Watch All in the Family Online - Full Episodes

All in the Family is a situation comedy that revolves around the constantly changing world of Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), a dockworker who lives in Queens, New York, with his wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), his daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), and Gloria's husband, Mike "Meathead" Stivic (Rob Reiner). Archie is a conservative, patriotic American who holds prejudicial assumptions anyone who has a different race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or culture. Mike, a college student living with the Bunkers until he and Gloria can afford to make ends meet, dislikes his prejudiced behavior and constantly challenges his assumptions, which usually results in a heated debate. Gloria usually takes Mike's side in an argument, while Edith is usually told by Archie to "stifle" her opinions. Archie's favorite bar is Kelcy's, which he eventually purchases after its owner retires.

The Bunkers lived next door to an African-American family, the Jeffersons. Lionel (Mike Evans), Mike's African-American friend. While Mike confronts Archie's prejudices directly and stridently, Lionel takes a different approach, having seen the effects of bigotry from both sides. His father, George (Sherman Hemsley), the owner of a dry cleaning firm, dislikes white people, while his mother, Louise (Isabel Sanford), is much more tolerant and, much to Archie's dismay, becomes friends with Edith. When George's business becomes a success, the Jeffersons moved to a Manhattan high-rise and were spun-off into their own series.

Produced by Norman Lear, the sitcom was one of the first to incorporate then-current hot-button issues into its storylines. In its nine-season run on CBS from 1971 to 1979, individual episodes dealt with racial prejudice, homosexuality, poverty, menopause, cancer, labor disputes and sexual assault. While the show saw low ratings as a mid-season replacement, it won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, which increased viewers' interest. The following season, it became the number one TV series in the United States, a position it held for five consecutive seasons. The show also spawned several spin-offs, notably "Maude" and "The Jeffersons," while "Maude" also spawned "Good Times."