704 Hauser

It has been over ten years since I saw the first episode but I remember it well. I found it pretentious to have Archie Bunker's grandson Joey Stivic come to the house for no apparent reason and found it absurd that, after explaining who he was, he is invited into the kitchen to help himself to anything he wants to eat. I suppose it was an attempt to show the link "704 Hauser" had with "All in the Family" but found it too far fetched. The most amusing line in the show's short history was from another episode when, after misbehaving at church service, Ernie promises he will behave the next time. Rose replies,"(T)he next time you and I are ever in church together, one of us will be in a box"

The ridiculous thing about this show was that John Amos, newly popularized by his daddy role in Coming to America, played the father - the show was based on the sketchy premise that a black, politically conscious family moves into the Bunker's old house. That's quite believable - but then what are the odds that a man who looks and acts EXACTLY like James Evans from Good Times, a spin-off of Maude, which was a spin-off of All In The Family, itself would exist in that very same world that we were supposed to believe to be the same one from the 70s?

I think the producers of this one thought we were dumb - like we wouldn't expect J.J. to come walking in that front door any moment.

The cast is a very good cast with some decent performances by the always dependable John Amos (Good Times) and a then-unknown Maura Tierney who has been good in shows like "News Radio". The problem is that the show is somewhat superficial in the creation of its characters. The exploration of a multi-ethnic, multi-racial family may seem revolutionary, but each character is a cliche. Archie and Meathead were cliches of the pinko lefty and the bigot Nixon supporter (the "silent majority?"), but they were cliches with depth. That depth within the cliche expanded the character. In this return to the same house, Norman Lear seemed content to revisit the setting by creating characters that were supposed to spark the same fireworks, but lack the depth to make you care. The only true positive thing to come of the show is its failure. Lear seems content that a black man sitting in Archie's chair should be shocking, but the great thing about how far this country has come since 1971 is that a black man sitting in Archie's chair is not shocking. Whatever success Lear had in breaking down societal walls are primarily the reasons for the show's failure. God bless America.

I recall this series and enjoyed it very much. A unique concept of a new family moving into the old Bunker household. Any chance this and other rare Lear series would see the light of day again?