Remembering the Classic TV Series ‘All in the Family’ and the Day That Edith Bunker Died

The death of Jean Stapleton’s Edith Bunker on All in the Family — or, more precisely, its spin-off, Archie Bunker’s Place — remains one of the most profound and moving events involving a television character ever aired (and our subject at hand). It was, of course, only one of numerous TV series to experience such a major cast shake-up, which, over the years, has taken place for a wide variety of reasons. And, naturally, the on-air effectiveness of those departures has varied from show to show, depending on the creativity of those involved and the circumstances surrounding their absence

From 1974 to 1978, NBC aired the sitcom Chico and the Man, starring comedian Freddie Prinze as Chico Rodriguez and Jack Albertson (Willy Wonka’s Grandpa Joe) as Ed Brown, who work together in a garage in East L.A. Toward the end of the third season, Freddie took his own life and while in response NBC could have canceled the show, they elected to go forward without him. For this reason, year four saw the introduction of Gabriel Melgar as 12-year-old Raul, producers hoping a new dynamic would work. It didn’t.

in Season 3, McLean Stevenson, who played Col. Henry Blake, decided he should be the star of his own show. He wanted out and the producers weren’t willing to allow him a way back in. Creative solution? Shortly after taking off from the 4077th via helicopter, the doctors, who were in the midst of surgery on wounded soldiers, received word that Henry’s plane had been shot down over the Sea of Japan with no survivors. They paused for barely a second in acknowledgment before going back to work. As Dale Sherman, author of MASH FAQ, recently commented to us, “Stevenson hated seeing the character be killed off, but he would later admit that it was the right way to show the audience that war kills indiscriminately. It is still remembered as one of the biggest shocks in television series history.” They may say that war is hell, but given McLean’s sitcom follow-up, Hello, Larry, he was better off in South Korea.

on Kevin Can Wait, when Leah Remini guest starred on the show, it marked a reunion between her and King of Queens co-star Kevin James. Producers decided they wanted to recapture the magic of that show (somehow forgetting that it had run out of creative steam during its run) and in season two made Leah a regular. Not a big deal, until you remember that Kevin’s character was married, so the solution was to bump off the wife. The audience tuned out in droves, which must have been some form of vindication for actress Erinn Hayes, whose character’s death was handled off camera between seasons. It was a completely bungled effort.

on Kevin Can Wait, when Leah Remini guest starred on the show, it marked a reunion between her and King of Queens co-star Kevin James. Producers decided they wanted to recapture the magic of that show (somehow forgetting that it had run out of creative steam during its run) and in season two made Leah a regular. Not a big deal, until you remember that Kevin’s character was married, so the solution was to bump off the wife. The audience tuned out in droves, which must have been some form of vindication for actress Erinn Hayes, whose character’s death was handled off camera between seasons. It was a completely bungled effort.

All in the Family ran on CBS from 1971 to 1979, and was a revolutionary show in that it dealt with taboo subjects TV had not dealt with before (the sound of a flushing toilet included). The concept pit conservative bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) against his liberal son-in-law, Mike “Meathead” Stivic (future director Rob Reiner), setting the stage for back and forth arguments between them that covered a wide variety of social issues, among them women’s rights, the Vietnam War, homosexuality, rape, religion, menopause, abortion, and so much more. Stuck between them is Archie’s “dingbat” (his nickname, not ours) wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) and their daughter, Gloria (Sally Struthers), who’s married to the Meathead and lives in the Bunker household. Over the course of the series, the characters experienced and went through a lot, including Archie who evolved from an offensive bigot to a somewhat lovable guy who had lived what he learned but was genuinely changing.