All in the Family - The Complete Sixth Season (1971)

Another Hilarious Season! Season Six.

Another great season after another. Is there a better show than this? Think of the time when the series ran Back in the 70's. Just seven years earlier the show's were "Leave it to Beaver" "Andy Griffith" and "The Lucy Show" . All are funny and clean cut humor. But nothing like "All in the Family". The acting And expressions are simply great. The only reason this dvd is not getting 5 stars is because the first disc produces a very slight clicking noise about every 2-3 seconds. Must be from the transfer or something. I Just wish they would release these seasons more often. Why the wait?! The show is totally dated but at the time people did have these connections with these characters. The black and white episodes of Andy Griffith are timeless in a sense that the show doesn't focus on any real event of the day, just good ol' Barney and Andy shootin' the breeze in the court house. I recommend this and all previous seasons. July 31, 2008

All in the MPI Home Video

Sony Pictures, selling All in the Family to MPI Home Video would be a perfect idea for the fans, who have waited 7 years to collect all 9 Seasons of the series on DVD. Please do not say no to my suggestion. MPI Home Video will be willing to re-release the first 6 seasons, and release the 3 remaining seasons with no problems. Please sell All in the Family to MPI Home Video! June 25, 2008

Where is Season 7?

This is beyond ridiculous at this point. Millions of fans have anxiously awaited the release of these DVDs. What is the hold up?! Is Sony not planning on releasing the rest of the series?! Why release 6 seasons and stop there? Is Sony prepared to refund customers who paid good money for half of a series? I know that I did not start collecting these DVDs just to be left with an incomplete set. There isn't even any talk about a future release date, no news at all. What IS the problem? I think this is a digrace and I'm pretty much done with Sony. Customer satisfaction is obviously not a priority. April 14, 2008

When the stork comes a'knockin', so does the shark... or does it?

Okay, when I bought this, I cared only for the episode "Mike's Move" (which makes a terrific reversal of opinions between Mike and Archie) and the season opener (which tries to explain how Mike, against bringing in children because of the world's problems).

The series itself continues the road down "trying to be a typical family drama/sitcom" by dwelling more on the characters' personal lives than topical situations (for the 1970s), though the highlight episodes of this season definitely remind us that All in the Family hasn't quite jumped yet.

And there's no better way to become a typical sitcom drama by introducing a baby into the mix. Normally, this stock fodder becomes "jump the shark" fodder, but in AitF's case, the producers remembered the show's roots and provided some riveting commentary while also trying to compete with "Days of Our Lives".

While it's true the 6th season is the most variable yet, there are still a handful of strong episodes - thanks to AitF's original premise of discussing society's problems and foibles:

* The Very Moving Day -- Gloria tells all she's pregnant season opener - Mike is ambivalent and the results are both funny and thought-provoking
* Mike Faces Life -- Gloria is fired because she is pregnant
* The Little Atheist -- Archie wants the baby to be Christian; Mike wants to let the baby decide what to believe in when it grows up and can decide for itself
* Archie's Civil Rights -- Archie is mugged but is the one in trouble because of how he defended himself
* Mike's Move -- Mike's own believes are put to the test when he's pitted against an African-American for a job opening (best ep. of season 6)
* "Archie's Weighty Problem" - Archie has to lose weight, or else... the family helps, but our "liberal" Mike sees fit to be a real donkey and eat chips in front of the guy anyway...

Of course, not all is well in Bunkerville:

* Gloria Suspects Mike (a reversal of a season 2 story; only this time it's Gloria who thinks Mike is cheating. Re-using old plots is clearly shark bait.)
* New Year's Wedding (Mike summarily makes decisions -- a bit contrived to making its case. It seems more a piece on pop-culture psychobabble than anything else.)
* "Love By Appointment" (Mike and Gloria have no time to get jiggy; and Mike accuses Gloria that their son will end up suffering from "Momism" because she's always there and he is not. Note: 1970s psychology was often anti-female. Was there ever a "Dadism" as there are women who partner rather than marry too...)
* "Gloria and Mike's Houseguest" (Archie and Mike, forced together - again.)

The other episodes are "average" when the day is said and done.

All in all, this is a good season, but it's also clear the sharks are hungry as the opening credits were sung faster by Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton, with the removal of the episode epilogues. (Could the latter be due to syndication cuts?)

Video and audio quality are what can be expected when cramming a high number of episodes onto one disc; never mind the quality of the source video tape. All the money in the world could only do so much...

Definitely worth a rent, if not purchase, but from here on out expect the topical stories to get more watered down; the "sweeps week" episodes being more character-driven than societal-observation -- the latter of which was how this series became popular in the first place.
February 15, 2008

Start of the Decline

Short and to the point: Season six of ALL IN THE FAMILY is still better than any other show at the time (sit-com), but this season ranks poorly in my opinion to the classic first five seasons of the show.
Don't get me wrong; It's still the greatest show of all time in my book, but i like season seven better thatn season six.
Season six has too many episodes that center at Mike and Gloria's house, and it just isn't the same.
Not enough Archie.
There were still great episodes in this season and many more to come in following seasons, but this is I believe the last year the show ranked at number one in the ratings, and just by benefit of pedigree at this point.
It certainly doesn't rank with the previous number 1 ranking seasons. December 25, 2007

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