THE FAMILY: THE COMPLETE 6TH SEASON - DVD review

There's an interesting website called "Jump the Shark" (jumptheshark.com) that tries to pinpoint the exact moment when a beloved TV show started going downhill. The title comes from a "Happy Days" episode when the writers had run so out of ideas that they had a leather-jacketed Fonzie trying to water-ski over an enclosure that had a shark in it. According to that site, "All in the Family" jumped the shark this season, when Michael and Gloria have a baby and move out of the Bunker household . . . into the house next door vacated when the Jeffersons went "movin' on up to a de-luxe apartment" in upscale New York.

I'd have to agree with that. When you remove the young couple from the household, you mess with a dynamic that drove the show since it debuted mid-season on January 12, 1971. With Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), America's bigotry came out of the closet, and this blue-collar loading-dock worker had a racial slur for everyone who wasn't a "real" white American. He was also blatantly sexist, ordering his wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton) around and telling her to "stifle" whenever she tried to voice her opinion. So it was up to daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and her husband, Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner), whom Archie called "Meathead" and "Pollack") to say what half of the United States wished they could say to people like Archie. And the other half? They identified with Archie, and so the show was miraculously able to have it both ways.

"All in the Family" finished Number 1 in the Nielson ratings five years running, from the 1971-72 season through this 1975-76 sixth season. With a minimalist set that showed us mainly the Bunker's first floor and centered on Archie's favorite chair (now in the Smithsonian) and the other one next to it for Edith or guests, the TV show had a real stage-play feel to it-especially when the bulk of the episodes those early years were dialogues about important social issues, with Archie arguing with his "little goil" and "Meathead." So why depart from that successful formula?

Well, you could see it coming. Norman Lear's tandem of writers simply ran out of significant social issues to debate, to where in the fifth season we started to see the Bunkers get out of the house more in order to have encounters worthy of a popular sitcom. But to take Mike and Gloria out of the house? This season, the focus shifted dramatically from dialectics to diapers. Viewers spent more time watching Mike and Gloria's relationship-not exactly a fresh concept--than they did giggling over Archie's verbal missteps or his bigoted remarks.

Here's how the season played out:

1) "The Very Moving Day"-On the day that Mike and Gloria move out, Gloria tells everyone that she's pregnant . . . and receives mixed reactions.

2) "Alone At Last"-Mike forgets to have the utilities turned on, so he gets the cold shoulder on their first night in their own home.

3) "Archie, the Donor"-Archie mistakenly donates his organs to science while trying to suck up to the boss so he can get a promotion.

4) "Edith Breaks Out"-Edith finally stands up for herself when Archie insists she quit volunteering at the local nursing home.

5) "Mike's Pains"-The first birthing episode has Mike having second thoughts about being in the delivery room with Gloria.

6) "The Little Atheist"-Archie gets a Thanksgiving shock when Mike and Gloria tell them they're not going to raise their child as a church-goer.

7) "Archie, the Hero"-Archie saves the life of a woman in Munson's cab, but it turns out to be a female impersonator.

8) "Chain Letter"-Irene (Betty Garrett) sends both Bunkers a chain letter, and Edith has good luck after not breaking the chain, and Archie BAD luck after ignoring it.

9) "Mike Faces Life"-Gloria gets fired because she's pregnant, and Mike starts to feel the pressure of being the "breadwinner."

10) "Grandpa Blues"-Archie, feeling old as a grandpa-to-be, gets nervous when he has to have a physical to continue working on the loading dock.

11) "Gloria Suspects Mike"-Feeling unattractive, Gloria is jealous that Mike is spending time with a sexy female student.

12) "Archie's Civil Rights"-Archie defends himself against a mugger, but he's the one who ends up in court because he used an illegal tear-gas device.

13) "Gloria is Nervous"-Countdown to delivery, nine days. Enough said.

14-15) "Birth of the Baby," Pts. 1-2-Joey Stivic enters the TV world.

16) "Archie the Babysitter"-Archie fires the Stivics' babysitter and is forced to watch the baby himself. But that doesn't keep him from hosting his regular poker game.

17) "New Year's Wedding"-A crazily skinny and curly-haired Billy Crystal guests in this episode about Mike annoying Gloria because he makes decisions without consulting her . . . like telling their friends they can get married at the Stivic house.

18) "Archie Finds a Friend"-Archie wants to invest $1000 of the couple's money in a doorbell ringer, but the old Jewish jeweler who invented it has a few bugs to work out.

19) "Mike's Move"-Mike applies for a position in Minnesota and encounters reverse-discrimination in an episode that gets back to the show's social-problem roots.

20) "Archie's Weighty Problem"-The doctor makes Archie give up some of his favorite foods, but that's not easy to do.

21) "Love by Appointment"-Mike feels post-partum blue when he thinks Gloria's spending more time with the baby than him. Get used to it, Mike.

22) "Joey's Baptism"-Archie conspires to have his grandson secretly baptized.

23) "Gloria and Mike's House Guests"-Furnace problems reunite the Bunkers and Stivics in an episode that all but admits the show missed the close-quarters dynamic.

24) "Edith's Night Out"-In one of the show's strongest episodes, Edith decides to go to Kelsey's Bar alone when Archie refuses to take her out, and both of them learn how much she's valued.

Video:
The video has always been rough for this show, hovering anywhere from a 5 to a 6. Especially if you've been watching a lot of DVDs mastered in HD you'll be sensitive to the slight blurring, graininess, and washed-out colors. It'll take a good half-episode to adjust to the picture quality, but it's not SO horrible that it completely ruins the show. The aspect ratio is 1.33:1 (full screen), in color.

Audio:
The audio is only slightly better, a rudimentary Dolby Digital Mono that's closed captioned. The show is mostly dialog, so that's not a huge problem, but you notice the flat quality of sound during the opening song and moments when the live audience applauds.

Extras:
There are no extras.

Bottom Line:
Season 6 was the year that "All in the Family" strayed from the dialectic/polemic structure that made the show groundbreaking. Instead of focusing on social issues, writers turned to domestic problems. It was the Bunkers and Stivics going through the same sort of sitcom trials as other fictional characters had done before them. There are a few standout episodes, but most of the shows lack the bite and punch of previous seasons.