All In The Family: The Complete 4th Season (DVD)
APPROX. 608 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1974 - MPA RATING: NR
" Season Four catches the cast of All in the Family when they were still at the top of their game and riding high at #1 in the ratings.
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9) "Edith's Conversion"—Archie gets the idea in his head that Irene's sister, a Sister, is trying to turn his wife into a "[Rosary] bead rubber."
10) "Archie in the Celler"—A solo episode, with Archie locking himself in his own cellar while everyone else is gone. Which leaves him with nothing to do but THINK, for a change.
11) "Black is the Color of My True Love's Wig"—Mike gets turned on when Gloria buys a black wig, and what's first erotic turns quickly into something neurotic.
12) "Second Honeymoon"—Archie takes Edith to Atlantic City to celebrate their 25th anniversary and hopefully start a new spark.
13) "The Taxi Caper"—One of the "outside" episodes features a politician trying to bribe Archie to keep him from pressing charges against his son, who robbed Archie while he was driving Munson's cab.
14) "Archie is Cursed"—Hell hath no fury like a Lorenzo scorned. After Irene challenges Archie to a game of pool for money and he manages to insult her, Frank defends her honor by putting a curse on his neighbor.
15) "Edith's Christmas Story"—A serious episode where Edith discovers a lump in her breasts, but keeps it close to the heart.
16) "Mike and Gloria Mix it Up"—When Gloria becomes a bit too aggressive for Mike, sparks fly, with Mike showing a conservative side.
17) "Archie Feels Left Out"—Archie refuses to attend his own 50th birthday party, insisting that he's really only 49.
18) "Et Tu, Archie"—Archie becomes paranoid when he thinks that an old friend who once had his job at the loading dock is wanting it back again.
19) "Gloria's Boyfriend"—In a poignant episode, Gloria befriends a mentally challenged delivery boy, but complications result when he misinterprets her actions.
20) "Lionel's Engagement"—Mike Evans takes center stage in an episode that has Archie attending his engagement party of George Jefferson's objections. Archie meets his match when he tangles with Mother Jefferson.
21) "Archie Eats and Runs"—The Bunkers panic after Archie eats canned mushrooms that may have been tainted.
22) "Gloria Sings the Blues"—Gloria is afraid she's fallen out of love with Mike, until Mom tells her about a time when she felt the same about Archie. A tender episode between Edith and Gloria.
23) "Pay the Twenty Dollars"—When George Jefferson is told he's got a counterfeit $20 bill at his store, he puts the finger on Archie.
24) "Mike's Graduation"—With Mike finally poised to graduate, Archie is counting the days until "Meathead" moves out. But, of course, something happens to change all that.
Video: Too bad the episodes don't have the same quality and clarity of the promo shots. The biggest disappointment of this set is the poor video quality. It's not just slightly fuzzy or grainy with faded colors, as often happens with Seventies' shows. Many of the episodes have visible, thin horizontal and vertical lines, with some episodes even having annoying flickers that we used to chalk up to tracking problems on the old VHS tapes. In fact, the quality on these DVDs is no better than VHS—which is unconscionable, given the importance that "All in the Family" has in the annals of television and American cultural history. The press releases on this set tout that its "digitally remastered," but I don't see it. The aspect ratio is 1.33:1, with closed captions.
Audio: The audio isn't much better. It appears to be Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono matrixed to other speakers with identical information. When I watched the first episode and the sound came on, it sounded faraway and muted, the way that sometimes (on "Friends," for example) an episode takes on a different sound quality when an optional commentary track is embedded. But that's not the case here. There's no commentary, and the sound still sounds muffled and unnatural. You get used to it, sure, but it takes a handful of episodes before it stops being noticeably annoying and you can forget about it and just enjoy the episodes.
Extras: There are only a few previews, and that's it.
Bottom Line: Season Four catches the cast of "All in the Family" when they were still at the top of their game and riding high at #1 in the ratings. This was "issues" television, but the characters and their conflicts with each other were still what made the show appealing. The episodes still hold up surprisingly well, and for that you have to credit the sharp writing, the convincing and energetic performances, and Norman Lear's uncanny knack of knowing just when to import more neighbors or new characters to play off of Archie and his narrow mind. I'm told that the show has been butchered in late-night reruns, but these are the full, uncut episodes.
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