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I also just read that they are killing off the wife (I think her name is Donna). That doesn't seem like something a sitcom should do unless they pick up the new season a long time after her death...
They had plans of killing off Archie Bunker.
He was demanding too much money for the upcoming season and wanted more windows in his dressing room as part of his demands.
I guess their final counter-offer was to start the first episode of the new season by showing Edith, Mike, Gloria, and possibly others (the Jeffersons?) walking inside the house and having Edith make the comment in her signature drawl..." I can't believe Archie's dead!" as the first line of the show!
I think some of this was revealed in TV Guide, so I'm guessing if O'Connor didn't know the answer to his demands by then, he surely heard about it the same time the rest of the world did.
Sidenote: When Redd Foxx (Sanford & Son) caught wind of O'Connor's wish list, one of his demands was he wanted all the windows removed from his dressing room!
He was demanding too much money for the upcoming season and wanted more windows in his dressing room as part of his demands.
I guess their final counter-offer was to start the first episode of the new season by showing Edith, Mike, Gloria, and possibly others (the Jeffersons?) walking inside the house and having Edith make the comment in her signature drawl..." I can't believe Archie's dead!" as the first line of the show!
Wow, I don't think I ever knew about them planning to get rid of Archie! Geez!
Killing off Archie's character wouldn't have made sense for that show. It was bad enough when they killed off Edith (with Jean Stapleton's approval) but the show would have had no point of existing further if they eliminated Archie.
Years ago, Valerie Harper (ex-Rhoda) was let go unfairly from her own show "Valerie" which was later re-named The Hogan Family. Her character was killed off & replaced with Sandy Duncan. I hated the show after that but at least it survived for a little while without Harper.
I don't think All In The Family would have worked without Archie. Mike would have no one to debate with & Edith would have no one criticizing her. It would just be Mike, Gloria, & Edith getting along day in & day out. Where would the comedy have been in that?
Last edited by TruckWife518; 08-13-2017 at 06:09 PM..
Don't quote me on this, but wasn't there a show (several decades ago), possibly a soap, where they actually brought a character back from the dead?
Are you talking about Dallas where Bobby Ewing was shown to have died? Then a season later, they re-wrote everything and said his death was all an elaborate dream/nightmare his wife had the night before.
And that quite possibly is why soap opera writers nowadays very seldom let any character stay dead (unless the person died in real life or if it's a relatively minor character).
Every soap remaining on the air has quite a few characters who have been "dead" once or twice. Some characters have been "dead" way more than that & still keep coming back alive.
Are you talking about Dallas where Bobby Ewing was shown to have died? Then a season later, they re-wrote everything and said his death was all an elaborate dream/nightmare his wife had the night before.
And that quite possibly is why soap opera writers nowadays very seldom let any character stay dead (unless the person died in real life or if it's a relatively minor character).
Every soap remaining on the air has quite a few characters who have been "dead" once or twice. Some characters have been "dead" way more than that & still keep coming back alive.
I knew that at least someone was brought back from the dead, thanks for clarifying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TruckWife518
Wow, I don't think I ever knew about them planning to get rid of Archie! Geez!
Killing off Archie's character wouldn't have made sense for that show. It was bad enough when they killed off Edith (with Jean Stapleton's approval) but the show would have had no point of existing further if they eliminated Archie.
I don't think All In The Family would have worked without Archie. Mike would have no one to debate with & Edith would have no one criticizing her. It would just be Mike, Gloria, & Edith getting along day in & day out. Where would the comedy have been in that?….
I just googled it and the info in this thread explains it, and also the demise of Edith.
In the link, one of the forum members suggests they would bring in someone to play his brother, which kind of makes sense.
I'm guessing he'd have similar looks.
If not, maybe play his cousin, but he would definitely have the same philosophies, maybe even more so(?), to overcompensate for the loss of O'Connor.
During a contract hold out, Carroll O'Connor missed the taping of four episodes of "All In the Family."
Three episodes were filmed about Archie failing to return from a convention (Season Five).
The producers gave O'Connor an ultimatum, that the story arc could conclude with Edith finding out that Archie had been murdered [episode #93: "Where's Archie?"].
^^^^^Dang, that would have been rather morbid to say Archie had been murdered! Dying is 1 thing but to take it to another level & say he had been murdered would have just been so wrong.
Were the producers on drugs?! It was a sitcom, for crying out loud. Even James on Good Times didn't die that way.
As soon as I heard of the change I deleted KCW from my DVR. I thought it was crappy what they did to Erinn Hayes, and Leah Remini's face is too distracting. I know I can't watch her.
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) walking inside the house and having Edith make the comment in her signature drawl..." I can't believe Archie's dead!" as the first line of the show!
