All in the Family "And Justice For All" & "Those Were The Days" (found pilots of sitcom TV series; 1968-1969): Difference between revisions

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|imagecaption=One of the show's title cards.
|imagecaption=One of the show's title cards.
|status=<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|status=<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|datefound=June 9th, 2009
|datefound=09 Jun 2009
|foundby=[https://www.sony.net Sony]
|foundby=Sony
}}
}}
''All in the Family'' was a sitcom created by Norman Lear starring Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers. Running on CBS for nine years (from 1971 to 1979), it was the top-rated network television show for five years and has since been regarded as the most groundbreaking comedy of all time, as well as one of the greatest. What many casual fans don't know is that '''two pilots''', both using the same script, were shot but rejected by ABC.
''All in the Family'' was a sitcom created by Norman Lear starring Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, and Sally Struthers. Running on CBS for nine years, it was the top-rated network television show for five of them, and it has since been regarded as one of the most groundbreaking comedies of all time, as well as one of the greatest. What many casual fans don't know is that '''two separate pilots''' (both using the same script) were shot for and rejected by ABC.


==''And Justice For All'' (1968)==
==And Justice For All (1968)==
On July 22, 1965, ''Till Death Do Us Part'' debuted on BBC1 and followed the life of a working-class man and his family. The series ended up doing well in the ratings, and while reading a Variety article on its success, the idea for ''All in the Family'' came about to Lear, who considered incorporating his own experiences with his own father into the remake. Around that time, CBS had been considering buying the rights to ''Till Death Do Us Part'' and retooling it specifically for Jackie Gleason (one of the three actors Lear originally considered to play Archie Bunker, the other two were Tom Bosley and Jack Warden).
After buying the American rights for the British sitcom ''Til' Death Do Us Part'' from CBS, the first pilot, named ''And Justice For All'', was taped in October 1968 in New York City. In it, the Bunker family has a different last name, "Justice", and instead of Struthers, Kelly Jean Peters played Gloria Stivic, while Tim Mclntire played her husband, Richard.


Lear had CBS beat, buying the rights and then selling them to ABC. The first pilot, ''And Justice For All'', was taped in October 1968 in New York City. In it, O'Connor and Stapleton played the roles of Archie and Edith Bunker (as they later would in the final show), except their last name was Justice. Instead of Struthers, Kelly Jean Peters played Gloria Stivic, while Tim Mclntire played her husband, Richard. The pilot has since been regarded as "lost", though it was finally released in 2009 as one of the many extras on ''The Norman Lear Collection'' DVD, which also included interviews and the first seasons of his most famous creations (''All in the Family'', ''Sanford and Son'', ''Good Times'', ''The Jeffersons'', ''Maude'', ''One Day at a Time'', and ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'').
==Those Were the Days (1969)==
{{#ev:dailymotion|http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xstae3_justice-for-all-1968-unaired-pilot_shortfilms pilot|320x240|center|'And Justice for All' pilot|frame}}
Following the screening of the first pilot, Lear had tried again in February 1969, giving the producers more money to film the second pilot, ''Those Were the Days'' (named after the final show's theme song), in Hollywood, California. For this pilot, O'Connor and Stapleton kept their respective roles as Archie and Edith while Peters and Mclntire were respectively replaced with Candice Azzara and Chip Olivier. Unfortunately, due to the then-recent controversy caused by [[Turn-On (found ABC sketch comedy series; 1969)|''Turn-On'']], ABC turned down both pilots because they didn't want to air a show where the lead character (Archie Bunker) was "foul-mouthed" and "bigoted".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vIEAyxEA4zAC&q=all+in+the+family#v=onepage&q=turn-on&f=false A book about taboo moments/series on television. ''All in the Family'' is mentioned on pages 132 and 133.] Retrieved 08 May '19</ref>


==''Those Were the Days'' (1969)==
Both pilots were later released on the "Norman Lear Collection" DVD.
Following the screening of the first pilot, Lear had tried again in February 1969, giving the producers more money to film the second pilot, ''Those Were the Days'' (named after the final show's theme song), in Hollywood, California. For this pilot, O'Connor and Stapleton kept their respective roles as Archie and Edith (D'Urville Martin also kept his role as future ''Jeffersons'' character Lionel Jefferson, who appeared in both pilots) while Peters and Mclntire were respectively replaced with Candice Azzara and Chip Olivier. Unfortunately, due to the [[Turn-On (lost comedy episodes; 1960s)|then-recent ''Turn-On'' complaints]], ABC turned down both pilots because they wouldn't air a show where the lead was "foul-mouthed" and "bigoted."


In an attempt to switch out their "rural" programs for more "urban" shows, CBS happily bought Lear's project, and it became ''All in the Family''. Unlike ''And Justice For All'', ''Those Were the Days'' still existed (meaning, it wasn't "lost" like the 1968 effort), and as with the first one, it was released as a special feature on ''The Norman Lear Collection'' DVD.
==Reference==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Found media]]
[[Category:Found media]]
[[Category:Found TV]]
[[Category:Pre-LMW]]
[[Category:Pre-LMW]]

Latest revision as of 05:32, 27 March 2024

All in TF.JPG

One of the show's title cards.

Status: Found

Date found: 09 Jun 2009

Found by: Sony

All in the Family was a sitcom created by Norman Lear starring Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, and Sally Struthers. Running on CBS for nine years, it was the top-rated network television show for five of them, and it has since been regarded as one of the most groundbreaking comedies of all time, as well as one of the greatest. What many casual fans don't know is that two separate pilots (both using the same script) were shot for and rejected by ABC.

And Justice For All (1968)

After buying the American rights for the British sitcom Til' Death Do Us Part from CBS, the first pilot, named And Justice For All, was taped in October 1968 in New York City. In it, the Bunker family has a different last name, "Justice", and instead of Struthers, Kelly Jean Peters played Gloria Stivic, while Tim Mclntire played her husband, Richard.

Those Were the Days (1969)

Following the screening of the first pilot, Lear had tried again in February 1969, giving the producers more money to film the second pilot, Those Were the Days (named after the final show's theme song), in Hollywood, California. For this pilot, O'Connor and Stapleton kept their respective roles as Archie and Edith while Peters and Mclntire were respectively replaced with Candice Azzara and Chip Olivier. Unfortunately, due to the then-recent controversy caused by Turn-On, ABC turned down both pilots because they didn't want to air a show where the lead character (Archie Bunker) was "foul-mouthed" and "bigoted".[1]

Both pilots were later released on the "Norman Lear Collection" DVD.

Reference

  1. ↑ A book about taboo moments/series on television. All in the Family is mentioned on pages 132 and 133. Retrieved 08 May '19
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