Gloria

The short-lived comedy series "Gloria" was the sixth and final installment that became a spin-off of "All In The Family" that lasted one season and produced 22 episodes as part of CBS' Sunday Night lineup of comedies that dominated much of the early-1980's. The series was a spin-off of one of the greatest situation comedies to ever grace the 1970's,"All In The Family". But it wasn't the first. In 1972,Bea Arthur's situation comedy series "Maude" was the first spin-off of "All In The Family",which launched after the success of "Maude" came "Good Times"(the second spin-off that was associated with Maude by way of All In The Family)in 1974. In 1975,the third spin-off "The Jeffersons" saw Archie and Edith neighbors,George and Louise Jefferson moved from Queens to the exclusive upper East Side. By 1979,the fourth spin-off was a sequel to All In The Family titled "Archie Bunker's Place". Another spin-off of The Jeffersons by way of All In The Family focus on Marla Gibbs's character Florence Johnston,the sassy housekeeper on The Jeffersons,moved out of the Jefferson's residence to strike out on her own. The series "Checking In"(the fifth spin-off)lasted no more than one season in 1981. Sally Struthers' series "Gloria" was the last of the spin-offs that were associated with All In The Family.

Speaking of this series "Gloria" was placed on the Sunday Night lineup of comedies that CBS had during the early 1980's and it was placed between "Archie Bunker's Place",and "The Jeffersons",along with another success Norman Lear produced sitcom "One Day At A Time". The setup of the show indicted that Gloria's husband,Michael Stivic(who did not appear in the new series)left her and moved to a commune to live with a flower child. Gloria,now alone and divorced left California and moved back to New York so that she can be closer to her father,and to move with her young son,8-year old Joey(Christian Jacobs)to pick up the pieces of her life as a assistant veterinary in the town of Foxridge in upstate New York.

Veteran actor Burgess Meredith played Gloria's boss Dr. Willard Adams,and was also the landlord to the apartment where Gloria and her son were staying. Jo De Winter was Gloria's best friend and confident. The series ran on CBS from September 26,1982 until September 21,1983. From September of 1982 until April 10,1983,the original 22 episodes ran for one season. From June of 1983 until September of 1983,CBS moved the show from its Sunday night schedule to Wednesday nights,where the put it opposite the ABC-powerhouse prime-time soap drama "Dynasty". Another short-lived sitcom "Goodnight Beantown!" was the sitcom that replaced "Gloria" on CBS' Sunday night schedule.

Gloria was actually the 6th spin-off of the All in The Family franchise, I neglected to remember Good Times with Jimmy "Dynomite" Walker.That show was a spin-off of a spin-off, Back in 1972- Maude was the first spin-off of All in The Family, then in 1975, Good Times was a spin-off of Maude.Basically it breaks down like this- All in The Family (1971) begot Maude (1972)and the Jeffersons (1975) and Archie Bunkers Place(1981) and Gloria (1982).While the spin-off Maude begot another spin-off Good Times(1975). I would be baffled in anyone else can name another TV series such as All in the Family that had so many spin-offs and a spin-off a spin-off.

Someone here asked if anyone knows why Gloria was canceled. I worked on the show as Burgess Merefith's assistant. The show was canceled because Sally Struthers blew off an interview with TV Guide. Also, Carroll O'Connor was a producer and lost control of his vision for the show which included plans for Archie and Gloria to appear on each other's show on occasion. Though the ratings were healthy, the writing was sub-par. O'Connor and Meredith were best friends and they both were fed up with the show and it's many deficiencies. So, it was canceled for political reasons and artistic shortcomings.

When I acquired a box set of All in the Family, one of the DVD extras was the pilot episode of the Gloria series. Had it not been for this special feature, I would never have known that Gloria ever existed. I don't remember this show ever being on network TV. I watched the pilot episode, out of curiosity. Wasn't impressed. Sally Struthers looked pretty, but that in itself is not enough to carry a show. Carroll O'Connor makes a guest appearance, also to no avail. When Mike and Gloria departed All in the Family, that was not good. Having Gloria as a single mother, supposedly separated permanently from Mike, only gives plausibility to the bad decision which was made in the first place. As I said, Sally looks pretty here, but that doesn't cut it. She also looks pretty on All in the Family, the far superior show.

Ill-conceived spin-off from "All In the Family" that should never have existed. Archie & Edith's "little girl" Gloria is now a struggling single mom, split from husband Mike. That the show wasn't particularly funny was bad enough; what I really object to is the way it ruined our memories of the Stivics. Mike and Gloria were so much in love, I don't believe for a minute they would split up. The spin-off left a bad taste in my mouth before it even aired. So did "Archie Bunker's Place", the mutation of "All In the Family" that had the widowed Archie running a tavern and raising his niece. It's a shame those two shows had to come from an all time favorite-the best way to enjoy those characters is in the original. Edith completes Archie, Mike completes Gloria. The proof? Nobody remembers this spin-off, and nobody wants to remember "Archie Bunker's Place".