And he died with the knowledge people were more sympathetic to the Archie Bunker character as opposed to Meathead, despite Lear presenting Archie as a caricature to be mocked.
Actually, he didn’t. At the end of the day, Archie was the hero of the story, and Meathead was the villain. Archie ends up taking in an orphan after his wife dies, while Meathead abandons his family.