All in the Family: The Complete 6th Season (DVD)
APPROX. 612 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1976 - MPA RATING: NR
" This season, the focus shifted dramatically from dialectics to diapers.
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8) "Chain Letter"-Irene (Betty Garrett) sends both Bunkers a chain letter, and Edith has good luck after not breaking the chain, and Archie BAD luck after ignoring it.
9) "Mike Faces Life"-Gloria gets fired because she's pregnant, and Mike starts to feel the pressure of being the "breadwinner."
10) "Grandpa Blues"-Archie, feeling old as a grandpa-to-be, gets nervous when he has to have a physical to continue working on the loading dock.
11) "Gloria Suspects Mike"-Feeling unattractive, Gloria is jealous that Mike is spending time with a sexy female student.
12) "Archie's Civil Rights"-Archie defends himself against a mugger, but he's the one who ends up in court because he used an illegal tear-gas device.
13) "Gloria is Nervous"-Countdown to delivery, nine days. Enough said.
14-15) "Birth of the Baby," Pts. 1-2-Joey Stivic enters the TV world.
16) "Archie the Babysitter"-Archie fires the Stivics' babysitter and is forced to watch the baby himself. But that doesn't keep him from hosting his regular poker game.
17) "New Year's Wedding"-A crazily skinny and curly-haired Billy Crystal guests in this episode about Mike annoying Gloria because he makes decisions without consulting her . . . like telling their friends they can get married at the Stivic house.
18) "Archie Finds a Friend"-Archie wants to invest $1000 of the couple's money in a doorbell ringer, but the old Jewish jeweler who invented it has a few bugs to work out.
19) "Mike's Move"-Mike applies for a position in Minnesota and encounters reverse-discrimination in an episode that gets back to the show's social-problem roots.
20) "Archie's Weighty Problem"-The doctor makes Archie give up some of his favorite foods, but that's not easy to do.
21) "Love by Appointment"-Mike feels post-partum blue when he thinks Gloria's spending more time with the baby than him. Get used to it, Mike.
22) "Joey's Baptism"-Archie conspires to have his grandson secretly baptized.
23) "Gloria and Mike's House Guests"-Furnace problems reunite the Bunkers and Stivics in an episode that all but admits the show missed the close-quarters dynamic.
24) "Edith's Night Out"-In one of the show's strongest episodes, Edith decides to go to Kelsey's Bar alone when Archie refuses to take her out, and both of them learn how much she's valued.
Video:
The video has always been rough for this show, hovering anywhere from a 5 to a 6. Especially if you've been watching a lot of DVDs mastered in HD you'll be sensitive to the slight blurring, graininess, and washed-out colors. It'll take a good half-episode to adjust to the picture quality, but it's not SO horrible that it completely ruins the show. The aspect ratio is 1.33:1 (full screen), in color.
Audio:
The audio is only slightly better, a rudimentary Dolby Digital Mono that's closed captioned. The show is mostly dialog, so that's not a huge problem, but you notice the flat quality of sound during the opening song and moments when the live audience applauds.
Extras:
There are no extras.
Bottom Line:
Season 6 was the year that "All in the Family" strayed from the dialectic/polemic structure that made the show groundbreaking. Instead of focusing on social issues, writers turned to domestic problems. It was the Bunkers and Stivics going through the same sort of sitcom trials as other fictional characters had done before them. There are a few standout episodes, but most of the shows lack the bite and punch of previous seasons.
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