All In The Family has gone down in the cannon of classic television. Centering on the relationship between a Baby Boomer couple and their parents, the show broke new ground and redefined what a sitcom could be. The series gained immense popularity in the 1970s for its frank portrayal of the issues of the day, discussing still-relevant questions like racism and abortion.
All In The Family’s popularity has lingered to the present, prompting ABC to stage a couple of episodes in front of a live audience. While much of the show remained the same, there were also plenty of differences.
Difference: The Cast
Unfortunately, the original cast of All In The Family was not able to reunite for ABC’s live show; however, the new cast performed admirably well. Woody Harrelson nailed Archie Bunker’s cocky assuredness, and Marisa Tomei captured Edith’s hysterical mannerisms, from her vocal inflection to her walk.
Ike Barinholtz and Ellie Kemper rounded out the family as Mike and Gloria Stivic, the Baby Boomer couple still at odds with Archie. Although the cast was different, they dove right into the material and made it their own.
Similarity: The Spirit
Though All In The Family: Live In Front of A Studio Audience did not share the same cast as the original show, the spirit of the original was still alive and well. All In The Family always walked a tightrope, dealing with controversial and often heavy issues in a relatable and humorous way.
That tightrope was present in the live show as well, careening from farce to authenticity on a dime and doing it masterfully. Part of All In The Family’s continued relevancy stems from its genuine spirit and the way that it never talks down to its audience, something present in its live revival.
Difference: The Draft
For all of the All In The Family episodes that remain incredibly relevant, “The Draft Dodger,” an episode chosen for the live taping, is not one of the episodes with present-day relevancy. The Vietnam War and the draft were obviously incredibly timely issues when the episode originally aired in 1976, but the draft did not exist in the America of 2019.
While there are plenty of All In The Family issues that center on issues that are still hotly debated, “The Draft Dodger” functions as more of a historical document than a present conversation.
Similarity: The Theme Song
One of the best-remembered elements of All In The Family is its iconic theme song, performed at the top of each episode by Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton as Archie and Edith Bunker, respectively.
The live show also opens on Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei sitting at the same piano, singing the same song, and the audience is immediately transported back into the universe of All In The Family. The song, “Those Were The Days,” is simple and charming and has endured as one of the series’ best-remembered elements.
Difference: The Old LaSalle
There is one lyric in the All In The Family theme song that long confused fans. The penultimate line in the theme song, “Gee, our old LaSalle ran great,” became a notoriously misunderstood lyric, partially because of O’Connor and Stapleton’s affected delivery.
“LaSalle” refers to a type of car produced by Cadillac from 1927 to 1940, so it’s also likely that many viewers simply did not understand the reference. Regardless, in the live show, Harrelson and Tomei make this lyric explicitly clear as if they’re winking to the audience that they too are in on the joke.
Similarity: The Script
The script of “The Draft Dodger” remains identical to the original script that was filmed and aired in 1976. The episode centers on two guests joining the Bunker’s Christmas dinner: David Brewster (portrayed in 2019 by Jesse Eisenberg), a friend of Mike and Gloria’s who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into Vietnam, and Pinky Peterson (Kevin Bacon), a friend of Archie who lost his son in the war.
The conflict of the episode comes as Mike and Gloria try to keep David’s secret to avoid offending Pinky, but it eventually comes out, and the group puts aside their differences to enjoy Christmas dinner. Though the references are relevant to 1976, the message of the episode is timeless.
Difference: Archie Bunker
Although Woody Harrelson would make Carroll O’Connor proud with his portrayal as Archie Bunker, there are some notable differences with the energy he brings to the role. While O’Connor’s Archie was prone to fits of explosive anger, Harrelson plays him with more quiet intensity.
Harrelson’s physique is more svelte than O’Connor’s so although Harrelson is actually shorter, he seems to lumber around the set differently and towers over his castmates a bit more than O’Connor did. Though O’Connor, like Archie Bunker, is a Queens native, Harrelson is actually from Texas and doesn’t quite capture the Queens demeanor as O’Connor did.
Similarity: Edith Bunker
While Harrelson brings a new and slightly different energy to the role of Archie Bunker, Marisa Tomei is nearly a carbon copy of Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker. Jean Stapleton had one of the most distinctive voices of all time, and Tomei clearly did her homework before taking the role.
Her voice rises and falls where Stapleton’s did, and she completely captures her physicality. Edith’s posture, hand movements, and charmingly off-beat walk appear on Tomei just as they did on Stapleton. Though no one could replace Jean Stapleton, Marisa Tomei comes closer than anyone could have expected.
Difference: The Filming
All In The Family made history in its original run as being the first major American sitcom to be filmed using videotape in front of a live audience. Other sitcoms of the day would often use a single camera instead of All In The Family’s multi-camera set up, or, in the case of shows like Mary Tyler Moore, used film.
While the 2019 live episodes retained the distinctive multi-camera set up of the 1970s, the new iteration was filmed digitally, giving the show a bit of a different look than it had in 1976.
Similarity: The Audience
History was made when All In The Family premiered in 1971 as the first major American sitcom to be filmed in front of a live studio audience. Because of the different standards in filming, sitcoms in the 1960s often used a laugh track.
All In The Family never used canned laughter; every laugh heard in those episodes are the genuine laughs from the studio audience. In 2019, the show was once again filmed in front of a live audience using organic laughs, bringing the show full circle back to where it began.
