All in the Family (1971 – 1979)

At the moment, the CHCH reruns are featuring 1975 of this program. We’ve been through three episodes of Archie going missing (while Carrol O’Connor had a contract dispute with Norman Lear), we saw The Jeffersons ‘movin’ on up to the East Side, and we saw a rare moment of tenderness between Archie and Edith (last night) after a couple they know discussed splitting up. It’s hard to precisely judge the effect of this show on Americans. As a Canadian, newly married with a child, it seemed preposterous. How could someone be that prejudiced?. Then, you just need to really listen to the opening theme song, “Those Were the Days” to begin to understand Archie’s motivations.

Boy the way Glen Miller played,
Songs that made the hit parade,
Guys like us we had it made,
Those were the days,
And you know who you were then,
Girls were girls and men were men,
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again,
Didn’t need no welfare states
Everybody pulled his weight,
Gee our old Lasalle ran great,
Those were the days

Looking back from the perspective of 2026, even I can be nostalgic for the mid-70’s. (We never had it so good.) But if you were suddenly thrust back into that time, like Sam Tyler in “Life on Mars” you would really understand how awful life was, then. That’s why “All in the Family” is a useful time capsule.

Those were the days, for sure.