Norman Lear was such a game changer. All in the Family was so different than anything ever before, and would not be able to be made today. It wasn’t politicians and media that changed folks attitudes on race; it was the NFL, Norman Lear, and Carson. All in The Family was powerful because each character became more rounded as the show evolved. Archie was plain spoken in his views but he wasn’t cancelled by his family. He took in his deadbeat student son in law and fed him and gave him a place to live. Edith evolved as a strong woman. And Gloria cheated on Mike and Archie took his side. There was no demonization. No cancellation. Issues and situations were presented and discussed and funny as hell. And Archie wasn’t a one dimensional evil bigot. He was like most folks back then and spouting what he had been taught with little interaction with the folks he spoke about. As the show progressed he softened a bit, we saw he loved his wife and daughter and liked that Mike married his daughter instead of shacking up with her. I was in 6th grade when the show started. We only had three channels then so you either watched it or didn’t; it took a bit for it to catch purchase. Maude was better as a guest on Archie as her show got preachy and less funny; Bea Arthur was tough in big doses. Though I loved Adrienne barbeau’s big doses. A great American and war hero. And like that generation he didn’t speak of what he did in the war; he was just another American doing his job in terrifying situations