‘All In The Family’…Some Interesting History

‘All In The Family’…Some Interesting History

Well, these pictures of the cast arriving at Television City settles one thing…it was definitely after September of 1973 when the set moved to Metro Media Studios. I can’t find a firm date, but I think the show moved at the end of the 1975 season.

I understand the reason for the move was that Norman Lear had so many shows in production at NBC, CBS and ABC, that shuttling between the shows was driving him crazy. Metro Media heard about this and offered Lear all seven stages of their Metro Media Square facility and he took them up on the offer and moved them all under one roof.

I’m not sure if this is true, but it is widely reported that when the show’s first pilot was done in New York in 1968, it became the first time a sitcom in the US used videotape as a recording device. Most sitcoms were either done on film or were performed live and kinescoped. Videotape editing was still done with a razor blade and Smith Block back then.

Did you know that Harrison Ford was offered the part played by Rob Reiner? Or that Reiner had to audition three times before Lear chose him? By the way…”Meathead” was the name Lear’s father called him when he was upset with him.

When CBS started rerunning the show during the day in 1975, it was edited by three minutes to allow more commercial time. Norman Lear was unhappy with the editing and offered to pay for the commercial time that would have been lost by showing it uncut, but CBS declined his offer. That I know of, this is the first mention of 7 minutes of spots in half hour show. 4 minutes was the prime time rule.

Although Edith Bunker’s singing voice left a lot to be desired, Jean Stapleton’s didn’t. She was classically trained and had many singing parts on Broadway.

Source